In 1991, Italy reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup held in China, the Azzurre’s best-ever finish in the competition. And on Tuesday 25 June, the Women’s National Team will try to equal that record by beating China in Montpellier (kick-off: 18:00 CEST). They’ll no doubt be tough opponents, with their 4-4-2 formation having served them well so far. Up to this point, they’ve only conceded one goal – this came in their opening match against Germany. It won’t be easy to get past the ‘Great Wall of China’, but the Azzurre will be looking to build on what they did during the group stage, where they finished first following wins against Australia and Jamaica despite being narrowly defeated by Brazil in their final game.

France, who managed to beat the Brazilians 2-1 after extra time yesterday evening, would no doubt have been a tougher obstacle to overcome, but China should certainly not be underestimated. Milena Bertolini is very much aware of this. The Italy Head Coach turns 53 today and received a surprise video message from her mum Eves to celebrate her birthday: “The present that I’d like for all of us is qualification,” Bertolini said during her press conference. “Finishing first in our group was hugely satisfying. We played well and also had a bit of luck, but the tight-knit nature of our team as a whole gave us something more in the moments where we were finding things difficult. A tough round of 16 tie awaits us, it will be a hard-fought and balanced match against a very strong side who are organised and well-prepared physically.”

The Stade de La Mosson, the arena which hosted the 3-0 win secured by Italy’s men’s side against Cameroon in 1998 thanks to Vieri’s brace and a goal from Gigi Di Biagio, will probably be completely sold out: the stadium has a capacity of 19,000 and 18,000 tickets have already been purchased. As always, the Head Coach, who expressed delight in Milan and Cortina being awarded the 2026 Winter Olympic Games (“I’m happy, it’s great news”), will wait until a few hours before kick-off before making any final decisions regarding the team: “China are a compact and tidy team, they’re the strongest side out of the teams who finished third during the group stage. As always, we’ll try to place emphasis on our qualities, both in our defensive work and our build-up play, with the aim of showing imagination in the process. This is something that is a bit of a particular feature of Italian football and one which our girls possess.”

Sara Gama was involved in the two friendlies the Azzurre played against China in Guiyang and Qujing in December 2015. The first match finished 1-1 and the second was won by the hosts in front of 30,000 spectators: “We’ve had several days to recharge our batteries,” said the Italy captain. “And this could make the difference. We’re feeling fired up and ready for tomorrow’s game and know that it’s time for the knockout ties, a different thing altogether. We’ll be facing a tough and organised side, they commit a lot of fouls and could try to unsettle us. We need to stay on our feet and be patient and clinical. If we put everything into it out on the pitch, we’re capable of continuing to clinch great results. We want to tackle this round of 16 tie head on and play on the front foot, just like we’ve always done.”