Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – The Italian national team will gather again at Coverciano on Sunday evening for the final two matches of their Nations League group stage. Their double win over Turkey in the long September/October transfer window and their comeback draw against France in Saint-Denis have moved the Azzurri into second place in Group 1 of League A with seven points, three behind leaders France and one ahead of Belgium. The Blues and the Red Devils will face Italy in the matches scheduled for Thursday, November 12th at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan (57.000 tickets sold, the last 3.000 on sale) and Sunday, November 15th at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
Already assured of at least third place and therefore a top seed in the European qualifiers draw scheduled for December 6th in Belfast, Italy is hunting for more points to secure their place in League A (the two best third-placed teams qualify without needing to resort to the play-offs) and with the ambition of finishing in the top two of their group and thus earning a place in the quarter-finals.
If for the first four matches – spanning eleven days – Roberto Mancini had relied on a larger group of 34 players, this time the coach has called up 31.
Four youngsters have been called up to the senior national team for the first time: Como midfielder Riccardo Cassano (born in 2009), Parma midfielder Simone Lontani (born in 2008), AC Milan striker Alphadjo Cisse (born in 2006), and Como striker Mattia Liberali (born in 2007). Mancini called Cassano and Lontani up to allow him to observe them up close and give them a valuable opportunity to showcase their skills. They won't be with the group for the entire training camp, but in the coming days they will join the Under-18 and Under-19 national teams, who are playing, respectively, in the World Cup starting November 19 in Qatar and the second phase of the European Championship qualifiers, scheduled for November 11-17 in the Marche region.
This is the list of 31 players called up: Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Guglielmo Vicario (Juventus).
Defenders: Honest Ahanor (Crystal Palace), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan), Daniele Ghilardi (Roma), Michael Kayode (Brentford), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Marco Palestra (Chelsea), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta). Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter Milan), Riccardo Cassano (Como), Issa Doumbia (Sporting CP), Nicolò Fagioli (Fiorentina), Davide Frattesi (Lazio), Simone Lontani (Parma), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Como), Alessandro Romano (Cagliari), Sandro Tonali (Tottenham). Forwards: Nicolò Cambiaghi (Bologna), Alphadjo Cisse (Milan), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Sebastiano Esposito (Sassuolo), Luca Koleosho (Paris FC), Mattia Liberali (Como), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Antonio Vergara (Napoli), Nicolò Zaniolo (Udinese).
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