🇮🇹 What if national teams picked only U21s? Italy 👎, France & Spain 🤯
🇮🇹 What if national teams picked only U21s? Italy 👎, France & Spain 🤯 Italy produces few talents but gets excellent results in youth national team selections: a paradox that can be explained in several ways. The Azzurrini of various age groups are already capable of “being a team” and can go toe-to-toe with every national side in the world: individually, though, there’s no comparison.
Just look at the potential U21 squads of Europe’s biggest nations. Which U21s play for the Azzurri? The comparison...
😨 But let’s start with Italy , because in the senior national team setup there are only four U21 players: Pio Esposito (20), Palestra (21), Pisilli (21) and Kayode (21 and not called up by Gattuso). Now let’s see what the France, Spain and Germany U21 lineups would look like if they could call up all their actual U21 players. FRANCE U21 WITH NO RESTRICTIONS GK: Risser (first-choice keeper for Lens) LB: Sangui (starter at Paris FC) CB: Yoro (62 million - Manchester United) CB: Jacquet (50 million - Rennes) CM: Zaire-Emery (PSG) CM: Mayulu (PSG) CM: Bouaddi (50 million, Lille) FW: Doué (PSG) FW: Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich) FW: Kroupi (40 million, Bournemouth) From this lineup we excluded names such as Robinio Vaz and Restes (Toulouse goalkeeper).
SPAIN U21 WITH NO RESTRICTIONS GK: Fran Gonzalez (Real Madrid Castilla) LB: Alex Valle (Como) CB: Huijsen (Real Madrid) CB: Cubarsì (Barcelona) RB: A. Jimenez (Bournemouth) CM: Gavi (Barcelona) CM: Bernal (Barcelona) CM: R. Mendoza (Atletico Madrid) FW: Yamal (Barcelona) FW: Samu Aghehowa (Porto) FW: J.
Rodriguez (Como) From these 11 we excluded Fresneda, Thiago Pitarch, Gasiorowski and Joan Martin. GERMANY U21 WITH NO RESTRICTIONS GK: Backhaus (Werder Bremen’s starting goalkeeper) LB: Rothe (Union Berlin backup) CB: Jeltsch (Stuttgart starter) CB: Coulibaly (Werder Bremen starter) RB: Morgalla (Bochum starter) CM: Pavlovic (Bayern Munich) CM: Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich) CM: Bischof (Bayern Munich) FW: El Mala (Cologne starter) FW: Tresoldi (Club Brugge starter) FW: Ansah (Union Berlin starter) From this team we excluded players such as Moukoko, Ouédraogo (a Leipzig starter before a knee injury) and Gruda (a Leipzig starter). Azzurrini from the U20 World Cup: where did they end up?