EURO U21

Starting today, actually already started, is the UEFA EURO U21 tournament.  I find this much more exciting than the pointless Confederations Cup.  In my opinion, Italy looks to have the strongest squad out of the following: England, Germany, Spain, Israel, Norway, Netherlands and Russia.  Germany is a close second when it comes to producing quality youth lately.  I think this young Italy squad will have a terrific tournament and are probably the favorites to win it or at least make the Final.  Italy's U21 team is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Francesco Bardi, Simone Colombi, Nicola Leali

Defenders: Giulio Donati, Cristiano Biraghi, Marco Capuano*, Luca Caldirola, Matteo Bianchetti, Vasco Regini

Midfielders: Marco Verratti*, Alessandro Florenzi*, Luca Marrone, Andrea Bertolacci, Fausto Rossi, Marco Crimi

Forwards: Ciro Immobile*, Lorenzo Insigne*, Manolo Gabbiadini, Mattia Destro*, Nicola Sansone*, Alberto Paloschi, Riccardo Saponara*, Fabio Borini

I put an asterisk next to all the players you should look out for.  Marco Verratti is becoming a more and more proven superstar midfielder in world football.  He started almost every game for P$G this season and when Pirlo retires, I'm not going to have any worries.  This kid is a phenomenal playmaker and also a pretty decent goalscorer.  The man everyone's talking about is Lorenzo Insigne.  He was teammates with Verratti last season with Pescara, as was Immobile, and together, the three of them were unstoppable in Serie B.  Insigne plays for Napoli and it was practically criminal he wasn't a starter alongside Cavani.  He is a very elusive and speedy forward who can create chances for himself out of nothing.  I'm not saying he's going to be as good as or anywhere near that, but his playing style is similar to Messi in my opinion.  Also worth mentioning are Mattia Destro and Nicola Sansone.  Destro proved to be a reliable goalscorer this past season with Roma, although he hasn't progressed as quickly as most people thought he would.  Nevertheless, he's still a great talent with tons of potential.  Nicola Sansone isn't as quite hyped about as some of the other players, but he's still worth keeping an eye on.  The Parma winger has been linked to Milan and has all the tools to be Italy's first true winger, maybe ever.  Add some talented players around him, and he could really blossom into a great player.  Lastly, Riccardo Saponara has been very well looked at the past few months.  He was just recently signed by Milan from Empoli.  His natural position is in the central attack, but he can also play on the wing if he needed to.  Watch for him to get a lot of playing time with Milan as he could really start to shine next season.