EURO 2020: Italy announce their final squad from the European Championships, uncapped striker Raspadori makes the final 26
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Mancini named uncapped U21 striker Raspadori in the final Italy squad for the Euros
Last night, Roberto Mancini officially announced the names of the 26 players called up for the Italian national team for Euro 2020.
Azzurri manager Roberto Mancini named 26 players for the upcoming Euro 2020 from the provisional 28 players called up on Sunday, with Gianluca Mancini, Matteo Pessina and winger Matteo Politano being left out, while the sudden inclusion of Sassuolo forward Giacomo Raspadori, who was with the Italy U21s at the U21 Euros until yesterday came as a surprise.
Mancini named uncapped U21 striker Raspadori in the final Italy squad for the Euros
Italy national team manager Roberto Mancini confirmed the final list of 26 players yesterday, which was released just before the deadline of midnight on Tuesday night.
Roma defender Gianluca Mancini, midfielder Matteo Pessina and Napoli winger Matteo Politano all have been dropped from Italy’s 28-man provisional squad that was announced earlier on Sunday. Atalanta defender Rafael Toloi, who made his Italy debut in March, has been preferred over Mancini in the defense, while Inter Milan midfielder Stefano Sensi was picked despite concerns over his fitness.
Chelsea’s Jorginho and Emerson made the final cut after they were added late to Italy’s updated 28-man preliminary squad on Sunday. PSG’s Marco Verratti has also been selected in the final 26-man squad in spite of his recent concerns over a knee ligament injury.
Giacomo Raspadori was the most surprising addition as he received a surprise call-up having initially been cut from the team, who became available after the Italy U21s crashed out of the Under-21 European Championship. Raspadori will be complementing Lazio’s Ciro Immobile and Torino’s Andrea Belotti for the striking option upfront for the Azzurris.
Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini will be captaining Italy in the Euros, as he is joined by other veteran players Alessandro Florenzi, Immobile, Salvatore Sirigu, Leonardo Bonucci, Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi in the final squad for Mancini.
“It’s always difficult to get to the list of 26 because you have to leave at-home players who have nevertheless been protagonists. We hope that this adventure lasts as long as possible and we can make the Italians happy,” said Mancini on the team selection.
“Our Nazionale was born after the disappointment of the 2018 World Cup and many young players came in, plus we fortunately started strong and that helped create this positive atmosphere and have done well in building a good path”, quipped Mancini, who played a crucial role in transforming the Italy team since they failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
ITALY squad for EURO 2020:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino)
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea), Alessandro Florenzi (Paris Saint-Germain), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta).
Midfielders: Nicolo Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Jorginho (Chelsea), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain).
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo).
Italy will be facing Turkey in the opening game of the tournament at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on June 11 before hosting Switzerland and Wales on June 16 and June 20 respectively.
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Sayantan Dutta
(266 Articles Published)