Italy Serie 'C' v England National Game XI - Wednesday 20th November

The England National Game XI (formerly the England Semi Pro XI) will travel to Italy later this month to play an Italian side drawn from players in 'Serie C'.
The game will be played on Wednesday 20th November (2.30pm kick-off) in the Stadio Giovanni Zini in Cremona, which is around 30 miles south of Milan.

In a move towards showcasing the younger talent outside of The Football League, The FA have agreed to play a number of matches at Under 23 level in the next five months.

The squad for the game in Cremona - where a certain Gianluca Vialli started his career - against Italy has been selected by caretaker manager Steve Avory, Assistant to former manager John Owens who stepped down from the role of Manager in the summer after being offered a full-time role coaching at the Liverpool FC Academy.

It was over ten years ago that Avory and Owens first commenced a managerial partnership, when between 1991-94, the current Assistant Academy Director at Charlton Athletic was responsible for managing England Under-16's, with John Owens as his Assistant.

Three years later, Owens took over the managerial reigns of the England Under 16's, with the two men went working at different ends of the country; Avory at Charlton Athletics' academy, and Owens as part of the fabled Anfield Bootroom.

In 1998, Owens became manager of the England Semi-Pro's, and a year later, the two were reunited, with Avory appointed as Coach, and responsible for scouting the cream of non-league football in the South. As Caretaker manager, and with a youthful feel to his squad for the game in Italy, Avory is looking forward to the challenge:

"I have been involved twice before with the National Game XI in games against Italy - a 4-1 win in 2000 at Hayes on a rain-drenched pitch, and a 1-1 draw the following year in Padova, and traditionally they are a very strong side. "The 'Serie C' squad often forms the core of the Italian Olympic Games squad, and their technically neat players will all have aspirations of making it up the ladder to Serie B or Serie A."

"The last time we played Italy at this level, their coach was Roberto Boninsegna, who played for Inter Milan and Juventus, and who formed a legendary strike partnership with Gigi Riva for Italy in the 70's, even scoring in the 1970 World Cup final before they were swept aside by Brazil. They will certainly be taking the game against us seriously!"

Looking at the players Avory will be taking to Italy, he is happy that despite the youthfulness of his players, the majority already have considerable experience under their belts:

"We have five FA Trophy winners, players who started their careers at Manchester United, Reading, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Oldham and QPR and a striker who has fired his side to third in the Conference. These players will all feel that they can play at a higher level, and being selected for the England National Game XI is indicative of their quality" he said.

After the game in Cremona, The FA will be stepping up their search for a permanent successor to John Owens, with matches arranged against Belgium in Ostend in February 2003 and against Holland in Eindhoven, in March 2003.

The person appointed to this part time role, will be expected to have significant experience of managing and coaching, preferably in the Football League or Football Conference.

Further details are available from The National Leagues Department at The Football Association.

England National Game XI Squad:

Matt Baker (Hereford Utd), Chris Weale, Adam Lockwood, Lee Johnson and Darren Way (all Yeovil Town), Jonathon Boardman (Woking) Aaron Webster and Dale Anderson (both Burton Albion), John Kennedy (Canvey Island), Warren Peyton (Nuneaton Borough), Michael Rose (Hereford Utd), Wayne Purser (Barnet), Gary Thompson (Morecambe) Ryan Sugden, Martin Lancaster and Chris Blackburn (all Chester City FC)

History:

In twelve games between Italy and England at this level since 1980, honours are even, with both sides having won three games each, and six games drawn. England's largest victory was a 4-1 win in 1999, whilst Italy's biggest win was 2-0 in 1990, in Salerno.

TheFA.com will be bringing you news from the camp later this month, and of course a full match report from Cremona.