By Anna Italia
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Italy Head Coach Roberto Macini has called up 27 players for the UEFA Nations League against Portugal on Saturday 17 November at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium and the friendly game against the United States of America (USA) on Tuesday 20 November at the “Luminus Arena” in Genk .   The two games will be played at 20:30 and will be broadcast live on Rai 1.  Among the news in the convocations of  Mancini

• THE UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE – The new UEFA competitions features four categories, going from A to D. Italy are in League A which features the top 12 teams in the UEFA Ranking divided into four groups of three. 
  

ITALY-PORTUGAL. There are 26 precedents between Italy and Portugal and the Azzurri have a clear advantage in the direct matches: 18 wins and 2 draws against only 6 losses, even if in the last two comparisons it was imposed Portugal (1-0) and the last Italian victory dates back to 6 February 2008 (3-1 in Zurich in a friendly). In the last 4 races in Milan with the Lusitanians there are 4 Italian victories. The one with Portugal will be the 58th Italian game in Milan, which puts Rome to the top of the ranking of the venues that have hosted the Azzurri several times. In the 57 matches played in Milan, Italy faced 23 opponents with a score of 37 wins, 18 draws and 2 losses and an average of 2.26 points per game (129 points in 57 races). The Azzurri have not lost in Milan for 93 years and are unbeaten in the 27 races disputed in the San Siro Stadium then “Meazza”. Among the previous ones in Milan, an Italy – Portugal played exactly 25 years ago, on November 17th 1993: a 1-0 blue victory with a goal by Dino Baggio.

ITALY-USA. There are 12 precedents between Italy and the United States, 3 of them in the World Cup Final Phase with a favorable coincidence: in 1934 and in 2006 Italy won the World Cup after facing the Americans.  Stats are 8 Italian wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat, in the last challenge in Genoa in 2012. Italy and USA will meet for the 6th time in the neutral field: so far 5 wins and 1 even for the Azzurri, who boast a +20 in the goal difference, thanks above all to the two big successes at the Olympics of 1948 and 1952 (17/0). For Italy it will be the first game in Genk.

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Italy Squad List for the UEFA Nations League games

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);

Defenders: Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Mattia De Sciglio (Juventus), Emerson Palmieri Dos Santos (Chelsea), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Alessio Romagnoli (Milan), Daniele Rugani (Juventus);

Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Cagliari), Roberto Gagliardini (Inter), Frello Filho Jorge Luiz Jorginho (Chelsea), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Stefano Sensi (Sassuolo), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain);

Forwards: Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Grifo (Hoffenheim), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Kevin Lasagna (Udinese), Leonardo Pavoletti (Cagliari), Matteo Politano (Inter).

Staff – Head Coach: Roberto Mancini; Team Manager: Gabriele Oriali; Assistenti tecnici: Alberico Evani, Angelo Adamo Gregucci, Giulio Nuciari, Fausto Salsano, Massimo Battara; Preparatori atletici: Claudio Donatelli e Andrea Scanavino; Match Analyst: Antonio Gagliardi; Medici: Andrea Ferretti e Carmine Costabile; Fisioterapisti: Maurizio Fagorzi, Emanuele Randelli, Fabrizio Scalzi, Luca Lascialfari; Osteopata: Walter Marinelli; Nutrizionista: Matteo Pincella.

🇮🇹 #Azzurri

The 27 players in #Mancini‘s squad to face #Portugal 🇵🇹 and the #USA 🇺🇸

First call-ups for #Sensi, #Tonali and #Grifo. #VivoAzzurro #ITAPOR #ITAUSA pic.twitter.com/9BEdZpxHwc

— Italy (@azzurri) November 9, 2018

Italy Team Schedule (All times CEST)

Monday 12 November 2018
Meeting at the Coverciano Center at 12.30
14.30  Italy Head Coach press conference
16.00 Training (open to the Media)

Tuesday 13 November 2018
13.45 Press Conference
16.00 Training (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)

Wednesday 14 November 2018
13.45  Press conference
16.00 Open training  (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)

Thursday 15 November 2018
16.00  Training (closed doors)

Friday 16 November 2018
10.30 Training MD-1 (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)
17.00 Transfer by train from Florence to Milan
19.15 Walk around  “G.Meazza” Stadium
19.30 Italy Head Coach Press conference with 1 player

Saturday 17 November 2018
20.45   Italy-Portugal
Meeting with the press at the end of the game

Sunday 18 November 2018
17.00 Training at the Centro Sportivo Suning di Appiano Gentile (closed doors)

Monday 19 November 2018
11.00 transfer  Milan-Genk
17.30 Italy Head Coach Press Conference with 1 player at the Luminus Arena
18.00 Training MD-1 (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)

Tuesday 20 November 2018
20.45 Italy vs USA
At the end of the game meeting with the press and return to Italy.