The National Team have got together at Coverciano and are set to hold their first training session this afternoon ahead of their upcoming European qualifying matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina (at 20:45 CET on Friday 15 November at the Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica) and Armenia (at 20:45 on Monday 18 November at the Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo).

With Domenico Berardi and Marco Verratti already having being forced to drop out (Brescia midfielder Sandro Tonali was called up in the latter’s place), Leonardo Spinazzola has become the latest absentee after picking up an injury in the league match between Parma and Roma yesterday evening. Having already qualified for EURO 2020, Roberto Mancini will thus have 27 players at his disposal. The objective is to continue the record-breaking winning run (eight successive victories) and pick up more points in order to be in the same pot as all the best teams for the European Championship draw and improve Italy’s ranking ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifying draw: “In these two matches, we’ll try to do all that we can,” said the Head Coach in his press conference at the start of the get-together. “We want to win both. The game against Bosnia will be a great test, we’ll be playing in a small and boisterous stadium and they’ll give 200%, as they did in the first match. And then there’s the game in Palermo: we won’t shake up the team, we won’t have any real opportunities to see each other from now until March. This is why we’ve called up the lads who we wanted to see more of (Cistana, Castrovilli and Orsolini). Even though we’ve already qualified for the European Championship, we need to improve certain playing situations.”

The Head Coach also commented on Immobile and Belotti and the difficulty of playing them together: “They’ll play one match each. They’re two similar players who play in the same areas, but everything is possible if you try.”

Seven months before the European Championship, the Head Coach continues to want to take a look at the most promising youngsters from Serie A. The three new faces this time around are Orsolini, Cistana and Castrovilli: “We’ve been following their progress a lot over the past few months. Orsolini has quality, Cistana has all the important ingredients and is very young, with this also applying to Castrovilli. They’re doing well, and we’re looking beyond the European Championship. We need to understand what they can give us, not just now but in the future too. Perhaps we’ll call up others next time.”

Upon being asked whether he had thought about calling up Balotelli to send out a message against racism following the incident at the Bentegodi, Mancini had the following to say: “I really like Mario, I gave him his debut as a youngster. If he were to be called up, it’d be because he was doing well and could be of use to the National Team. I believe it’s more important to call him up if he deserves it.” The Head Coach isn’t worried about the difficulties Italy’s widemen have had recently: “Perhaps Insigne, Chiesa and Bernardeschi aren’t at their best at the moment, but the important thing is that they’re playing. When they play for the National Team, they do well.” The Head Coach is also unconcerned about the fact that Alessandro Florenzi has remained on the bench recently, while he doesn’t feel the experiment of playing Gianluca Mancini in midfield will be replicated in the National Team: “Florenzi isn’t a problem, he’s rested and will be fresher. He’s played in the full-back position for many years, he’s actually better when he attacks than when he defends. He’s an important player who can play in many positions, whether on the wing or in the centre of midfield. He’s experienced with many playing years behind him. For me, Mancini remains a defender, but playing further up the pitch for his club could help him improve his passing. Zaniolo is young and improving with every game. He’s at the beginning of his career, he can still develop a lot.”

October’s visit to the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome remains a great memory for Mancini (“it wasn’t a gift from us to the children, it was the other way round”), who is also happy about Gianluca VIalli being the Azzurri’s Delegation Head: “It’s great to be back together again in the National Team, we’ve both had great success. We still think that we’re young, but time does ultimately pass.”

Squad List

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Pierluigi Gollini (Atalanta), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);

Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Cristiano Biraghi (Inter), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Andrea Cistana (Brescia), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Armando Izzo (Torino), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Alessio Romagnoli (Milan);

Midfielders:Nicolò Barella (Inter), Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Frello Filho Jorge Luiz Jorginho (Chelsea), Rolando Mandragora (Udinese), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma);

Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarawy (Shanghai Shenua), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna).

Staff – Delegation Head: Gianluca Vialli; Head Coach: Roberto Mancini; Team Manager: Gabriele Oriali; Assistant coaches: Alberico Evani, Attilio Lombardo, Giulio Nuciari, Fausto Salsano; Fitness coaches: Claudio Donatelli and Andrea Scanavino; Goalkeeping coach: Massimo Battara; Match Analyst: Antonio Gagliardi and Simone Contran; Doctors: Andrea Ferretti (Medical director) and Carmine Costabile; Physiotherapists: Maurizio Fagorzi, Emanuele Randelli, Fabrizio Scalzi, Luca Lascialfari, Fabio Sannino; Osteopath: Walter Martinelli; Nutritionist: Matteo Pincella; Secretary: Emiliano Cozzi; Press officer: Paolo Corbi.

Schedule (all times CET)

Monday 11 November

12:00 – Arrival

13:45 – New FIGC partners’ press conference

14:00 – Head Coach’s press conference

16:00 – Training (First 15 minutes open to the press)

Tuesday 12 November

13:45 – Press conference (player)

16:00 – Training (First 15 minutes open to the press)

Wednesday 13 November

13:45 – New FIGC partners’ press conference

14:00 – Press conference (players)

16:00 – Training (closed)

Thursday 14 November

10:45 – Travel Florence-Sarajevo-Zenica

17:30 – Italy press conference (Coach and one player)

18:00 – Italy training (First 15 minutes open to the press)

19:45 – Bosnia and Herzegovina press conference (Head Coach and one player)

20:30 – Bosnia and Herzegovina training (First 15 minutes open to the presss)

Friday 15 November

20:45 – Bosnia Herzegovina vs. Italy

Bilino Poje Stadium in Zenica

Coaches’ press conference, mixed zone (players) and travel Sarajevo-Venice to follow.

Saturday 16 November

11:30 – Training (closed)

17:30 – New FIGC partners’ press conference

Sunday 17 November

11:00 – Travel Venice-Palermo

17:00 – Italy press conference (Head Coach and one player)

17:30 – Italy training (first 15 minutes open to the press)

18:30 – Armenia press conference (Head Coach and one player)

19:00 – Armenia training (First 15 minutes open to the press)

Monday 18 November

20:45 – Italy vs. Armenia

Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo

Coaches’ press conference, mixed zone (players) and return to club sides after the match.