Under-21 back in action: tomorrow’s clash at Latina’s "Francioni" against Italy

The city of Latina is the venue for the last away trip of the European two-year cycle. The Under-21 National Team arrived in Lazio late this morning, a few hours before holding the Official Training Session at the Domenico Francioni Stadium, the same ground that tomorrow (16:45) will host the clash between the Biancoazzurrini and their Italian counterparts. For both sides – Cecchetti’s and Nunziata’s – it will be the eighth and third-from-last fixture of the European campaign. “It’s a slightly unusual away trip because it hasn’t involved a particularly long or complicated journey – said head coach Matteo Cecchetti – but it is still an away match, and it’s clear that tomorrow all our focus will be on our opponents. Next Tuesday we’ll be back at the Stadium for the game with Turkey, which will then lead us into the last match of the two-year cycle, again at home. In any case, it’s important now to think one match at a time. We have a fantastic opportunity to play this game against Italy and there will be no room for tactical calculations or energy management. We simply have to give everything. At the final whistle we’ll take stock of the energy we’ve spent and also of any disciplinary issues that may arise, because unfortunately we have two players one booking away from suspension. But for now we’re not thinking about that. We will go out on the pitch with a single objective: to express ourselves to the fullest.” The Biancoazzurrini’s last official outing was the away match in Norway. But in June they also played a double unofficial friendly against Gibraltar, in which Cecchetti’s side showed excellent things, recording a win and a draw and keeping a completely clean sheet over the 180 minutes. “I believe our journey has clearly shown significant growth which, in recent times, has also been accompanied by concrete results, not just good performances – the Manager continued – Against Ireland and Norway we played very well but the results did not go our way. With Gibraltar all the work we had done was turned into outstanding displays, embellished by four virtual points. So for tomorrow I’m expecting a team in good shape and determined to extend this positive run.” There is a first official call-up for Tommy Cervellini, Alberto Riccardi, Mattia Ciacci and Simone Gasperoni. Back in the squad is Alberto Tomassini, who had last featured in the home match against Norway. Here is the full list:

PLAYER	POSITION	DATE OF BIRTH	CLUB
MAGNANI MICHELE	Goalkeeper	12/09/2003	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
AMICI PIETRO	Goalkeeper	27/01/2004	F.C FOSSOMBRONE 1949
BORASCO FABIO	Goalkeeper	18/09/2005	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
TOMASSINI ALBERTO	Defender	19/02/2002	TRE FIORI F.C.
MATTEONI GIACOMO	Defender	11/04/2002	U.S. PIERTACUTA A.S.D.
GIAMBALVO ALESSANDRO	Defender	23/04/2003	SAN MARNO ACADEMY
SANCISI MATTIA	Defender	13/04/2003	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
CIACCI MATTIA	Defender	30/12/2005	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
RICCARDI ALBERTO	Defender	01/10/2006	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
CIACCI FEDERICO	Defender	03/04/2005	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
GUIDI MATTEO	Defender	15/01/2003	F.C. YOUNG SANTARCANGELO
GASPERONI SIMONE	Defender	31/10/2005	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
GIOCONDI SIMONE	Defender	28/04/2002	TIVOLI CALCIO 1919
CERVELLINI TOMMY	Midfielder	04/08/2006	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
TOCCACELI ALEX	Midfielder	16/01/2002	LA FIORITA 1967
PASOLINI FILIPPO	Midfielder	22/02/2003	A.C. JUVENES -DOGANA
SANCISI NICOLO'	Midfielder	13/04/2003	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
CHIARUZZI NICOLO'	Midfielder	28/10/2005	F.C. FIORENTINO
CASADEI MARCO	Midfielder	24/07/2006	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
SANTI SIMONE	Forward	03/05/2004	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
GASPERONI MARCO	Forward	16/05/2004	SAN MARINO ACADEMY

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