European Football Championship 2016 / Italy

This article covers the Italian national team at the 2016 European Football Championship in France . For Italy it was the ninth participation and since 1996 Italy has been participating continuously.

qualification

Graziano Pellè , Italy's top scorer in qualifying, in the match against Azerbaijan on October 10, 2015

Italy completed the qualification for the European Championship in Group H . After the preliminary round at the 2014 World Cup , Antonio Conte , with whom Italy had reached the European Championship final as a player for the last time in 2000, took over the post of national coach. The Italians won the first three games, but then only scored 1-1 in the home game against the Croatians with equal points and only shared points in the following away games in Bulgaria and Croatia. However, as a swastika was engraved in the grass during the Croatian game against Italy, UEFA withdrew the point from the Croatians. With four wins in the following games, Italy secured participation in the European Championship and group victory, in particular by beating Norway in the last game, which therefore missed the European Championship. Since the Croatians had previously lost in Norway, the Italians had four points ahead of the Croatians in the end, who also qualified in second, while the Norwegians failed in the playoffs of the group third. The Italians did not achieve spectacular results, they won three times 1-0 and only in the second game against Azerbaijan they scored more than two goals. Conte used a total of 34 players, of which only Matteo Darmian was used in all ten games. Ten players were able to enter the goalscorer list, as top scorer Graziano Pellè with three goals, who scored the only goal in his first international match and also in the second match against Malta. Giorgio Chiellini also scored three goals - all in one game - including an own goal . In addition to Pellè, who also scored the last goal in qualifying, Roberto Soriano and Éder , who scored the 2-2 equalizer in Bulgaria with his first international goal, came to their first international match during qualifying . In contrast, Daniele De Rossi made his 100th international match in the first game against Croatia and Gianluigi Buffon made his 150th international match in the second game against Bulgaria.

In the FIFA world rankings , the Italians, who fell to 14th place after the World Cup preliminary round, only managed to improve by one place during qualifying.

Games

All results from an Italian perspective.

date	Venue	opponent	Result	Goal scorers
09/09/2014	Ullevaal Stadium , Oslo ( NOR )	Norway	2: 0 (1: 0)	1-0 Simone Zaza (16th), 2-0 Leonardo Bonucci (62nd)
10/10/2014	Stadio Renzo Barbera , Palermo	Azerbaijan	2: 1 (1: 0)	1: 0, 1: 1, 2: 1 Giorgio Chiellini (44th, 76th / own goal, 82nd)
October 13, 2014	Ta 'Qali Stadium , Attard ( MLT )	Malta	1: 0 (1: 0)	1-0 Graziano Pellè (24th)
11/16/2014	Giuseppe Meazza Stadium , Milan	Croatia	1: 1 (1: 1)	1: 0 Antonio Candreva (11th), 1: 1 Ivan Perišić (15th)
03/28/2015	Vasil Levski National Stadium , Sofia ( BGR )	Bulgaria	2: 2 (2: 2)	1: 0 Jordan Minew (4th / own goal), 1: 1, Iwelin Popow (15th), 1: 2 Ilijan Mizanski (17th), 2: 2 Éder (84th)
06/12/2015	Poljud Stadium , Split ( HRV )	Croatia	1: 1 (1: 1)	0: 1 Mario Mandžukić (11th), 1: 1 Antonio Candreva (36th / penalty)
09/03/2015	Stadio Artemio Franchi , Florence	Malta	1: 0 (0: 0)	1-0 Graziano Pellè (69th)
09/06/2015	Stadio Renzo Barbera , Palermo	Bulgaria	1: 0 (1: 0)	1-0 Daniele De Rossi (6th / penalty)
10/10/2015	Tofiq Bəhramov Stadium , Baku ( AZE )	Azerbaijan	3: 1 (2: 1)	1: 0 Éder (11th), 1: 1 Dimitrij Nazarov (31st), 2: 1 Stephan El Shaarawy (43rd), Matteo Darmian (65th)
13/10/2015	Stadio Olimpico , Rome	Norway	2: 1 (0: 1)	0: 1 Alexander Tettey (23rd), 1: 1 Alessandro Florenzi (73rd), Graziano Pellè (82nd)

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Italy	10	7th	3	0	016: 700	+9	24
2.	Croatia	10	6th	3	1	020: 500	+15	20th
3.	Norway	10	6th	1	3	013:100	+3	19th
4th	Bulgaria	10	3	2	5	009:120	−3	11
5.	Azerbaijan	10	1	3	6th	007:180	−11	06th
6th	Malta	10	0	2	8th	003:160	−13	02
As of October 13, 2015

preparation

After the end of the qualification, the Italians lost 1: 3 in Brussels on November 13th against the new world number one Belgium , also remembering the victim of the Heysel disaster . Four days later, a 2-2 win in Bologna against European Championship participants Romania followed . On March 24, 2016, a 1-1 draw was achieved against European champions Spain in Udine , with two newcomers, Federico Bernardeschi and Jorginho . Five days later, Italy met world champions Germany in Munich and lost 4-1, making them the first time since 1995 to lose to the Germans - as high as only once before in 1939, when they lost 5-2. The 0: 4 fell through a penalty converted by Mesut Özil after an emergency brake by goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in the penalty area, for which he did not receive the red card as intended in the rules .

Preparations for the European Championship began with a training camp from May 18 to 21, in which players who were still in the cup finals did not take part. The squad for the European Championship was announced on May 23, but the final player list was not sent to UEFA until May 31. In the immediate preparation for the final round was played against two teams who could not qualify for the final round: Scotland on 29 May at the Ta 'Qali National Stadium of Malta with 1: 0 and Finland on June 6 in Verona 2 : 0 defeated. Stefano Sturaro made his first international match against Finland .

On March 15, 2016, the Italian federation announced that national coach Antonio Conte would not extend his contract after the Euro 2016.

Squad

On May 16, 2016, national coach Conte named the provisional squad of 28 players. Players from Juventus Turin and AC Milan , who contested the Italian Cup final on May 21, were not included. Players from Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United were also not available due to their participation in the respective national cup finals. Marco Benassi , Danilo Cataldi , Armando Izzo , Leonardo Pavoletti , Marco Sportiello , Lorenzo Tonelli and Davide Zappacosta were invited for the first time. Fabio Borini and Antonio Mirante were invited by Conte's predecessors, but now for the first time by him. On May 23, 2016, the provisional squad was increased to 30 players, with some players being replaced by players who were previously active for their clubs. The final roster was named on May 31.

Jersey no.	Surname	Date of birth	society	Games	Länderspiel- gates	debut	Last use	EM games
goalkeeper
01	Gianluigi Buffon	Jan. 28, 1978	Juventus Turin (I (M, P))	158	00	1997	June 13, 2016	3 (2004), 4 (2008), 6 (2012)	4th		1
13	Federico Marchetti	0Feb. 7, 1983	Lazio Rome (I)	011	00	2009	Oct 15, 2013
12	Salvatore Sirigu	Jan. 12, 1987	Paris Saint-Germain (I (M, P))	016	00	2010	0June 6, 2016	0 (2012)	1		1
Defense
15th	Andrea Barzagli	0May 8, 1981	Juventus Turin (I (M, P))	057	00	2004	June 13, 2016	1 (2008), 4 (2012)	5		1
19th	Leonardo Bonucci	0May 1, 1987	Juventus Turin (I (M, P))	058	03	2010	June 13, 2016	6 (2012)	5	1	1
03	Giorgio Chiellini	Aug 14, 1984	Juventus Turin (I (M, P))	085	06th	2004	June 13, 2016	3 (2008), 5 (2012)	4th	1	1
04th	Matteo Darmian	0Dec. 2, 1989	Manchester United (I (P))	023	01	2014	June 13, 2016		4th
02	Mattia De Sciglio	Oct. 20, 1992	AC Milan (I)	023	00	2013	June 13, 2016		4th		2
05	Angelo Ogbonna	May 23, 1988	West Ham United (I)	011	00	2011	0June 6, 2016	0 (2012)	1
midfield
21st	Federico Bernardeschi	Feb 16, 1994	AC Florence (I)	004th	00	2016	0June 6, 2016		1
06th	Antonio Candreva	Feb. 28, 1987	Lazio Rome (I)	039	04th	2009	June 13, 2016		2
16	Daniele De Rossi	July 24, 1983	AS Roma (I)	104	18th	2004	June 13, 2016	3 (2008), 6 (2012)	3		1
22nd	Stephan El Shaarawy	Oct 27, 1992	AS Roma (I)	019th	03	2012	0June 6, 2016		1
08th	Alessandro Florenzi	11th Mar 1991	AS Roma (I)	016	02	2012	May 29, 2016		4th
23	Emanuele Giaccherini	0May 5th 1985	FC Bologna (I)	026th	04th	2012	June 13, 2016	2 (2012)	4th	1	1
10	Thiago Motta	Aug 28, 1982	Paris Saint-Germain (I (M, P))	027	01	2011	June 13, 2016	5 (2012)	4th		2
18th	Marco Parolo	Jan 25, 1985	Lazio Rome (I)	021st	00	2011	June 13, 2016		4th		1
14th	Stefano Sturaro	09 Mar 1993	Juventus Turin (I (M, P))	001	00	2016	0June 6, 2016		3		1
attack
17th	Éder	Nov 15, 1986	Inter Milan (I)	011	02	2015	May 13, 2016		4th	1	1
11	Ciro Immobile	Feb. 20, 1990	FC Turin (I)	014th	01	2014	June 13, 2016		2
20th	Lorenzo Insigne	04th June 1991	SSC Naples (I)	009	02	2012	May 29, 2016		3		1
09	Graziano Pellè	July 15, 1985	Southampton FC (I)	014th	06th	2014	June 13, 2016		4th	2	2
07th	Simone Zaza	June 25, 1991	Juventus Turin (I (M, P))	011	01	2014	0June 6, 2016		3		1
Trainer
	Antonio Conte	July 31, 1969		20th	2	2014		3 (2000)	1

