The Under-19 National Team is warming up for the European Championship that will take place between 14 and 27 July in Armenia. After replacing Federico Guidi in the role, Carmine Nunziata has called up 25 players for the training camp that will take place in Coverciano between 2 and 8 July. On Tuesday 9 July, the Coach will name a final squad of 20. The following day, the team will travel to Fiumicino before flying on Thursday 11 July to Yerevan.

The squad features a large number of underage players. Nine were born in 2001 (Russo, Armini, Gozzi Iweru, Fagioli, Greco, Riccardi, Petrelli, Piccoli, Salcedo) while the Hellas Verona defender Destiny Udogie was born in 2002 and it's his first Under-19 call-up after he played in the Under-17 European Championship finals in Ireland back in May.

The side will arrive in Armenia after excellently navigating the two phases of qualification. The first one which took place in Estonia in October saw Italy win all three against Estonia, Finland and Denmark. In the Elite Round in Padova in March, the Azzurrini drew 2-2 against Belgium in the first match before a 3-1 win over Ukraine and a 2-0 over Serbia.

In this tournament, Italy are in Group A alongside Portugal, hosts Armenia and Spain. The fixtures will be on 14, 17 and 20 July with the capital hosting them all. Matches will be at 21:00 local time (19:00 CEST). Group B consists of the Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland and France. The top two sides from each group will progress to the semi-finals on 24 July. The final will be on 27 July.

Carmine Nunziata didn’t hide his enthusiasm when speaking about what will be his second European Championship after finishing as runners-up with the Under-17s in Dublin. “It’s not an easy group,” warned the Coach. “There are quality teams in Portugal and Spain and Armenia will play with the support of the home crowd. This is normal when you get to the finals of a European Championship. We’re very enthusiastic and want to do well. We have a good and close-knit team, one that’s shown its technical ability and character all through qualification. As always, we’ll look to play as one of the main teams.”

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Simone Ghidotti (Fiorentina), Alessandro Russo (Genoa);

Defenders: Nicolò Armini (Lazio), Gabriele Bellodi (Milan), Antonio Candela (Genoa), Gabriele Corbo (Bologna), Niccolò Corrado (Inter), Gabriele Ferrarini (Fiorentina), Paolo Gozzi Iweru (Juventus), Destiny Udogie Iyenoma (Hellas Verona);

Midfielders: Salvatore Esposito (Spal), Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), Lorenzo Gavioli (Inter), Jean Freddi Greco (Torino), Hans Nicolussi Caviglia (Juventus), Manolo Portanova (Juventus), Alessio Riccardi (Roma), Samuele Ricci ( Empoli);

Forwards: Davide Merola (Intern), Vincenzo Millico (Torino), Elia Petrelli (Juventus), Roberto Piccoli (Atalanta), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo), Eddie Anthony Salcedo Mora (Inter).

Staff: Delegation Head, Evaristo Beccalossi; National Youth Team Coordinator, Maurizio Viscidi; Coach, Carmine Nunziata; Assistant Coach, Mirco Gasparetto; Secretary, Aldo Blessich; Fitness Coach, Luca Coppari; Goalkeeping Coach, Graziano Vinti; Doctor, Vincenzo Santoriello; Physiotherapist, Giuseppe Galli.

European Championship Groups

Group A: Armenia, ITALY,  Portugal and Spain

Group B: Republic of Ireland, France,  Norway and Czech Republic

 

Italy’s Schedule

Sunday 14 July: Italy vs. Portugal (21:00 local time, 19:00 CEST, Banants Stadium, Yerevan)

Wednesday 17 July: Armenia vs. Italy (21:00 local time, 19:00 CEST, Republican Stadium, Yerevan)

Saturday 20 July: Italy vs. Spain (21:00 local time, 19:00 CEST, FFA Academy Stadium, Yerevan