Italy meant business when announcing the 30 provisional names for the upcoming Euro 2024. Four players are to be cut out before the final list to embark for Germany next month. In fact, only 10 players remain from their last triumph in London.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alex Meret, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Alessandro Bastoni, Jorginho, Federico Chiesa, Francesco Acerbi, Bryan Cristante, Nicolò Barella, and Giacomo Raspadori are among the names playing in the previous edition.
All eyes are on the reigning champions
Euro 2024 will be the first major tournament for Italy in three years since winning the last edition back in 2021. Italy failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup back in Qatar and Luciano Spalletti knows that all eyes are on Azzurri this time.
The in-form Atalanta forward Gianluca Scamacca was included on the list, while Tottenham Hotspur’s Destiny Udogie was not. Ciro Immobille, one of the names who Italy have been relied on for the past few years, was also dropped from the list.
Sandro Tonali is unlikely to play his Euro this time following a suspension related to gambling a while ago. Another gambling-related name, Nicolo Fagioli, made it to the list after his suspension was lifted. Having played for the first time since October on Monday, the youngster is given a second chance to prove his worth.
On the other hand, Marco Verratti is still not on the list. The Paris Saint-Germain anchor has never been called for the national team since Spalletti took over the job from Roberto Mancini in 2022.
Here are the full list of Italy’s provisional squad prior to Euro 2024:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alex Meret, Ivan Provedel, Guglielmo Vicario
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni, Raoul Bellanova, Alessandro Buongiorno, Riccardo Calafiori, Andrea Cambiaso, Matteo Darmian, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Federico Dimarco, Gianluca Mancini, Giorgio Scalvini
Midfielders: Nicolo Barella, Bryan Cristante, Nicolo Fagioli, Michael Folorunsho, Davide Frattesi, Jorginho, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Samuele Ricci.
Forwards: Federico Chiesa, Stephan El Shaarawy, Riccardo Orsolini, Giacomo Raspadori, Mateo Retegui, Gianluca Scamacca, Mattia Zaccagni.
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