Hard training, full focus, plenty of sweat – but also lots of smiles. At the CPO in Tirrenia, which has become their home base, the U21s are wrapping up their preparations for the European Championship finals. The players’ bags are packed: tomorrow, the Azzurrini are heading off to Slovakia, where they’ll play their opening match of the tournament in Trnava, a town about 50 kilometres from Bratislava. Their first match will be against Romania, after which they’ll take on hosts Slovakia and then Spain. The latter hold the joint record for the most U21 European titles (five – the same as Italy) and are one of the favourites to win the tournament.

A WORLDLY TALENT. Carmine Nunziata has plenty of options at his disposal, and one of them is Luca Koleosho, who is fresh off helping Burnley get promoted to the Premier League and ready for his first European Under-21 Championship. Born in the United States, in Norwalk, Connecticut, to a Nigerian father and an Italian-Canadian mother, the winger holds four passports and speaks three languages: Italian, English and Spanish. He developed in Spain as part of Espanyol’s youth setup and made his La Liga debut at just 17. He moved to England in the summer of 2023, joining Burnley. There, he experienced the disappointment of relegation but then the joy of bouncing back to the Premier League. Quick and unpredictable, skilled at beating defenders and creating overloads, he’s already made a mark during these early days of camp, scoring twice in Thursday’s in-house friendly against the Under-20s. However, he’s yet to score in an official Under-21 match: “My biggest strength is my dribbling ability,” he told the FIGC website. “But I know I need to improve in many areas, like my final pass and finishing. I’d love to score my first goals in Slovakia and help the team win the European Championship.”

LEARNING FROM NEYMAR AND MESSI.
His love for football started as he watched Barcelona and Real Madrid games on TV with his mum, Melissa, and dad, David, who’ll be his biggest supporters in Slovakia: “As a kid, I played both American football and football. My idols were Ronaldo ‘O Fenômeno’, Neymar and Messi. At the moment, I’m not quite at their level,” he smiled. After a few youth appearances for the USA and a couple of training camps with Canada’s senior side, he pulled on the Italy shirt for the first time in March 2023. There was no looking back. Just a few months later, he helped the U19s win the European Championship under Alberto Bollini: “I’m proud to wear this shirt – it’s a huge honour. Malta was an amazing experience, and now I’d love to make it two out of two by winning the European Under-21 Championship.” Pisilli, Kayode and Ndour were also part of that U19 squad, and, along with Gnonto and Doumbia, they’re the players he’s been spending most of his time with in camp: “In my downtime, I like playing basketball and listening to music – mainly rap, soul and afrobeat. I’m also into gaming, especially Call of Duty and Fortnite.” However, he’s not a huge fan of football video games: “The real thing’s better.”

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP SQUAD NUMBERS

Goalkeepers: 1 Sebastiano Desplanches (Palermo), 22 Jacopo Sassi (Crotone), 12 Gioele Zacchi (Latina);

Defenders: *15 Diego Coppola (Hellas Verona), 6 Daniele Ghilardi (Hellas Verona), 19 Gabriele Guarino (Carrarese), 13 Michael Kayode (Brentford), 5 Lorenzo Pirola (Olympiacos), 3 Matteo Ruggeri (Atalanta), 16 Riccardo Turicchia (Juventus), 2 Mattia Zanotti (Lugano);

Midfielders: 23 Alessandro Bianco (Monza), *8 Cesare Casadei (Torino), 18 Issa Doumbia (Venezia), 14 Giovanni Fabbian (Bologna), 21 Jacopo Fazzini (Empoli), 7 Cher Ndour (Fiorentina), 20 Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), 4 Matteo Prati (Cagliari);

Forwards: 9 Giuseppe Ambrosino (Frosinone), 11 Tommaso Baldanzi (Roma), 10 Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds United), 17 Luca Koleosho (Burnley).

*will join up with the group on 10 June, after the senior team’s fixtures

Staff – Head Coach: Carmine Nunziata; Delegation Head: Giancarlo Antognoni; Coordinator of the Men’s National Youth Teams: Maurizio Viscidi; Team Manager: Gianfranco Serioli; Assistant Coaches: Matteo Brighi and Christian Maggio; Fitness Coaches: Vito Azzone and Luca Coppari; Goalkeeping Coach: Fabrizio Ferron; Match Analyst: Gianluca Mazziotti; Doctors: Daniele Mazza and Vincenzo Santoriello; Nutritionist: Maria Luisa Cravana; Physiotherapists: Tommaso Cannata, Giuliano Gepponi and Nicola Sanna; Secretary: Manfredi Martino.