Italy’s Under-21s will discover later today which sides they’ll face in the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championships.
Luigi Di Biagio’s youngsters qualified for the tournament after winning a play-off with Slovakia, and will head to the Czech Republic next summer to contest the tournament.
Italy’s Under-21s will discover later today which sides they’ll face in the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championships.
Luigi Di Biagio’s youngsters qualified for the tournament after winning a play-off with Slovakia, and will head to the Czech Republic next summer to contest the tournament.
Former Juventus” data-scaytid=”4″>Juventus and Lazio” data-scaytid=”5″>Lazio star Pavel Nedved will assist the draw, which will be made in the Czech capital Prague at 17.00 GMT.
Nedved, who spent 13 years in Italy with the Bianconeri and the Aquile, is an official ambassador for the tournament, and one of only two Czech footballers to win the Ballon d’Or.
The Azzurrini are second seeds for the draw, and are certain to face either the hosts or England, but will avoid Germany. The group will then be made up of two from Portugal, Denmark, Sweden and Serbia.
Di Biagio commented this week on his hope to avoid Germany, Portugal and Serbia in particular.
The finals – the Czech Republic's first at Under-21 level – will be played from June 17 to 30, 2015, with matches to be held in Prague, Olomouc and Uherske Hradiste.
Teams that finish the group stage first or second advance to the semi-finals of the competition and also automatically qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Italy have a proud record at this level, having won the tournament a record five times. Italy’s last triumph came in 2004, when a team containing the likes of Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Gilardino and Andrea Barzagli defeated Serbia and Montenegro in the final.