There’s just one week to go until Italy take to the field in the Algarve Cup, the prestigious invitational tournament that kicks off on 16 February in the south of Portugal. As well as the Azzurre and the hosts, the teams taking part are Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The teams will play two matches before the eventual final day on Wednesday 23 February; the two sides with the most points after the 180 minutes will contest the final, while the remaining three will then play in a triangular tournament to decided positions three down to five.

Italy play their first game on 16 February in Lagos (12:00 local time, 13:00 CET) against Denmark, who they faced little more than a year ago as part of EURO 2022 qualifying (Denmark won the first game before a draw in the reverse fixture). At the same time on 20 February, our girls will then take on Norway in Faro; the Norwegians won the most recent meeting between the two sides, which actually took place in the 2008 edition of the Algarve Cup. These are two top-class sides, who will put the Azzurre through their paces and help them to gain more experience ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in April and the finals of the Euros in July.

Milena Bertolini has called up 25 players for the tournament. The group will meet at Coverciano on Sunday before departing for Portugal on Monday evening. Rachele Baldi, Sofia Cantore, Benedetta Orsi and Martina Piemonte return to the fold, as do Valentina Cernoia, Aurora Galli and Alia Guagni, who were unavailable for the Azzurre’s fixtures back in November. A first-ever call-up to the Italy Women first team has been handed to Giulia Rizzon, who has starred for Como Women this season as they currently lead the way in Serie B.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Rachele Baldi (Napoli Femminile), Francesca Durante (Inter), Laura Giuliani (Milan);

Defenders: Valentina Bergamaschi (Milan), Lisa Boattin (Juventus), Lucia Di Guglielmo (Roma), Sara Gama (Juventus), Alia Guagni (Milan), Martina Lenzini (Juventus), Elena Linari (Roma), Benedetta Orsi (Sassuolo), Giulia Rizzon (Como Women), Angelica Soffia (Roma);

Midfielders: Arianna Caruso (Juventus), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus), Aurora Galli (Everton), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Martina Rosucci (Juventus), Flaminia Simonetti (Inter);

Attackers: Barbara Bonansea (Juventus), Sofia Cantore (Sassuolo), Valentina Giacinti (Fiorentina), Cristiana Girelli (Juventus), Martina Piemonte (Milan), Annamaria Serturini (Roma).

 

Tournament schedule (all times in local time - GMT)

Wednesday 16 February
12:00 Denmark vs. ITALY (Estadio Municipal - Lagos)
18:30 Norway vs. Portugal (Estadio Municipal - Lagos)

Friday 18 February
17:00 Sweden vs. Denmark (Estadio Algarve - Faro)

Sunday 20 February
12:00 ITALY vs. Norway (Estadio Algarve - Faro)
17:15 Portugal vs. Sweden (Estadio Algarve - Faro)

Wednesday 23 February
11:00 Final - 1st vs. 2nd (Estadio Municipal - Lagos)
From 10:30 to 13 – Triangular tournament 3rd, 4th and 5th (Estadio Algarve - Faro)