Following the regional selections for the North, South, Central-North, and Central areas, which took place on October 16, 23, and 30, and November 6, respectively, and involved a total of 176 players, the Under-15 National Team will return to the field from November 21 to 23 in Novarello for the Christmas Tournament.

 

Coach Enrico Battisti has called up 88 players, all born in 2011, including Juventus defender Ismaele Abdoulaye Matteo, who will participate for the second year running, after taking part in last year’s edition as a younger player with Lecce.

 

The Azzurrini, who will be divided into four teams of 22 players each (A, B, C, and D), will come together tomorrow, Thursday, November 20, at the ‘Novarello Villaggio Azzurro’ sports center in Granozzo con Monticello, in the province of Novara.

 

Of the 88 players called up, 83 took part in the regional selections, 26 in the North (29.5%), 11 in the South (12.5%), 23 in the Central-North (26.1%), and 23 in the Central area (26.1%), while five (5.7%) are completely new: Enzo Diofebo, Bruno Savarese, and Edoardo Terlizzi, respectively forward, defender, and goalkeeper for Roma, as well as Milan midfielder Christian Vigil Hidalgo and Mainz forward Luca Dellino.

 

The latter adds to the group of players coming from foreign clubs, which includes defender Domenico Lanatà and midfielder Daniele Geraci, both playing in Germany for Stuttgart, and Luca Muzzi Moraes, forward for Benfica in Portugal.

 

The Portuguese club player is also part of the large group of footballing sons who will be present in Novarello: his father is Brazilian goalkeeper Artur Moraes, born in 1981, who played in Italy for Siena, Cesena, and Roma. Roma is also the club of goalkeeper Edoardo Terlizzi, son of Christian, defender born in 1979, former player for Catania, Palermo, Pescara, and Sampdoria in Serie A, who debuted for the senior national team in Livorno (Italy vs. Croatia 0-2, August 16, 2006), and where Matteo Pivotto, stopper born in 1974 and father of Bologna defender Benito, also played. Also in this group is Alessandro Danieli, Torino defender and nephew of Riccardo Fissore, defender born in 1980, former Vicenza player and part of the Under-18 Italian team that finished second at the 1999 European Championship in Sweden (Portugal vs. Italy 1-0, July 26).

The defensive lineup is completed by Brazilian Gleison Santos, born in 1981, a former Atalanta, Monza, and Reggina player, father of Atalanta defender Pedro Dos Santos. Midfielders Diego Succi and Sean Luis Ebagua, respectively from Cesena and Venezia, are sons of forwards Davide, born in 1981, a former Palermo player, and Osarimen Giulio, born in 1986, a former Spezia and Varese player. While Fiorentina forward Armando Floro Flores is the son of Antonio Floro Flores, a striker born in 1983, former Genoa, Sassuolo, and Udinese player, currently head coach of Benevento’s First Team, after losing the Under-17 scudetto final with Benevento last season in Rieti (Ternana-Benevento 2-0, June 15).

 

The list features players beyond football, as the list of footballing sons also includes Marlon Gato, Hellas Verona midfielder and son of Cuban volleyball player Ramón Ismael Gato Moya, born in 1973, winner of the World League in 1998 and 2001.

 

On the topic of the SGS Championships, where the father of Roma forward Mattia Pica—Fabio, coach of Frosinone’s Under-17 team, currently eleventh in Group C with 7 points, is also involved, notable names among the call-ups include Bologna forward Leonardo Maria Lima Ramalho, top scorer in the Under-16 Serie A and B category with 11 goals in 9 appearances (653 minutes played) playing in an older category, and Cesena forward Gian Maria Boga, top scorer in the Under-15 Serie A and B with 9 goals in 8 matches (607 minutes played).

 

Finally, six of the players called up (6.8%) participated in the final stage of the Under-14 National Tournament ‘Il calciatore dell’Evolution Programme,’ one of the flagship projects of the Youth and School Sector, held from May 9 to 11 at the Olympic Preparation Center in Tirrenia. These players are Alessandro Gennaro Esposito, Juventus defender from the Campanian amateur club Victoria Marra; Christian D’Aiello and Pierre Edouard Touadi, both defenders with a background in the Lazio amateur club Nuova Tor Tre Teste, now at Genoa and Sassuolo respectively; Thomas Musollino, Lecce defender who came through the Campanian amateur club Academy Pasquale Foggia; Nicolas Bottan, Como midfielder recruited from the Lombard amateur club Accademia Internazionale; and finally, forward Enzo Diofebo, who joined Roma in the summer from the Pugliese amateur club Virtus Francavilla.

