Roberto Mancini don call 34 players, including eight newcomers, on Friday to him first Italy squad since he return as coach, ahead of four Nations League games.
Dem give Mancini work to wake up a team wey dey crisis. Him squad get mix of experienced players wey he lead to European Championship title in 2021, plus potential debutants.
Eight players never collect cap: Mohamed Ali Zoma, Antonio Vergara, Alessandro Romano, Issa Doumbia, Michael Kayode, Massimo Pessina, Samuele Inácio and Sebastiano Esposito.
The only squad limit for league phase be say teams must submit list of 23 before midnight ahead of each game, but dem fit change players between matches.
Italy go start at home against Belgium on Sept. 25 before playing Türkiye three days later. After that, France on Oct. 2 and Türkiye again on Oct. 5.
Italy dey crisis after dem fail for third straight time to qualify for World Cup. That one push FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and coach Gennaro Gattuso to resign in April, shortly after playoff defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Mancini come back as coach, three years after he leave the same job for lucrative contract with Saudi Arabia.
Ali Zoma, 22, had breakthrough campaign in Germany. He score 15 goals in 31 games for second-tier side FC Nürnberg, and he keep the form this season with five goals in as many matches.
Alessandro Romano, na Cagliari midfielder, switched him international allegiance from Switzerland to Italy last week, and he also dey inside the mix.
Bologna 18-year-old goalkeeper Massimo Pessina don only play five Serie A matches, but he deliver impressive performance last weekend against Napoli. He fill in for first-choice Łukasz Skorupski, wey dem drop for showing up late to training session.
Sporting CP sign 22-year-old midfielder Doumbia from Venezia during offseason for around €23 million, or $26.4 million. Dem put release clause of €80 million, or $91.8 million, inside him contract.
The Associated Press contribute to this report.
