ROMA – Return to blue for Nicolo Zaniolo (outside November) e Matthias Zaccagni (missing since June) but also for Cyrus Immobile (in September the last one with the national team). The ex Roma playmaker and the two Lazio strikers were in fact included by coach Roberto Mancini in the list of 26 players called up for the pre-training camp at Forte Village Resort in Sardinia in view of the Finals di Nations League. Milanese Alessandro Florenzi and Juventus player Manuel Locatelli (absent since June) will also be back on the first call Federico Baschirotto. Excluded from the list instead Giorgio Scalvini and Sandro Tonali, left at the disposal of coach Paolo Nicolato in view of the final phase of the Under 21 European Championship (Georgia and Romania, 21 June-8 July), where three passes for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will also be up for grabs. Obviously they were not considered the players of Inter and Fiorentina, engaged in the Champions League and Conference League finals. After third place in 2021, Spain will be on the road for the Azzurri again (on 15 June in Enschede, third match in the semifinals after Euro 2020 and Nations 2021), while the Netherlands, hosts, will face Croatia (June 16 in Rotterdam).
Meeting in Rome and pre-retreat in Sardinia: the programme
Meeting on Sunday 4 June in Coverciano. Before flying to Cagliari, on Monday 5 June at 12 the national team will train at ‘Giulio Onesti’ Olympic Training Center in Rome: on this occasion the Azzurri, led by the federal president Gabriele Gravina, will participate in the ceremony naming of Camp 3 after Gianluca Vialli, an initiative promoted by the president of Coni Giovanni Malagò. The general secretary of Coni Carlo Mornati will also be present. They will attend training about 30 young patients of the ‘Bambino Gesù’ Pediatric Hospital, with which the FIGC and the national team in particular have been promoting a series of joint initiatives for years. After a day of rest, on the afternoon of Sunday 11 June the blue group will meet again in Coverciano: the doors of the Federal Technical Center will be crossed by the 23 players who will take part in the Nations League. He won’t have much time for Mancini’s definitive choices: the official list for the Finals, in fact, will be sent to UEFA by midnight on Monday 5 Junethe day of the transfer to Sardinia.
Italy, Mancini’s 26-man squad for the pre-training camp in Sardinia
Goalkeepers
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), *Alex Meret (Naples), Guglielmo Vicario (Empoli).
Defenders
Federico Baschirotto (Lecce), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Alessandro Buongiorno (Turin), *Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Naples), Alessandro Florenzi (Milan), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta).
Midfielders
Bryan Cristante (Roma), Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo), Jorginho (Arsenal), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Monza), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain), Nicolò Zaniolo (Galatasaray).
Forwards
Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), *Giacomo Raspadori (Naples), *Mateo Retegui (Tigre), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).
* in the event of official commitments with your club, the players indicated may postpone their arrival at the training camp
News in coach Mancini’s staff
In this retreat there are also two news in the staff: among the technicians is added Alberto Bollini, coach of the Under 19 team who will play the Final Phase of the European Championship in July. He collaborated with Reja at Lazio and Atalanta in Serie A after 2 Primavera championships (Lazio 2001 and 2012). He joined the technical cadres of Club Italia in 2019, taking charge of the Under 20 team. With him, Giuliano Bergamaschi, sports pedagogist, joins the groupa new figure for the national football team, who comes from the men’s national volleyball team, where he arrived two years ago together with coach Ferdinando De Giorgi, the coach capable of winning the European Championship (2021) and the World Cup (2022).
Mancini: