European Football Championship 2021 / Italy

European Football Championship 2021 : Italy
Trainer	Roberto Mancini
captain	Giorgio Chiellini
Qualified as	Group J winner
World rankings before the tournament	7th
Tournament result	European champion
Games won	5
Games tie	2
Games lost	0
Gates	13: 4

This article covers the Italian national team at the Pan-European Football Championship 2021 . For the Italian team it is the tenth participation in a European Championship finals. The Italians qualified as the second team for the finals and won them.

qualification

For the qualification the Italian team Finland, Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Armenia and Liechtenstein were drawn. After failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Europe's record national player Gianluigi Buffon ended his national team career and Giorgio Chiellini received his position as national team captain .

Italy was able to win all ten qualifying games for the first time. The last game they won 9-1 against Armenia - the Italians only scored more goals in their 11-3 win against Egypt in the game for third place at the 1928 Olympic Games .

Overall, national coach Roberto Mancini , who took over the team after the missed 2018 World Cup, deployed 40 players, of which only co-captain Leonardo Bonucci took part in all ten games. Jorginho had nine missions . Gaetano Castrovilli , Giovanni Di Lorenzo , Pierluigi Gollini , Armando Izzo , Gianluca Mancini , Alex Meret , Riccardo Orsolini , Leonardo Pavoletti , Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Zaniolo played their first international match in the qualifying matches.

The top scorer with only four goals was Andrea Belotti , who only made seven appearances. Their first international goal was scored by Francesco Acerbi (to lead 1-0 in the 3-0 win against Bosnia & Herzegovina), Nicolò Barella (to 1-0) and Moise Kean (to 2-0 in the first qualifier against Finland), Riccardo Orsolini (to the meanwhile 8: 0 in his first international match), Federico Chiesa (to the 9: 1 final score) and Nicolò Zaniolo (to the 2: 0 in the 9: 1 win against Armenia), Leonardo Pavoletti (to the 6 : 0 final against Liechtenstein), Lorenzo Pellegrini (to the interim 2-1 lead in the 3-1 win against Armenia), Alessio Romagnoli (to the 3-0 intermediate result in the 5-0 win against Liechtenstein), Stefano Sensi ( to the 1-0 lead in the 6-0 win against Liechtenstein). A total of 19 players contributed to 36 qualifying goals. The Italians also benefited from an own goal by the Armenian goalkeeper.

Games

date	Venue	opponent	Result	Goal scorers
03/23/2019	Udine	Finland	2: 0 (1: 0)	Nicolò Barella (7th), Moise Kean (74th)
March 26, 2019	Parma	Liechtenstein	6: 0 (4: 0)	Stefano Sensi (17th), Marco Verratti (32nd), Fabio Quagliarella (35th / eleven, 45th + 3 / eleven), Moise Kean (69th), Leonardo Pavoletti (76th)
06/08/2019	Marousi	Greece	3: 0 (3: 0)	Nicolò Barella (23rd), Lorenzo Insigne (30th), Leonardo Bonucci (33th)
06/11/2019	Turin	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2: 1 (0: 1)	Edin Džeko (32nd); Lorenzo Insigne (49th), Marco Verratti (86th)
05.09.2019	Yerevan	Armenia	3: 1 (1: 1)	Aleksandre Karapetian (11th); Andrea Belotti (28th), Lorenzo Pellegrini (77th), Aram Hayrapetyan (80th / own goal)
09/08/2019	Tampere	Finland	2: 1 (0: 0)	Ciro Immobile (59.), Teemu Pukki (72./Elfm.), Jorginho (79./Elfm.)
October 12, 2019	Rome	Greece	2: 0 (0: 0)	Jorginho (63./Elfm.), Federico Bernardeschi (78.)
October 15, 2019	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	5: 0 (1: 0)	Federico Bernardeschi (2nd), Andrea Belotti (70th, 90th + 2), Alessio Romagnoli (77th), Stephan El Shaarawy (82nd)
11/15/2019	Zenica	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3: 0 (2: 0)	Francesco Acerbi (21st), Lorenzo Insigne (37th), Andrea Belotti (52nd)
11/18/2019	Palermo	Armenia	9: 1 (4: 0)	Ciro Immobile (8th, 33rd), Nicolò Zaniolo (9th, 64th), Nicolò Barella (29th), Alessio Romagnoli (72nd), Jorginho (75th / Elf), Riccardo Orsolini (77th), Edgar Babayan (79.), Federico Chiesa (81.)

Closing table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Italy	10	10	0	0	037: 400	+33	30th
2.	Finland	10	6th	0	4th	016:100	+6	18th
3.	Greece	10	4th	2	4th	012:140	−2	14th
4th	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10	4th	1	5	020:170	+3	13
5.	Armenia	10	3	1	6th	014:250	−11	10
6th	Liechtenstein	10	0	2	8th	002:310	−29	02

preparation

Training ground at the FIGC headquarters in Coverciano near Florence

On March 25, 28 and 31, 2021, the first qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup were played against Northern Ireland , Bulgaria and Lithuania , all of which were won 2-0.

