The courage of youth: Italy finds its face again

By Marco Tirinato — Italian Next Gen

Baldini's Under-21s book their place at the Euros with a night to remember, while Mancini's senior side close their first international break with four games that have restored dignity to the shirt. The thread running through both stories is the same: the youngsters.

There is a word Italian football had almost stopped using in recent years: trust. After a third consecutive failure to reach the World Cup, after that night in Zenica, the azzurro shirt seemed something to be handled with caution. These fifteen days between September and October tell a different story. Not everything is fixed, but we have seen an Italy that once again has the courage to look ahead, and it is doing so by putting its young players on the pitch.

Pescara, the Azzurrini's night

Let's start with the greatest joy. On Monday evening at the Adriatico, the Under-21s needed something special: to take first place in Group E and qualify directly for the Euros, they had to beat Poland by at least two goals. And Poland were no pushovers: nine wins out of nine, just two goals conceded in the whole campaign, one of them to Italy in the reverse fixture, which the Poles won 2-1 after coming from behind.

Italy scored six. Koleosho on 16 minutes, Ndour on 27 and 54, Lipani on 59, Fini on 66 and Cherubini on 86: a rout that was both a verdict and a statement. The defining goal was the captain's, as Ndour won the ball in his own half after an opposition corner and beat the goalkeeper from an astonishing distance. But there was much more: Koleosho stealing possession and setting up chances, Fini coming off the bench to score his first Under-21 goal, Cherubini sealing it with a genuine striker's finish.

The 6-2 win is worth first place: Italy draw level with Poland on 27 points and overtake them on head-to-head record. And it is worth far more than a ticket, because the Euros in Albania and Serbia in June 2027 also hand out places at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Silvio Baldini's achievement is to have built a group that did not fall apart in difficult moments. The defeat in Szczecin, suffered late on after a good performance, could have left scars. So could Thursday's struggle in Yerevan, where Armenia were only broken down by an Alphadjo Cissè goal in the 95th minute. Instead the team arrived in Pescara, the city where Baldini had won promotion to Serie B, and played the perfect game in front of more than 9,400 spectators. It is the mark of a coach who has given his players clear rules and the freedom to be bold.

Mancini: four games to put a team back on its feet

On the other bench, Roberto Mancini has lived through eleven intense days. His return started badly, and that must be said: a 2-0 home defeat to Belgium at the Olimpico, amid whistles. But the response came straight away. Then a 4-1 win in Turkey, a 1-1 draw in France and a 3-1 win over Turkey in Bologna: an upward curve that leaves Italy second in Group A1 with 7 points, behind France and ahead of Belgium and Turkey.

The game that changed perceptions was in Saint-Denis. Against Zidane's France, in his first home game as head coach, Italy suffered but played as a team. Olise's free kick was answered by Bastoni, while Donnarumma kept the result alive with a string of decisive saves. Not a win, but a draw that carries the weight of a statement of identity. Then Bologna, with nine changes from Paris and the Scamacca-Pio Esposito handover producing two goals: proof that the squad has depth and that those who come in do not lower the level.

The real treasure: the debutants

But the most important figure, for those of us who follow every step of the new Italian generation, is another one. Mancini named an extra-large squad of 34 and was not afraid to use it. Seven players made their debut during this break: Alessandro Romano, Issa Doumbia, Mohamed Alì Zoma, Michael Kayode, Sebastiano Esposito, Matteo Ruggeri and Antonio Vergara. With Vergara, who came on at the Stade de France, the number of players handed a senior debut by Mancini rises to 64.

These were not courtesy caps. Romano is the best story of all: from the mistake that opened the way for Belgium's first goal to a towering performance against Turkey. A young player who errs on his debut, keeps his place and responds: exactly the kind of management that had been missing. Doumbia brought physicality and energy to midfield, Seba Esposito and Vergara lit up the flanks, and the prospect of seeing the Esposito brothers together is no longer a curiosity but a real possibility.

One direction

That is why these two stories should be read together. The Under-21s dominating Poland and the senior team reborn in four games say the same thing: Italy has talent, and when it is given space and trust, that talent responds. Ndour, Koleosho, Lipani, Cherubini and Fini on one side; Romano, Doumbia, Kayode, Vergara and Pio Esposito on the other. A pathway that finally connects, with players growing in the Under-21s and finding, at the next level, a head coach willing to call them up.

In November Italy face France at San Siro and travel to Belgium, while the Under-21s await the Euros draw. There will be more setbacks, that is inevitable. But for the first time in a long while we can say that the azzurri have a road ahead, and that road is being paved by the young.