Yesterday the Türkiye friendly, today the training match with the Italy U20s. Two useful tests for Luciano Spalletti in tying up the final loose ends ahead of picking his final Azzurri squad list for EURO 2024. After six days at Coverciano, tomorrow will see the Head Coach make his final decision on the players that will meet once again at the centre on Friday before flying to Germany on Monday 10 June. 

Responding to journalists in a press conference, he said: “Squad lists are finalised on 7 June, why do you want me to release mine today? I hope to share my decisions tomorrow. I will take the time to decide properly”. The Coach then spoke about the conditions of players like Meret and Barella: “Meret stopped warming up as he felt a slight muscle strain, we’ll know more tomorrow. The medical staff have told me that Barella will almost certainly be fit for the first game, we have faith but need to see how things progress, he needs to get back running and work on a couple of things”.

The game against Alberto Bollini’s Italy U20s gave some precious insight: “In some ways it was a good training exercise, they did some things well and caused us some issues. There were good changes in pace, Scamacca came on well. Now the lads will go home for a day and a half of rest at the same level of tiredness”. The choice to move kick-off to an earlier time was made for a specific reason: “Many people there had small children to get home in time for diner”. The Coach then spoke on the Türkiye game: “There were good things and other things to look over, but this is part of the job. We can do much better than we did”. He wants his Italy to be ‘cleaner’  (“press if you’re dominating play, if you lose the ball it’s hard to get back going”) and pay attention in certain aspects (“we let them recover several balls we shouldn’t have done”), whilst he approved of them “out of possession and the fact that we didn’t give them the chance to cause trouble”.

After highlighting the technical skills and morale of the Azzurri (“I chose well, they’re a great group. Looking after teammates, giving credit and helping them out are all important things”), Spalletti then answered questions on individuals: “Fagioli and Ricci? I like them both, I won’t say who I’m taking. Folorunsho is physical, he shoots from outside the box and is strong on headers. His passes have been decisive in many games. Cambiaso knows both how to defend and shake off his man, he’s good with both feet and helps the team play”. The Coach doesn’t worry for his lads: “My only concern is their sheer quality. I hope to be as good to them as they are to me”.

PLAYERS ON RETREAT

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham);
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Torino), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Gianluca Mancini (Roma);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), Michael Folorunsho (Hellas Verona), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino);
Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).