Azzurrini lose captain Potenza
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Article summary
Italy captain Alessandro Potenza will miss the UEFA European Under-21 Championship after the ACF Fiorentina defender suffered an injury to his right thigh.
Article body
Experienced full-back
The news will come as a blow to coach Pierluigi Casiraghi as the influential ACF Fiorentina full-back is one of the most experienced players in the Azzurrini squad. Potenza made 19 appearances for Fiorentina in the 2006/07 season and has enjoyed previous spells with Parma FC, Ancona Calcio, AC Chievo Verona and RCD Mallorca.
Motta on standby
The 23-year-old also played all 270 minutes of Italy's finals matches at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Portugal last summer. Should UEFA's medical staff confirm Potenza's injury to be sufficiently serious as to rule him out of the competition, Casiraghi has requested for Udinese Calcio right-back Marco Motta to replace him. A 21-year-old product of Atalanta BC' youth system, Motta played 16 games in Serie A for Udinese last season.