ROME (ITALPRESS) – First commitments of 2025 for the national team, which will face Germany in the Nations League quarterfinals in a double challenge that represents a real ‘sliding door’ on the future.
The two matches, scheduled for Thursday, March 20 at the ‘Giuseppe Meazzà Stadium in Milan and Sunday, March 23 at the BVB Stadion in Dortmund, will in fact decide not only qualification for the Finals, which Italy would host in June in Turin if it wins, but also the path to the 2026 World Cup: by passing the round the Azzurri would be placed in the group with Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg, while if they lose they would face Norway, Israel, Estonia and Moldova.
Coach Luciano Spalletti has called up 25 players: first call-up to the national team for Atalanta’s 2002-class defender Matteo Ruggeri and Torino’s 2003-class midfielder Cesare Casadei, while returning to the Azzurri shirt are Matteo Politano, who was last called up in November 2023, and Mattia Zaccagni, who was absent from last September’s games. The national team will assemble Sunday evening in Appiano Gentile to stay at Inter’s headquarters until the afternoon of Saturday, March 22, when it is scheduled to depart for Dortmund.
L’ELENCO DEI CONVOCATI
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham);
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Matteo Ruggeri (Atalanta), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Cesare Casadei (Torino), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Nicolò Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);
Strikers: Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Lorenzo Lucca (Udinese), Daniel Maldini (Atalanta), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).
– Photo Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
