Two days to go until the Italy vs. Spain semi-final: on Wednesday 23 September at 15:00 CEST (live on Rai Sport), the Azzurrine will take to the field in Lodz for a match that could secure them a place in the Women’s U20 World Cup final. The other semi-final, from the bottom half of the draw, has also been decided following yesterday’s quarter-finals: North Korea, one of the favourites on the eve of the tournament and the reigning champions, will face Colombia. The South Americans are guaranteed to at least match their best-ever finish in the competition, which was fourth place in 2010. Of the four teams still in this stage of the World Cup, Italy are the only side reaching the Women’s U20 World Cup semi-finals for the first time.

“Let’s wish the girls good luck, they have been really good. Hopefully they can carry on…” The message comes from Italy, and specifically from Coverciano: during the opening press conference of the training camp, Italy men’s national team head coach Roberto Mancini took the opportunity to send a message of support to Matteucci’s team.

The Women’s U20 group returned to Lodz yesterday and are continuing their preparations for this highly anticipated clash with their Spanish counterparts. But how do you prepare for a match of this magnitude against an opponent who, before the tournament, was considered one of the leading contenders for the trophy and who have so far lived up to those expectations? Erika Lisi, Matteucci’s assistant coach and right-hand woman, explains.

“Under the coach’s guidance, we divide up the work before the training camps. For example, I looked at the opponent’s defensive set-pieces to understand how they defend, and then combined that information with the match analyst, Alessandro (Rossi, ed.), to develop the routines we will use offensively. We study how to exploit their weaknesses. Mattia (Volpi, ed.), the goalkeeper coach, focuses mainly on the defensive side of set-pieces, studying how the opposition attack them so that he can position the defence in the best possible way according to the needs and ideas he has for the goalkeepers. That covers set-pieces; in terms of our overall game structure, the match analyst and I look at how the opponent builds from the back and how they press, so that we can support the coach in preparing for the match. Everything is then condensed into a selection of video clips that we show the girls, giving them an idea of the opponent we will face and how we will look to counter them.”

Then there is the work of the rest of the staff, without forgetting methodologist Fabio Andolfo and the coordinator of the Women’s Youth National Teams, Enrico Sbardella, as well as the entire medical department, including the specialists affectionately known as the ‘docs’: Michela Cammarano, Andrea Gattelli (formerly) and Alessandro Carducci (from tomorrow), together with physiotherapists Marco Fiore and Eugenio Zarcone. The team’s performance department is made up of two fitness coaches and a nutritionist. Vincenzo Piermatteo, also known as ‘prof’ alongside Lorenzo Corsi, the two fitness coaches nicknamed with a mixture of affection and respect, explains, “nutrition and sleep quality are fundamental to allowing the girls to perform at their best on the pitch. That’s why we always coordinate with our nutritionist, Flavio Valletta, to establish the best timings between meals, especially on matchday. These are all essential elements for ensuring performance during the game and recovery afterwards.”

Recovery is a decisive factor between one match and the next, especially in a competition like this, where there are very few days available between games. And sometimes they even go to extra time…

“Our main focus is ensuring that the players, including those who have played the most minutes, can continue to perform in the following matches. As mentioned, the time between games is extremely limited. So we use both active recovery methods, such as mobility exercises, pool work and foam rolling, and passive recovery activities such as cryotherapy, cryosauna and sauna. Then there are all the treatments provided by our therapists.

“One particular case is the work we have carried out with Sofia Testa. After the opening World Cup match against the United States, she suffered a muscle problem that prevented her from playing again. Throughout this period, the aim has been to get her back for these final and decisive World Cup matches. Thanks to our collaboration with Ternana’s performance department, we identified exercises she was used to, so as not to place any additional strain on her muscles. These were general training activities designed to allow her to maintain a consistent level of fitness. She returned to on-field training separately during the final session before the match against South Korea. Today we will see how she responds to more specific stimuli with the team, while continuing to limit her involvement in certain activities.”

In short, the work continues and remains constant. The staff are a team within the team, studying and applying themselves just like the players on the pitch. But what does it mean to have four days between the match against South Korea and the semi-final against Spain, compared with the three-day gap throughout the rest of the schedule? “There’s a big difference,” concludes Vincenzo Piermatteo. “There are 24 additional hours. That means we can manage the workload much better, intervening in a far more targeted way wherever there is a need to differentiate active recovery or, especially, passive recovery. We can help all the girls get rid of the effects of the match more easily, using all the resources available to us, from cryotherapy to massages.”

The work and preparation continue, with the aim of putting the players in the best possible condition for a match that Italy have never played at this level before: a World Cup semi-final.

 

The semi-final schedule

Wednesday 23 September

15:00 CEST, Italy vs. Spain (live on Rai Sport)

18:30 CEST, North Korea vs. Colombia (live on Rai Sport)

 

The squad selected for the World Cup

Goalkeepers: Elena Belli (Inter), Erica Di Nallo (Vicenza), Lavinia Tornaghi (AC Milan);

Defenders: Martina Bressan (Inter), Martina Cocino (Aarau), Lidia Consolini (Inter), Azzurra Gallo (Tolosa), Emma Lombardi (Fiorentina), Martina Tosello (Cesena), Caterina Venturelli (Sassuolo);

Midfielders: Giada Catena (Res Donna Roma), Maya Cherubini (Fiorentina), Paola Fadda (Sassuolo), Gabriella Langella (Napoli Women), Sofia Testa (Ternana Women), Marta Zamboni (Como Women);

Forwards: Karen Appiah (Cesena), Giulia Galli (Barcellona), Giada Pellegrino Cimò (Roma), Manuela Sciabica (Lazio), Rosanna Ventriglia (Ternana Women).

Staff – Head coach: Nicola Matteucci; methodologist: Fabio Andolfo; assistant coach: Erika Lisi; goalkeeper coach: Mattia Volpi; fitness coaches: Lorenzo Corsi and Vincenzo Piermatteo; match analyst: Alessandro Rossi; doctors: Michela Cammarano and Alessandro Carducci; physiotherapists: Marco Fiore and Eugenio Zarcone; nutritionist: Vito Flavio Valletta; secretary: Aurora Leo.