The Italy defender shared a post from the heart on his Instagram profile this morning: “More than a year has passed since my last game for Italy. The world has changed. What hasn’t changed is the desire, the sense of belonging and the honour of wearing these colours. Now more than ever: Forza Azzurri.”

This is the spirit with which Giorgio Chiellini returns to the group to take back his place in the team, along with the captain’s armband which he inherited in September 2018, coincidentally for Italy’s Nations League debut at the time. A competition binding together three big and meaningful moments from the Bianconeri defender’s career: his return after a year out, his first game with the captain’s armband and his 100th appearance in Azzurri colours, which Chiellini celebrated against Portugal at San Siro on 17 November 2018.

Chiellini said the following in today’s press conference: “I was pleased to be called back up to the Azzurri squad. There were a few doubts in my mind, but the Coach has been in touch a lot over these months, he’s always been close to me and I can only be grateful to him for that. Wearing the Italy shirt is always a great feeling for me. I needed to be back in these colours.”

He’s been a part of the National Team for 16 years now and going above and beyond being just a pillar of the squad, he’s also a real leader and an example for the younger players, both on and off the pitch. “It’s been a difficult year for me,” he said, “and complicated for everyone, because external circumstances have made it far tougher. I went three months without seeing my family; the last two months were the worst. I wanted to give my all for the team and I gave more due to this upheaval of our lives. I’ve got more continuity now and I feel like myself again. It was strange to see games played behind closed doors. There isn’t as much emotion as when you have the crowd behind you, so I hope they can return as soon as possible. Without them, they feel like training matches, even when you’re playing big games.”

Chiellini is preparing and Italy are preparing too – it’s been ten months since the Azzurri last played. Friday is the first big test: Bosnia & Herzegovina in Florence for the Italy National Team that is now one year older. “We have a lot of young players,” the defensive stalwart stated, “they’ll have an extra year of experience. If we compare Italy to other top European sides, one more year can help us to develop our talents. Personally, I don’t set goals for myself, I just move forward in time. If I can play in the Euros, then I’m happy, it means I’m back to my best. I would be happy to end the year playing a part in the Euros. I don’t want to think about what comes after.”

A realist as always, Chiellini also spoke about the league season, which starts on 19 September: “With what’s happened in recent months, we can’t talk like it’s a normal season. We’ll view it from what happens. We’re lucky, but in the rest of the world they’re still going through a really tough time. You have to make do and make the best of a bad situation that will last for a while. If the league season doesn’t have any breaks this year, we can be happy. We all know that we’ll have to make sacrifices; we all would’ve liked more time to prepare, but there’s no semblance of normality right now. We’ll try to do our best in these games without making excuses, but giving something more.”

The Azzurri are doing an afternoon session today, and train at 18:00 CEST at the Stadio Artemio Franchi tomorrow.

The full squad list

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);

Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Inter), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Mattia Caldara (Atalanta), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Danilo D’Ambrosio (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Luca Pellegrini (Juventus), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma);

Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Giacomo Bonaventura, Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Jorginho* (Chelsea), Roberto Gagliardini (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Sandro Tonali* (Brescia), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma);

Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Francesco Caputo (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarawy (Shanghai Shenua), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Kean (Everton), Kevin Lasagna (Udinese), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna).

*Suspended call-ups awaiting the outcome of medical tests once the players’ respective isolation requirements are complete.

The schedule (all times CEST):

Monday 31 August

13:45 – Press conference with a player at the Coverciano Auditorium

17:30 – Training (behind closed doors)

Tuesday 1 September

13:45 – Press conference with a player at the Coverciano Auditorium

17:30 – Training (behind closed doors)

Wednesday 2 September

13:45 – Press conference with a player at the Coverciano Auditorium

17:30 – Training (behind closed doors)

Thursday 3 September

17:00 – Italy’s press conference (Coach and one player) at the Stadio Franchi in Florence (location TBC)

17:30 – Italy’s training at the Stadio Franchi in Florence (open to the press for the first 15 minutes – location TBC)

18:30 – Bosnia & Herzegovina’s press conference (Coach and one player) at the Stadio Franchi in Florence

19:00 – Bosnia & Herzegovina’s training at the Stadio Franchi in Florence (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)

Friday 4 September

20:45 – Italy vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina (Stadio Franchi in Florence)

Followed by a press conference with the Coach

Saturday 5 September

10:00 – Training (behind closed doors)

17:30 – Transfer Florence to Venice

Sunday 6 September

10:45 – Transfer Venice to Amsterdam

11:00 – The Netherlands’ training at the KNVB Campus (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)

13:15 – The Netherlands’ press conference (Coach and one player) at the KNVB Campus

17:30 – Italy’s press conference (Coach and one player) at the Johan Cruijff ArenA

18:00 – Italy’s training at the Johan Cruijff ArenA (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)

Monday 7 September

20:45 – Netherlands vs. Italy (Johan Cruijff ArenA)

Followed by a press conference with the Coach and the squad’s return to Italy