Euro 2016 Preview - Italy

Team: Italy

Manager: Antonio Conte

Group: E

Other teams in group: Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Sweden

THE SQUAD

Gli Azzurri are one of the oldest squads in the tournament with an average age of 28.5 and only seven players aged 25 or younger. Eighteen players play their club football in Serie A, three in the English Premier League and two in Ligue Un. Serie A champions and giants Juventus are the most represented club with six players, while Roma and Lazio have three each. The other two Serie A giants Milan and Inter are surprisingly represented by only one player each.

The preferred system of Conte is 3-5-2, which is not unlike the system Juventus operated during his time as manager and indeed the system Juve still operate. It also allows Italy to adopt the Juventus defence, and barring injury or suspension, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini will likely sit in front of captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon every game.

Conte also prefers energetic and attacking wing backs, and therefore Antonio Candreva and most probably Matteo Darmian will flank the central midfield and provide extra width. This system allows greater security through the middle for Italy and will see Italy build every move by passing the ball out from the back.

One obvious problem for Italy is in midfield. Injuries to Marco Verratti, whom Conte believes is Italy's best young talent, Claudio Marchisio and Riccardo Montolivo mean Italy are without a true playmaker in midfield. Andrea Pirlo was overlooked as past his best and Daniele De Rossi is not at his sharpest. Nevertheless, Italy still have good options, and Thiago Motta and Alessandro Florenzi are likely to accompany De Rossi in the middle of the park. Therefore the three man midfield will be an industrious, hard-working and hard-tackling trio, all of whom are astute passers of the ball.

In attack, Italy come to the tournament without a star striker for the first time in a very long time. Southampton's Graziano Pellè, who hails from the same city as Conte, has 5 international goals from 13 caps and is almost certainly a guaranteed starting striker. Brazilian-born and Inter striker Éder Martins is the likely foil for Pellè's height, strength, and power. He offers pace and trickery so as to give defenders something else to think about, and therefore compliments Pellè very well. Simone Zaza and Ciro Immobile offer less convincing options from the bench.

By his own admission, Conte believes Italy are outsiders. The absence of young talent coming through the ranks is a big problem Italy must deal with, perhaps more so after this tournament. Conte's responsibilities cease after the tournament as he will immediately begin life as Chelsea manager. He recognises this Italian team require strong mental attributes if they're to have a chance, and so the focus has been on building strong tactics, intensity, organisation, a close team spirit and above all a fighting spirit. If Italy can combine all of these qualities successfully, they definitely will have an outside chance.

The squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Federico Marchetti (Lazio), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint Germain).

Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Angelo Obinze Ogbonna (West Ham).

Midfielders: Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint Germain), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Stefano Sturaro (Juventus).

Forwards: Citadin Martins Eder (Inter), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Graziano Pellè (Southampton), Simone Zaza (Juventus).

HOW THEY GOT HERE

After the poor display at the 2014 World Cup, where Italy failed to emerge from the group stages, Cesare Prandelli resigned and Juventus manager Antonio Conte was given a two-year contract with the task of rebuilding the Italian team and leading them to the EURO 2016 finals.

Seeded first, Italy were handed a relatively difficult second seed in Croatia, but otherwise received a relatively comfortable group as Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Malta made up the other teams in Group H.

The Azzurri navigated all ten games of the group without losing a single game. Seven wins and three draws was enough to register 24 points and a top spot in the group. Two 1-1 draws against Croatia proved that the teams were otherwise inseparable, although Croatia lost against Norway, whom Italy defeated twice.

Italy only scored sixteen goals during the qualifying campaign, which goes to show that they're by no means a strong team in attack. Except for three goals away to Azerbaijan, they only scored 1 or 2 goals per game. Signs for concern came in lacklustre 1-0 victories home and away to Malta. In both games Graziano Pellè provided the goal to secure all three points. Indeed he was Italy's top scorer during qualification with three goals in total.

Italy's place at EURO 2016 was sealed on 10^th October, when in their penultimate qualifier they travelled to Azerbaijan and defeated their hosts 3-1. Their unbeaten qualifying campaign concluded three days later with a 2-1 home victory against Norway.

KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR

An Italian team devoid of real, outstanding talent perhaps lacks an obvious individual star. However, the defence that Italy possesses is one of the most formidable in the tournament. Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini sit in front of captain Buffon and this four-man Juventus defensive core gives Italy a real chance. With a combined total of 354 international caps, their experience and cohesion together both at club level and national level gives Italy a real advantage.

Two players who play their football in the capital for rival teams Lazio and Roma should be considered as players to keep an eye on. Antonio Candreva will use his abundant pace on the right flank and create havok for any left full back, while Alessandro Florenzi provides the box-to-box energy that Daniele De Rossi gave in tournaments gone by and perhaps can no more.

De Rossi has only recently returned from an injury lay-off which curtailed his playing time in the second half of the season, until the final few games. He is carrying an achilles tendon issue into the tournament, although Conte is hopeful he can shake it off in time for the opening match.

De Rossi, Barzagli and captain Buffon are the remaining World Cup winners in the squad and their experience will give Italy an added strength, as all three will operate as Conte's generals on the field.

WHERE THEY ARE PLAYING AND STAYING

Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon: June 13 v Belgium KO 20.00

Stadium Municipal, Toulouse: June 17 v Sweden KO 14.00

Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille: June 22 v Republic of Ireland KO 20.00

The Italian camp is at Montpellier in the south of France.

THREE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE TEAM

Although Italy have won the World Cup four times, they've only ever won the European Championships once before. That occasion came in 1968, when Italy hosted the tournament in what was their debut appearance at the competition. During the 2000s, Italy have been runners up twice, beaten by France in 2000 and Spain in the most recent competition in 2012.

Italy's second participation at the European Championships came in the sixth format of the tournament in 1980, when the tournament was once again hosted in Italy. This will be their ninth appearance at the finals, and they've yet to miss a tournament since the 1996 edition.

Italy have the record for most amount of draws (15) at the European Championships. Indeed, twice before they've exited the tournament (1980 & 2004) without actually having lost a match. Their overall record reads: P 33 W 13 D 15 L 5 F 33 A 25.

THEIR RECENT FORM

Post qualification Italy's friendly results have been nondescript with two wins, two draws and two defeats. However, those defeats came against Belgium and Germany, while the draws came against their Latin cousins Spain and Romania, so perhaps it would be a bit premature to read too much into such results.

Most recently Italy have looked organised and efficient as they have warmed up for the tournament with a 1-0 victory against Scotland in Malta and a 2-0 home victory in Verona against Finland. The Azzurri seem to be full of team spirit and ready to fight for their manager and pride of their nation this summer.

First game: The Azzurri play Belgium in their opening Group E fixture on 13th June in Nice.