Italy’s Junior Team: Record breaking European champions with Casiraghi as new coach

Italy’s juniors are the ones to beat in the oldest junior category in Europe. Their UEFA European Under-21 Championship selections are the record breaking European champions with five titles, achieved within twelve years. The hat-trick of 1992, 1994 and 1996 was followed by further final victories in 2000 and 2004. Thus the “Azzurrini” surpass even their best efforts. The Italian A national teams have only one European title to their credit (1968). However, the “seniors” have gained four FIFA World Cup™ titles, a feat the UEFA European Under-21 Championship teams have never once achieved, despite their domination in Europe.

In the summer of 2006, the Italian title holders were unluckily eliminated in the finals in Portugal. They finished third in their group, tied on points with eventual champions Netherlands. With an alternative scoring system a goal tally of 4-4 would have been sufficient to reach the semi-finals, as the Netherlands recorded only a 3-3 tally as runners-up. But the Dutch had won the head-to-head match 1-0. This one defeat caused the Italians to be eliminated prematurely. In 2004 they had won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final 3-0 against Serbia and Montenegro at Ruhr Stadium in Bochum, Germany.

Italy reached the finals in the Netherlands with a 0-0 draw and a 2-1 victory against Spain in the play-offs. The matches were well balanced and played on a high level. The brilliant goals scored by Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini and Ricardo Montolivo of AC Florence in the first half of the second match were memorable and ensured the Italians a chance to fight for their sixth title in June 2007.

The coach of the Italian juniors, who will meet the Czech Republic, England and Serbia in Group B at the finals of the UEFA European Under- 21 Championship 2007, however, is more famous and popular than the team. Pierluigi Casiraghi, the former international forward, took over after the UEFA European Football Championship™ finals 2006 in Portugal. This was as great a surprise as Roberto Donadoni taking over the senior national team, succeeding Marcello Lippi. As with Donadoni, Casiraghi cannot boast he has extensive experience coaching top teams. The former professional, born on March 4, 1969, started coaching the youth team of his home club Monza Calcio in 2002, then moved to C2 League club AC Legnano near Milan a year later. His good reputation and this job were sufficient to make Casiraghi the new junior head coach of the great football nation Italy, succeeding Claudio Gentile.

"Il Bisontino" – the little bison, because of his stout figure and his strong headers – was the nickname given Casiraghi during his playing career. “Gigi” began his work with the UEFA European Under-21 Championship national team with top honours behind him. He earned his first cap in the azur-blue national shirt of Italy’s A team in 1991 and wore it last in 1998 when playing his 44th international match. He scored a total of 13 international goals. Casiraghi played at the 1994 FIFA World Cup™ in the USA and the UEFA European Football Championship™ 1996 in England. From 1985 to 1989 he played with then second division club Monza Calcio and from 1989 with Juventus, won the UEFA Cup twice with the Italian record national champions as well as the Italian Cup. In 1993 he moved on to Lazio Rome.

Five years later he was one of the first of Italy’s top stars to move to England. The Romans let him go to Chelsea for eight million Euros. But fortune no longer smiled on Casiraghi: he played only a few matches, and suffered a ruptured crucial ligament. After many complications and several operations he was forced to retired from his career at the age of 30, in the summer of 1999.

Gianfranco Zola is Casiraghi’s assistant with the UEFA European Under-21 selection, his former team-mate with Chelsea. At the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals, their young players will meet the Czechs, a repeat of the 2002 final, the Serbs as in the 2004 final, and England, the coaches’ former chosen home country. While the junior players want to increase their record of final victories, Casiraghi and Zola could greatly enhance their reputation as coaches with impressive victories.