UEFA have chosen Viktor Kassai to referee Saturday evening’s Euro 2016 quarter-final clash between Italy and Germany in Bordeaux. He will be assisted by compatriots Gyoergy Ring and Vencel Toth and fellow Hungarians Tamas Bognar and Adam Farkas will be the additional assistants. Poland’s Szymon Marciniak will be the fourth official.

In addition to the first game of the tournament between France and Romania, Kassai also took charge of Italy’s 1-0 win over Sweden on the 17th June in Toulouse and had previously officiated the Azzurri’s Euro 2012 group-stage match against Spain on the 10th June 2012.

The photo shows Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai.

Another musical event is being held today at Casa Azzurri ahead of Saturday’s match between Italy and Germany.

After previous concerts from Enrico Ruggeri and Alex Britti, in addition to a comedy performance from Andrea Perroni, Nek will take to the stage at 10 o’clock this evening at Casa Azzurri in another event organised in collaboration with Radio Italia, the all-Italian-music station and partner of the Italy team.

As a companion of the team during this tournament, Casa Azzurri has also hosted several tasting sessions of local delicacies and produce which have been organised by Montpellier City Council as well as other events dedicated to promoting the ‘Made in Italy’ brand internationally.

Casa Azzurri also travelled with the team to their three group-stage matches in Lyon, Toulouse and Lille as well as to Paris where Italy played Spain in the round of 16.

Photo:  figc.it

Following the round of 16 fixtures at Euro 2016, Italy’s social media platforms held on to first place for engagement and worldwide growth. The team’s 2-0 win over La Furia Roja reverberated around the digital channels and contributed to a record high in engagement. According to German analytics firm ResultSports, the Vivo Azzurro community were top after the group stage and stayed there following the first round of knockout fixtures with 619,649 new users across all platforms. In behind were the hosts France, World Cup holders Germany and England.  On individual platforms, there was an increase of 413,220 on Facebook, 122,253 on Instagram, 55,129 on Twitter (@Vivo_Azzurro and @azzurri) and a growth of 28,535 subscribers on YouTube. (source: Result Sports).

Italian social media agency Blogmeter revealed that there was a record figure of 7.4 million interactions related to Italy vs. Spain. There were a total of 454,000 messages with 72 per cent of them coming from Twitter. “The peak number of 113,000 messages arrived at the time of the second goal when the Italy Facebook page published the most interacted with post which announced the win and qualification to the quarter-finals,” said Blogmeter. (Source: Blogmeter). In detail, the aforementioned post reached more than 16.3 million people, generating 206,000 likes, 4,800 comments and 126,000 shares! Such impressive figures made this post the most successful of the entire competition! (Source: Facebook Insights). In terms of success, it was a similar story on Twitter where @Vivo_Azzurro was the most interacted with Italian account with 36,296 engagements while the account in second place had 4,752 interactions.

Another positive was the initiative between Italy, Spain and Twitter under the name #MediterraneanDerby. Messages of fair play between Chiellini and Morata and interviews asking what they liked most about the other country were picked up by major television, digital and print sources in both countries! A long list of messages accumulated under #MediterraneanDerby where Italian fans expressed their appreciation for Spain and vice versa.

Today, the @Vivo_Azzurro Twitter profile made its first live broadcast on Periscope of training and the press conference. The two streams immediately tallied over 100,000 views. Italy’s Periscope account is as follows: https://www.periscope.tv/Vivo_Azzurro. The ‘Forza Azzurri’ badge which users can apply to their profile pictures is continuing to grow and it has been applied more than 1.5 million times while also notching up 414 million views. (Source: Facebook Insights).

Their contagious enthusiasm is one of the distinctive elements in Antonio Conte’s Italy. Their friendship becomes rivalry on the Ping Pong table but leads to understanding on the pitch as they look to extend the European adventure for as long as possible. Today, Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne and Alessandro Florenzi were out to speak to the press at Casa Azzurri. They have the ability to put World Cup holders Germany in difficulty and all three would be keen to celebrate a first European Championship goal on Saturday.

“Italy vs. Germany is a fixture which speaks for itself, you don’t need to look for motivation,” said Florenzi. “I don’t envy Germany but the facts speak for themselves and they are World champions and they are confident. Our confidence is growing game after game and at each individual training session. We know that it won’t be easy, but we want to do this for ourselves and the fans.”

Italy have faced a difficult draw, injuries and have had one day less than Germany to prepare. “These are excuses for losers,” added Florenzi. “We have already climbed one summit and now we have Everest in front of us, but we’re all united and together we can achieve something special.”

Florenzi liked the description given by one member of the press of the squad being players and fans: “When there’s a goal, sometimes it’s a player on the bench or a director who is the first to celebrate with the scorer. It’s proof that we really are a united group, that we are players and fans who want to do well for Italy and the supporters.” The Roma player also announced that he is happy on the right in a five-man midfield. “It’s a position which allows me to show my qualities and help the team.” Florenzi also had a very positive view of Antonio Conte: “The coach brought his technical and tactical knowledge, but also the personality he used to show on the pitch. He has done a great job with Italy.”

Lorenzo Insigne also feels that team spirit is an added weapon: “We are all important and we are all starters. We are happy that the people feel close to us, it shows that we are giving everything for the shirt and we want to make the fans keep dreaming.” He has already shown that he can be an asset from the bench after hitting the post against the Republic of Ireland and forcing a save against Spain. “I will look to give my all when I’m called upon, if I can play some attractive football or score then I’ll be happy but winning and getting through is what matters and not who scores. The boss is teaching us a lot and we are transmitting the spirit he gives us onto the pitch.”

Ciro Immobile was on the same wavelength: “The win against Spain gave us a lot of energy. Now, we are approaching a match against a stronger team and we have to train as we did for Spain by studying their weak points.” The Italy attacker also refused to give away the pre-match ritual: “We have one but it’s a secret.” The striker also responded to Mario Gomez who said that the Germans would win on Saturday and reach the semi-finals. “We have already beaten them a lot of times,” added Immobile. “Anybody can say what they want but in the end it’s what happens on the pitch that matters. We know that Germany are strong and that they believe in themselves. However, we as players together with the staff and the fans want to keep on dreaming and doing well.”

Italy’s Euro 2016 schedule

Thursday 30th June
11:00 – Training (behind closed doors)
14:30 – Press conference at ‘Casa Azzurri’

Photo:  figc.it

The match against Germany is fast approaching and the Azzurri continued to train at the Bernard Gasset centre in Montpellier with four days left to go. The session was again open to the press for the first 15 minutes before the squad relocated to another pitch to continue training away from the cameras following the usual warm-up routine.

In the media room, director of the medical staff Enrico Castellacci clarified the situation regarding injuries. “Candreva had a lesion of the first/second grade on his adductor longus muscle,” said Castellacci. “He has tried very hard in every way to recover. His condition has improved slightly but not yet to the extent that he is ready to rejoin the squad. He will continue doing the same work that he has been doing since the start of his recovery. Against Spain, De Rossi suffered a violent traumatic contusion to his right leg. He has been diagnosed with a hematoma but also a partial disconnection of nerve fibres in the adductor longus muscle. He is working really hard, we are doing everything to get him to recover. We don’t want to reach premature conclusions but we know that it’s a serious problem.”

Italy’s Euro 2016 schedule

Thursday 30th June
11:00 – Training (behind closed doors)
14:30 – Press conference at ‘Casa Azzurri’