The national team returns to Sardinia to prepare for the Nations League. Yesterday the team met in Rome and, around 6 pm, will land in Elmas and - immediately afterwards - will move to the Forte Village in Santa Margherita di Pula for a period of recovery of physical and mental energy after the championship commitments.
It is not the first time that the Italian club has chosen Pula. He already did it for the preparation for the 2020 European Championship, when among the pre-called up there was also a player who at the time wore the Cagliari shirt, even if Alex Meret was preferred to Alessio Cragno. Obviously, the Inter and Fiorentina players involved in the Champions League and Conference League finals were not considered. Therefore, Nicolò Barella from Cagliari, who will be playing with Inter in the Champions League final on Saturday, will not be part of the delegation.
As on the eve of the 2020 European Championship, in the five days in Sardinia the players will be together with their respective families and will train in the morning on the pitch inside the hotel structure, closing on Friday at 10 with a test against the Primavera side of Cagliari.
For the first part of this journey towards the Nations League, Coach Roberto Mancini has called up 26 players: the Lazio players Mattia Zaccagni and Ciro Immobile, absent respectively from June and September 2022, Alessandro Florenzi and Manuel Locatelli ( absent since June 2022), while Nicolò Zaniolo (out since November 2022) is on his first call-up after his transfer from Roma to Galatasaray. First call for Lecce defender Federico Baschirotto, who had already taken part in the internship dedicated to players of national interest.
Mancini has decided not to include Giorgio Scalvini and Sandro Tonali in the group, who will therefore be available to coach Paolo Nicolato in view of the final phase of the Under 21 European Championship (Georgia and Romania, 21 June-8 July), where they will also be up for grabs three passes for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In the morning, court 3 of the Giulio Onesti Olympic training center in Rome was named after Gianluca Vialli. Both coach Mancini, a great friend of Vialli ("Luca is immortal") and the head of the FIGC Gabriele Gravina spoke: "Vialli is always among us").