World Cup 2022, National team: 34 called up, Zaniolo returns

2021-08-27T16:56:33.987Z

A month and a half after the triumph in the European Championship, the National team returns to the field to resume the journey in the World Cup qualifiers with the aim of mortgaging the pass for Qatar 2022 and extending the streak by 34 consecutive useful results, with the record World Cup held by Spain which is only 90 minutes away (35 matches without defeat between 2007 and 2009). Thanks to the successes in the first three matches played in March, the Azzurri are at the top of the Group C standings with three points clear of Switzerland, second but with only two games under their belt. Precisely the one against the Swiss (Basel, "St. Jacobs Park" Stadium, 5 September at 8.45 pm) is the challenge that can decide the fate of the group, in a calendar that however includes two other matches not to be underestimated: those with Bulgaria ( Florence, Stadium "Artemio Franchi ", 2 September at 8.45 pm) and with Lithuania (Reggio Emilia, Stadio del Tricolore, 8 September at 8.45 pm). For Italy, expected in October from the Nations League Final Four, with the replay of the European semifinal with Spain and with Belgium and France on the other side of the board, the journey towards Qatar 2022 will end in November, with the return match against Switzerland at the Olimpico in Rome (12) and the last trip to Belfast with the Northern Ireland (15th) For the first three matches of the new season Roberto Mancini has called up 34 players: present 25 of the 26 Azzurri who on 11 July at Wembley became European Champions (absent only the injured Spinazzola) , while Nicolò Zaniolo returns to wear the national team one year afterinjury accused last September during the Nations League match against the Netherlands. First call-up to the senior national team for the Sassuolo striker Gianluca Scamacca. The National team will meet on Sunday 29 August in Coverciano, where the following day will hold the first training session preceded by the press conference of the coach. After the match against Lithuania, the Azzurri will leave on 4 September for Basel on the eve of the match against Switzerland. On 6 September then the last transfer from Basel to Reggio Emilia, home to the third and final match with Lithuania scheduled for 8 September at the Stadio del Tricolore. This is the list of players called: goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), Pierluigi Gollini (Tottenham), Alex Meret (Naples), Salvatore Sirigu (Genoa); defenders:Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Naples), Emerson Palmieri (Lyon), Alessandro Florenzi (Milan), Manuel Lazzari (Lazio), Gianluca Mancini (Rome), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta); midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Rome), Frello Jorge Luiz Jorginho (Chelsea), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Rome), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Stefano Sensi (Inter ), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain), Nicolò Zaniolo (Rome); forwards: Andrea Belotti (Turin), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Naples), Moise Kean (Everton), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo),Gianluca Scamacca (Sassuolo).