This article is a part of the Guardian’s Women’s World Cup 2023 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between one of the perfect media organizations from the 32 nations who certified. theguardian.com is operating previews from two nations on a daily basis within the run-up to the match kicking off on 20 July.
Overview
Italy is in the course of a generational transition. The trainer, Milena Bertolini, sprung a number of surprises with an unpredictable World Cup squad. Bertolini excluded midfielder Aurora “Yaya” Galli, one of the vital pillars of the staff that reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup, and captain Sara Gama. The centre-back is a legend of the Italian recreation, already within the nationwide facet’s corridor of status and the primary feminine vice-president of the Italian Footballers’ Association.
Bertolini additionally dropped Valentina Bergamaschi and Martina Piemonte, giving a World Cup probability to the 16-year-old Giulia Dragoni. “Excluding Gama was a tough decision, but I have the right and the duty to choose,” Bertolini mentioned. “The choice was once technical, tactical, bodily. We produce other gamers which are forward of her now.”
A group of players born around the millennium (Arianna Caruso, Martina Lenzini, Manuela Giugliano, Giada Greggi and Benedetta Glionna) will soon take control of the team, with teenagers Dragoni and Chiara Beccari as potential future leaders.
Italy qualified for the World Cup by winning Group G ahead of Switzerland, thanks to a late goal scored by Cristiana Girelli in Thun and aided by a draw between the Swiss and Romania. Bertolini usually plays with a four-player defensive line, Giugliano as a deep-lying playmaker and Barbara Bonansea as a driving force on the flank. Girelli and Valentina Giacinti, two experienced strikers, will be asked to provide goals and offensive quality.
“We wish to play excellent, horny soccer,” Bertolini said, looking forward to the World Cup. Chemistry will be a key factor. Italy needs to find the magic they had in France in 2019. Otherwise, the end of a golden generation will be around the corner. “Euro 2022 was once disappointing,” Bonansea said, reflecting on a tournament where Italy finished bottom of their group with one point. “I want to feel again the emotions we lived four years ago. If we enjoy ourselves, we can do something beautiful.”