With ten days left until their opening fixture against Belgium in the European Championship finals, Italy’s preparations continued at Coverciano. After a long morning studying video footage, the Azzurri were on the pitch in the afternoon to take on Empoli’s Primavera side at the training centre. The team will reach Verona on Sunday evening, where on Monday 6th June they will face Finland at 20:45 CET at the Bentegodi Stadium in their final friendly before leaving for France.

 

 

It was Federico Bernardeschi’s turn today to visit the press conference room. He has been one of the revelations of the season and this is his first foray onto the major international stage. “If a great player like De Rossi was worried about not being selected, imagine how I felt,” said the Fiorentina player to the press. “I have always looked to give 100 per cent and then this extremely important call arrived for me. I am the youngest player and it’s an honour to be here with all these great players.”

Like Buffon, Bernardeschi was also born in Carrara: “I have a great relationship with Gigi, I will always thank him for the advice he gives me.” The Fiorentina player grew up when Andriy Shevchenko was a legendary player and he was just 12-years-old when Italy won the World Cup for the fourth time. “I have had a good year and it’s a dream come true to be here,” added Bernardeschi. “This has to be a starting point for me, we must all work to achieve our dreams. The dream would be to win the European Championship.”

Antonio Conte has asked for Bernardeschi to beat his man and create an overload: “On a tactical level, I feel good as a right winger and one day I would like to play as a trequartista. I know that I must be able to adapt to every role and it’s important that I try to make a contribution. Technically, I love to get on the ball and attack space.”

Bernardeschi’s press conference came to a close with a discussion on Thiago Motta and Italy’s strengths: “Thiago deserves the number ten shirt for what he has done in his career. This team has a lot of quality with each individual player and as a team, our strength has to be our team spirit.”

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.

The full programme is as follows (all times in CEST)

Pre-European Championship training camp and ITALY vs. FINLAND friendly

Friday, 3rd June 2016
10:30  Training session (behind closed doors)
13:30  Press conference (players)
16:30  Training session (open to media for the first 15’)

Saturday, 4th June 2016
09:30  Training session (behind closed doors)
13:30  Press conference (players)
16:30  Training session (open to media for the first 15’)

Sunday, 5th June 2016
10:30  Training session (behind closed doors)
16:00  Training session (behind closed doors)
18:03  Departure train from Florence to Verona Porta Nuova
20:10  Press conference at the Stadio Bentegodi (Italy head coach + one player)

Monday, 6th June 2016
20:45 Friendly ITALY vs. FINLAND at the Stadio Bentegodi
Press conference after the game

Wednesday 8th June
18.00 Players gathering at Hotel Malpensa, Milano
21.30 Italian Delegation departure to Montpellier
22.50 Scheduled arrival to Montpellier’s Airport /transfer to Marriott Courtyard Hotel

*: The organisation of open training, as one of the competition rules, is run directly by UEFA who make a limited number of spaces open to the football associations in the finals. With this quota in place, the FIGC will reserve access to the Italian media as accredited by UEFA EURO 2016. The following limitations will apply: One journalist for any media outlet (Printed press or online), one photographer for any media outlet or accredited photography agency. Remaining tickets will be distributed according to availability.

Thursday 9th
10.30 Training session – PUBLIC* c/o Centre d’entrainement “Bernard-Grasset”, Grammont
12.30 FIGC’s “Casa Azzurri Media Centre” official opening c/o Parc des Expositions Montpellier, 115 Avenue des Levades, 34470 Perols.
Tbf Media activity: Press conference (Head coach / selected players)
16.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS
*Note: The organisation of “public training session” is run directly by UEFA -LOC. Media representatives wishing to attend the “public training session” are requested to address their enquiry to LOC EURO 2016. Limitation will apply according with seats availability.

Friday 10th
10.30 Training session – OPEN TO MEDIA first 15’ – Grammont
13.00 Media activity: Press conference (selected players) – Casa Azzurri MC
16.30 Training session – behind CLOSED DOORS

Saturday 11th
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

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
19.30 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
tbf Post match media activities: stadium
tbf Team to return to Montpellier

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

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
tbf 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
tbf Post match Media activities – stadium
tbf Team to return to Montpellier

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

Sunday 19th
10.30 Training session – OPEN TO MEDIA first 15’ – Grammont
13.00 Media activity: Press conference (selected players) – 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 (selected players) – 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
Tbf Post match Media activities – stadium
tbf Team to return to Montpellier