On May 28, the Italians won in Cagliari against San Marino , which is not qualified for the European Championship, 7-0. On June 4th in Bologna a 4-0 win against the European Championship participant Czech Republic followed .

During the EM 2021, the Italian national soccer team was stationed at the headquarters of the Italian soccer association in Coverciano near Florence .

Squad

First, on May 17, a preliminary roster with 33 players was named. Ultimately, Cristiano Biraghi , Gaetano Castrovilli , Alessio Cragno , Gian Marco Ferrari , Vincenzo Grifo , Moise Kean , Manuel Lazzari , Gianluca Mancini , Matteo Pessina and Matteo Politano were not considered . There were also Emerson and Jorginho from Champions League winners Chelsea FC . On June 7, it was announced that Stefano Sensi would be out of the tournament, which is why Matteo Pessina was back on the squad. On June 10, Lorenzo Pellegrini was also injured and was replaced by Gaetano Castrovilli.

Jersey no.	Surname	Date of birth	society	Games	Länderspiel- gates	debut	Last use	previous EM games, goals
21	Gianluigi Donnarumma	02/25/1999	AC Milan	026th	00	Sep 1 2016	June 4, 2021		7th
26th	Alex Meret	03/22/1997	SSC Naples	002	00	Nov 18, 2019	May 28, 2021
01	Salvatore Sirigu	01/12/1987	Torino FC	026th	00	Aug 10, 2010	Nov 11, 2020	1 ( 2012 , 2016)	1
15th	Francesco Acerbi	02/10/1988	Lazio Rome	014th	01	Nov 18, 2014	June 4, 2021		3
23	Alessandro Bastoni	04/13/1999	Inter Milan M	005	00	Nov 11, 2020	May 28, 2021		1
19th	Leonardo Bonucci	05/01/1987	Juventus Turin P	102	07th	March 3, 2010	June 4, 2021	11.1 (2012, 2016)	7th	1	2 ×
03	Giorgio Chiellini	08/14/1984	Juventus Turin P	107	08th	Nov 17, 2004	June 4, 2021	12.1 (2008, 2012, 2016)	5
02	Giovanni Di Lorenzo	08/04/1993	SSC Naples	007th	00	Oct 15, 2019	May 28, 2021		6th
13	Emerson	08/03/1994	Chelsea FC C	015th	00	Sep 10 2018	June 4, 2021		4th
24	Alessandro Florenzi	03/11/1991	Paris Saint-Germain P.	043	02	Nov 14, 2012	June 4, 2021	4 (2016)	2
04th	Leonardo Spinazzola	03/25/1993	AS Roma	014th	00	March 28, 2017	June 4, 2021		4th
25th	Rafael Tolói	10/10/1990	Atalanta Bergamo	003	00	March 31, 2021	June 4, 2021		4th
18th	Nicolò Barella	02/07/1997	Inter Milan M	023	05	Oct 10, 2018	June 4, 2021		6th	1	2 ×
07th	Gaetano Castrovilli	02/17/1997	AC Florence	002	00	Nov 15, 2019	May 28, 2021		1
16	Bryan Cristante	03/03/1995	AS Roma	011	01	Oct 6, 2017	June 4, 2021		6th
08th	Jorginho	December 20, 1991	Chelsea FC C	028	05	March 24, 2016	June 4, 2021		7th
05	Manuel Locatelli	01/08/1998	US Sassuolo Calcio	010	01	Sep 7 2020	June 4, 2021		5	2
12th	Matteo Pessina	04/21/1997	Atalanta Bergamo	005	02	Nov 11, 2020	May 28, 2021		4th	2
06th	Marco Verratti	05/11/1992	Paris Saint-Germain P.	040	03	Aug 15, 2012	March 28, 2021		5
09	Andrea Belotti	12/20/1993	Torino FC	033	12th	Sep 1 2016	May 28, 2021		6th
11	Domenico Berardi	08/01/1994	US Sassuolo Calcio	011	05	June 1, 2018	June 4, 2021		6th
20th	Federico Bernardeschi	02/16/1994	Juventus Turin P	030th	06th	March 24, 2016	May 28, 2021	1 (2016)	4th
14th	Federico Chiesa	10/25/1997	Juventus Turin P	025th	01	23 March 2018	June 4, 2021		7th	2
17th	Ciro Immobile	02/20/1990	Lazio Rome	046	13	5th March 2014	June 4, 2021	2 (2016)	6th	2
10	Lorenzo Insigne	04/06/1991	SSC Naples	041	08th	Sep 11 2012	June 4, 2021	3 (2016)	6th	2
22nd	Giacomo Raspadori	02/18/2000	US Sassuolo Calcio	001	00	June 4, 2021	June 4, 2021		1
Trainer	Roberto Mancini	11/27/1964		36	04th			4 (1988)
Goalkeeper • Defender • Midfielder • Striker
Notes: C = UEFA Champions League winners 2020/21 , M = champions 2020/21, P = cup winners 2020/21
↑ a b Status: Before the start of the tournament ↑ Status: Before the EM, years in italics = no use ↑ a b c As a player

