Italy forward Sebastian Giovinco believes his side’s main strength at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship will be the fact “there is not one single leader but many potential leaders” within the Azzurrini team.

‘Fantastic group’
The Juventus player may be only 1.64m tall, but he is one of the most influential in Pierluigi Casiraghi’s squad and trusts that a number of his team-mates share his leadership qualities. “This group is fantastic – we are all very united, both the players who have been here for a long time and those who joined the group later,” he said. “There is not one single leader but many potential leaders with talent and experience. This can be a huge advantage in the long run.”

‘Ambition’
The immediate challenge comes from Serbia, who defeated Italy in their opening game at the 2007 championship, and will provide formidable opposition when they meet again in Group A in Helsingborg on Tuesday. “It’s very important to start well in tournaments like this,” Giovinco said. “In our last friendly [a 4-0 win against Denmark last Tuesday] we could see there was still room for improvement in terms of our understanding up front, so we have worked hard on that and I think we’ve improved. Serbia’s attackers are very dangerous but we can’t hide our ambition to go all the way in this tournament.”

Deeper role
Giovinco is expected to begin on the left side of a three-pronged forward line also including Mario Balotelli and Robert Acquafresca. Against Denmark, however, he often dropped into a deeper, more central position just behind the other two strikers. “That is my favourite role, the one where I can best use my skills,” said the No10, who returned to Juventus this season having spent the previous campaign on loan at Empoli FC. “We tried that system against Denmark and could repeat it during the tournament.”

Balotelli praise
Italy are without Giuseppe Rossi who has been called up to the senior squad for the FIFA Confederations Cup, yet Giovinco is optimistic that with Balotelli in the lineup the Azzurrini “can cope well with Rossi’s absence”. Balotelli made an instant impact with the U21s after being awarded Italian citizenship last August, scoring against Greece in the qualifying group before adding two more in their play-off against Israel. “He has fit well into the team,” Giovinco said. “Everybody knows he is a particular character, but I’m sure even that will improve with time.”

Free-kick specialists
The FC Internazionale Milano attacker scored a superb free-kick against Denmark, and Giovinco, usually the side’s main dead-ball specialist, is happy to share responsibility should Balotelli continue to produce such spectacular results. “We will not argue over taking free-kicks,” Giovinco said. “We will decide every time we get one. It’s good to have more than one free-kick specialist. It makes things more difficult and unpredictable for goalkeepers. Set-pieces are very important in modern football.”

The record winners of the Under- 21 Championships, Italy have endured a difficult time at the tournament in recent seasons failing to make the knock-out stages since claiming victory in 2004. Walter Townsend assesses whether this crop can improve Italy’s recent luck.

Historically the Italians are the team to beat at the Under-21 Championships.  They have a record five titles to their name, all claimed since 1990, including three straight wins in the early part of the last decade.  Their winning record totally dwarfs that of any other country at this level; with Spain, England, Holland and the USSR the next best with two wins apiece  Furthermore they are the only country to have played in every tournament since its format was revised back in 2000 – that’s six straight qualifications.

Yet despite this impressive record, since claiming the first prize in Germany in 2004 they haven’t been past the group stage, not what the Italian FA has grown accustomed to.  Two years ago in Holland they were reduced to competing in a play-off with Portugal for the right to play in the Olympics after they managed only third in the group.

This blip in form may be accounted for by the nature of some of the squads selected to participate in the 2006 and 2007 tournament with well-established individuals being called up rather than young hungry players.  This year the Italian FA has put together a team blending experience with youthful enthusiasm in an attempt to re-establish Italy at the pinnacle of the youth game in Europe.

Their record in bringing through youngsters from the side known as the Little Blues, in reference to the senior squad known in Italian simply as the Blues, is also arguably the best in Europe.  Numerous current household names have made a name for themselves in recent victorious sides including Fabio Cannavaro in 1996, Andrea Pirlo in 2000 and Alberto Gilardino in 2004.

Whilst recent squads may have struggled to live up to some of the great teams of the past, there’s plenty to get excited about for Italy in 2009.  A number of this 23-man squad won the prestigious Toulon Youth Tournament last summer, with nine of this team involved 12 months previously.  Therefore the pressure is on this group to carry on that winning streak and show they have enough talent to rank amongst some of the great U21 Italian teams down the ages.

