U19: Looking for qualification against Poland. Bollini: "To win, we'll need to be clever and patience"
The Azzurrini face the tournament hosts tomorrow in Gdynia (14:00 CEST) in a game that will decide their fste for passage through to Round 2 or not. After the defeat to Estonia, the win over Bosnia and Herzegovina has given the group a lift. The Head Coach: "In the second game, I saw the right reaction, the squad are feeling good and believe"Monday, September 26, 2022
The victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday has kept the Under-19 side's Euro qualification hopes alive and kicking. With just tomorrow's game remaining, against Poland in Gdynia at 14:00 CEST, Alberto Bollini's will be looking for three points to earn them their ticket for the Elite stages.
Poland have won their opening two matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Estonia, who are on the same points as Italy but have the advantage of a better head-head record. For this reason, Italy must achieve a better result than the Estonians to go through: a draw may be enough against Poland if Bosnia beat Estonia. If Estonia win, though, Italy would need to beat Poland by two clear goals. If this were to happen then three teams would be on six points therefore goal difference would become the deciding factor in the head-head games, and Poland and Estonia have both won their games 2-0 to teams already faced.
But, other than the top two teams in each of the 13 groups, also the best third-placed team qualifies for the Elite Round (counting only the results against the top two teams in the group). Italy's mission is complicated but not impossible with Bollini's side working hard to be ready fo the decisive match: "Experience has taught me that in these types of situations, the more we stay together as a group, the better, especially performance-wise," explained the Head Coach. "This is a group that unfortunately missed the European Under-17s and many international windows because of COVID, but they have come together during the camp. The first game drained us in terms of the psychological and physical aspects, also because of the result, but against Bosnia I saw the reaction I wanted. Now, we face the strongest team in the group with several players already playing in the Polish top flight, so we need to be clever, play intelligently, and above all not lose."
Group 5: Schedule, results and standings
Matchday 1 (21 September)
ITALY-Estonia 0-2
Poland-Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0
Matchday 2 (24 September)
Bosnia and Herzegovina-ITALY 2-3
Poland-Estonia 2-0
Standings: Poland (6pts), Estonia and ITALY (3), Bosnia and Herzegovina (0).
Matchday 3 (27 September)
14:00 CEST: Poland-ITALY (Gdynia)
14:00 CEST: Estonia-Bosnia and Herzegovina
