Paolo Nicolato has explained why he intends on switching things around during Italy’s second game at the U21 Euros following an opening-game defeat against France on Thursday evening.
On Sunday evening, Italy will face Switzerland in the second game of Group D, who currently sit joint-top of the group following their 2-1 victory over Norway in the first round of fixtures.
Italy, meanwhile, will count themselves unfortunate to be on zero points after the first game, as a ‘ghost goal’ against France was not counted, despite Raoul Bellanova’s stoppage-time header clearly having crossed the line, which eventually condemned the Azzurrini to a 2-1 defeat.
With the games coming thick and fast, the focus is now on Sunday’s clash with Switzerland, but Nicolato isn’t expecting an easy victory.
“A complex match against strong opposition awaits us,” the youth team coach said during his customary pre-match press conference. “But, we are calm because we have done a great job (in the last game).
“We have enough experience to understand that sometimes that is not enough, but we are also aware that we will have no regrets because we, the staff, the players, and all the management are really giving our best. We care a lot and hope that things go smoothly.”
Nicolato continued by explaining that there will likely be some adjustments to the starting line-up over the weekend.
“There will be some changes, not because we are upset with those who played (against France), the opposite in fact, because the games are close together and we have a large squad, with players who all deserve to play,” he said.
“We will be facing a different opponent and therefore we will have to be different, too. The matches must be tackled based on our players’ strengths as well as the opposition’s and therefore we will change our strategy.
“Switzerland is a complete and dangerous team, a team which scored a lot of points in the qualifiers and also showed in the friendlies that they can play against anyone. At these levels, you can’t expect to come up against teams who don’t know how to play.”