The Italian national team is preparing for its first commitments of 2024, commitments which will be obviously intended for the European Championships in Germany. The European competition will begin in June and will present a series of difficult matches to the Azzurri, who indeed have a decidedly complicated group with Albania, Croatia and Spain.
Italy is set to fly to the United States for two friendly matches. On March 21 they will be on stage in Fort Lauderdale against Venezuela, while on March 24 they will perform in New York against Ecuador.. Luciano Spalletti will do some experiments, but the idea will be to start laying a solid foundation for the continental event in June.
Getty Luciano Spalletti, Italian national team training 03/18/24
The matches against Venezuela and Ecuador represent an opportunity for coach Spalletti to test the players who will be the protagonists of the event, the coach has published the list of players who will participate in the friendly matches in the United States. Most of the players selected for the stage matches in the United States, March 21 in Fort Lauderdale against Venezuela, March 24 in New York against Ecuador, Yet these are the usual suspects. Spalletti will obviously have to do without Domenico Berardi, absent due to a serious injury. Ivan Provedel is also out due to physical problems, struggling with an ankle problem. In their place were the various Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Barella and Chiesa, all men sure of a place. Acerbi, initially called up, was replaced after the media chaos surrounding the Juan Jesus affair: in his place was Roma central defender Mancini. Officially joining the Azzurri are Verona midfielder Michael Folorunsho, a player who plays for Verona but belongs to Napoli, Udinese striker Lorenzo Lucca and former Inter Torino winger Raoul Bellanova, while Zaniolo is also on the list, along with Cambiaso and Retegui. After excluding Immobile, Scamacca and Belotti, the exclusion of Calafiori is surprising.
Here is Italy's lineup for the friendlies against Venezuela and Ecuador.
Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), Alex Meret (Naples), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham)
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Turin), Alessandro Buongiorno (Turin), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Destin Udogie (Tottenham)
Midfielder: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Giacomo Bonaventura (Fiorentina), Michael Folorunsho (Verona) Davide Frattesi (Inter), Jorginho (Arsenal), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma);
Attackers: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Lorenzo Lucca (Udinese), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio), Nicolò Zaniolo (Aston Villa)
Getty Luciano Spalletti, Italian national team training 03/18/24
Luciano Spalletti, during the press conference in Rome he also spoke about the non-call-up of Bryan Cristante: “He needed to undergo intense treatment on his back, he had been waiting for it for a long time. And we don't want to destroy the club players, but we want to collaborate with them. Otherwise, he would have been among the team.
Calafiori too he would have been with us if he hadn't been with the U21s, but we are not going to go to war as an Italian club. The U21s have two qualifying matches, what should I do? Am I going to weaken the team, with all the players I have? Nunziata is part of our staff, we have the opportunity to see him and evaluate him, it's as if he was playing with us. The same probably goes for Fabbian. Gaetano was injured, I probably would have taken him to see him. But there is also Gnonto and Casadei with the U21s.
Spalletti on the church “For me, it’s quite clear, he’s a strong player who has offensive qualities. He jumps like a man, knows how to score goals, and also has the strong character of being convinced of his own qualities. Then he has to know how to adapt, if in the team he plays a little more inside and I make him play more outside. These are the half-spaces, we call them that: you are neither a second striker, nor a winger, nor a midfielder. It’s that happy medium where you’re a little bit of everything. He has the ability to pass through spaces that others consider impassable walls. »
Francesco Acerbi will not be part of the American trip, after the decision taken following what happened yesterday at San Siro during the match against Naples. “My thoughts are contained in the statement – Spalletti's words -. I would never want to find myself in this position, but we have a responsibility for what is a very important sport and what our nation is. According what he told me Francesco, however, it is not an episode of racism, so we must be careful even when we are going to report an episode of this kind. We saw Francesco in difficulty and we regret a human point of view for having made these decisions, but we must remain careful about our behavior.”
10:00 p.m. Italy-Venezuela DVR Pink Stadium, Fort Lauderdale (Florida), live on Rai1 and streaming on RaiPlay
9:00 p.m. Italy-Ecuador – Red Bull Arena New York – live on Rai1 and streaming on RaiPlay
