Italy Under 21, Daniele Ghilardi warns against Slovakia

More painful than expected, uncertain until the end, but the 1-0 win over Romania still opened a fast track for Italy in the Under-21 European Championship. A momentum that must be preserved in their next Group A engagement on Saturday night: beating hosts Slovakia, added to a missed win by Romania over Spain, would bring a dowry of access to the quarters with 90 minutes to spare.

“It will not be an easy game – warns Daniele Ghilardi – however, from the retreat, not least because, as we have seen, there are all strong and organized teams here”. There are two ‘Italians’ on the roster: Cagliari defender Adam Obert and offensive midfielder Tomas Suslov, Ghilardi’s Verona teammate.

The lineup selected by Jaroslav Kentoš, 51, is not easy to decipher given its’absence in the qualifiers. But it promises to be a tough obstacle. Against highly-rated Spain, it showed character and will want to redeem the defeat, which came with a goal conceded in the second half, after managing to climb back from 0-2 to 2-2.

With the boost of their own crowd that will fill the Trnava stadium, they will have to aim to win, and then play for passage against Romania. Ghilardi knows Suslov well, author from the penalty spot of the momentary equalizer with Spain, already more than 40 appearances in the senior national team. “Slovakia has several good players and I think Tomas is by far the strongest. He’s technical and very good in the one-on-one ’one-on-one – explains the blue ’I–ll give some advice to my people on how to stop him”.

“The first game was crucial to get into gear well – Ghilardi emphasizes again, going back to yesterday – We wanted to win and we did, we didn&#8217t concede any goals and we could have scored more. We also had some bad luck by catching two poles, but that” is okay. A starter on his debut, always punctual in marking, he also contributed in the offensive phase by initiating the action of Baldanzi&#8217s goal.

“It was not studied – he admits – because we usually try to play inside, but they were closed and needed some width. I saw that Ruggeri had space, I passed it to him and it went well”. With Nunziata Ghilardi reached the final of the Under-20 World Cup two years ago. An experience he hopes to repeat, perhaps with a different epilogue: “We will try in every way to win this European – he promises – It would be a great thrill”.