World Cup qualifiers: Mancini calls 28 players for Italy, including new kid Tommasso Pobega

Italy coach Roberto Mancini on Friday summoned 28 players, including newcomer Tommaso Pobega (Torino), for the last two qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup, where Italy will compete for first place in the group against Switzerland , during a shock in Rome on November 12.

For this final straight, several European champions are absent due to injury including Marco Verratti (Paris SG), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta) and Rafael Toloi (Atalanta), in addition to Leonardo Spinazzola (AS Rome), far from the field since July. Mancini will still rely on the core of Wembley winners, to which is added the only newcomer, Tommaso Pobega, 22-year-old midfielder playing for Torino, on loan from AC Milan.

A crucial match against Switzerland

Italy is currently at the top of the standings with Switzerland (14 points), in Group C, with a slight advantage for the Azzurri on the general goal difference, the main criterion to decide between the teams with equal points (+11 against +9). If it will be necessary to wait until the last day to know who will qualify directly and who will have to go to the jump-offs between the two, the shock in Rome between the Nazionale and the “Nati” will be capital. Italy will then go to Northern Ireland and Switzerland will host Bulgaria on November 15.

The 28 players summoned by Mancini:

• Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris SG), Alex Meret (Naples), Salvatore Sirigu (Genoa)

• Défenseurs: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Davide Calabria (AC Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Naples), Emerson Palmieri (Lyon) / FRA), Gianluca Mancini (AS Rome)
• Milieux de terrain: Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Bryan Cristante (AS Rome), Jorginho (Chelsea / ENG), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (AS Rome), Tommaso Pobega (Turin), Sandro Tonali (AC Milan) , Nicolo Zaniolo (AS Rome)
• Attaquants: Andrea Belotti (Turin), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Ciro Immobile (Lazio Rome), Lorenzo Insigne (Naples), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo)