One eye is on the playoff and another on the ranking. Italy are set to face FYR Macedonia at 20:45 CEST at the Stadio Olimpico – Grande Torino in Turin on 6th October and Albania on 9th October at the Loro Borici Stadium in Shkoder at the same time. The aims are to secure second in Group G and a play-off spot and to improve on the current ranking of 17th ahead of the play-off draw on 17th October in Zurich.
“Two important matches are waiting for us and then the play-off that we know we’ll have to approach,” said Gian Piero Ventura at the start of his press conference in Coverciano. “4-2-4? We’ll evaluate things but the idea remains the same. The problem isn’t the system but how it’s interpreted.”
While waiting for an update on Belotti, the Coach will have to do without Verratti, Pellegrini and he also announced that De Rossi is out. Inglese, Gagliardini, Barella and Cristante have been called up with it being the first call-up for the latter two. “Belotti is in Rome because we are doing Torino a favour after they asked for an MRI scan. If he has a serious injury he’ll return to Torino, otherwise he’ll come here. In midfielder we’ll be without three important players and in come three players who I hope can become important.” Ventura was also asked why Inglese was picked over Zaza who has been in form for Valenica in the last three weeks of La Liga. “Zaza has been out for a while, Inglese took part in all of the training camps so we decided to use him a safe option as we have to prepare for two matches in three days. We have to think about qualifying now, we can then have some experiments but we need certainty at the moment.”
There was also a mention of Simone Verdi and Ventura’s first year in charge. “He’s a quality player who has got back in condition and he’s doing well. We have eight wins, two draws and two defeats, I’d sign up to have those results in our next twelve matches.”
Squad list
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Mattia Perin (Genoa);
Defenders: Davide Astori (Fiorentina), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Danilo D’Ambrosio (Inter), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Daniele Rugani (Juventus), Leonardo Spinazzola (Atalanta), Davide Zappacosta (Chelsea);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Cagliari), Bryan Cristante (Atalanta), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Roberto Gagliardini (Inter), Marco Parolo (Lazio);
Wingers: Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Inter), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Simone Verdi (Bologna);
Forwards: Eder Citadin Martins (Inter), Manolo Gabbiadini (Southampton), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Roberto Inglese (Chievo).
Source: figc.it
Italy Schedule
Monday 2nd October
13:40 Presentation of new sponsor with coach’s press conference to follow
16:00 Training (First 15 minutes open to press.)
Tuesday 3rd October
13:45 Meeting with the press (players)
16:30 Training (First 15 minutes open to press.)
Wednesday 4th October
13:45 Meeting with press (Players)
16:30 Training (First 15 minutes open to press.)
Thursday 5th October
10:00 Training MD-1 (First 15 minutes open to press.)
16:20 Travel from Florence to Turin
17:45 Walk Around
18:00 Press conference with coach and one player Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino
FYR Macedonia’s MD-1 Schedule (Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino)
10:00 Training MD-1 at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino (First 15 minutes open to press.)
17:00 Press conference with coach and one player
Friday 6th October
20:45 ITALY vs. FYR MACEDONIA
Meetings with press afterwards
Saturday 7th October
17:00 Training at the Stadio Filadelfia (open to press)
Sunday 8th October
10:00 Training MD-at Sisport (First 15 minutes open)
15:45 Travel from Turin to Tirana
17:40 Flight lands in Tirana and transfer toLoro-Boriçi stadium in Shköder (Around 1h 30m)
19:30 Walk Around
20:00 Press conference with coach and one player at Loro-Borici Stadium
Monday 9th October
20:45 ALBANIA vs. ITALY
Meetings to follow and transfer to Tirana airport before flights to Milan and Rome