Following the Giallorossi’s triumph over Feyenoord in Tirana in the Conference League, five Roma players today joined up with the group at Coverciano. The Azzurri are continuing preparations for the Finalissima on Wednesday against Argentina and the four successive UEFA Nations League fixtures. So it’s a run of stern tests for Italy at the start of June.

One year ago, Italy were about to begin their run to glory at EURO 2020 and Gianluigi Donnarumma – like his teammates – could never have imagined that it would all go so well. Eleven months later, the Azzurri shot-stopper will return to Wembley, where he became a hero after saving penalties taken by Sancho and Saka. “We shouldn’t forget what we did at the Euros,” he said in a press conference today, “this is a great group and we did something amazing.”

Following the Euros, however, Italy were left disappointed after failing to qualify for the World Cup. And between a few too many appearances on the bench for PSG and the odd error, the Azzurri keeper has come in for some criticism: “It’s not been an easy year but I’m still me and I am working as hard as possible. The disappointment about the World Cup is still fresh and we need to win on Wednesday. We need to go again, play well and win.”

He, having made his Serie A debut at 16 years and 8 months old and his international debut at 17, has shown the benefits of investing in youth: “We need to start again with the young players as the basis. We have a lot of talented youngsters, as well as me: Bastoni, Raspadori, Scamacca. We youngsters need to take Italy back to the top.”

He then complimented his former AC Milan teammates on the Serie A title, “I’m happy for them but I don’t regret leaving”, and also remembered the late Mino Raiola, “we had an amazing relationship and he always wanted to do big things for his players.” He then congratulated his ‘colleague’ Thibaut Courtois: “he had an amazing game and kept Real Madrid on their feet until the end. Donnarumma also thanked Chiellini, who will bow out of international football on Wednesday: “I’ll miss Giorgio. He’s set a brilliant example for Italian football, especially for the younger guys. He has given us a great hand.”

On Wednesday in London, he will meet his two club teammates in Messi and Di Maria: “When we left Paris for the last game, we spoke a little bit about it. Argentina are a good team and we need to prepare for this game as best possible.”

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Genoa);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Davide Calabria (Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Emerson Palmieri Dos Santos (Olympique Lyonnais), Alessandro Florenzi (Milan), Federico Gatti (Frosinone), Manuel Lazzari (Lazio), Luiz Felipe (Lazio), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Salvatore Esposito (Spal), Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo), Jorginho Frello Jorge Luiz (Chelsea), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Tommaso Pobega (Torino), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Sandro Tonali (Milan), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain);
Attackers: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Matteo Cancellieri (Verona), Gianluca Caprari (Verona), Wilfried Gnonto (Zurigo), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Bioty Kean (Juventus), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo), Gianluca Scamacca (Sassuolo), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma), Alessio Zerbin (Frosinone).