Look ahead because nothing is lost. The day after the defeat against France in the opening match, the faces of the Azzurrini show regret after an undeserved defeat, but also the awareness of having everything in their hands. Paolo Nicolato had explained in the past few days that the match against France would serve to evaluate Italy. His young team was punished by a series of unlucky moments and has many reasons to complain, but the fact that they went toe-to-toe against one of the favourites to win the tournament allows them to look forward to the next two games against Switzerland and Norway.

"I've seen lots that I like," said the coach in his press conference, "I'm comforted by the team's attitude and the fact that all the lads had a good impact on the match, even those who came on in the second half. We faced a great opponent, confirming that we deserve to be in this competition. The result was unlucky, we don't feel defeated from the point of view of the game".

VAR AND REGRETS. On the eve of the match against France, responding to a journalist's question on the lack of VAR and Goal Line Technology in this European Championship, the coach had joked that perhaps it would have been better that way, given that in 2019 at the Under-20 World Cup the referee after being called back to the monitor had cancelled the equalising goal scored by Scamacca at the end of the semi-final against Ukraine. "But it was a joke, I point it out because I saw that someone misunderstood. It is difficult to explain how such an important competition can be without a technology that is now part of our world." From the quarter-finals of the European Championship, UEFA should authorise the use of VAR. A mockery? "No, it would be an improvement, although it should have been there before. I always believe in the good faith of referees, luckily what happened last night does not happen often, unfortunately it happened to us but we should not feel sorry for ourselves. This experience must serve us to grow and to become even stronger mentally, we must not take refuge in complaints and dissatisfaction and hopefully the God of football will compensate us a little. I also want to highlight the behaviour of my boys, who were really good in this situation because it is easy to lose your head."

Asked if he expects an apology from the referee, Nicolato replied with a dry no: 'I think that a referee is the first to be dissatisfied and mortified. And it is not just a question of VAR: there were other episodes in which video assistance had little to do with it, I am referring for example to the foul on Okoli (from which the second goal for France resulted, ed), which even the fourth official could have seen. Since there is VAR the referees are no longer used to making quick decisions."

Losing against Switzerland would almost certainly mean elimination, but even a draw would probably mean that the Azzurrini would no longer be masters of their own destiny going into the last match, when a France that has already qualified could settle for a point in the match against the Swiss, effectively forcing Italy to pack their bags: "With Switzerland we only have one result at our disposal - confirms Nicolato - we need a great match. First of all we have to score goals, we know that a very difficult match awaits us because they have many strong players who play with more consistency than ours. We have a big dream and if we don't achieve it we would like it to depend only on the fact that the others were better." More than the chances conceded to France ("their attack has great speed and skill, we took the risks that we were allowed to take"), the coach did not like a few too many long balls: "In the first half we started a little slow in the build-up from the back, but that's normal at the start in such an important competition.

THE REDISCOVERED STRIKER. The challenge against the Bleus also dispelled doubts about Pietro Pellegri's fitness. Not on the player's ability, because that has never been in question, but on the fitness of a young man who has had to play through injuries in recent years and who last season only managed to play a few minutes of matches. Despite his limited minutes in the league, Nicolato played him straight away and he was rewarded not only with the goal that made it 1-1, but also by a great performance, with the Torino striker able to exploit all his physicality to get the team going and always in the thick of the game: "He is an important player and, like all the guys here, I have a special relationship with him. He has been unlucky and I would like him to reap the benefits of the great difficulties he has overcome. It seems to me that he is on the right path."

BUILD-UP TO THE MATCH AGAINST SWITZERLAND. Three days after the game against France, the Azzurrini will return to the pitch to face Switzerland (Sunday 25 June, 18:00 CEST - live on Rai 2). There is little time to recharge the batteries, but the same goes for the Swiss, who were victorious yesterday with a 2-1 comeback win over Norway. This morning Nicolato divided the team into two groups: warm down work in the hotel for those who played yesterday from the first minute and for Gnonto, who came on at the start of the second half, and training on the pitch at the UBB Training Center in Cluj-Napoca for the players who came on at the end of the match against France or remained on the bench. Tomorrow afternoon there will be a final training session at the Cluj Arena, preceded by the usual press conference of the coach and a player.

The Azzurrini's numbers for the U21 euros

Goalkeepers: 19 Elia Caprile (Bari), 1 Marco Carnesecchi (Cremonese), 22 Stefano Turati (Frosinone)
Defenders: 12 Raoul Bellanova (Inter), 20 Andrea Cambiaso (Bologna), 14 Giorgio Cittadini (Modena), 6 Matteo Lovato (Salernitana), 15 Caleb Okoli (Atalanta), 3 Fabiano Parisi (Empoli), 5 Lorenzo Pirola (Salernitana), 2 Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), 13 Destiny Iyenoma Udogie (Udinese);
Midfielders: 16 Edoardo Bove (Roma), 7 Salvatore Esposito (Spezia), 21 Fabio Miretti (Juventus), 4 Samuele Ricci (Torino), 10 Nicolò Rovella (Monza), 8 Sandro Tonali (AC Milan);
Attackers: 23 Nicolò Cambiaghi (Empoli), 18 Matteo Cancellieri (Lazio), 9 Lorenzo Colombo (Lecce), 17 Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds), 11 Pietro Pellegri (Torino).

Group D fixtures and standings

Matchday 1 (22 June)

Norway 1-2 Switzerland
France 2-1 ITALY

TABLE: Switzerland and France 3 points, ITALY and Norway 0

Matchday 2 (25 June)

18:00 CEST: Switzerland vs ITALY (Cluj Arena, Cluj-Napoca)
20:45 CEST: Norway vs France (Constantin Radulescu Stadium, Cluj-Napoca)

Matchday 3 (28 June)

20:45 CEST: Switzerland vs France (Constantin Radulescu Stadium, Cluj-Napoca)
20:45 CEST: ITALY vs Norway (Cluj Arena, Cluj-Napoca)