The Azzurri this morning completed their first training session at the Forte Village Resort in Santa Margherita di Pula with little more than two weeks until the first match of EURO 2020. The 32-man squad trained in groups of five, with the goalkeepers training in part. The Azzurri will train again tomorrow and Thursday before taking on San Marino in a friendly at the Sardegna Arena on Friday – their penultimate test ahead of the tournament.

“All of the players, who are not in the best of fitness, can potentially recover,” said team doctor Andrea Ferretti. “We need to keep an eye on them day by day, but a recovery is not out of the question". The most serious condition seems to be that of Verratti: “But his knee is not bad”, underlined Ferretti. “It is also possible to consider a possible return for the start of the Euros, but evaluations must be made”. And as for the other players who have picked up some physical problems over the last few days, the Azzurri doctor specified: “The one who is doing better is Acerbi, and as for Sensi and Raspadori, we are keeping an eye on their conditions. Spinazzola and Pellegrini are coming from relatively older injuries. It is important that the clubs have provided us with fundamental information on the conditions of the players”.

Speaking to journalists, the team co-ordinator for the Azzurri, Gabriele Oriali, explained how this first stage of the training camp is useful for recharging the batteries after a long season full of tightly-packed commitments: “We wanted to give the lads a chance to stay four or five days with their families while trying to understand each of their conditions at the same time. The players are arriving after two seasons with no interruptions, the stress could be more mental than physical, but this also applies to our opponents”.

He also quipped a line about Gianluigi Donnarumma, who finds himself at the centre of several transfer rumours in the last few hours ("he seems calm and serene"), as well as the squad’s latest arrival, Giacomo Raspadori, the Sassuolo striker born in 2000 who has been given his first call up to the senior national team and who, in the next few days, will leave for the Under 21 team for the final phase of their European Championship: “He has shown his qualities in the league and also while here with us. He does not have much physical structure in the penalty area, but he makes his presence felt in front of the goalkeeper. He has an eye for goal”.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Alessandro Florenzi (Paris Saint-Germain), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain);
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Vincenzo Grifo (Freiburg), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Kean (Paris Saint-Germain), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo).

Italy's schedule (all times CEST)
Tuesday 25 May
10:30 - *Training at the Forte Village Resort (closed)
Wednesday 26 May
10:30 - *Training at the Forte Village Resort (closed)
Thursday 27 May
10:30 – *Training at the Forte Village Resort (first 15 mins open)
12:00 – **Coach's press conference at the Forte Village Resort
Friday 28 May
20.45 – Italy vs. San Marino at the Sardegna Arena in Cagliari

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