Italy: Azzurri return to Coverciano, Barzagli withdraws from squad

Following their Friday evening victory over Albania in Palermo, Gian Piero Ventura’s Italy team returned to Florence this morning. The Azzurri players were scheduled to train on Saturday afternoon at Coverciano, as they now continue their preparations ahead of their Tuesday’s friendly against the Netherlands. Their forthcoming opponents will take on Bulgaria in their World Cup qualifier this evening. After lunch with the team, Andrea Barzagli left the training camp for personal reasons and will now return to his club.

THE NETHERLANDS VS. ITALY. This historical encounter has produced some great moments in the past, one coming in Buenos Aires during the 1978 World Cup. Another arrived during Euro 2000, as the Azzurri overcame their opponents on penalties to progress to the final. Interestingly, Italy won the Bronze medal in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, finishing behind both Uruguay and Argentina. In terms of total wins, this fixture favours Italy (eight wins, eight draws and three defeats).

As for events linked to the game, the FIGC has promoted an additional fan match between the two sides. This is will take place at the FC Amsterdam Club at 15:00 CEST on March 28. Following the first two outings in Milan and Palermo, the Amsterdam game will be the first time the fan match has travelled abroad for Italian fans.

THE NETHERLANDS-ITALY. AmsterdamArena in Amsterdam, 28th March 2017 at 20:45 CEST.
Referee: Jonas ERIKSSON (Sweden). Assistants: Mathias KLASENIUS and Daniel WARNMARK (Sweden). Fourth Official: Kevin BLOM (The Netherlands).

Source:  figc.it