England will look to kick-start their European Under-21 championships campaign on a high when they take on Italy in Netanya, Israel Wednesday.
Italy and England are the favorites to come out of their group, with tournament favorites Germany, Spain and Netherlands finding themselves in the opposing group.
While England are not expected to win the tournament, it will be seen as a major disappointment if they cannot at least reach the semifinals, where they are likely to meet either Spain or Germany.
"When we start our journey every two years, we sit our players down and we talk about winning the tournament. We're here to win -- that is the message I only ever send out to the squad," under-21 manager Stuart Pearce was quoted as saying by the Guardian. "On top of that it will be how many players can get tournament experience here -- the likes of Jordan Henderson, who can step into the seniors next time round.
"So there is a multitude of things. If I strip it down to a burning ambition inside me, it is to win it. If I strip it down to me doing my job developing the 23 players here at the moment... hopefully we will get a few of them stepping forward.
"Roll the clock back and you have (Chris) Smalling, (Phil) Jones, Kyle Walker, (Danny) Welbeck, (Daniel) Sturridge, all in the seniors who were on this stage two years ago."
The other two teams in England's group are hosts Israel and Norway, but Pearce believes Italy are the favorites.
"We are going in on the back of winning nine games not conceding a goal, so confidence is very strong," Pearce added. "But sometimes you can't judge (how strong the squad is) until after a tournament is finished or even until a year later.
"Experience tells me don't judge the tournament until a year down the line, when some of these national teams go to Brazil and one or two individuals you have not heard of now, all of a sudden they are household names and senior internationals."
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