Path to qualification

Under the guidance of novice manager Pierluigi Casraghi, the former Lazio and Chelsea striker, Italy came out of a tough looking Group 1 in qualification beating Croatia to top spot by two points thanks to a 2-0 win at home over their Croat counterparts early in qualification.  It was a margin they would maintain for the rest of the qualifying despite pressure coming from both Croatia and Greece.  Italy, along with England and Spain, remained unbeaten in the qualification, although they couldn’t emulate Spain’s unblemished record by posting three draws along with their seven wins.

After topping the group they were drawn with Israel in the play-offs, where they were held at home to a 0-0 draw.  However, like many of the teams at Sweden this year, they responded well to adversity in the second leg by going to Israel and winning 3-1 to claim their spot in the finals.  A brace from Inter hotshot Mario Balotelli and a third from Ignazio Abate proving enough to prevent Israel from appearing at their second consecutive finals.

Squad

Like Germany, the entire Italian squad is made up of players from within the country, although unlike their German counterparts many are yet to make themselves first team regulars with their club sides.  There’s also a surprising number of players drafted in from Serie B with the like of Piermario Morosini from Vicenza and Alberto Paloschi from Parma.  Whilst it’s hard to draw a certain conclusion from this fact, it may be an indication of just how difficult it is for Italian youngsters to make their mark on Serie A currently.

The main omissions are due to call-ups to the senior squad.  Villarreal’s Giuseppe Rossi scored three goals in qualification, but on the verges of the national team he has been included in the squad for the Confederations Cup, which like Spain, Italy are playing in at the same time.  More surprising is the loss of 18-year-old Inter defender Davide Santon, who has been fast-tracked into the senior squad after his excellent debut season for the Serie A champions.

The defence is marshalled by Domenico Criscito and Marco Motta, both of whom are strong imposing defenders and two of the brightest defensive Italian prospects.  The midfield has a number of potential stars in it including the Juventus pair of Claudio Marchiso and Sebastian Giovinco.  Both have impressed when given the chance to shine in the colours of the Old Lady, whilst the best known player in attack is Inter forward Mario Balotelli, who has already been given plenty of playing time this season in club colours.

Full Squad:

Goalkeepers: Andrea Consigli (Atalanta), Salvatore Sirigu (Cagliari), Andrea Seculin (Fiorentina).

Defenders: Marco Andreolli (Sassuolo), Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Paolo De Ceglie (Juventus), Lino Marzoratti (Empoli), Marco Motta (AS Roma), Francesco Pisano (Cagliari), Andrea Ranocchia (Bari).

Midfielders: Ignazio Abate (Torino), Antonio Candreva (Livorno), Alessio Cerci (Atalanta), Luca Cigarini (Atalanta), Daniele Dessena (Sampdoria), Sebastian Giovinco (Juventus), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Piermario Morosini (Vicenza), Andrea Poli (Sassuolo).

Forwards: Robert Acquafresca (Cagliari), Mario Balotelli (Inter Milan), Alberto Paloschi (Parma).

Players to watch

Despite being small in stature Juventus’ Sebastian Giovinco could make this tournament the one where he springs to the attention of the wider football world.  An outstanding Toulon Tournament for Italy, where he was named Most Valuable Player and contributed notably to Italy’s success in the final, served notice of his potential.  When given the chance to get on the ball Giovinco is not only comfortable feeding in strikers from the hole, but also intelligent enough to get forward and score himself from deep.

Top scorer in qualifying Robert Acquafresca outshone his better known team-mate Mario Balotelli.  The Cagliari striker may be rivalling Balotelli for a place in the Inter first line next season as he remains under contract at the San Siro, but has been on loan in Sardinia for several seasons.  This season has been his breakthrough one as he hit 14 goals helping the traditional relegation candidates into a noteworthy mid-table position.  Noted for his outstanding technical ability including both his movement and his finishing, Acqufresca along with Balotelli is likely to form a partnership that will be a handful for any defence.

Fixtures

16th June – Serbia

19th June – Sweden

23rd June – Belarus
Prediction

After recent disappointments at Under 21 level Italy won’t be getting too carried away before the tournament has started.  Nevertheless in contrast to other teams that have been sent to the tournament there is an obvious desire to prove themselves that may have been absent from previous and better established teams that drew on more experienced individuals.  If Italy can combine the desire with the talent that potentially exists within the team qualification from the group stage should be assured.

Nevertheless this young side will have to avoid falling into the traditional Italian mould of starting a tournament slowly.  Playing the two strongest sides in the group first means that this young Italian side will have to be ready from the first match; a failure to do so may result in a fourth consecutive premature exit.