A special surprise with powerful symbolic meaning, bridging Italy Women’s recent successes with their immediate future at EURO 2025. This morning, former captain Sara Gama met with the 34 players currently taking part in the training camp at Coverciano ahead of the 14th edition of the tournament. Her visit was warmly welcomed by Head Coach Andrea Soncin (“she’s been a key figure for me and for all of us,” he said), the staff and the whole group.

The former defender, who sits fourth in Italy’s all-time appearance ranking (140 caps, behind only Panico, Zorri and Morace), wore the Azzurre shirt at four European Championships and the 2019 World Cup, a tournament that helped reignite interest in the women’s game in Italy. Gama came to offer encouragement and a heartfelt good luck to her former teammates. For Andrea Soncin, her presence on the penultimate day of camp was a deliberate move to reinforce the “magical atmosphere” (the Head Coach’s words) that surrounds the team, fresh from last night’s outdoor screening – on the pitch at the CTF – of the film documenting their path to EURO 2025. The film is now available on Vivo Azzurro TV, where the three-part docuseries ‘Le Azzurre Siamo Noi’ will also launch on Thursday.

Sara Gama returned to Coverciano just over a month after her farewell to football (in front of 15,000 fans at the Juventus Stadium), offering inspiration and support as the Azzurre prepare to set off on their EURO 2025 journey. Tomorrow afternoon, the final 23-player squad list for EURO 2025 will be officially announced. The team will then gather in Rome on Friday for their official photo before departing for Zurich. From there, they’ll travel to Weggis, a municipality with around 5000 inhabitants in the canton of Lucerne, which will serve as the team’s base camp throughout their stay in Switzerland.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Rachele Baldi (Inter), Francesca Durante (Fiorentina), Astrid Gilardi (Como), Laura Giuliani (AC Milan);

Defenders: Valentina Bergamaschi (Juventus), Lisa Boattin (Juventus), Lucia Di Guglielmo (Roma), Maria Luisa Filangeri (Fiorentina), Martina Lenzini (Juventus), Elena Linari (Roma), Beatrice Merlo (Inter), Elisabetta Oliviero (Lazio), Julie Piga (Milan), Martina Rosucci (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus);

Midfielders: Arianna Caruso (Bayern Munich), Aurora Galli (Everton), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Eleonora Goldoni (Lazio), Giada Greggi (Roma), Eva Schatzer (Juventus), Annamaria Serturini (Inter), Emma Severini (Fiorentina), Flaminia Simonetti (Lazio), Martina Tomaselli (Inter);

Forwards: Chiara Beccari (Juventus), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus), Agnese Bonfantini (Fiorentina), Michela Cambiaghi (Inter), Sofia Cantore (Juventus), Valentina Giacinti (Roma), Cristiana Girelli (Juventus), Margherita Monnecchi (Eibar), Martina Piemonte (Lazio).