TMW
Italy’s first training session has begun in the Coverciano sports center: for now the first warm-up phase with Savona, Gatti, Cambiaso, Frattesi, Raspadori, Okoli and Tonali. On another part of the pitch, a long chat between Gravina, Spalletti and Buffon (in the photo by TMW, ed). Locatelli, called up by coach Spalletti to replace the injured Ricci, will join the group for dinner this evening. Italy will play on Thursday in Brussels against Belgium and on Sunday at San Siro against Italy (the last of the Nations League group stage).
These are some of the words of coach Spalletti in the press conference: “This morning I complimented the boys on how they are conducting the season, they are showing good football and there is this competitiveness which is good for everyone. We are seeing some beautiful matches , very tight and uncertain like Inter-Napoli. And lower level teams that give the better equipped teams a hard time: this makes the movement grow and allows us to sign more players. We are happy with the two strikers, they are showing what we hoped for. This morning Kean was with Comuzzo and I said to the latter: ‘Be careful, he’ll score for you too…’ He’s in great form, has obvious qualities and very small problems. We’re very happy (read the full press conference here )”.
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), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Nicolò Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);
Attackers: Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Monza), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta).
*CLASSIFICATION
Italy 10 points, France 9, Belgium 4, Israel 0
*The first two classified will qualify for the quarter-finals. The third-placed team will play a playoff against relegation with one of the runners-up from League B, while the fourth-placed team in the group will be relegated to League B.