By Anna Italia
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Italian Soccer Serie A

Italy Head Coach Roberto Mancini leading the second training session on Tuesday 31 August 2021 at Coverciano ahead of their qualifying matches for the Qatar 2022 World Cup against Bulgaria (Florence, Stadio Artemio Franchi, 2 September at 20.45 CEST), Switzerland (Basel, St. Jacobs Park Stadium, 5 September at 20.45 CEST), and Lithuania (Reggio Emilia, Stadio Città del Tricolore, 8 September at 20.45 CEST).

The news is that after the withdrawal of Manuel Lazzari, Mancini called up AC Milan defender Davide Calabria who joined the group today, while Torino forward Andrea Belotti left the camp due to an injury picked up while on club duty.

Tuesday 31 August
13:45 – Press conference FIGC-LAPS Foundation at the Coverciano CFT Auditorium
14:00 – Player press conference at the Coverciano CTF Auditorium
17:30 – Training at the ‘Vittorio Pozzo’ pitch at Coverciano

Credits: Getty for Figc.

Jorginho responding questions during the press conference.   “To those who say we were lucky at the European Championship, let them talk. The coach adapted our playing style to suit our characteristics, we enjoyed ourselves and the Italians enjoyed us. Certainly, now comes the hard part because Italy are no longer a surprise package, we’ve returned to where we deserve to be and whoever plays against us will do so in a different way. We’re happy with what we’ve done, but we must remain humble and not let our guard down”.

Credits: Getty for Figc.

If 2021 will go down as an unforgettable year for the National Team, last season undoubtedly belonged to Jorginho. After winning the Champions League with Chelsea, the Azzurri midfielder was one of the key players for Italy’s during their European Championship triumph. As the summer has progressed he has continued to add trophies to his repertoire: First, he raised the European Super Cup to the sky, becoming the first footballer in history to win the Champions League, European Championship and European Super Cup in the same year, then last week he received the UEFA award for best player of the past season.

Many point to him as one of the leading candidates for the Ballon d’Or and even Mancini yesterday declared in his press conference that no one deserves what is still considered the most prestigious individual trophy more than Jorginho: “For me every victory is special, choosing just one isn’t right. I don’t feel like saying that one is more beautiful than the other, each one has given me something. I’ll let the journalists talk about the Ballon d’Or, there are still months to go before that decision and we’ll see what happens”. Meanwhile, he received compliments from a certain Pelé: “I was surprised, everything that’s happening is surreal. I was amazed, it really made me very happy”.

Highly esteemed by all coaches who have trained him, including Tuchel and Mancini (“they are so similar, both on and off the pitch”), Jorginho has eyed up Sandro Tonali as his possible successor: “He’s like me. He tends to play more in a two-man midfield and didn’t grow up as playing as a deep-lying playmaker. You have no training for this role when you’re younger”.

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🇮🇹 👉 Italian Squad List

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), Pierluigi Gollini (Tottenham), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Genoa);

Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Davide Calabria (AC Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson Palmieri (Lione), Alessandro Florenzi (AC Milan), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta);

Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Frello Jorge Luiz Jorginho (Chelsea), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma);

Forwards: Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Kean (Everton), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo), Gianluca Scamacca (Sassuolo).

🇮🇹 👉 The Italian National Team Schedule (all times CEST)

Wednesday 1 September
17:30 – Italy press conference at the Coverciano CTF Auditorium
18:00 – Italy training at the ‘Vittorio Pozzo’ pitch at Coverciano
19:30 – Bulgaria press conference at the ‘Franchi’ stadium in Florence
20:00 – Bulgaria training at the ‘Franchi’ stadium in Florence (open to the press for the first 15 minutes)

Thursday 2 September
20:45 – ITALY vs. Bulgaria (Stadio ‘Franchi’ in Florence). Press conference after the match and return to Coverciano

Friday 3 September
11:30 – Training at the ‘Vittorio Pozzo’ pitch at Coverciano

Saturday 4 September
10:00 – Switzerland press conference at St. Jacob Park in Basel
11:00 – Switzerland Training at St. Jacob Park in Basel (open to the press the first 15′)
11:00 – Transfer Florence-Basel
17:30 – Press conference ITALY at the St. Jacob Park in Basel
18:00 – ITALY training at the St. Jacob Park in Basel (open to the press the first 15′)

Sunday 5 September
20:45 – Switzerland vs. ITALY (St. Jacob’s Park stadium). Press conference after the match

Monday 6 September
11:30 – Training at the C.S. Basel (closed)
18:00 – Transfer Basel-Reggio Emilia

Tuesday 7 September
16:45 – ITALY press conference at the ‘Città del Tricolore’ stadium
17:15 – ITALY training at the ‘Città del Tricolore’ stadium (open to the press the first 15′)
18:15 – Lithuania press conference at ‘Città del Tricolore’ stadium
18:45 – Lithuania training at ‘Città del Tricolore’ stadium (open to the press the first 15′)

Wednesday 8 September

20:45 – ITALY vs. Lithuania (Città del Tricolore Stadium). At the end of the match, press conference, disb