'It's youngsters vs veterans' - Bonucci fires warning ahead of Euro final

Though wary of the threat the Englishmen can produce, the Italy captain is optimistic about his team’s chances in the showdown on Sunday.

Euro 2020 final fixture England vs Italy is essentially “youngsters versus the veterans”, according to Leonardo Bonucci.

34-year-old Bonucci, his defensive partner Giorgio Chiellini, 32-year-old Ciro Immobile, and Lorenzo Insigne are a few of the vastly experienced players in the Italian national team.

Italy’s opponents, on the other hand, are a much younger side relatively. 19-year-old Bukayo Saka, 21-year-old Jadon Sancho, and 22-year-old attackers Mason Mount have all started in the tournament for England while 18-year-old Jude Bellingham has also made an appearance.

The two teams are now set to clash at Wembley for the grand prize, and Bonucci admits Italy’s old guard will have to be wide awake against the English attackers.

“It is the youngsters versus the veterans,” Bonucci said at a press conference ahead of the Euro 2020 final.

“The English forwards are very strong and are great players, so the whole team must be very cautious in our defense.

“We know how they can bring difficulties for us, so we will need to pay a lot of attention to the pace and quickness of their forwards like Harry Kane and the others.

“On Sunday we will have great players in the one-on-ones, but I am very confident because all of our players will give 100 percent to bring something historic home.”