“I am in a group with great people, we will give our all, we will not have any sort of regret afterwards. Personally, I have a huge desire to play and go head-to-head with all these world-class players”: The club’s season, which culminated with winning the double (Serie A title and Italian Cup), is in the past for Bonucci, who is already fully focused on the Euros. Today is the second day of the preparatory training camp ahead of the European Championship and the friendly against Scotland, Italy’s penultimate friendly which will take place in Malta. The Juventus centre-back is looking forward to it and is thinking clearly. He opened his press conference by paying tribute to Gaetano Scirea, who would have turned 63 today: “To me, he is and will always be an iconic symbol for Juventus.” He then turned his attention to the upcoming task: “Italy are now in second or third row for the Euros but it’s ok, if we have such a low placing in the rankings it means that there are clearly some problems. It’s up to us now to work hard, stay grounded and try to prove people wrong. Since winning the 2006 World Cup, this decade has seen a decrease in terms of quality. Only a few talented players have blossomed for the senior national team and we unfortunately proved that by failing to win friendly matches. It is a flaw that we have had no answer to for a number of years now.”
Bonucci has been part of the national team since 2010, taking part in two World Cups, a European Championship and a Confederations Cup. He showed to be receptive to Conte’s approach: “Us Juventus players are ready to be at the service of Conte and the team. We are lucky to have a group with so many great people and Italian players always give a little bit more at difficult moments. Our strong character will be beneficial to the team and we have a coach who is very good in passing this attitude on to his squad. Winning helps you to keep on winning even more and improves your game in every respect. We want to keep our dreams alive as long as possible.”
Balotelli was also a topic during today’s press conference: “Is it a shame for our team not having the opportunity to count on a in-form Balotelli? It has always been up to Mario, he had to be smart in trying to change but hasn’t managed that yet. He would have been very important to the national team; if he had understood that we don’t need divas here but men who give their all and more for all their teammates, he would be one of the best strikers in the world. Anyway, he can still have a successful future, he may be able to wear the national team colours again. However, it’s all up to him, as I said.” Inevitable was talking about another eminent absentee, Andrea Pirlo: “He is beyond dispute, he embodies football; Andrea is a world-class player as well as a great and funny person. Our coach has always been very clear: When you make certain decisions, you have to be ready to accept the consequences.”
The Azzurri will have two training sessions tomorrow: at 10:30 CEST they will be training before playing a practice match against the Fiorentina U19 side at 17:30 (open to journalists, but they will not be allowed to film or take photos). The media will be granted access to Coverciano’s Federal Technical Centre at 13:00.
The squad
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Federico Marchetti (Lazio), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint Germain);
Defenders: Davide Astori (Fiorentina), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Angelo Obinze Ogbonna (West Ham), Daniele Rugani (Juventus);
Wingers: Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Davide Zappacosta (Torino);
Midfielders: Marco Benassi (Torino), Giacomo Bonaventura (Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna), Jorge Luiz Jorginho (Napoli), Riccardo Montolivo (Milan), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint Germain), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Stefano Sturaro (Juventus);
Forwards: Citadin Martins Eder (Inter), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Graziano Pellè (Southampton), Simone Zaza (Juventus).
Auxiliary goalkeeper: Alex Meret (Udinese)
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. SCOTLAND friendly
Thursday, 26th May 2016
10:30 Training session (behind closed doors)
13:30 Press conference with FIAT
16:15 Press conference (players)
17:30 Practice match against the Fiorentina U19 side (open to journalists, but they will not be allowed to film or take photos)
Friday, 27th May 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, 28th May 2016
10:30 Training session (behind closed doors)
16:25 Departure for Malta (flight Firenze-Malta)
18:25 Scheduled arrival in Malta and transfer to Westin Dragonara Hotel
19:00 Press conference at the Ta’ Qali Stadium (Italy head coach + one player)
Sunday, 29th May 2016
20:45 Friendly ITALYvs. SCOTLAND at the Ta’ Qali Stadium
Press conference and transfer to the airport following the game
00:50 Departure of charter flight to Roma/ Milano Malpensa
***
Pre-European Championship training camp and ITALY vs. FINLAND friendly
Tuesday, 31st May 2016 (Submission to UEFA of the EURO 2016 official 23-man squad within 24:00)
18:00 Meet up at the Parco dei Principi Hotel in Rome
20:30 RAI TV show ‘Sogno Azzurro”
22:30 Departure from Rome to Florence and transfer to Coverciano
Tuesday, 1st June 2016
10:00 Official squad photo with Scervino and Puma outfits (open only to photographers and TV operators)
followed by a training session behind closed doors
14:30 Press conference (players)
16:30 Training session (open to media for the first 15’)
Thurday, 2nd 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’)
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 2016
18:00 Meet up at the Malpensa Hotel
21:30 Departure of charter flight from Milano Malpensa to Montpellier
22:50 Scheduled arrival in Montpellier and transfer to Marriot Courtyard Hotel
Source: figc.it