France U-21 – Italy U-21

Italy come to Romania with stars in the squad and do not look weaker than France

The first big match at the European Youth Championships takes place on Thursday 22 June. France will take on Italy at home. Both teams are among the contenders to win. That said, the bookmakers have France as the higher-ranked team. The team's squad is objectively better known by name. For example, goalkeeper Ilan Mellier has spent three seasons at the highest level in the APL. In defense, defensive pillar Kaloulou from Milan stands out. There are rising stars in the form of Simakan and Badeh. Amin Gouri, the national team's leading scorer, will be responsible for creativity in attack. The Nice international has never finished below ten goals in his last three seasons in the French league. Curiously enough, the French have mysteriously failed to qualify for the Euros for over a decade. The team only broke their black streak in 2019. Prior to that, they had not made it to the tournament for six consecutive draws. There have also been qualification problems now, although nine wins in ten matches have been made. The French were only beaten by Switzerland on goal difference. That said, their output is noteworthy. France have scored 32 goals in ten games. Their opponents were Georgia and Slovakia. In Italy, head coach Roberto Mancini has lately adopted the practice of giving young talents in the main squad playing time. In this regard, eight players from the youth team already have experience playing at a higher level. A largely unexpected reinforcement for Italy's youth team is Sandro Tonali. The player is already regarded as a mainstay in the main team, with fourteen matches to his name. The attacking line up also draws attention. Leeds' main forward Gnonto and Juventus' big talent Miretti are here. Italy have historically been stable at the Youth Euros. The team have failed to qualify for the tournament only once in the 21st century. In qualifying, there were no major problems due to the absence of serious competitors. Italy left Sweden and Ireland behind by a margin. At the same time, the Scandinavian side were defeated twice. Paulo Nicolato's men secured confident victories over Ukraine and Serbia in March's friendlies. As for France, they had a nasty surprise. The team were defeated in England 0-4. And then the players did not score against Spain, settling for a peaceful outcome. Bookmakers, despite this dynamic, put the French as clear favourites. That's a point that could be argued. France are not superior to their rivals in terms of quality of play. Italy have an experienced squad, backed up by almost every other star in the main team. At the very least, it should be an evenly matched game.