Players who were only in the provisional squad

position	Surname	Date of birth	society	Games	Länderspiel- gates	debut	Last use	EM games
goal	Antonio Mirante	0July 8, 1983	FC Bologna (I)	000	00
goal	Marco Sportiello	May 10, 1992	Atalanta Bergamo (I)	000	00
Defense	Francesco Acerbi	Aug 10, 1988	US Sassuolo Calcio (I)	002	00	2014	29 Mar 2016
Defense	Davide Astori	0Jan. 7, 1987	AC Florence (I)	011	01	2011	24 Mar 2016
Defense	Lorenzo De Silvestri	May 23, 1988	Sampdoria Genoa (I)	006th	00	2010	29 Mar 2016
Defense	Armando Izzo	02nd Mar 1992	CFC Genoa (I)	000	00
Defense	Lorenzo Tonelli	Jan. 17, 1990	FC Empoli (I)	000	00
Defense	Daniele Rugani	July 29, 1994	Juventus Turin (I (M, P))	000	00
Defense	Davide Zappacosta	June 11, 1992	FC Turin (I)	000	00
midfield	Marco Benassi	08 Sep 1994	FC Turin (I)	000	00
midfield	Giacomo Bonaventure	22 Aug 1989	AC Milan (I)	003	00	2013	May 29, 2016
midfield	Danilo Cataldi	0Aug 6, 1994	Lazio Rome (I)	000	00
midfield	Jorginho	Dec 20, 1991	SSC Naples (I)	002	00	2016	May 29, 2016
midfield	Riccardo Montolivo	Jan. 18, 1985	AC Milan (I)	062	02	2007	29 Mar 2016	4 (2012)
midfield	Roberto Soriano	0Feb 8, 1991	Sampdoria Genoa (I)	008th	00	2014	Nov 17, 2015
attack	Fabio Borini	29 Mar 1991	Sunderland AFC (I)	001	00	2012	Feb. 29, 2012	0 (2012)
attack	Leonardo Pavoletti	Nov. 26, 1988	CFC Genoa (I)	000	00

1. ↑ ^{a b} League status 2015/16 in brackets, M = champions, P = cup winners
2. ↑ ^{a b} Status: June 13, 2016
3. ↑ Status: Before the EM
4. ↑ ^{a b c} As a player
5. ↑ ^{a b} Status: May 29, 2016

Finals

Lyon Toulouse Lille Montpellier Saint-Denis (AF) Bordeaux (VF)

Venues (green = won, red = lost, black = not yet played), quarters (blue)

