AC Milan midfielder has been talking about Italy U21s’ mentality ahead of the European Championships which are set to get underway very soon.
Despite being a key player for Milan, Tonali has been chosen to represent the U21s in a major tournament rather than going to the Nations League with the senior team.
The competition is going to get underway on June 21 and it will see 16 teams of talented youngsters doing battle to be crowned the best in Europe.
Tonali explains that many players in the Italy squad have been waiting for this for a long time, and that they are very clear about the task in front of them.
“We’ve been waiting for it for a long time, we can’t wait for it to arrive. It’s been a long journey, there’s a lot of emotion because it was our goal to get there. We are well, we are a great group and now we just have to go and play for it. We know very well what we have to do and what we can do,” Tonali said to the Azzurri social media (via Milan News).
As he is quick to point out, Italy have been handed a tough group as they will face France, Norway and Switzerland to begin with.
“We can play for one of the places in the Olympics. The group is difficult, they are all strong teams with many players who have already played in the major national teams and play in the major leagues. Qualifying will be difficult, but it is definitely something we have to do. We will try in every way to do it as soon as possible, starting from the first game,” he said.
Italy’s U20s recently reached the final of the U20 World Cup but were beaten by Uruguay in the final.
