The Men's national team had their first training session this afternoon, after meeting back up at Coverciano to start preparations ahead of two EURO 2024 qualifying games with Malta (14 October, Stadio San Nicola in Bari) and England (17 October, Wembley Stadium). To start off the camp, Luciano Spalletti held a press conference, which opened up in a slightly different way than usual with the announcement of the Head Coach becoming Ambasciatore della Diplomazia dello Sport (Sport Diplomacy Ambassador).

To explain the reasons for this prestigious role in the press room was Vice-President of the Council, and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Antonio Tajani: “We want Sport to have a positive image," he said. "It can be useful for our country's image and foreign policy abroad. Giving this role to Spalletti is not because he is the Head Coach of our national football team. He is a good person with the right values and you need someone to represent your country that mustn't only be famous but must want to play their part." Spalletti said on receiving the Ambassador plaque, “I'm very thankful for this new role and it fills me with pride. I will have to become a better than I am now because this position is a responsibility I share with all of my players."

The Head Coach then took questions from the press and explained why Immobile was not in the squad: “We received communication from the Lazio doctor that Ciro had some fitness issues and he wasn't sure if he would recover in time. I spoke with Sarri, and then with the player, and we agreed together that it was best he rested.” And from one absence to the returns of Moise Kean and Giacomo Bonaventura, who have come back into the fold after two and three years, respectively “Kean has shown he is a player that deserves to wear the Azzurri shirt. I don't know what his conduct was like previously, but I won't appreciate anyone who doesn't act in the right way here. I found it hard to leave Bonaventura out from the last squad. The only thing that made me hesitate was his age, but if people of that age can show me certain things then it's only right they get their chance."

"He is an attacking midfielder like Pellegrini, who can play out wide or in behind the front players: he is an excellent player who can handle the ball expertly; he can shoot from distance and is really good at making timely runs into the box, as he showed yesterday.” While waiting to see if Zaccagni and Chiesa will be available ("Zaccagni could come, and we'll evaluate if Chiesa should stay or leave. Players are not forced here; we don't want players who don't have the National team's best at heart”), on the ideas of his forward line  Spalletti underlined: “I'm happy with the forwards. Modern-day football shows us that what matters most is physical strength and that is a good starting point; many games now are decided by set-pieces or headers. With this in mind, if I have to think about centre-forwards then the ones we have here, Scamacca and Kean, instantly spring up. The first is maybe a little better technically, for things like a first touch and quality in tight spaces. Kean is more physical, stronger in his impact, in covering more space across the pitch; he does more miles. Then there is Raspadori, who has other qualities: technically excellent and inventive, he just lacks a bit of height.”

It is vital to not underestimate Malta, but at the same time face England without any fear, who made our path towards Euro qualification more difficult following their win in Napoli last March: “Having loads of self-confidence and less respect for the opposition makes you arrogant, when in fact it makes us weaker," warned Spalletti. "We have two extremely difficult games coming up, where with the right attitude and conduct we can give strength to this national team's image. We don't look down on anyone and have no issues in turning up to play our game at Wembley against one that plays theirs."

Results are important, but what is more important is the way you behave when representing the Azzurri shirt: "Results matter; we need to find them to get to where we want to get to and must commit everything in the time we have available. My players are special creatures, and I treat them as such, but at the same time I want special answers. We're not here to mess and joke around; we want the players to enjoy themselves and be relaxed, but this game calls for a lot of seriousness and responsibility. There's no room for trivial stuff, arrogance, distractions... I want to see full dedication to our work and sacrifice.”

The Head Coach also opened up about using a 3-5-2 formation (“calling up Bastoni, Dimarco, Acerbi and Darmian gives us this possibilty, if there ten minutes to try it out it would be perfect”), and understanding Lazio's Maurizio Sarri who said he'd be happy if his players were to stay at Formello instead of going to the National team: “I think highly of Sarri, he loves this sport. From his point of view, it is right to say ‘The more I have at home, the happier I am’. When I was a club manager I always had someone who came back with a niggle or some kind of problem, especially if they had to travel for 15/16 hours. We don't want to send players back to the respective clubs in a worse condition, but better if possible. And the National side must be in the hearts of everyone, even him. Italy is top of the priority list and everyone can take something from the National team to make their football better."

SQUAD LIST

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), 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).