There’s currently a big Azzurri presence in Tirrenia. While the U21s are preparing for their opening two Euro qualifying matches against Latvia and Turkey, Italy’s beach soccer side are ready to fly to Crete for the Mediterranean Beach Games. One surname that can be found in both teams is ‘Fazzini’, with Jacopo involved in the U21 setup and Tommaso getting down to work on the sand. The former is a 20-year-old midfielder who plays for Empoli, while the latter is a Viareggio player and two years older. The two brothers have taken different paths but are very much united by the Azzurri colours.

“It’s fantastic to be here,” said Jacopo and Tommaso in their interview with Rai. “A passion for football is something we’ve always had in common,” continued the younger brother. “He was always much better on sand, while I always did better on grass.” “Having watched him grow up, I still find it strange to see him on TV and playing in Serie A,” admitted Tommaso. The differences between football and beach soccer are enormous: “The only thing they have in common is the fact that a ball is involved and you play with your feet,” explained Tommaso, who has earned the nickname “Prince” in beach soccer. “I started playing on the sand as a child and continued to do so as the summers passed. It’s a great and very spectacular sport, but it’s also very tiring.” Marcello Lippi, who led the National Team to the World Cup in 2006, is from Viareggio: “We’ve always admired him; this has been the case since we were children.”

Tommaso, who scored in the final as Viareggio won the 2023 Scudetto, became part of the Italy setup after winning the Under-20 championship in 2021 and being named best player, with Head Coach Emiliano Del Duca progressively including him in the National Team squad. Jacopo, meanwhile, after playing for the U20s and taking part in the U21s’ first training camp ahead of the European Championship in Romania and Georgia, has now been called up for the upcoming two matches at the start of a new two-year period: “I have many short- and long-term objectives,” he said. “I dream about scoring my first Serie A goal and helping Empoli avoid the drop, and I’m also obviously hoping to go to the Euros with the U21s in two years’ time. We have important goals to reach and, through our work and that of Coach Nunziata, who I’m gladly playing under again, we can accomplish them.”

After training this morning at the Olympic Training Centre in Tirrenia, the U21s are set to depart for Riga. Once they’ve arrived in the Latvian capital, they’ll head to Jurmala, where they’ll take to the pitch for the first time under Head Coach Carmine Nunziata.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Sebastiano Desplanches (Palermo), Jacopo Sassi (Pro Vercelli), Gioele Zacchi (Giana Erminio)
Defenders: Giorgio Cittadini (Monza), 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), Edoardo Bove (Roma), Cesare Casadei (Leicester), Jacopo Fazzini (Empoli), Fabio Miretti (Juventus), Cher Ndour (Paris Saint-Germain), Simone Panada (Sampdoria), Matteo Prati (Cagliari), Franco Heubang Tongya (Odense)
Forwards: Marco Nasti (Bari), Lorenzo Colombo (Monza), Francesco Pio Esposito (Spezia), Gaetano Pio Oristanio (Cagliari)

2025 UEFA EUROPEAN UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION - GROUP A
Friday 8 September (16:00 CEST): Latvia vs. Italy (Jurmala)
Tuesday 12 September (18:30 CEST): Turkey vs. Italy (Sakarya)
Tuesday 17 October (17:45 CEST): 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

Standings: Latvia (1) 3, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Norway, Turkey, San Marino (1) 0