Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti has named his 25-man squad for this month’s UEFA Nations League quarter-final tie against Germany.
The Azzurri will have to cope without Inter Milan‘s Federico Dimarco due to injury, so Spalletti has decided to hand Atalanta left wing-back Matteo Ruggeri his first senior international call-up.
At the age of 22, Ruggeri has already made 101 appearances for Atalanta, establishing himself as the club’s first-choice left wing-back, and the 12-cap Italy Under-21 international will now get the opportunity to represent his county at senior level.
Ruggeri, who was named in last season’s Europa League Team of the Tournament after Atalanta reached the final, is one of two newcomers to Spalletti’s squad along with midfielder Cesare Casadei, who has impressed for Torino since joining permanently from Chelsea in January.
The 22-year-old, who featured in five Conference League matches for Chelsea earlier this season, has played in all five of Torino’s Serie A games since joining the club, scoring his first goal in a 2-0 win at Monza earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Matteo Politano and Mattia Zaccagni have both been recalled to the senior set-up, while Udinese striker Lorenzo Lucca has also been included a year on from earning his first and only cap in a 4-1 win over Israel in the Nations League.
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Vicario, Udogie, Calafiori, Tonali called up to Italy squad
There are several familiar faces that have been included in Spalletti’s Italy squad, including Premier League quartet Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie (both Tottenham Hotspur), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal) and Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United).
Vicario is expected to provide cover, along with Alex Meret, for first-choice goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Donnarumma, while Udogie will battle with Ruggeri for a start at left wing-back in the absence of Dimarco.
Alessandro Buongiorno, Alessandro Bastoni and Calafiori are set to form their ‘BBC’ partnership in central defence, while Tonali is one of six central midfield options at Spalletti’s disposal along with Casadei, Nicolo Barella, Davide Frattesi, Nicolo Rovella and Samuele Ricci.
Elsewhere, the top-two scorers in Serie A – Mateo Retegui (22) and Moise Kean (15) – will go head-to-head for the centre-forward spot in Spalletti’s side, while Lucca, Politano, Zaccagni, Giacomo Raspadori and Daniel Maldini – the second son of Italy icon Paolo Maldini – are the other attackers who have been called up.
Along with Dimarco, Juventus‘ Manuel Locatelli and Nicolo Savona, Leicester City’s Caleb Okoli and Roma’s Nicolo Pisilli have all been left out of Italy’s squad after being called up in November last year.
Italy will lock horns with Germany in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final at San Siro in Milan on March 20, before travelling to Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion three days later for the second leg.
The winners of this quarter-final showdown will earn the right to host the semi-finals and final of the Nations League, and in the last four will come up against either Denmark or Portugal.
Italy’s 25-man Nations League squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham Hotspur)
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Matteo Ruggeri (Atalanta BC), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Cesare Casadei (Torino), Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Nicolo Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United)
Forwards: Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Lorenzo Lucca (Udinese), Daniel Maldini (Atalanta BC), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta BC), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio)
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