Azzurre: Three Italy players to watch at Women's EURO 2025
With the 2025 Women's European Championship about to get underway in Switzerland, Italy are putting in the final preparations before opening Group B in Sion with a match against Belgium.
Having initially chosen a 35-player provisional squad, Andrea Soncin eventually whittled that down to the 23 players who will represent the Azzurre this summer. He certainly made some interesting calls, choosing to leave out names like Valentina Bergamaschi and Valentina Giacinti, whilst Julie Piga and Eleonora Goldoni were surprise inclusions.
There is widespread expectation that Italy should be reaching the quarter-finals, considering the group contains Belgium and Portugal who are ranked beneath them, and then Spain. The likes of Cristiana Girelli, Barbara Bonansea, Arianna Caruso and Manuela Giugliano will be key to any success, but there are some players who could be poised to make a much bigger impact than expected.
Italy players to watch at Women's EURO 2025
Emma Severini - Fiorentina (21 years old)
This tournament represents a golden opportunity for Emma Severini to stake her claim as a starting midfielder for Italy for many years to come. The opportunity comes partly through luck, and mostly through her own talent and application. Whilst the domestic campaign proved to be underwhelming for Fiorentina, Severini was perhaps their most consistent performer. She contributed five goals and four assists in a team that wasn't brimming with attacking prowess.
There was never any doubt that the busy midfielder would be a part of this squad as she plays with a confidence well beyond her years, but Giada Greggi's injury means that Severini is almost certainly going to start against Belgium in the Group B opener.
Greggi has not played since her shoulder injury in March and her fitness level is not clear, and that has opened the door for Severini to prove that she can handle the big occasions in an Azzurre shirt.
Elisabetta Oliviero - Lazio (27 years old)
Another player who needs to grasp the opportunity presented to her is Elisabetta Oliviero. At 27 years old, she is not a rising youngster, she is a player who enjoyed a stunning Serie A campaign with Lazio and has worked extremely hard to get into this squad despite bigger names being in the picture. Just a year ago, nobody would have mentioned her when discussing Italy's EURO 2025 squad, but now she has taken the place of Juventus' Valentina Bergamaschi.
Comfortable on the left or the right, Oliviero is a versatile and explosive wide player who is expected to be deployed as a wing-back at EURO 2025. She bagged six assists in the league last season and helped get her team up the pitch at every given opportunity.
There are plenty of reasons to stay at Lazio ahead of next season, but Oliviero will know that if she can impress on the international stage, she could certainly bag a move to a bigger club and would have a future with the national team to look forward too.
Sofia Cantore - Washington Spirit (25 years old)
Despite being one of the most well-known names in the Italy squad, Sofia Cantore is a player to keep a very close eye on in this tournament. The 25-year-old hit a new level with Juventus in 2024/25, netting 11 times and getting seven assists in 25 league matches. She was instrumental to Juventus winning the title, and she has just earned herself a move to Washington Spirit in the NWSL.
There will be very few players at the entire tournament who arrive with more confidence than Cantore, and she will know that this is the perfect chance to show off to a wider European audience in a way that she has not previously managed to do.
With the move to the United States and then EURO 2025, this is the biggest summer of Cantore's life so far and there is every reason to think that the explosive forward will rise to the occasion.