After his positive start to the season at Pisa, Cerci was called up to the Italy under-21 by coach Pierluigi Casiraghi. He debuted 16 November 2007 in against Azerbaijan (5–0), scoring the 3–0 goal on an assist from Sebastian Giovinco. Due to injury, Cerci was not called up to the National Olympic side for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. From 2007 to 2009, he was part of the Italy U-21 biennium, with whom he took part in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in Sweden, but never played.