Gigi Di Biagio urged Italy’s Under-21 side to play against Hungary tomorrow “as if it wasn’t a friendly, as that’s how you grow.”
The Azzurrini are in Budapest on Thursday at 19.00 UK time (18.00 GMT).
“In my life, I’ve never understood the concept of a friendly,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Gigi Di Biagio urged Italy’s Under-21 side to play against Hungary tomorrow “as if it wasn’t a friendly, as that’s how you grow.”
The Azzurrini are in Budapest on Thursday at 19.00 UK time (18.00 GMT).
“In my life, I’ve never understood the concept of a friendly,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“Even when you lose a game between ranks in training, I want to see players angry. If we want to grow, we’ve got to have the same attitude as if we were fighting for three points.
“Only be treating every match the same way do you grow into great players. It’s the only way to then reach a situation where you play at the Bernabeu in front of 80,000 fans and not feel the weight of those external factors.
“We have a new group, which has only just been formed and will work towards the next European Under-21 Championship. We’ll test out new faces tomorrow and try to understand who can be a part of this squad for the future.
“I am sure it’ll be a good test, because Hungary have started their new era well, winning the opening Euro qualifier and a friendly against Germany.”
Italy U-21 squad:
Goalkeepers: Emil Audero (Venezia), Mattia Del Favero (Juventus), Simone Scuffet (Udinese)
Defenders: Claud Adjapong (Sassuolo), Davide Calabria (Milan), Elio Capradossi (Bari), Lorenzo Dickmann (Novara), Gianluca Mancini (Atalanta), Giuseppe Pezzella (Udinese), Filippo Romagna (Cagliari), Marco Varnier (Cittadella)
Midfielders: Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Fabio Depaoli (Chievo Verona), Manuel Locatelli (Milan), Rolando Mandragora (Crotone), Alessandro Murgia (Lazio), Matteo Pessina (Spezia)
Forwards: Patrick Cutrone (Milan), Andrea Favilli (Ascoli), Riccardo Orsolini (Atalanta), Vittorio Parigini (Benevento), Daniele Verde (Hellas Verona), Luca Vido (Atalanta)