Ivan Provedel is the only Lazio player to be called up for Roberto Mancini’s 31-man Italy squad for their upcoming friendlies.
The Azzurri will face off against Albania on 16th November and Austria on 20th November, using the World Cup break to continue working on the new look Italy squad. The failure to qualify for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar has prompted Mancini to make changes to the squad and these two friendlies give him another chance to tinker and test the waters.
Mancini announced his 31-man Italy squad (via LazioNews24), which sees the return of Juventus’ Federico Chiesa and Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolo. Lazio’s only representative is goalkeeper Provedel, who received his first call up to the national team back in September.
Interesting absences from the squad include Ciro Immobile, who is coming off a recent hamstring injury and Mattia Zaccagni, who recently suffered a calf issue. Other Biancocelesti players may have hoped for inclusion, like Matteo Cancellieri, Alessio Romagnoli and Nicolo Casale.
Below is Italy’s 31-man squad for their friendlies against Albania and Austria
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Empoli);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Inter), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Emerson Palmieri (West Ham), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Pasquale Mazzocchi (Salernitana), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo), Fabio Miretti (Juventus), Matteo Pessina (Monza), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Sandro Tonali (Milan), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain);
Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds), Vincenzo Grifo (Freiburg), Simone Pafundi (Udinese), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma).
