Italian younger national teams

second qualificatuion phase of the U19 tournament

Italy has a group with Latvia, Georgia and Ireland

The first game v Latvia fnished 4-1 for Italy U21

1-0 Italy - Perico (atalanta)
1-1 Latvia - Visnacovs
2-1 Italy - Pazzini (Atalanta)
3-1 Italy - Della Rocca (bologna)
4-1 Italy - Aquilani (roma)

Atalanta producing all our players again

UNDER 17 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS:

The European Championships, in Portugal from May 7th to the 17th, are under way for the Under 17 team coached by Antonio Rocca. The coach and twenty players (who will be cut down to 18 for the official list) are in training at the Sports Centre La Borghesiana and Monday, May 5th, they will leave for Portugal where they will play their first match on may 7th against Spain. The second match will be played on Friday, May 9th against England and the third match on Sunday, May 11th, against Israel.
England, Spain and Israel are the opponents of the Under 17 team in group B: in the other group, Portugal, Denmark, Austria and Hungary will play. The two teams that will advance to the finals will qualify for the FIFA Under 17 World Cup that will be held in Finland form August 13th to the 30th, 2003.
The Under 17 team coached by Antonio Rocca qualified for the final phase of the European Championships by winning 3-0 against Belgium, drawing 1-1 against Germany and winning 2-0 against Azerbaijan.

Here is the list of players called for Portugal:
Goalkeepers: Bindi (Arezzo), Virgili (Parma);
Defenders: Andreoli (Padova), Bagarollo (Padova), Marzoratti (Milan), Vitale (Pescara), Motta (Atalanta), Criscito (Genoa);
Midfielders: Bottone (Torino), Buffa (Parma), Bovo (Venezia), Formichetti (Lazio), Lazzari (Lodigiani), Morosini (Atalanta), Stucchi (Atalanta);
Forwards: Paolucci (Juventus), Pozzi (Cesena), Lupoli (Parma), Rossi (Parma), Morsia (Parma).

Watch out for:
Marzoratti
Vrigili
Pozzi
Motta

They are who ive heard are good, but I will be watching this tournament and will report ratings back to you

Im not your bro :tongue:

New defenders:

U20 defence

Cesare Bovo (Roma own him I think at Lecce)
Luca Franchini (Inter Primavera)
Daniele Gastaldello (Juve Primavera)
Felice Piccolo (Lucchese - owned by Juve I think)

U19 defence

Ferronetti (Roma primavera)
Mantovani (Torino Primavera)
Belotti (Atalanta primavera)
Chiellini (Livorno - I think owned by Juve or some big team)

U17 defence

Motta (Atalanta)
Marzoratti (Milan)
Andreoli (Padova)
Cristico (Genoa)

From them defences - Franchini and Gastaldello will likely be loaned out next season and we will see how they do. I think both could be in Serie A next season or hopefully anyway. Bovo may be another loaned out to a serie A club as hes been on loan in Serie B for 2 seasons now.

I heard them 3 are really impressive defenders

From the U19's Ive only heard of our very own Ferronetti and Ive heard he is very good, the U19 defence in general is pretty good so I guess they are

From the U17 Marzoratti is the next Nesta from what I hear. A Milan 16 year old who is a very cool defender. Motta is also supposedly a good right back in the making.

Under-17 team guide: Italy
Monday, 28 April 2003

Italy coach Antonio Rocca


Italy are one of the favourites going into the the UEFA European Under-17 Championship after an impressive qualifying campaign. However, they have been drawn in arguably the tougher of the two groups for the finals in Portugal, with Israel, England and Spain sure to offer stiff opposition.

THE COACH:
Antonio Rocca is a former Atalanta BC, Foggia Calcio and Varese FC midfield player. During his career he mostly played in Serie B, although he also had two seasons in Serie A with Atalanta in 1976/77 and 1977/78, collecting 53 appearances and scoring three goals. Rocca started working as a coach for the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in 1989.

Famous names
During his time as coach of the country's youth teams, Rocca has worked with several players who have gone on to make a real name for themselves, such as Juventus FC's Gianluigi Buffon and Marco Di Vaio, AC Milan's Alessandro Nesta and Massimo Ambrosini and AS Roma's Francesco Totti.

Third-time lucky?
Rocca has twice been a runner-up in youth championships - with the Under-18 side in 1995 in Athens (1-4 against Spain in the final) and with the Under-16 side in 1998 in Glasgow (1-2 against Republic of Ireland). He will be hoping it is third time lucky in Portugal.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Cesena Calcio's Nicola Pozzi and Atalanta BC's Marco Motta both scored three goals during the qualifying campaign. Motta is yet another product of Atalanta's youth academy, arguably the best in Italy. A strong and skilled defender, he can also play in midfield. Born in May 1986 he is dangerous in attack especially from set-pieces, having hit six goals in 15 matches with the national youth sides.

ROUTE TO THE FINALS:
Italy were among the most impressive qualifiers, winning five of their six qualifying matches while scoring 15 goals and conceding just two.

Hard-fought win
Drawn in Group 1 in the first qualifying round, Italy set out their stall early on with a 5-0 win against Andorra and a 2-0 success against Latvia. The final group game saw Rocca's side come from behind and earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Bulgaria to top the group - Gallaccio scoring the winner early in the second half.

Holding their nerve
In the second qualifying round, Italy saw off stern challenges from both Belgium and Germany to qualify for the finals. After beating the Belgians 3-0, Italy had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Germany which left the group up for grabs going into the final round of games. Italy held their nerve to beat Azerbaijan 2-0, with goals from Motta and Pozzi, while the Germans missed their chance by losing 2-1 against Belgium.

Italy youth honours:
UEFA European Under-16 Championship:
Winners 1987
Runners-up 1986, 1993, 1998
UEFA European Under-18 Championship:
Runners-up 1986, 1995, 1999

RF53 - Italy v Spain is on british Eurosport on wednesday and Italy v England on friday. Unfortunately Israel game isnt although I hope we get through this mighty hard group.

Italy team U17 main team:

Virgili
Motta Marzoratti Andreoli Cristico
Stucchi Bottone Morosini Bovo
Pozzi Paolucci

Not totally sure on that, just from what I know that is the team. Italy U17 miss two of their best players in Simonetta (Roma) and Gallaccio (Chelsea) unfortunately.

Anyone can really be chosen at this level though from this squad.

U19 beat N Iraleand 2-0

Pazzini 50'
Aquilani 90'

9 points from the 3 games and they qualify for the final phase of qualification.

Results:

Italy 4-1 Latvia
Italy 3-1 Georgia
Italy 2-0 N Ireland

Nice easy route through