Bollini’s squad for friendly double-header against Wales
03 October 2024
Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Just six more days to get ready and shape up ready to face the European Championship as reigning champions. The Under 19 national team will meet back up on Thursday 4 July for the second meeting in Bozen (after the one held in Alto Adige from 24 to 29 June) and will end on Tuesday 9. And to mark it, Bernardo Corradi will announce his official 20-man squad to feature in Northern Ireland in search of a historic repeat after victory one year ago in Malta; it is a feat, winning two consecutive UEFA Eurp Under-19 editions, that only Spain has achieved in the history of the competition (on two occasions, 2006/07 and 2011/12).
PAFUNDI AND CAMARDA. 27 players have been called up to this Bolzano training camp: those who participated in the previous one, as well as additions in Simone Pafundi and Francesco Camarda. For the Lausanne player, it is a return to the group after having been greatly influential in the qualifying stage (and after also having done the last training camp with Bollini's Under 20 national team at the beginning of June), while for the AC Milan striker - born in 2008 - the driving force in the Under 17s' European Championship triumph, and elected best player of the competition, today's call-up is the first with the Under-19 side the only player taken Corradi from the group that won in Cyprus.
EUROS AND 2025 WORLD CUP. The Azzurrini, having qualified for the Finals for the fifth consecutive time, the tenth in 20 editions (eighteenth out of thirty-eight if you include the previous Under-18 format) go into the competition as reigning champions, defending the title won last year. Placed in Group A with the hosts, Northern Ireland, Ukraine and Norway, they will start their campaign against the latter on Monday 15 July at 16:30 CEST at the Seaview Stadium in Belfast. The second match, scheduled for Thursday 18, will be against the Northern Irish (at 20:00 CEST at Inver Park in Larne), and to finish off a meeting with Ukraine on Sunday 21, again in Larne (20:00 CEST). The top two in each group will qualify for the semi-finals, scheduled for Thursday 25 July, as well as earning qualification to the Under-20 World Cup in Chile in 2025. The two third-placed teams, however, will face each other in a play-off, to be played again on Thursday 25, to determine the fifth European team that will qualify for Chile. The final in Belfast (which like the semi-finals will be played at the National Football Stadium in Windsor Park) will be on Sunday 28 at 20:00 CEST.
Squad list
Goalkeepers: Francesco Di Bartolo Zuccarello (Lommel), Federico Magro (Lazio), Renato Bellucci Marin (Roma);
Defenders: Davide Bartesaghi (Milan), Fabio Cristian Chiarodia (Borussia Monchengladbach), Christian Corradi (Hellas Verona), Giovanni Leoni (Sampdoria), Vittorio Magni (Milan), Filippo Calixte Mane (Borussia Dortmund), Filippo Pagnucco (Juventus);
Midfielders: Aaron Ciammaglichella (Torino), Luca Di Maggio (Inter), Jonas Harder (Fiorentina), Luca Lipani (Sassuolo), Mattia Mannini (Roma), Fabio Parravicini (Genoa), Marco Romano (Genoa), Jacopo Sardo (Lazio), Kevin Zeroli (Milan);
Forwards: Lorenzo Anghelè (Juventus), Alphadjo Cissé (Hellas Verona), Tommaso Ebone (Bologna), Seydou Fini (Standard Liege), Giulio Misitano (Roma), Diego Sia (Milan), Simone Pafundi (Lausanne), Francesco Camarda (Milan).
Staff - Coach: Bernardo Corradi; Coordinator: Maurizio Viscidi; Assistant coach: Mirco Gasparetto; Fitness coach: Marco Montini; Goalkeeping coach: Graziano Vinti; Match analyst: Francesco Donzella; Doctors: Sebastiano Porcino and Cristiano Benelli; Nutritionist: Micol Purrotti; Physiotherapists: Giuliano Gepponi and Andrea Cantera; Secretary: Aldo Blessich.
UEFA EURO UNDER-19
Group A: Northern Ireland (hosts), Norway, Italy (holders), Ukraine
Group B: Demark, Türkiye, France, Spain
MATCHDAY 1
Group A, Monday 15 July
Italy vs. Norway, 16:30 CEST | Seaview Stadium, Belfast
Northern Ireland vs. Ukraine, 20:00 CEST | Inver Park, Larne
Group B, Tuesday 16 July
Denmark vs. Spain, 16:30 CEST | Inver Park, Larne
France vs. Türkiye, 20:00 CEST | Seaview Stadium, Belfast
MATCHDAY 2
Group A, Thursday 18 July
Norway vs. Ukraine, 16:30 CEST | Seaview Stadium, Belfast
Northern Ireland vs. Italy, 20:00 CEST | Inver Park, Larne
Group B, Friday 19 July
Denmark vs. France, 16:30 CEST | Inver Park, Larne
Türkiye vs Spain, 20:00 CEST | Seaview Stadium, Belfast
MATCHDAY 3
Group A, Sunday 21 July
Norway vs. Northern Ireland, 20:00 CEST | Seaview Stadium, Belfast
Ukraine vs. Italy, 20:00 CEST | Inver Park, Larne
Group B, Monday 22 July
Türkiye vs. Denmark, 20:00 CEST | Seaview Stadium, Belfast
Spain vs. France, 20:00 CEST | Inver Park, Larne
WORLD CUP UNDER-20 PLAY OFF
Thursday 25 July
3rd in Group A vs. 3rd in Group B, 17:30 CEST | Seaview Stadium, Belfast
SEMI-FINALS*
Thursday 25 July
S1: Winner of Group A vs. 2nd in Group B
S2: Winner of Group B vs. 2nd in Group A
*The matches will be played at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park in Belfast at 15:00 and 20:00 CEST. The order of the semi-finals will be decided after the group stage.
FINAL
Sunday 28 July
S1 winner vs. S2 winner, 20:00 CEST | National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast