The Men's first team will be training this afternoon at Coverciano to prepare for Saturday's clash with Malta. Joining the group will be Lazio forward Mattia Zaccagni, while his clubmate, Ivan Provedel, has been taken off the official squad list.

Instead, Francesco Acerbi has been training regularly since the camp started on Monday who, after taking the decision with Spalletti to miss the two September games against North Macedonia and Ukraine (“I got hurt on 5 August and hadn't even trained with Inter, so I needed to get more minutes under my belt first”) is ready to get this new-look Azzurri adventure under way. The 35-year-old Inter defender is the oldest member of the group. In the last few years, his growth has been consistent and through performances for his club sides he has become one of the National team's key leading figures: “I only a little feel old by number," smiling in the press room at Coverciano. "I still feel great physically and mentally. I try to set an example through my drive to do well and to always put myself in the reckoning: I'm someone who likes to talk on the pitch, but words aren't always needed; I prefer to do my talking on the pitch.”

Next Tuesday, the side returns to Wembley, the stadium where they were crowned European champions, but experience has taught him to only look ahead to the next game: “We're just focusing on Malta, a side that did really well in our 2-0 win over there. Every game must be approached with maximum concentration because if you don't go out with the right focus, even the best can risk slipping up, as we know all too well against North Macedonia. We won the Euros at Wembley and it was a beautiful moment. They'll be looking to beat us, but we'll be up for the challenge.”

“Wearing the Italy shirt must always be an honour and a privilege," Acerbi pointed out. "We're representing an entire nation and we must act in the best possible way. There's a really relaxed feeling around, the environment around the place is calm and we're all here to follow what the Head Coach is telling us. He's trying to get across a winning mentality; he wants us to show personality and bravery, and go and take the game on.”

A winning mentality that has been slightly lost over the last few years, contributed by the disappointing World Cup play-off exit: “It wasn't a question of players, but of mentality; we only had ourselves to blame against North Macedonia. We lacked a bit of clarity of mind in the past, something we had in the Euros, where we weren't favourites but won due to the group's output in which every player gave his maximum to reach that triumph.

ITALY VS. MALTA IN BARI. The game is headed towards a sellout, with over 53,000 tickets sold at the San Nicola. May we remind fans that entry for children will only be allowed on presenting a valid match ticket.

Squad List

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Inter), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Giacomo Bonaventura (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);
Forwards: Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Moise Kean (Juventus), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio), Nicolò Zaniolo (Aston Villa).