Alessandro Florenzi insisted he has faith in Italy's young talent following their 1-1 draw with Germany on Saturday.
The Azzurri opened their Nations League campaign with an improved performance from their UEFA/CONMEBOL Finalissima loss to Argentina, consistently generating opportunities against a ball-dominant Germany.
Among a string of debutants including Torino duo Tommaso Pobega and Samuele Ricci, 18-year-old Wilfried Gnonto marked his first cap for Italy with an assist for Lorenzo Pellegrini.
Wearing the captain's armband and amid Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup, Florenzi tried to bring perspective to the window post-game.
"There were many young players compared to Wembley," Florenzi told RAI Sport. "Some of them paid a price for the nerves of their debut, others behaved like little veterans.
"We need to start again with Italy fuelled by the hunger of these young guys."
Florenzi and Gianluigi Donnarumma were the only Azzurri players on Saturday to have played over 40 caps, with six debutants overall at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.
While five of them came off the bench including Gnonto, a start was handed to Sassuolo midfielder Davide Frattesi.
Asked whether he felt added responsibility wearing the captain's armband, the 31-year-old claimed it was necessary for his team to rejuvenate the Italy squad.
"You feel responsibility every time you pull on this shirt," Florenzi said.
"We had to send a signal that we were starting fresh and I think we did that. Everyone gave something more to honour this jersey."
Italy next host Hungary on Tuesday, before Saturday's Euro 2020 final rematch with England.
Orsolini, Ricci and Provedel cut as Italy name final Euro 2024 squad
Riccardo Orsolini, Samuele Ricci and Ivan Provedel have been cut from Luciano Spalletti's Italy squad for Euro 2024.
Spalletti named a 30-man provisional group last month as Italy bid to become just the second team to win back-to-back editions of the Euros, after Spain in 2008 and 2012.
There was no place for experienced campaigners Ciro Immobile, Manuel Locatelli and Marco Verratti in that group, and the Azzurri have since lost defenders Francesco Acerbi and Giorgio Scalvini to injury.
Federico Gatti was drafted in to replace the latter after he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee in Atalanta's Serie A defeat to Fiorentina on Sunday.
That left Spalletti needing to cut three more players ahead of Friday's deadline, and Orsolini, Ricci and Provedel are the unfortunate trio.
Lazio goalkeeper Provedel always looked unlikely to make the final squad, with Tottenham's Guglielmo Vicario and Napoli's Alex Meret serving as backup to Gianluigi Donnarumma between the sticks.
Torino midfielder Ricci misses out with the likes of Davide Frattesi, Nicolo Fagiolo and Michael Folorunsho competing with Jorginho, Nicolo Barella, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Bryan Cristante.
Orsolini, meanwhile, has been left out despite impressing for Bologna as they finished fourth in Serie A, scoring 10 goals and adding two assists in 33 league appearances in 2023-24.
Final Italy squad: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Torino), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Nicolo Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus), Michael Folorunsho (Verona), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).
Maguire 'devastated' to miss out on Euro 2024
Harry Maguire has confirmed that he will not be part of England's squad ahead of Euro 2024 due to injury.
Maguire was called up to Gareth Southgate's preliminary 33-man party but joined James Maddison and Curtis Jones in leaving camp ahead of Friday's friendly meeting with Iceland at Wembley Stadium.
The 31-year-old has not played since April due to a calf injury, but it was hoped he would recover in time, having been key for Southgate in previous tournaments.
Maguire trained individually on Thursday before reports claimed he had not been selected, and that news was confirmed by the player himself.
In a post on X, Maguire wrote: "I am devastated not to have been selected to play for England at the Euros this summer.
"Despite my best efforts, I have not been able to overcome an injury to my calf. Maybe I pushed myself too hard, to try and make it. Simply, I am absolutely gutted.
"For me, representing England is the highest honour. It means everything to me. If I can’t help the team as a player, I will support them as a fan – along with the rest of the country. Go and win it boys.
"Next, I will return to the supervision of the Manchester United medical team in order to prepare for next season."
Reports also suggested that Jack Grealish has been cut from the squad.
The Manchester City winger was reduced to a substitute role in England's friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday, but impressed after coming off the bench to assist Trent Alexander-Arnold's goal.
However, he struggled for form last season, scoring just three goals in 36 appearances in all competitions.
James Trafford, Jarell Quansah and Jarrad Branthwaite are the other players expected to miss out on a place in the Three Lions' squad, which had to be cut down to 26.
Scotland are dark horses for Euro 2024, claims Nevin
Pat Nevin believes Scotland can be considered as dark horses to triumph against the odds at Euro 2024.
Steve Clarke's side welcome Finland to Hampden Park in a friendly this week before making the trip to Germany, where they will open the tournament against the hosts on June 14.
Scotland will be hopeful of earning a first triumph over their opponents since 1999, when Don Hutchison scored the only goal in a 1-0 friendly victory, but they have yet to beat the Germans in a major tournament.
The Scots, who will also face Switzerland and Hungary in Group A, have reached successive European Championship finals, making it to four overall, but they are yet to make it past the first round.
But that is something Nevin, who represented Scotland for a decade between 1986 and 1996, insists will not happen this time around.
“I think this is the best chance that Scotland have had for progression for generations, obviously, because we've not got there a lot of the time," Nevin told Stats Perform.
"But this is a group that is a real possibility. The Hungarians and the Swiss are similar in quality to Scotland, so there's not a great deal between us. If I had to push it, I think we're better, player for player. Nothing would make me happier for Steve Clark, for the players, for the way the fans have got behind us, for us to get through to this next stage. I'm better than hopeful, I'm quietly confident.
"I've been asked who the dark horses are for the Euros quite a few times. And I honestly can think of only one team that is the obvious dark horses - it's Scotland.
"I look around all the other teams and I think, no, people don't rate Scotland that highly because you're too busy looking at England and how brilliant a team they are.
"They have a lot of players that have played in the Premier League or are at the top level in Scotland. Add on top of that a manager who has developed something extra special. I honestly think it's us, it's Scotland this time.
"Anything can happen in the Euros and that's one of the great things about it. Sometimes I wish the draws weren't done before because we know who we'll get if we're first and second, and it's going to be tough if we get through.
"Get the job done in hand first. The job in hand is to get out of the group. You know, it's going to be a tough one after that."
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