In the draw for the six final groups on December 12, 2015, Italy was only placed in Pot 2, so there was a risk that they would meet hosts France, defending champions Spain or world champions Germany in the group stage. Ultimately, they were drawn to Group E with the new world number leader Belgium, against whom they lost a friendly 3-1 a month before the draw. Ireland and Sweden were drawn as further opponents, so this group was seen as the most balanced. Italy has a positive record against all three. Against Belgium there were 13 wins and four draws and four defeats each in 21 games. The two met in the group stage in 2000 and Italy won 2-0 in Belgium and progressed to the final. Twenty years earlier, however, the Belgians blocked the Italians from reaching the finals at their home European championships, which they reached instead. Both then lost in the finals and the respective opponents (Germany and France) became European champions for the second time. The Italians played the last group game against Ireland at the last European Championship and won 2-0 against the Irish, who were still trained by Giovanni Trapattoni at the time . A year earlier, however, they had lost a friendly against Ireland 2-0 in Belgium . It was the second defeat against the Irish in 13 games - the Italians won eight times and three games ended in draws. Against the Swedes there were ten wins and six draws and six defeats each in 22 games, the last in June 1998, in the last test match before the 1998 World Cup. Both met in the group stage in 2000 and 2004, with one or the other team reached the knockout round.

In the first group game against slightly favored Belgians, they showed their best performance so far at the European Championship and won 2-0. After a 1-0 win against Sweden, they were the first group winners and then spared some regular players against Ireland, which had to win to reach the knockout round. They kept the 0-0 up to the 85th minute, then had to accept one goal. It was already clear beforehand that there would be a final revision against Spain in the round of 16, against which they have a balanced record with 10 wins and losses each, with 14 draws, but only lost two competitive games. The last win against the Spaniards was on August 10, 2011 in a friendly match, the last win in a competitive game in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup. Both will meet again in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. It is the sixth encounter at the European Championships - there have been no pairings more often. With an offensive strategy, the Italians were able to prevent the Spaniard's short passing game and took the lead in the 33rd minute after a free kick that the Spanish goalkeeper could only fend off by defender Giorgio Chiellini in the 33rd minute. Even after that, the Italians had better scoring chances. It was only in the second half, when the Italians had to pay tribute to their high efforts, that the Iberians got better into the game and in turn had scoring opportunities. But they couldn't use any of them and in stoppage time Graziano Pellè was able to increase to 2-0. In the quarter-finals, the Italians met world champions Germany and had to do without the suspended Thiago Motta and the injured Daniele De Rossi . In an even game with more possession for the German team, the Italians fell behind in the 65th minute, but were able to equalize 13 minutes later with a penalty converted by Leonardo Bonucci . Since no more goals were scored in regular time or in extra time, there was a penalty shoot-out. For the Italians it was the fifth penalty shoot-out at the European Championships, which makes them the sole record holder in this regard. But for the first time four Italians could not convert and so Italy was eliminated, although for the first time three German players could not convert. Thanks to the European Championship games, Italy moved up two places in the FIFA world rankings .

Group games

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Italy	3	2	0	1	003: 100	+2	06th
2.	Belgium	3	2	0	1	004: 200	+2	06th
3.	Ireland	3	1	1	1	002: 400	−2	04th
4th	Sweden	3	0	1	2	001: 300	−2	01

Mon., June 13, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Décines-Charpieu ( Lyon )
Belgium	-	Italy	0: 2 (0: 1)
Friday 17th June 2016 at 3:00 p.m. in Toulouse
Italy	-	Sweden	1: 0 (0: 0)
Wed., June 22, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Villeneuve-d'Ascq ( Lille )
Italy	-	Ireland	0: 1 (0: 0)

Knockout round

Round of 16 Monday, June 27, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. in Saint-Denis
Italy	-	Spain	2: 0 (1: 0)
Quarter-finals on Saturday, July 2nd, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Bordeaux
Germany	-	Italy	1: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 0: 0), 6: 5 i. E.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ uefa.com: "Debutante Pellè ensures Italy's victory in Malta"
2. ↑ uefa.com: "Italy is fighting down Azerbaijan"
3. ↑ FIFA World Ranking (August 14, 2014)
4. ↑ FIFA World Ranking (5th November 2015)
5. ↑ figc.it: Program confirmed for Euro 2016: First training camp on Wednesday 18th May
6. ↑ Italy - Finland 2-0
7. ↑ fifa.com: "Conte goes to the EURO"
8. ↑ figc.it: "Seven new faces for the training camp due to start in Coverciano on Wednesday"
9. ↑ uefa.com: "Pirlo and Balotelli not in the EURO squad"
10. ↑ uefa.com: "Jorginho falls through the cracks in Italy"
11. ↑ According to figc.it: "Let the 'Sogno Azzurro' begin: Antonio Conte announces official 23-man squad for EURO 2016"
12. ↑ uefa.com: "UEFA EURO 2016 final draw"