Italian
Silvio Baldini calls up 24 players for the men’s national team’s friendlies against Luxembourg and Greece. Captain Donnarumma leads many under 21s
COVERCIANO – The men’s national football team starts over with the youth. After the failure of the third consecutive missed qualification for the World Cup, and while waiting to find out who will be the new President of FIGC and consequently the new coach, the ball is in the court of the Under 21 coach Silvio Baldini.
The Tuscan coach will indeed have to lead the men’s National Team in the last two seasonal commitments. The Azzurri will face Luxembourg in a friendly match on Wednesday, June 3 (8:45 PM – live on Rai 1) at the Stade de Luxembourg, and then Greece on Sunday, June 7 (9 PM Italian time, 10 PM local time – live on Rai 1) at the Pankritio Stadium in Heraklion, on the island of Crete.
For the double commitment, the coach has called up 24 players, focusing, as promised, on the young ones. A sensible choice considering how motivated the players who failed to qualify can be. It’s also a way to give experience to the best young blue profiles who already have several appearances and goals in the main European leagues and cups.
With the availability of captain Gianluigi Donnarumma (81 appearances for him), the group includes 4 boys born in 2008, 3 in 2006, 7 in 2005, and 9 in 2004, with an average age of 20 years and 6 months. Among them, the magic of the Senior National Team has already been tasted by some, such as Pietro Comuzzo, Marco Palestra, Niccolò Pisilli, and Francesco Pio Esposito. For the others, it will be the first of hopefully many times.
The team will gather in Coverciano on the evening of Thursday, May 28, to start training the next day. Tommaso Berti (Cesena), Niccolò Fortini (Fiorentina), Gabriele Guarino (Empoli), and Dominic Vavassori (Atalanta) will also join the call-ups, participating in the preparation phase for the friendly matches from Thursday, May 28, to Sunday, May 31.
The summoned
Goalkeepers: Giovanni Daffara (Avellino), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Lorenzo Palmisani (Frosinone);
Defenders: Honest Ahanor (Atalanta), Davide Bartesaghi (Milan), Fabio Chiarodia (Borussia Monchengladbach), Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), *Costantino Favasuli (Catanzaro), Filippo Mane (Borussia Dortmund), Marco Palestra (Cagliari), Luca Reggiani (Borussia Dortmund);
Midfielders: Matteo Dagasso (Venezia), Giacomo Faticanti (Juventus), Luca Lipani (Sassuolo), Cher Ndour (Fiorentina), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), Lorenzo Venturino (Roma);
Forwards: Francesco Camarda (Lecce), Luigi Cherubini (Sampdoria), Jeff Ekhator (Genoa), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Seydou Fini (Frosinone), Samuele Inacio (Borussia Dortmund), Luca Koleosho (Paris FC).
*is authorized to attend the gathering on May 30, after completing their commitments with their affiliated club
Photo Credits: Figc.it
