After meeting up yesterday evening at Coverciano, the Men's senior squad will have their first training session this afternoon as they start preparations for the final two games of 2022, with friendlies against Albania (Wednesday 16 November at 20:45 CET, at Air Albania Stadium in Tirana) and Austria (Sunday 20 November at 20:45 CET, at Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna). After Rafael Toloi and Emerson Palmieri dropped out of the squad yesterday, three more players have been added to the list with Bryan Cristante, Davide Frattesi and Gianluca Scamacca all now unavailable.

Instead, joining the group at Coverciano are Fabiano Parisi and Andrea Pinamonti. It's an emotional first-time call-up for the Empoli defender, joining Udinese's young forward Simone Pafundi and Juventus midfielders Nicolò Fagioli and Fabio Miretti as newcomers to the squad, while for the Sassuolo striker it's another selection by the Head Coach after being selected for June's Nations League games. 

With 23 caps and two goals to his name in an Azzurri shirt, Napoli defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo is becoming a guaranteed fixture for club and country. After a superb start to the season, holding an eight-point lead over AC Milan in the league, Spaletti's side must now be considered as one of the favourites for the Scudetto: "We're playing some great football in Italy and around Europe, we're building something very special" said the Tuscan-born defender who arrived from Empoli to Napoli in 2019. "I don't think anybody expected the start to the season we've had, but through hard work and a united group we're getting great satisfaction from what we're doing." After Lorenzo Insigne left, he took over the captain's armband: "I'm giving everything I can of myself to show that I deserve this honour, it really would be a dream to win the title with Napoli, and as captain, like Maradona." 

But with the international break here, before taking a well-earned rest, Di Lorenzo is looking to end 2022 in the best possible way also for the Azzurri: "Obviously, we wish we were going to the World Cup, but we're not. Some small moments in games decided our qualification fate; I look back on the two games with Switzerland and the game in Palermo against North Macedonia. Before winning the Euros, we regrouped and started off a new era, we now need to do something similar. It's time to press the reset button, create a new group and a new environment. We have two friendly games coming up that need to be approached in the right manner because they are important for the rankings."

Also Napoli have started off a new season with a new group, replacing some of the Club's most famous names like Koulibaly, Insigne, Mertens, Ospina and Fabian Ruiz. This new generational change with Kvaratskhelia, Kim, Raspadori and Simeone is starting bear fruit: "We lost some important players at Napoli, but starting off with a set of new young players coming in, we have done well and I hope the same thing can happen here. Mancini is focusing a lot on youth and we need to help them to express themselves as best they can."

Squad List

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), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Pasquale Mazzocchi (Salernitana), Fabiano Parisi (Empoli), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), 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), Andrea Pinamonti (Sassuolo), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma).