By Anna Italia
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Italian Soccer Serie A
Italy Head Coach Roberto Mancini called up 33 players for the friendly game against San Marino on Friday 28 May (20:45 CEST) Sardegna Arena in Cagliari. Mancini testing last players before submitting his final 26-man squad before midnight on 1 June. Sassuolo forward Giacomo Raspadori has received his first call-up to the Italy first team. Raspadori has recently played for the age groups and made his Under-21 debut on 3 September in a friendly against Slovenia.
As reported by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the players will meet up at the Forte Village Resort in Santa Margherita di Pula on Monday 24 May, where they will do one session per day between Tuesday 25 and Thursday 27 May in preparation for the match against San Marino. Following victories in their first three games in 2022 World Cup qualifying back in March, Italy have won each of their last six games, extending their unbeaten run to 25 (W20, D5), with Roberto Mancini equaling the run under Marcello Lippi between 2004 and 2006. Only Vittorio Pozzo has overseen a longer streak with no defeats; the two-time World Champion coach guided the Azzurri to 30 games without loss between 1935 and 1939.
Italy will play in Sardinia for the sixth time; in their last five games in Cagliari, where they return for the first time in over 16 years (friendly vs. Russia in February 2005), the Azzurri have won two, drawn two and lost one. Italy have won both of their friendlies against San Marino by four goals to nil (1992 & 2013). Furthermore, an ‘experimental’ Italy side coached by Ventura won 8-0 against La Serenissima in Empoli in May 2017.
The FIGC reports that after the San Marino game, the Azzurri will return to a training camp on Monday 31 May, before they face the Czech Republic on Friday 4 June (20:45 CEST) at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna – their final friendly before the Euros. The squad for this game will be released on Sunday 30 May.
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👉 Italy Squad list
Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Alessandro Florenzi (Paris Saint-Germain), Manuel Lazzari (Lazio), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain);
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Vincenzo Grifo (Freiburg), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Kean (Paris Saint-Germain), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo).
Italy’s schedule (all times CEST)
Monday 24 May
Team meets before 24:00 CEST at the Forte Village Resort in Santa Margherita di Pula
Tuesday 25 May
10:30 – *Training at the Forte Village Resort (closed)
Wednesday 26 May
10:30 – *Training at the Forte Village Resort (closed)
Thursday 27 May
10:30 – *Training at the Forte Village Resort (first 15 mins open)
12:00 – **Coach’s press conference at the Forte Village Resort
Friday 28 May
20.45 – Italy vs. San Marino at the Sardegna Arena in Cagliari
*Images will be distributed by the FIGC
**Access limited to a reduced number of media members