 

SQUAD LIST:

Goalkeepers: Matteo Bondone (Genoa), Francesco Chiaracane (Palermo), Francesco Ghezzi (Atalanta), Lorenzo Moretti (Juventus)****, Tommaso Munarin (Venezia), Alessandro Posocco (Udinese), Enea Puccioni (Empoli), Edoardo Terlizzi (Roma)

Defenders: Lorenzo Allara (Juventus), Immanuel Altieri (Torino), Matthew Appiah Boateng (Parma), Andrea Bernasconi (Milan), Luca Bianchi (Cremonese), Giulio Cacucciolo (Torino), Mattia Casella (Cremonese), Niccolò Chieffallo (Roma), Christian D’Aiello (Genoa), Alessandro Danieli (Torino), Mirko Danza (Atalanta), Pedro Dos Santos (Atalanta), Alessandro Gennaro Esposito (Juventus), Leopoldo Febbraro (Fiorentina), Mattia Ferrarese (Bari), Mattia Ghio (Sampdoria)*, Alessandro Guidotti (Cesena), Andrea Iacomino (Lazio), Domenico Lanatà (Stoccarda), Filippo Giusto Liaci (Fiorentina), Paolo Lopreiato (Catanzaro), Ismaele Abdoulaye Matteo (Juventus), Saverio Angelo Mesecorto (Sassuolo), Mattia Mirabella (Roma), Thomas Musollino (Lecce), Alessandro Parisi (Inter), Fabrizio Pasotti (Cremonese), Elia Pistone (Fiorentina), Benito Pivotto (Bologna), Bruno Savarese (Roma), Alessandro Torri (Hellas Verona), Pierre Edouard Touadi (Sassuolo)

Midfielders: Antonio Amico (Bologna), Nicolas Bottan (Como), Francesco Buondonno (Napoli), Mattia Castiglione (Palermo), Achille Cremonesi (Milan), Deni Duka (Juventus), Sean Luis Ebagua (Venezia), Mattia Gallo (Torino), Marlon Gato (Hellas Verona), Daniele Geraci (Stoccarda), Alessandro Grigioni (Inter), Emiliano Interlandi (Lazio)*, Luca Lazzeri (Fiorentina), Gianmarco Menicagli (Empoli), Abdul Salam Musah (Fiorentina), Alessio Nobile (Juventus), Damiano Pastoressa (Bari), Samuel Prendi (Atalanta), Stefano Scerbo (Napoli), Diego Succi (Cesena), Gabriel Tedesco (Inter), Davide Tilli (Genoa), Diego Vazzola (Parma), Christian Vigil Hidalgo (Milan)

Forwards: Alberto Bellei (Atalanta), Gian Maria Boga (Cesena), Manlio Carone (Atalanta), Lorenzo Cipressa (Lecce), Omar Cristiano (Empoli), Francesco De Caro (Palermo), Luca Dellino (Magonza), Enzo Diofebo (Roma), Massimo Falce (Albinoleffe), Francesco Fattoruso (Napoli), Armando Floro Flores (Fiorentina), Leonard Maria Lima Ramalho (Bologna), Alex Alberto Magrin (Atalanta), Manuel Marra (Lecce), Riccardo Martellini (Torino), Matteo Potito Mignemi (Fiorentina), Mattia Murru (Cagliari), Luca Muzzi Moraes (Benfica), Francesco Paesanti (Juventus), Nicolas Pellegrino (Lazio), Mattia Pica (Roma), Leonardo Rossini (Milan), Alessandro Vicchi (Cesena), Lorenzo Vitali (Parma)

*November 19: called up in place of unavailable Marco Vaccarella (Juventus)
**November 19: called up in place of unavailable Marco Rivieri (Empoli)
***November 20: called up in place of unavailable Adrien Tato (Milan)
****November 20: called up in place of unavailable Samuele Spanò (Inter)

Staff: Supervisor: Antonio Rocca, Coach: Enrico Battisti, Federal Coaches: Matteo Barella, Antonio Candreva, Bruno Redolfi, Marco Scarpa, Goalkeeper Coordinator: Gaetano Petrelli
Goalkeeper Coach: Francesco Antonioli, Junior Scouting Coordinator: Alessandro Musicco
Scouts: Luca Briccarello, Andrea Campatelli, Massimiliano Caniato, Igor Charalambopoulos, Gianpietro Di Pierro, Claudio Gabetta, Italo Graziani, Pino La Scala, Domenico Maggiora, Antonio Martella, Luigi Milani, Filippo Motzo, Manuel Nisticò, Filippo Pergolizzi, Albino Pillon, Giovanni Re, Armando Reggiannini, Francesco Talarico, Carlo Zanantoni. Athletic Trainers: Luca Bossi, Luca Coppari. Match Analyst: Alessandro Davite. Nutritionist: Francesco Leva. Doctors: Emanuele Fabrizi, Leonardo Previ. Physiotherapist: Marco Cerroni Administrator: Sabrina Filacchione. Secretary: Francesco Lupi

 

Christmas Tournament 2025 Schedule:

First Day (Friday, November 21)
11:00: Team A vs Team B
15:00: Team C vs Team D

Second Day (Saturday, November 22)
11:00: Team B vs Team D
15:00: Team A vs Team C

Third Day (Sunday, November 23)
10:00: Team B vs Team C
11:30: Team A vs Team D