Italy national under-21 football team

Italy Under-21

Nickname(s)	Azzurrini (Little Blues)
Association	Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
Head coach	Devis Mangia
Captain	Luca Caldirola
Most caps	Andrea Pirlo (46)
Top scorer	Alberto Gilardino (19)
First colours Second colours
Biggest win
Italy 7-0 Estonia Catanzaro, March 23, 1995 Italy 8-1 Wales Pavia, September 5, 2003
Biggest defeat
Norway 6-0 Italy Stavanger, June 5, 1991 Records for competitive matches only.
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	16 (First in 1978)
Best result	Winners: 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004

The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.

The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. Italy is the most successful nation in the history of the competition, with five Championships won (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2004).

From 1990 to 2004 the team established near-total dominance of European Under-21 football, winning five of the seven tournaments.

The lowest point for the team came in 1997, when it failed to qualify for the 1998 finals. The team won the 2000 tournament finals in Slovakia and the 2004 tournament finals in Germany. In the 2006 tournament finals in Portugal the team failed to advance to second round. This was Italy's 14th U-21 finals tournament.

Italy's Under-21s played the first match at the new Wembley Stadium, on 24 March 2007, against England Under-21s. The game resulted in a 3-3 draw, with Giampaolo Pazzini scoring all 3 goals for the Azzurrini.

Prior to the 2008 Olympic games, Italy U-21s went on to win the 2008 Toulon Tournament by beating Chile (1-0) in the final. It was the first time they had won this tournament, previously their best had been runner-up on two occasions.

In the 2009 U-21 Championship Italy was eliminated in the semi-finals.

UEFA U-23 Championship Record

Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. For this reason, Italy's record in the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown.

• 1972: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.
• 1974: Losing quarter-finalists.
• 1976: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

• 1978: Losing quarter-finalists.
• 1980: Losing quarter-finalists.
• 1982: Losing quarter-finalists.
• 1984: Losing semi-finalists.
• 1986: Runners-up.
• 1988: Losing quarter-finalists.
• 1990: Losing semi-finalists.
• 1992: Winners.
• 1994: Winners.
• 1996: Winners.
• 1998: Did not qualify.
• 2000: Winners.
• 2002: Losing semi-finalists.
• 2004: Winners.
• 2006: Finished 3rd of 4 in finals group.
• 2007: Finished 3rd of 4 in finals group; Winner of the Olympic qualification play-off.
• 2009: Losing semi-finalists.
• 2011: Did not qualify.

Olympics football Record

Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Bronze	2004 Athens	Team

Since 1992 Olympics football changed to U-23 event, and the European U-21 teams, technically is a U-23 teams. The winner, runner-up and third place of UEFA U-21 Championship qualify for Olympics.

• Before 1992: See Italy national football team
• 1992: Losing quarter-finalists
• 1996: Finished 4th of 4 in finals group
• 2000: Losing quarter-finalists
• 2004: Bronze Medal
• 2008: Losing quarter-finalists
• 2012: Did not qualify

Mediterranean Games Record

Mediterranean Games Football tournament was U-23 event in 1993 and 1997.

• 1993: 4th place
• 1997: Winners
• 2001: a U20 event
• 2005: filled with B team

Coaches

• 1976–1986: Azeglio Vicini
• 1986–1996: Cesare Maldini
• 1996–1998: Rossano Giampaglia
• 1998–2000: Marco Tardelli
• 2000–2006: Claudio Gentile
• 2006–2010: Pierluigi Casiraghi
• 2010–2012: Ciro Ferrara
• 2012–present: Devis Mangia

Current players

Players born in 1990 or later are eligible for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

1990-born (eligible up to 2013 UEFA U-21 Championship) Marco Crimi Giulio Donati Diego Fabbrini Vincenzo Fiorillo Fernando Forestieri Ciro Immobile Luca Marrone Ettore Mendicino Gianvito Misuraca Daniele Mori Alberto Paloschi Carlo Pinsoglio Antonino Ragusa Marco Romizi Simone Romagnoli Fausto Rossi Andrea Seculin Mario Balotelli Marco Tattini Lorenzo Tonelli Sergio Viotti

1991-born (eligible up to 2013 UEFA U-21 Championship) Andrea Bertolacci Fabio Borini Riccardo Brosco Luca Caldirola Marco Capuano Simone Colombi Alessandro Crescenzi Marco D'Alessandro Giuseppe De Luca Mattia Destro Marco Davide Faraoni Alessandro Florenzi Manolo Gabbiadini Manuel Giandonato Niccolò Giannetti Lorenzo Insigne Karim Laribi Federico Macheda Giuseppe Rizzo Jacopo Sala Nicola Sansone Davide Santon Riccardo Saponara Marco Silvestri Roberto Soriano

