The journey of the national team in world qualifications starts again. After the first two games played in June (3-0 defeat in Norway and 2-0 success with Moldova), Italy will return to the field on Friday 5 September in Bergamo to face Estonia, while on Monday 8 September in Debracen he will see it with Israel. The two matches, both scheduled at 8.45 pm, will be broadcast live on Rai 1.
At the Bergamo stadium, near the sold out For the return of the Azzurri (over 18,000 tickets issued), there will be the debut of the coach Gennaro Gattuso, who has summoned 28 players for the rally scheduled from Sunday 31 August at the Federal Technical Center of Coverciano: first call to the National team Major for the defender of the Liverpool Giovanni Leoni, for the Bologna midfielder Giovanni Fabbian and for the Inter striker Francesco Pio Esposito, while more than a year after the European distance from the European Championship German return to wear the blue shirt Gianluca Mancini and Gianluca Scamacca.
The list of players called up
Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Naples), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham);
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Atalanta), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Naples), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Giovanni Leoni (Liverpool), Gianluca Mancini (Rome);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Giovanni Fabbian (Bologna), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Nicolò Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);
Strikers: Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Atalanta), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Matteo Politano (Naples), Giacomo Raspadori (Atletico Madrid), Mateo Restivui (Al-Qadsiah), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).
The opponents. Seven wins in as many comparisons for the Azzurri with Estonia, relegated to 126th place in the FIFA ranking and hunting the first historic qualification for the final phase of a World Cup. The last success dates back to November 2020, when in Florence the national team won 4-0 in a friendly thanks to the brace of Grifo and the goals of Bernardeschi and Orsolini. That day Alessandro Bastoni debuted in the national team. There are also seven comparisons with Israel: a draw (0-0 in the 70-70 Mexico World Cup) and six wins for Italy, including 4-1 in the Nations League match played last October 14 in Udine (Dupepietta by Di Lorenzo and goal by Rate and Frattesi).
Italy returns to Bergamo after 5 years. Italy will return to play in Bergamo almost five years after the draw with the Netherlands (1-1, goal by Lorenzo Pellegrini) of October 2020 in a match valid for the group of UEFA Nations League. On that occasion, the national team decided to embrace Bergamo, one of the cities most affected by the Covid-19 emergency, manifesting the attention of the world of football to the local population and paying homage to the victims of the pandemic also with the visit of a FIGC delegation to the monumental cemetery. There are three precedents of the Azzurri in Bergamo, where they are unbeaten having collected two draws (another 1-1 in the friendly with Turkey played in November 2006) and a success (5-0 with Malta in the first meeting played in January 1987). For the national team, however, it will be an absolute first time in Debracen, the Hungarian city that will host the challenge with Israel.
The situation in the group. Italy and Estonia have appeared at 3 points in third place in Group I, which sees Norway in the lead with full score with 12 points (+11 of networks difference) and Israel according to 6. The Azzurri – defeated 3-0 from Norway to Oslo and then victorious 2-0 with Moldova in Reggio Emilia in the first two games played last June – however, they played two races less than in Norway and Estonia and one less than Israel and Moldova, tail light of the group and still without points to the active. The first classified will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the second will have to try to conquer the pass for the final phase of the world championship tournament through the play-offs.
