‘Espoirs’ the team of Johan Walem is currently busy in Euro U21 tournament final stage preparation. The final stage of the tournament will take place in the month of June and will be held in Italy. This is really an important moment because the team of Belgium has not come so far in the championship after 2007. This positively can see them to qualifying for the upcoming Olympic Games that will take place in Tokyo.
Nicolo Zaniolo has been able to emerge as a key player for Roma in the 2018-19 campaign. The 19-year-old was first spotted with Virtus Entella in 2016. From there, he started making a lot of impression amongst the top clubs and this led to the move to Inter Milan in 2017. However, the decision to switch to San Siro was not fruitful for the player, who do not make an appearance with the Nerazzurri and ended up leaving the club just after a year. Roma grabbed him for around €4.5 million and the faith in the player also made them insert a 25% resell clause.
Sampdoria striker Fabio Quagliarella has been a player reborn in the last few months, as he has been scoring goals for fun. Interestingly, the striker is at the tail end of his career at 36 years of age. The incredible form shown by the forward in the 2018-19 Italian Serie A campaign has not only seen him go toe-to-toe with Cristiano Ronaldo for the Golden Boot title but it has also resulted in the striker being an impressive choice for the Italian national team ahead of Euro 2020 qualifiers. Italy have two major qualifying matches coming up in March and Roberto Mancini has decided to include Quagliarella much to the surprise of fans.
Minnesota United on Sunday announce the signing of formal Italy u21 international, goalkeeper Vito Mannone on a season-long loan from English Championship side Reading. The 30-year-old who once represented Arsenal was expected to supplant Bobby Shuttleworth as the Loons’ No. 1, and allow No. 7 overall pick in the Major League Soccer (MLS) 2019 SuperDraft and national champion at University of Maryland Dayne St. Clair to potentially go out on loan in search of first- team minutes.
Aidy Boothroyd has admitted that he would have been more than happy to pay for a ticket in order to watch England defeat Italy in U21s. A Dominic Solanke had proven to be enough help for the Young Lions to get a 2-1 win in the game in Ferrara in first preparation games of England for the summer’s Euro Finals to take place in Italy.
Stephen Kenny has been handed a difficult group with regards to the euro qualifiers since the Republic of Ireland under 21 team will be placed alongside the Italy under 21s and the Swedish under 21 team. Kenny has been placed as the successor for Mick McCarthy for the senior managerial post in 2020, but he will be gaining ground as the under 21 manager for most of the campaign. The former Dundalk manager will also be preparing his team to take on the likes of Armenia, Iceland, and Luxembourg in the qualifying group. Kenny replaces Noel King after an incredibly successful in his time at Irish domestic football.
Belgium were able to overcome Italy under-21s with a solitary goal in the latest friendly match between the two teams. Italy came into the game after having lost only once in 2018 and this was a narrow 3-2 loss against Portugal back in May. After having drawn against the likes of France and beaten the likes of Albania, there was enough reason to expect a positive result for Italy U21 team. Franciz Amuzu, though, came up with the only goal of the game that helped Belgium to a narrow victory while Italy came closest through Luca Valzania, who hit the woodwork.
Italy under 21 coach Luigi Di Biagio stated that the young players are currently not getting enough playing time. He said that at this age you need to be playing regularly but he is disappointed that his players are not getting enough experience.
Luigi Di Biagio said that he does not know the exact reason why this has happened and that he does not want to blame the coaches and the clubs but he is merely stating what has happened.
As a coach he wants his players to get enough playing time and that he wants to see clubs giving youth players a chance. He believes that this is a situation that the football federation should pay attention to if they want the Italian football team to progress.
He said that it has been a long time since the Italian football team has produced some world-class players and that there need to be some changes at the grassroots level if you want the level of football to rise.
Luigi Di Biagio said that no amount of training will replace a competitive game and that the young players should get a taste of pressure in order to develop. He believes that there are some good players at in the Italy U21 team but they are not being developed adequately once they leave the national team.
He said that this is one of the reasons why the Italian national team is suffering and that there need to be some changes at this level.
Italy U21 team coach Luigi Di Biagio said that he is happy with the current team and that there is no doubt that there is some great talent in the squad. He said that these players need the proper training so as to develop and that it is important that you do not rush them at their age.
He said that the major problem that you face as a national team coach is that you do not have a lot of time to spend with the players and that you will have to make the most of the short international break.
He believes that Italy has some good players at the U21 level and that he is sure that they will develop in a strong team. He said that it has been a disappointment for the Italy fans to miss the current World Cup and he will be hoping that his current U21 team will develop and provide a good pool of talents for the next Euros and World Cup.
Luigi Di Biagio said that it is important that the Italy federation provide the necessary support for the players at the grassroots level and that clubs continue to encourage the development of young players. He said that it is only then that Italy will be able to build a team that will allow them to challenge the top countries when it comes to international trophies.
Luigi Di Biagio said that the U21 players are all motivated and determined to show what they can do in order to win games.
Italy would not be playing in the World Cup next year – the first time they will fail to qualify for the World Cup in sixty years. The Italians lost their spot to Sweden in the playoff as they could not crack their opponents.
Aside the failure to qualify, the Azzurris have other problems. One of which is aging in the team when the next World Cup comes around. The squad members would be advanced in age so the team would need to scout for fresher talents and integrate them.
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