Last two matches in the Nations League group for the national team, which will face Belgium on Thursday 14 November at the ‘King Baldovino’ Stadium in Brussels and then host France on Sunday 17 November at the ‘Giuseppe Meazza’ Stadium in Milan. At the top of the League A Group 2 table with a one-point lead over the Blues and six over the Red Devils, Italy will only need to collect one point in two matches to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Coach Luciano Spalletti, who on Monday afternoon will be among the winners of the ‘Italian Football Hall of Fame’, has called up 23 players: first call up to the senior national team for the Fiorentina defender Pietro Comuzzo, for the Juventus defender Nicolò Savona and for the Lazio midfielder Nicolò Rovella. Nicolò Barella, absent from the European Championship, returns to wear the blue shirt.
The national team will meet on the evening of Sunday 10th November in Coverciano, where they will train until the morning of Wednesday 13th to reach Brussels in the afternoon. The day after the match against Belgium, the Azzurri will move to Milan and prepare for the match against France in Appiano Gentile, at the Angelo Moratti Sports Centre.
THE LIST OF CALLED PEOPLE
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham);
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Caleb Okoli (Leicester), Nicolò Savona (Juventus), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Turin), Nicolò Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);
Attackers: Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Monza), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta).
IN-DEPTH – Spalletti’s squad: Fagioli doesn’t impose himself on Juventus and the coach excludes him. Here’s Rovella
IN-DEPTH – Spalletti’s squad: Savona preferred to Bellanova. Comuzzo and Gatti ‘exploit’ two knockouts
INSIGHT – Spalletti’s squad: who will be number 10? Pellegrini sacrificed for Barella’s return
INSIGHT – Spalletti’s squad: Meret returns. And Di Gregorio is again off the CT list
IN-DEPTH – Spalletti’s squad: Kean returns after low back pain in October. Lucca stays at home
INSIGHT – Spalletti’s squad: Italy is very young, only six players are over 25 years old