Giovanni Fabbian’s first professional season was exceptional. The midfielder scored 8 goals in Serie B with Reggiano and unlocked the door to Serie A. The player, born in 2003, has already managed to score in the top flight with his new club, Bologna, against Cagliari on 2 September. Whilst at Reggio Calabria, Fabbian also made his debut with Italy Under 21’s team in the match against Ukraine. Now the team are preparing in Tirrenia for the game against Norway on Tuesday 17 October at the Druso stadium in Bolzano, part of the qualifiers for the U21 EURO 2025. Fabbian said: “The group knows Nunziata and this makes us stronger. We work hard to achieve the best results. The main objective is to do what Nunziata asks of us: playing for the National team is an honour for all of us”.

It’s official, EURO 2032 will be hosted by Italy and Turkey: Fabbian will be 29 years old and could be at the height of his career. He explained: “Of course, knowing that an event like this will be held in Italy gives us extra motivation, but we have to take things one step at a time, and next up is the game against Norway”. Alongside Fabbian in the dressing room in Tirrenia is Cesare Casadei, his childhood teammate at Inter: another thing by way of team spirit. “We have always been together, on the pitch, at school, and at home. We have been good friends for a long time”.

Fabbian, inspired to be a “champion like Barella”, moved around this Summer and landed in Emilia. “As soon as the opportunity came for me to go to Bologna, I didn’t hesitate, also because Thiago Motta was very convincing. I’m doing really well there with the lads and the coach. I had a few physical issues but now I’m all good and ready to play. The Serie A goal? It was an unbelievable feeling at an unexpected moment but I achieved my dream from when I was a child when I started to play football”.

A few hours ago, the appointment of Filippo Inzaghi at Salernitana was made official/ Fabbian was coached by him at Reggio Calabria and by his brother Simone at Inter: “We had an amazing season with Filippo Inzaghi: the year at Reggio helped me a lot. I wish him the best of luck on his new adventure”.

PLAYER NEWS. Burnley attacker, Luca Koleosho, will be unable to answer his call-up due to unavailability. A joint training between the Under 21s and Under 18s is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday 12 at 15:00 CEST in Tirrenia.

TICKETS. Tickets will be on sale from tomorrow, Thursday 12, for Italy vs. Norway scheduled for Tuesday 17 at ‘Druso’ in Bolzano (live on RAI).

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Sebastiano Desplanches (Palermo), Filippo Rinaldi (Olbia), Gioele Zacchi (Giana Erminio)
Defenders: Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Diego Coppola (Verona), Daniele Ghilardi (Sampdoria), Gabriele Guarino (Empoli), Michael Olabode Kayode (Fiorentina), Lorenzo Pirola (Salernitana), Matteo Ruggeri (Atalanta), Riccardo Turicchia (Juventus), Mattia Zanotti (St. Gallen)
Midfielders: Tommaso Baldanzi (Empoli), Alessandro Bianco (Reggiana), Edoardo Bove (Roma), Cesare Casadei (Leicester), Giovanni Fabbian (Bologna), Samuel Giovane (Ascoli), Fabio Miretti (Juventus), Cher Ndour (Paris Saint Germain), Matteo Prati (Cagliari)
Forwards: Giuseppe Ambrosino (Catanzaro), Francesco Pio Esposito (Spezia), Sebastiano Esposito (Sampdoria), Luca Koleosho (Burnley) Marco Nasti (Bari), Gaetano Pio Oristanio (Cagliari)

2025 UEFA EURO UNDER 21 QUALIFYING - GROUP A

Friday 13 October
14:00 Latvia vs. Republic of Ireland
18:45: Turkey vs. San Marino

Tuesday 17 October
14:00 Latvia vs. Turkey
17:45: ITALY vs. Norway (Bolzano)

Standings (number of games played in brackets): Norway (2) and Republic of Ireland (2) 6, Italy (2) and Latvia (3) 4, Turkey (2) and San Marino (2) 0

ITALY’S CALENDAR

Tuesday 17 October (17:45): Italy vs. Norway (Bolzano)
Thursday 16 November: San Marino vs. Italy
Tuesday 21 November: Republic of Ireland vs. Italy
Friday 22 March 2024: Italy vs. Latvia
Tuesday 26 March 2024: Italy vs. Turkey
Thursday 5 September 2024: Italy vs. San Marino
Tuesday 10 September 2024: Norway vs. Italy
Tuesday 15 October 2024: Italy vs. Republic of Ireland