1992-born (eligible up to 2015 UEFA U-21 Championship) Luca Antei Francesco Bardi Cristiano Biraghi Michele Camporese Mattia De Sciglio Stephan El Shaarawy Paolo Frascatore Samuele Longo Alberto Masi Mattia Perin Simone Sini Marco Verratti Federico Viviani

1993-born (eligible up to 2015 UEFA U-21 Championship) Matteo Bianchetti Lorenzo Crisetig

Note: Players in italics have already been called up to the senior team.

Current squad

Preliminary Squad called for 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship on June 2013 .

Caps and goals as of 17 May 2013.

Name	Date of birth (age)	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Goalkeepers
Francesco Bardi	(1992-01-18) 18 January 1992	Novara	13 (0)	v. Sweden, 24 March 2011
Simone Colombi	(1991-07-01) 1 July 1991	Modena	2 (0)	v. Scotland, 25 April 2012
Nicola Leali	(1993-06-30) 30 June 1993	Virtus Lanciano	0 (0)	N/A
Defenders
Luca Caldirola	(1991-02-01) 1 February 1991	Cesena	26 (1)	v. Turkey, 17 November 2010
Giulio Donati	(1990-02-05) 5 February 1990	Grosseto	19 (0)	v. Turkey, 17 November 2010
Marco Capuano	(1991-10-14) 14 October 1991	Pescara	17 (0)	v. Côte d'Ivoire, 1 June 2011
Paolo Frascatore	(1992-02-04) 4 February 1992	Sassuolo	7 (0)	v. Netherlands, 15 August 2012
Cristiano Biraghi	(1992-09-01) 1 September 1992	Cittadella	5 (0)	v. Turkey, 17 November 2010
Simone Romagnoli	(1990-02-09) 9 February 1990	Spezia	6 (0)	v. Ireland, 4 June 2012
Matteo Bianchetti	(1993-03-17) 17 March 1993	Hellas Verona	4 (0)	v. Germany, 6 February 2013
Vasco Regini	(1990-09-09) 9 September 1990	Empoli	2 (0)	v. Russia, 22 March 2013
Midfielders
Luca Marrone	(1990-03-28) 28 March 1990	Juventus	30 (1)	v. Bosnia, 13 October 2009
Fausto Rossi	(1990-12-03) 3 December 1990	Brescia	20 (1)	v. Côte d'Ivoire, 1 June 2011
Riccardo Saponara	(1991-12-21) 21 December 1991	Empoli	19 (2)	v. England, 8 February 2011
Alessandro Florenzi	(1991-03-11) 11 March 1991	Roma	13 (4)	v. Hungary, 6 September 2011
Lorenzo Insigne	(1991-06-04) 4 June 1991	Napoli	11 (6)	v. Liechtenstein, 6 October 2011
Marco Crimi	(1990-03-17) 17 March 1990	Grosseto	9 (0)	v. Turkey, 10 November 2011
Andrea Bertolacci	(1991-01-11) 11 January 1991	Genoa	6 (0)	v. Switzerland, 10 August 2011
Jacopo Sala	(1991-12-05) 5 December 1991	Hamburg	6 (1)	v. Netherlands, 15 August 2012
Marco Verratti	(1992-11-05) 5 November 1992	Paris Saint-Germain	3 (0)	v. France, 28 February 2012
Strikers
Alberto Paloschi	(1990-01-04) 4 January 1990	Chievo	28 (9)	v. Germany, 18 November 2008
Manolo Gabbiadini	(1991-11-26) 26 November 1991	Bologna	19 (10)	v. Turkey, 17 November 2010
Fabio Borini	(1991-03-29) 29 March 1991	Liverpool	15 (4)	v. Hungary, 13 November 2009
Mattia Destro	(1991-03-20) 20 March 1991	Roma	14 (5)	v. Wales, 7 September 2010
Ciro Immobile	(1990-02-20) 20 February 1990	Genoa	12 (7)	v. Austria, 25 March 2009
Nicola Sansone	(1991-09-10) 10 September 1991	Parma	5 (0)	v. Scotland, 25 April 2012
Francesco Fedato	(1992-10-15) 15 October 1992	Bari	0 (0)	N/A

See also

• Italy national football team
• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

External links

• UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships.