Two prestigious fixtures await for Italy U20s, who are scheduled to face England (20:00 CEST on 7 October) and Portugal (15:00 CEST on 12 October) in the Elite League. The Azzurini picked up their first three points of the tournament in September, running out 2-0 winners against Poland in Lomza. Now, Alberto Bollini has named a 25-man squad for the upcoming games, which pit sides with a high level of technical quality against each other. Juventus striker Emanuele Pecorino has received his first call-up.

The team will meet up at the Coverciano Federal Technical Centre on Sunday 3 October and will depart for Chesterfield three days later. The day after the match against England on 7 October, the Azzurrini will head to the Olympic Training Centre in Formia, where they’ll continue putting in the hard work until 12 October, when Portugal will be their opponents at the Stadio Benito Stirpe in Frosinone.

“These will be two major matches against nations that do important things in youth football, both in terms of investment and making use of technical resources. They will be two excellent tests where we’ll try to build on the playing philosophy and team spirit we displayed in our fantastic victory over Poland in Lomza at the start of September.”

Opponents' results. England beat Romania 6-1 in their first Elite League match on 6 September. Portugal, meanwhile, narrowly lost 2-1 away to the Romanians on 2 September and drew 0-0 with Poland on 7 September.

The first two editions of the Elite League were won by Germany and the Netherlands in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Ludovico Gelmi (Feralpisalò), Giovanni Garofani (Juventus), Filippo Rinaldi (Aquila Montevarchi);

Defenders: Devid Eugene Bouah (Teramo), Tommaso Barbieri (Juventus), Davide Angelo Ghislandi (Turris), Nicolò Armini (Piacenza), Christian Dalle Mura (Cremonese); Mattia Viti (Empoli), Fabio Ponsi (Modena), Allessandro Pio Ricci (Juventus);

Midfielders: Edoardo Bove (Roma), Emmanuel Gyabuaa (Perugia), Tommaso Milanese  (Alessandria), Alessandro Bianco (Fiorentina), Giuseppe Leone (Juventus), Alessandro Cortinovis (Atalanta), Franco Daryl Tongya Heubang (Olimpique Marsiglia);

Forwards: Daniel Maldini (Milan), Gaetano Pio Oristanio (Volendam), Gianmarco Cangiano  (Bologna), Nikola Sekulov (Juventus), Emanuele Pecorino (Juventus), Giuseppe Di Serio (Benevento), Nicolò Cudrig (Juventus).

Staff: Head Coach: Alberto Bollini; Delegation Head: Evaristo Beccalossi; Assistant Coach: Enrico Battisti; Fitness Coach: Marco Montini; Goalkeeping Coach: Graziano Vinti; Match Analyst: Francesco Donzella; Nutritionist: Cristian Petri; Doctors: Matteo Vitali, Luca Labianca and Emanuele Fabrizi; Physiotherapists: Tommaso Cannata and Andrea Cantera; Secretary: Guglielmo Cammino; PCO: Giulia Taccari.

Elite League participants: Poland, Italy, Romania, Portugal, Czech Republic, Germany, England, Norway.

Results and standings

2 September

Poland 0-2 Italy

Romania 2-1 Portugal

Czech Republic 0-2 Germany

6 September

Germany 1-1 Norway

England 6-1 Romania

7 September

Portugal 0-0 Poland

Standings: Germany 4 points, England, Italy, Romania 3, Portugal, Norway, Poland 1, Czech Republic 0