This article is part of the Guardian’s Women’s Euro 2022 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 16 countries who have qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 6 July.
Overview
The team that impressed the world by surprisingly reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup is back, with the same core group of players and some young tyros. This could be the last chance for this golden generation to make their mark but in some ways a European Championship could be even more difficult than a World Cup and the bookmakers consider Italy eight teams likelier favourites for the tournament.
Italy qualified after dropping points only to eventual group winners Denmark, conceding only five goals and scoring 37 in a group containing Bosnia-Herzegovina, Malta, Israel and Georgia. Nine of these goals were scored by the Juventus forward Cristiana Girelli. Qualification was only confirmed in the last group game, played in Florence against Israel. The Azzurre had to win with a two-goal margin to avoid the playoffs as one of the second-placed sides with the best records. They won 12-0.
“At the European Championship the Italians have to support and cheer us,” coach Milena Bertolini said. “However, we have to work hard. It will be a beautiful Euros for the quality of the game and a further opportunity for women’s football to grow. We have to go there as prepared as we can, making sacrifices, but the girls know it. I see a great soul in this national team.”
From a tactical point of view Italy generally play 4-3-3, with Manuela Giugliano a deep-lying playmaker in midfield. The forward three, led by Girelli, are dynamic and mobile, interchanging positions.
The coach
Milena Bertolini has certain playing principles. Among these, the most important are an always advancing defence, the interchangability of roles and the perpetual motion of the players. Bertolini was appointed in 2017 and, for now, she has always hit her targets: qualification for the 2019 World Cup in France after a 20-year absence from the competition, and then reaching the quarter-finals. Now comes qualification for these Euros. Alongside those impressive results she has raised the level of the team and given confidence to the young players coming through.
Star player
Cristiana Girelli is the top scorer of the team in the qualifying group with nine goals, her country’s No 10 and the winner of the Serie A Best player award in both 2020 and 2021. She was the only Italian to score five goals in the last edition of the Women’s Champions League, including one against Lyon in the quarter-finals, and poses a constant threat for any defence. “If I were 15 years younger, I would dream to win a Ballon d’Or,” the 32-year-old has said. “Never say never but I am happy to play, have fun and keep on scoring goals. This is my dream.”
View image in fullscreenCristiana Girelli (centre) celebrates scoring against Moldova in a World Cup qualifier last September. Photograph: Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images
Wildcard
Arianna Caruso was only 19 when Italy played in the World Cup quarter-finals in 2019. A few months later, she made her senior international debut and now seems ready to settle as a key force and goalscorer in Italy’s midfield. “I’ve always had a ball with me,” she recalled in an interview. “My father was a referee and my mother did not want me to go and watch his games. However, I remember that one day we were there and we yelled at him: ‘We know where you live, we’ll burn down your house.’” A girl with a sense of fun, clearly.
Probable lineup
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All-time hero
Born in 1964, Carolina Morace played more than 150 games for Italy’s national team, scoring more than 100 goals. During her career, she won 12 league titles, two Italian Cups and was the Serie A top scorer 12 times. In her career, Morace scored more than 500 goals, a record in Italy including the men’s game. She once scored four goals for Italy at Wembley. The Euro 1997 Best Player, she was the first woman to coach a men’s pro team, Viterbese, in 1999. In 2015 she became the first woman inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame. In 2020 she wrote a coming out book, Fuori Dagli Schemi (Out Of The Box), in which she openly talked about her love story with her wife Nicola Jane Williams. “Don’t ask permission to do what you want. Just do it,” she said.
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Euro history
The glory days of Italian women’s football were the 1990s. The Azzurre reached the Euro final twice, in 1993 and 1997. The team, led by coach Sergio Guenza, lost against Norway and Germany, failing to get their hands on a maiden trophy. Then, something went awry. After reaching the semi-finals in six of the first seven European Championships, Italy have not got that far since, losing against Germany both in the 2009 and 2013 quarter-finals. In 2017 they came bottom of their group, behind Germany, Sweden and Russia.
Realistic aim this summer
Group D (France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland) is not an easy one to predict. The quarter-finals are the minimum target for the Azzurre. Then … why not dream?
Luca Bianchin and Giulio Saetta write for Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy. You can follow Luca here and Giulio here on Twitter
