England

v

Italy


2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Gelredome, Arnhem
7.45pm (UK time), Thursday 14 June 2007

Stuart Pearce was back in Arnhem on Wednesday afternoon and went head-to-head with Italy coach Pierluigi Casiraghi.

The pair have met on the pitch before. The last time came in the Premiership in 1998 when Pearce’s Newcastle drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge during the first month of Casiraghi’s two-year stay at Chelsea.

They also came up against each other twice at international level in 1997, first when Gianfranco Zola scored the only goal in 1-0 World Cup Qualifying win at Wembley, then four months later at le Tournoi in France, when England won 2-0.

But in Arnhem it was all about Thursday’s massive UEFA U21 Championship Group B clash when Pearce and Casiraghi will be in opposing dugouts inside the Gelredome, and a win for England would see the Azzurrini heading out.

“It’s an important game, but I don’t know if it’s make or break,” said Pearce. “If we win the game, we’re in a strong position, but obviously it depends on other results.

“I think the same as I did before we went into the tournament; both groups were going to be very tight and after one game each, that appears to be the case.

“Probably after two games there’ll still be a hell of a lot to play for.”

Casiraghi added: “I think the English team is a very strong team. We have a different perspective of this match than they do.

“For us we have no points and therefore it will determine our life in this tournament.”

After drawing with the Czech Republic on Monday, Pearce returned to the team hotel to watch the Italians in their opening match and, as with all opponents, he and his coaching team have been studying Italy closely.

However, Pearce feels that his team needs to raise their game from the opening match, which wasn’t played at the type of pace he would like and he's hoping the side can up their tempo and that they can be more clinical in front of goal.

“I don’t think Italy made many mistakes in the game. They were slightly the better side, but as most games in this tournament have shown, it’s the team that takes the chances in front of goal that decides the outcome,” said Pearce.

“There are times you do need to set a high tempo and obviously there are times when you’ve got to slow the games down. Maybe that’s something we’ve got to get a little more cuter at in international football.

“We’re so used to playing at 100 miles an hour in the Premier League. I think we’re improving, with the foreign players coming into the Premier League it’s educating the English players in that way and I certainly think there are times in games you have to vary the tempo you play.

He added: “We feel that possibly the tempo we imposed on the game on Monday wasn’t enough to put the Czechs under any real pressure. It will be a slightly different game against the Italians, but I think we have to concentrate on what we are good at.

“It will be a fairly tight game and it will be dictated by the team that takes their chances.”