By Anna Italia
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Countdown for Italy debut in the UEFA EURO 2016.   It’s -1 day for the debut on Monday 13 June for the awaited match Italy vs Belgium.   A day before, Italy Head Coach Antonio Conte highly motivated for the match.   Conte, well aware that the team will need more than grit and character to defeat Belgium.

Italy team adventure in the EURO 2016 begins in Lyon where they   arrived late this afternoon from Montpellier in a specially chartered flight.   Conte saying, “We made the finishing touches to our preparation for tomorrow’s game this morning.  I’m really excited personally because these are important occasions that I experienced as a player and that I’m now experiencing as a coach. It’s a moment of great pride and satisfaction but also of responsibility. I’m very happy with how we’ve worked.”

As reported by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Conte gave nothing away about Italy’s tactics for tomorrow. Belgium head coach Wilmots did not provide any indications about his starting eleven to journalists and labelled Italy as a “team full of warriors” shortly before the Azzurri’s press conference. Conte replied, saying “We’ll all be warriors on the pitch, not just us but Belgium as well. It will be important to use our heads in order to put into practice what we’ve been doing in training. When you play in a tournament like this, you feel a whole nation behind you. We’ll be 46 warriors, 23 from Italy and 23 from Belgium.”

Conte adding that “Belgium are among the favourites for the tournament.  They have very few weaknesses and it isn’t true that their defence is in crisis. When we played them in the friendly, it was an open, entertaining game. They have wonderful attacking midfielders and defenders. Look at which clubs they play for and you’ll understand.”

Photo:  figc.it

• As for Stats:   The last encounter between the two nations came in a friendly on the 13th November 2015 in Brussels. Belgium triumphed 3-1 in an evenly-matched, open game which confirmed why Wilmots’ men sit second in the FIFA world rankings:

In anticipation of a match within a match against Belgian stopper Courtois, Gigi Buffon encouraged his team mates, especially the younger ones, to go into the Euros without fear: “Regarding the young players in this Italy team, who haven’t already taken part in a tournament like this, I tell them that a little bit of healthy madness is useful, a bit of that courage to chance your arm on the pitch.”

It therefore follows that you should not limit yourself and it will be important to get as far as possible in this tournament without having any regrets.   Buffon saying, “In some tournaments, we went home without really understanding why and asking ourselves if we had really given everything and if we could have done better. I’m very optimistic because I know better what it means to play in a European Championship and to have the honour of wearing this shirt. We are giving our heart and soul in order to do well for our manager and for the national team.”

Italy’s legendary goalkeeper will be up against several stellar attackers tomorrow starting with Eden Hazard: “He said he wanted to play with me? It’s nice to hear those words but it will be difficult to play alongside one another. It’s a sign of appreciation that really makes me proud. He is one of the few players in Europe who can decide a match. He has an innate, breathtaking talent. I think he’s Belgium’s number one threat.”

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Official squad and shirt numbers

Goalkeepers: 1 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), 13 Federico Marchetti (Lazio), 12 Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint Germain);
Defenders: 15 Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), 19 Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), 3 Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), 5 Angelo Obinze Ogbonna (West Ham);
Wingers: 21 Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), 6 Antonio Candreva (Lazio),  4 Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), 2 Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), 22 Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma);
Midfielders: 16 Daniele De Rossi (Roma), 8 Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), 23 Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna),10 Thiago Motta (Paris Saint Germain), 18 Marco Parolo (Lazio), 14 Stefano Sturaro (Juventus);
Forwards: 17 Citadin Martins Eder (Inter), 11 Ciro Immobile (Torino), 20 Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), 9 Graziano Pellè (Southampton), 7 Simone Zaza (Juventus).
*Players on stand-by: Marco Benassi (Torino), Alex Meret (Udinese), Daniele Rugani (Juventus) and Davide Zappacosta (Torino)

Staff – Head coach: Antonio Conte; team manager: Gabriele Oriali; secretary: Mauro Vladovich; assistant coaches: Angelo Alessio, Massimo Carrera, Gianluca Spinelli, Gianluca Conte and Mauro Sandreani; fitness coaches: Costantino Coratti and Paolo Bertelli; federal doctors: Enrico Castellacci and Luca Gatteschi; physiotherapists: Aldo Esposito, Alessandro Donato, Takahiro Yamamoto and Pasquale Raia.

Italy’s EURO 2016 schedule 

Sunday 12th
10.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS
17.20 Team transfer to Montpellier’s airport
18.10 Flight departure to Lyon
19.00 Scheduled arrival to Lyon, transfer to the stadium
19.45 MD-1 Media activities: Press conference (Head coach/1 or 2 players) / HBs
20.30 MD-1 Official Training – OPEN TO MEDIA first 15’

Monday 13th
21.00 Match: Belgium vs Italy
followed by post match media activities: stadium and team to return to Montpellier

Tuesday 14th
16.30 Training session – OPEN TO MEDIA first 15’

Wednesday 15th
10.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS
13.00 Media activity: Press conference (selected players) – Casa Azzurri MC
16.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS

Thursday 16th
10.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS
Followed by team transfer to Montpellier’s airport
16.15 Flight departure to Toulouse
17.10 Scheduled arrival to Toulouse; transfer to the stadium
17.30 MD-1 Media activities: Press conference (Head coach/1 or 2 players) / HBs
18.30 MD-1 Official Training – OPEN TO MEDIA first 15’

Friday 17th
15.00 Match: Italy vs Sweden
followed by post match Media activities – stadium and team to return to Montpellier

Saturday 18th
16.30 Training session – OPEN TO MEDIA first 15’ –

Sunday 19th
10.30 Training session – OPEN TO MEDIA first 15’ –
13.00 Media activity: Press conference – Casa Azzurri MC
16.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS

Monday 20th
10.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS
13.00 Media activity: Press conference – Casa Azzurri MC
16.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS

Tuesday 21st
10.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS
afternoon Team transfer to Montpellier’s Airport
15.30 Flight departure to Lille
17.15 Scheduled arrival to Lille, transfer to the stadium
17.45 MD-1 Media activities: Press conference (Head coach/1 or 2 players) / HBs
18.30 MD-1 Official Training – OPEN TO MEDIA first 15’

Wednesday 22nd
21.00 Match: Italy vs Republic of Ireland
followed by post match Media activities – stadium and team to return to Montpellier

Info For The Media
You are kindly reminded that:
Access to the Casa Azzurri Media Centre and to the training pitch in Grammont will be permitted from 30 minutes prior to the start of training exclusively to UEFA EURO 2016 accredited media staff. Any changes to the schedule and other logistical information for the media will be made available atfigc.it, through the FIGC’s social media channels and on the UEFA MIS platform.