Finals

Italy had applied to host group and knockout games and was accepted for three group games, including the opening game and a quarter-finals in the Olympic Stadium in Rome . In the draw on November 30, 2019, the Italians were drawn from Switzerland, against which they played the most games, Turkey and Wales. The record against Switzerland is positive with 28 wins, 22 draws and eight defeats. The last defeat against the Swiss was on May 1, 1993. After that there were four wins and four draws, the last win on April 30, 2003. Against the Turks there were seven wins and three draws, the last one was against at the EM 2000 Turkey won. Against Wales, the record is positive with seven wins and two defeats. The last game between the two on September 6, 2003 was won 4-0. A year earlier there was the last defeat against the Welsh.

Group games

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Italy	3	3	0	0	007-000	+7	09
2.	Wales	3	1	1	1	003: 200	+1	04th
3.	Switzerland	3	1	1	1	004: 500	−1	04th
4th	Turkey	3	0	0	3	001: 800	−7	00

June 11, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. (CEST) in Rome
Turkey	-	Italy	0: 3 (0: 0)
June 16, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. (CEST) in Rome
Italy	-	Switzerland	3: 0 (1: 0)
June 20, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. (CEST) in Rome
Italy	-	Wales	1: 0 (1: 0)

Knockout round

As group winners, the Italian team met Austria, the runner-up in Group C, in London . Before that, there had been 36 games between the two neighbors, of which Italy won 16, eight ended in a draw and 12 were lost. The last game before the European Championship between the two ended amicably 2-2 in August 2008. The last defeat (1: 2) against Austria was in December 1960. After the victory, they continued in the quarter-finals in Munich , where they met Belgium, the first in the world rankings. Against the Belgians there were 14 wins and four draws and four defeats in 22 games. The last game between the two was the first group game of Euro 2016 that the Italians won. The last game before that was won by the Belgians in November 2015. In the victory against the Belgians pulled Leonardo Spinazzola an Achilles tendon injury to. In the semi-finals, the Italians met Spain in London, against whom they have a balanced record. In 37 games so far, there have been 11 wins and 11 defeats and 15 draws. The last win against the Iberians came in the last sixteen of the last European Championship. This was followed by a draw and a defeat in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup . By winning on penalties, the Italians moved into the European Championship final for the fourth time, where they will meet hosts England in London. Against the English there have been ten wins, nine draws and eight defeats in 27 games so far. They met twice in the European Championship finals: in 1980 Italy won 1-0 in the group stage, in 2012 Italy won the penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals after 120 minutes without a goal. The last two games in March 2015 and 2018, respectively, were friendlies and ended 1-1. The last game before that, the Italians won 2-1 in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup. Both were eliminated after the group stage. England last beat Italy 2-1 in Bern in August 2012 . A special game between the two was the Battle of Highbury .

Round of 16 on June 26, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. (CEST) in London
Italy	-	Austria	2: 1 a.d. (0: 0, 0: 0)
Quarter-finals on July 2, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. (CEST) in Munich
Belgium	-	Italy	1: 2 (1: 2)
Semi-finals on July 6, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. (CEST) in London
Italy	-	Spain	1: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 0: 0), 4: 2 i. E.
Final on July 11, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. (CEST) in London
Italy	-	England	1: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 0: 1), 3: 2 i. E.

particularities

• Federico Chiesa , goalscorer against Austria and Spain is the only player whose father ( Enrico Chiesa ) also scored a goal in a European Championship finals (1996 against the Czech Republic).
• Including qualification, Italy won 15 games in a row, setting a new record. The series ended in the semi-finals when the game against Spain was counted as a draw but won on penalties.
• By beating Austria in the round of 16, the record from the period 1935 to 1939 was surpassed by 30 games without defeat and increased to 34 games by the final.
• Giorgio Chiellini became the oldest captain of a European champion (36 years and 331 days) and Leonardo Bonucci became the oldest final scorer at 34 years and 71 days.
• There are 53 years between Italy's first title win in 1968 and the 2021 title, the longest period between two titles to date. The previous high was 44 years for Spain's second title.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Won on penalties
2. ↑ Now it catches Italy: midfield ace fails. Retrieved June 26, 2021 . 
3. ↑ UEFA.com: EURO 2020: where will the teams be based? May 17, 2021, accessed June 26, 2021 . 
4. ↑ figc.it: "Verso l'Europeo: 33 convocati per l'amichevole con San Marino, prima chiamata per Raspadori"
5. ↑ figc.it: Bonucci ha un entusiasmo contagioso: "Siamo un grande gruppo, non vedevo l'ora di tornare a Coverciano"
6. ↑ figc.it: Figc, richiesta alla Uefa di sostituire il centrocampista Lorenzo Pellegrini
7. ^ Balance sheet Italy vs. Spain
8. ↑ Italy vs. England balance sheet
9. ↑ uefa.com: UEFA EURO 2020 in numbers