UEFA announcing the match officials for the Nations League game Group stage – League A – Group 1Italy vs Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday 4 September 2020 at the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence, Italy at 20:45. It is Referee Anastasios Sidiropoulos from Greece to direct the game.
Photo: via figc.it
Referee Anastasios Sidiropoulos will be assisted by Polychronis Kostaras (GRE) and Lazaros Dimitriadis (GRE). The Fourth official will be Ioannis Papadopoulos (GRE).
Italy Head Coach Roberto Mancini highly motivated on the eve of the UEFA Nations League game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Florence on Friday 4 September 2020. Mancini attended the media in the press conference on Thursday 3 September setting the positive tone for the Italian team.
Mancini mentioning Italy’s objective which is to increase their position in the FIFA Ranking and getting to the final, which is set to be played in Italy. Mancini said, “Our hope is to restart as we finished ten months ago and that people continue to follow us. We’ve done well until now, but there’s still room for improvement in every aspect – technical and tactical. We’re working every day to improve.”
Photo: via figc.it
The bad news is that the game will be played without fans at the Artemio Franchi due to the Covid-19 pandemia. Mancini ,said,“Of course, it will be a little sad. I have already experienced it when crowds were banned, but that is just once in a while. Continuously playing in empty stadiums is not too pleasant. In sport in general, not just football, the players do it to entertain, to make people happy. We might be able to do something a bit more now, I hope fans are allowed back in as soon as possible.”
The objectives at play are important: “The Nations League is a competition that we value highly. Since I’ve been Italy head coach,” Mancini continued, “we’ve gone up 12 places. Now, we need to break into the top ten and avoid risks in the draw for the World Cup groups. But the Nations League is also important, because the final will be played in Italy.”
Mancini is working with a fully-formed group, but refuses to exclude anybody from breaking into the team: “The door is open to anybody, even those who aren’t there yet. The group is more or less set, we won’t stray too far with the Euros on the horizon, but one or two may come back into the squad. We expect an even more physically demanding year than the one just gone. The players have a lot of games in a short space of time, the important thing is to change things up, while maintain a similar level. We’ll pick the players in the best physical condition and so, almost all of them will play in at least one of the next two games.”
Alessandro Florenzi was alongside Mancini. He’s ready to face Bosnia, but, above all, his ex-teammate: “Dzeko will only be an opponent for me tomorrow,” the player said, “I’ll say hi to him before the game, but after, if I need to stick a foot in on him, I will, as though he were just another player. Then we’ll go back to being friends.”
Florenzi hopes he’ll play: “I’m only thinking about tomorrow’s game and, eventually, the Netherlands if the coach plays me. Then I’ll concentrate on my future. It’ll be nice to sing the national anthem and wear my country’s shirt again, we all know what’s happened.”
UC Sampdoria seven called up by their respective national teams for the UEFA Nations League and European Under-21 games in September 2020.
Mikkel Damsgaard – Denmark U21s
European Under-21 Qualification, Group H
Denmark v Ukraine, Friday 4 September at 18:00 CEST, Nordjyske Arena, Aalborg
Northern Ireland v Denmark, Tuesday 8 September at 18:00 CEST, Ballymena Showgrounds, Ballymena
Morten Thorsby – Norway
Nations League, League B, Group B1
Norway v Austria, Friday 4 September at 20:45 CEST, Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
Northern Ireland v Norway, Monday 7 September at 20:45 CEST, Windsor Park, Belfast
Kristoffer Askildsen – Norway U21s
European Under-21 Qualification, Group G
Norway v Gibraltar, Friday 4 September at 18:00 CEST, Mairenlyst Stadion, Drammen
Holland v Norway, Tuesday 8 September at 18:00 CEST, Yanmar Stadion, Almere
Poland – Bartosz Bereszynski
Nations League, League A, Group A1
Holland v Poland, Friday 4 September at 20:45 CEST, Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam
Bosnia & Herzegovina v Poland, Monday 7 September at 20:45 CEST, Stadion Polje, Zenica
Jakub Jankto – Czech Republic
Nations League, League B, Group B2
Slovakia v Czech Republic, Friday 4 September at 20:45 CEST, Tehelne Pole, Bratislava
Czech Republic v Scotland, Monday 7 September at 20:45 CEST, Andruv Stadion, Olomouc
Vic Belec – Slovenia
Nations League, League C, Group C3
Slovenia v Greece, Thursday 3 September at 20:45 CEST, Stadion Stozice, Ljubljana
Slovenia v Moldova, Sunday 6 September at 20:45 CEST, Stadion Stozice, Ljubljana
Albin Ekdal – Sweden
Nations League, League A, Group A3
Sweden v France, Saturday 5 September at 20:45 CEST, Friends Arena, Solna
Sweden v Portugal, Tuesday 8 September at 18:00 CEST, Friends Arena, Solna
Italy Head Coach Roberto Mancini continues preparing the team on Wednesday 2 September 2020 for UEFA Nations League games against Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands. The team completed training on Tuesday 1 September at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, which will host Friday’s game against AS Roma forward Edin Dzeko’s Bosnia.
Good and bad news. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) reported that some players have been left out of the team due to injuries. Mancini had to give up to Brescia midfielder Sandro Tonali. Latest to leave the squad also for injury is Juventus forward Federico Bernardeschi due to muscle strain. Instead, Jorginho will train with the group this afternoon; the Chelsea midfielder, who arrived at Coverciano yesterday, tested negative for coronavirus in the necessary medical exams.
The good news for Italy Head Coach Mancini is to see the Serie A Top Scorer Lazio forward Ciro Immobile with 36 goals determined to give his best. Immobile will look to score his 11th goal with the national team. Immobile, winner of the European Golden Boot – becoming only the third Italian to ever win the award after Luca Toni and Francesco Totti.
During the press conference, Immobile said, “the Golden Boot is an important award. It gave me a lot of satisfaction to win this award ahead of some amazing players. I’m proud of what I’ve done and I’ve come here feeling really good. I want to do well with Italy too. Everyone expect a lot from me and for me to do what I did at club level.”
Photo: via figc.it
Surely, the presence of Immobile is an added boost for the Italian team. Immobile is conscious of the importance of the UEFA Nations League, “I need to go into the Euros in the best of form. It’ll be a long and complicated year, so I’ll need to be in the right frame of mind in the difficult moments. I think everyone needs to think they can start. Mancini has always had me and Belotti playing in a game each and, while physical fitness is a big topic, I think that’s the right way to go. The competition between us is healthy. We need to go into the Euros as a group of 23 players; if we stick together, then we can do something great. Postponing the Euros was good for us because we’ll have an extra year to develop.”
“We’ll need to play smart against Bosnia, perhaps because our physical condition is not optimal. We need to start with a win.”
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Francesco Caputo (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarawy (Shanghai Shenua), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Kean (Everton), Kevin Lasagna (Udinese), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna).
*Suspended call-ups awaiting the outcome of medical tests once the players’ respective isolation requirements are complete.
👉 The Italian National Team schedule (all times CEST):
Wednesday 2 September
13:45 – Press conference with a player at the Coverciano Auditorium
17:30 – Training (behind closed doors)
Thursday 3 September
17:00 – Italy’s press conference (Coach and one player) at the Stadio Franchi in Florence (location TBC)
17:30 – Italy’s training at the Stadio Franchi in Florence (open to the press for the first 15 minutes – location TBC)
18:30 – Bosnia & Herzegovina’s press conference (Coach and one player) at the Stadio Franchi in Florence
19:00 – Bosnia & Herzegovina’s training at the Stadio Franchi in Florence (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)
Friday 4 September
20:45 – Italy vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina (Stadio Franchi in Florence)
Followed by a press conference with the Coach
Saturday 5 September
10:00 – Training (behind closed doors)
17:30 – Transfer Florence to Venice
Sunday 6 September
10:45 – Transfer Venice to Amsterdam
11:00 – The Netherlands’ training at the KNVB Campus (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)
13:15 – The Netherlands’ press conference (Coach and one player) at the KNVB Campus
17:30 – Italy’s press conference (Coach and one player) at the Johan Cruijff ArenA
18:00 – Italy’s training at the Johan Cruijff ArenA (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)
Monday 7 September
20:45 – Netherlands vs. Italy (Johan Cruijff ArenA)
Followed by a press conference with the Coach and the squad’s return to Italy
By Anna Italia
By Anna Italia
