«They have been intense days. I learned a lot in Coverciano, being here as a coach is an indescribable emotion, a dream that starts from afar». These are the first words of Luciano Spalletti's coach of the Italian national football team. «I remember that fantastic 4-3 against Germany, I hope to revive that dream and to be able to bring that flag to all those thousands of children who dream of seeing the national team win ».

The former Napoli player seeks "happiness" and explains: "I can't be happy alone if I don't see happy people around me. I want to see belonging, the national team shirt is an important challenge and not everyone can wear it ».

Italy, underlines the coach, has a history, " Pozzo, Bearzot and Lippi showed it to us and we must continue to do so ". On his predecessor: «From Mancini I inherit a good national team, he won a European Championship, 37 matches in a row which is a world record and he has launched young players in an impressive way, discovering talents that can be useful to us. It's also true that we have to erase the bitterness of two results that cost us participation in the World Cup».

A thought for Napoli is inevitable: «Something overwhelming, which has left me with beautiful memories, more than I could have expected. The clause? It won't make me go back from the correct decision I made , there are some things to fix, the lawyers are working, I hope as soon as possible in the best solution for both parties".

The new coach has also issued his first call-ups in view of the matches against North Macedonia and Ukraine on 9 and 12 September, valid for the Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Some European champions such as Jorginho, Verratti, Bonucci and Acerbi remain at home, Zaccagni and Locatelli return and there is only one absolute novelty: the Lazio defender Casale.

Here is the list.

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

Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Nicolò Casale (Lazio), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Alessio Romagnoli (Lazio) , Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Leonardo Spinazzola (Rome).

Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Monza), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle).

Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Matteo Politano (Naples), Giacomo Raspadori (Naples), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Mattia Zaccagni

(Lazio), Nicolò Zaniolo (Aston Villa).

(Unioneonline/L)

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