Women’s Euro 2022 kicks off tonight in England and Milena Bertolini is ready to lead Italy as they look to progress past a tough group that contains Belgium, France and Iceland.
The Azzurre are in strong form coming into the tournament, having finished runners up of the Algarve Cup earlier this year after losing to Sweden on penalties. Strong results in World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland, Lithuania, Romania and Croatia have the team looking dangerous as they work to reach the knock-out stages of the European Championships for the first time since 2013.
Five Italian clubs contributed to the Bertolini’s tournament squad, with Juventus, Roma, Inter and Milan sending the vast majority, and Fiorentina sending just Katja Schroffenegger.
Below is Italy’s full 23-woman squad:
Goalkeepers : Francesca Durante (Inter), Laura Giuliani (Milan), Katja Schroffenegger (Fiorentina);
Defenders : Elisa Bartoli (AS Roma), Valentina Bergamaschi (Milan), Lisa Boattin (Juventus), Lucia Di Guglielmo (AS Roma), Maria Luisa Filangeri (Sassuolo), Sara Gama (Juventus), Martina Lenzini (Juventus), Elena Linari (AS Roma);
Midfielders: Arianna Caruso (Juventus), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus), Aurora Galli (Everton), Manuela Giugliano (AS Roma), Martina Rosucci (Juventus), Flaminia Simonetti (Inter);
Forwards: Barbara Bonansea (Juventus), Agnese Bonfantini (Juventus), Valentina Giacinti (Fiorentina), Cristiana Girelli (Juventus), Martina Piemonte (Milan), Daniela Sabatino (Fiorentina).
Girelli is likely to be a key source of goals for the Azzurre, having netted nine goals in the 10 qualifying matches leading into this tournament. Other regular goalscorers include Sabatino, Giacinti and Cernoia. Bertolini usually lines the team up in a progressive 4-3-3 system, combining fast short passes with a dynamic and unpredictable front three.
Italy’s last major tournament came in 2019, when they reached the quarter-finals of the competition after group stage wins over Australia and Jamaica, and a victory against China in the Round of 16. They were knocked out by eventual runners up the Netherlands and it was an incredibly positive step forward for the Azzurre.
Italy will be looking to build upon their recent tournament growth at Euro 2022 this month, but first they’ll have to progress past Group D, which also contains tournament favourites France, a challenging Iceland and a Belgium on the rise. It’ll be a tough test for Bertolini’s squad, but also the perfect opportunity for the team to show their impressive development.
If the Azzurre top Group D, they’ll face the runners up of Group C in the quarter-finals. Finishing second would set them up against the winners of Group C instead.
Below are the dates and UK times of Italy’s Group D clashes at Euro 2022:
France vs Italy – July 10 – 20:00
Italy vs Iceland – July 14 – 17:00
Italy vs Belgium – July 18 – 20:00
Thanks for the write up. It should be an excellent tournament
The 1-5 loss to France tells the story. The Azzurre would need to play out of their skin to survive.