[su_dropcap]T[/su_dropcap]his Saturday, January 10, Team Switzerland, still smarting from their 17-0 loss to Serbia a couple of months ago, will take on the Italian national team in an international friendly game in Pero, Italy at Stadio Gianni Brera Pero located not far from Milan.
Kickoff is 6 p.m. CET, local Italian time, (12 noon EST). The game will be streamed LIVE on the Milan Rhinos live stream outlet.
Team Blue, nickname of the Italian team, has a new head coach in Davide Giuliano, coach of the Catania Elephants. Italy’s last game was May 11, 2014 when they were defeated by Siena Heights (NAIA) 35-3 in Viterbo, Italy. The last time they faced another nation was in the Group B final in 2013 when they were defeated by Denmark 49-29.
Team Italy
Swiss Head Coach Chris Winter
Swiss head coach Chris Winter in his second outing at the helm of Team Switzerland, will be faced with a similar dilemma as he had for the October meeting with Serbia. He has had to gather all his players and coaches in short order for a camp and this time head down to Milan.
Switzerland will rely on quarterback Dea Baumann who started the game against Serbia. At 6’3″ and 220 lbs he can throw and has the size to take off when he needs to. He will be throwing to a veteran receiving corp including Wes Welker clone Adrian Sünderhauf.
On defense, Italy has to keep an eye out for middle linebacker Michael Wilhelmi who is fast and smart, and also strong safety Jeffrey Provencal who hits as hard as anyone.The defense is anchored by 6’5″ 265 lb defensive tackle Dominik Liechti who is big and very fast. In fact, the Swiss bobsled team is considering him for a spot.
Team Italy Head Coach Davide Giuliano
In Head Coach Giuliano’s debut, he will rely heavily on the veteran players from the Parma Panthers, including quarterback Tomas Monardi who had an outstanding season for Parma. He will rotate with Simone Slusarz who is a very promising young quarterback from the Bologna Warriors. The Panthers form the backbone of Team Italy with 11 players on the squad. Next is the Bologna Warriors with eight players.
“This is a perfect tune up for us as we start preparing for the Group B championship tournament in 2016,” said Giuliano.”
Both Monardi and Slusarz will be able to rely on the running of Italian Super Bowl MVP Mattia Binda (Milan Seamen), who is coming off a terrific season. Wide receivers Giacomo Bonanno (Milan Rhinos) and Tommaso Finadri (Parma Panthers) will also pose a problem for Switzerland. The Italian defense relies heavily on defensive lineman, Simone Bernardoni (Parma Panthers) and linebacker Daniele Pezza (Milan Seamen).
Source: Sergio Brunetti – American Football News