Italy, reigning European champion, will be able to count on Federico Chiesa, restored, and on Jorginho, absent from the selection since June, for the qualifying matches for Euro 2024 against North Macedonia and Ukraine, according to the list published Friday.
Absent last month against Malta (4-0 victory) and England (3-1 defeat) due to muscular problems in a thigh, Chiesa (42 caps, 5 goals) was recalled by Luciano Spalletti even if his offensive performance with Juve remains limited to four goals this season. The Italian coach also retained in attack Giacomo Raspadori and Gianluca Scamacca, very prominent this season with Naples and Atalanta respectively. The former Naples coach who succeeded Roberto Mancini in August, however, ignored Ciro Immobile (Lazio, 57 caps, 17 goals).
To strengthen his defense, he recalled Davide Calabria (AC Milan), whose last call-up dates back to June 2022. Jorginho, who has not worn the Nazionale jersey since June (48 caps, 5 goals), also been recalled, taking advantage of his good start to the season with Arsenal. Spalletti has finally included two newcomers in his list of 29 players, Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus) and Andrea Colpani (Monza).
Italy, 3rd in its group (ranking here), faces North Macedonia in Rome on November 17, and Ukraine in Leverkusen (Germany) three days later. She must collect four points in two matches to pocket her ticket for the German Euro and any defeat would be crippling.
The 29 Italian squads for the matches against North Macedonia and Ukraine:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain/FRA), Alex Meret (Naples), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham/ENG)
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Inter Milan), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Alessandro Buongiorno (Turin), Davide Calabria (AC Milan), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus Turin), Matteo Darmian (Inter Milan), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Naples), Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan), Federico Gatti (Juventus Turin), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta)
Ground level: Nicolò Barella (Inter Milan), Giacomo Bonaventura (Fiorentina), Andrea Colpani (Monza), Bryan Cristante (AS Rome), Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan), Jorginho (Arsenal/ENG), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus Turin)
Forwards: Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Juventus Turin), Stephan El Shaarawy (AS Rome), Moise Kean (Juventus Turin), Matteo Politano (Naples), Giacomo Raspadori (Naples), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Nicolò Zaniolo (Aston Villa/ENG)