By Anna Italia
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Italian Soccer Serie A supports the Italian National Team
Italy is already qualified for the EURO 2020 with three games to spare. The objective for Italy Head Coach Roberto Mancini is to end the qualification in style by winning the last two games.
Italy playing on Friday 15 November against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Bilino Poje Stadium in Zenica at 20:45 CET. The last match will be against Armenia in Palermo on Monday 18 November at the Renzo Barbera Stadium at 20:45 CET. For Mancini, the double objective is to obtain a preferred seed spot in the draw for the European finals as well as the chance to climb up the FIFA Ranking ahead of the qualification draw for the 2022 World Cup.
Italy is playing for the first time in Zenica, their last in Bosnia coming in Sarajevo in 1996 ending with a lost causing the end of the Sacchi era. The game won’t be easy because Bosnia and Herzegovina will battle to win the game being in the fourth position with 10 points in Group J and also depending on Finland not defeating Liechtenstein. For Italy, the victory is a must to keep up the rebuilding of the National team.
- Stats with Bosnia and Herzegovina are even: One victory each with the goal difference also equal.
👉 European Qualifiers Group J Standing after Matchday 8
| Team | Played | Won | Draws | Lost | For | Against | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 3 | 22 | 24 |
| Finland | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 15 |
| Armenia | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 15 | -2 | 10 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 10 |
| Greece | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 8 |
| Liechtenstein | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 25 | -23 | 2 |
Source: uefa.com
Photo source: figc.it
According to Coach Roberto Mancini, “Bosnia always win here, it’s a stadium where they play well, we’ll do our best because just like them we want to win too. We’ll see after the game who the better side was, they’ll certainly have to play well to beat us. Tomorrow evening will be a great game. They have nothing to lose and will certainly play to win, it will be an interesting game. When we started this adventure, we all had doubts about this group. We thought that Bosnia and Finland would have the same chance of qualifying. Bosnia are better in my eyes, but Finland have been stronger and more consistent. Pjanic and his teammates still have the chance to go to the European finals through the Nations League.”
As for the starting lineup, Mancini mentioned: “Belotti will start. I have two doubts about the rest of the side: one at right-back and the other in midfield. I’ll decide tomorrow morning after training.”
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Photo source: figc.it
Captain Leonardo Bonucci mentioned during the press conference: “We have the desire to continue along this path, we have room for improvement and these games will allow us to measure ourselves against top class players like Dzeko and Pjanic. We want to be defensively aware in the game, but also keep the ball and create chances to score. The Coach has given us a clear identity: tomorrow evening we’ll have to play like we have before in the games that have allowed us to qualify without losing.”
Referring to AS Roma forward Edin Džeko who will be playing with Bosnia, Bonucci mentioned: “He’s a superb player at the very top level. He’s proved that he’s dangerous in different leagues, he has great technique and a lot of physicality. He’s a striker that I rate very highly. We’ve got a tough game ahead of us: Bosnia caused us problems in the first leg, especially in the first half, but we’ve looked at how we can do better.”
👉 Italy Squad List for 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina and 🇦🇲 Armenia
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Pierluigi Gollini (Atalanta), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Cristiano Biraghi (Inter), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Andrea Cistana (Brescia), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Armando Izzo (Torino), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Alessio Romagnoli (Milan);
Midfielders:Nicolò Barella (Inter), Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Frello Filho Jorge Luiz Jorginho (Chelsea), Rolando Mandragora (Udinese), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma);
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarawy (Shanghai Shenua), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna).
Staff – Delegation Head: Gianluca Vialli; Head Coach: Roberto Mancini; Team Manager: Gabriele Oriali; Assistant coaches: Alberico Evani, Attilio Lombardo, Giulio Nuciari, Fausto Salsano; Fitness coaches: Claudio Donatelli and Andrea Scanavino; Goalkeeping coach: Massimo Battara; Match Analyst: Antonio Gagliardi and Simone Contran; Doctors: Andrea Ferretti (Medical director) and Carmine Costabile; Physiotherapists: Maurizio Fagorzi, Emanuele Randelli, Fabrizio Scalzi, Luca Lascialfari, Fabio Sannino; Osteopath: Walter Martinelli; Nutritionist: Matteo Pincella; Secretary: Emiliano Cozzi; Press officer: Paolo Corbi.
👉 Italy National Team Schedule from Monday 11 to Monday 18 November 2019 (all times CET)
Thursday 14 November
10:45 – Travel Florence-Sarajevo-Zenica
17:30 – Italy press conference (Coach and one player)
18:00 – Italy training (First 15 minutes open to the press)
19:45 – Bosnia and Herzegovina press conference (Head Coach and one player)
20:30 – Bosnia and Herzegovina training (First 15 minutes open to the presss)
Friday 15 November
20:45 – Bosnia Herzegovina vs. Italy
Bilino Poje Stadium in Zenica
Coaches’ press conference, mixed zone (players) and travel Sarajevo-Venice to follow.
Saturday 16 November
11:30 – Training (closed)
17:30 – New FIGC partners’ press conference
Sunday 17 November
11:00 – Travel Venice-Palermo
17:00 – Italy press conference (Head Coach and one player)
17:30 – Italy training (first 15 minutes open to the press)
18:30 – Armenia press conference (Head Coach and one player)
19:00 – Armenia training (First 15 minutes open to the press)
Monday 18 November
20:45 – Italy vs. Armenia
Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo
Coaches’ press conference, mixed zone (players) and return to club sides after the match.
#Azzurri 🇮🇹#Italy travel to #Zenica for the first time
🗣 @robymancio: “We want to beat #Bosnia too 🇧🇦”
The article ➡️ https://t.co/SqL1YyXVnL
Italy have the double objective of improving their #FIFARanking and also being seeded higher in the draw for the final stage pic.twitter.com/3uJpeC94u2
— Italy (@azzurri) November 14, 2019