Francesco Pio Esposito is looking forward to his national team debut
First press conference as a national team player for Francesco Pio Esposito: “Definitely everything is happening very fast. I am very happy to be here for the first convocation, a’great emotion. You need great balance: this is a very positive moment, but in soccer everything can change quickly and you need great balance”.
“Throughout the summer I was talked about in the market but there was never any doubt about staying at’Inter. I never had any desire to go elsewhere, Inter is a dream come true and the coach wanted to keep me. I never had any doubts”.
Brand new Italy for Gennaro Gattuso, who in the early evening on Friday released his call-ups for the matches the national team will have to play against Estonia in Bergamo on Friday, September 5, and then in Hungary, in Debrecen, against Israel on Monday, September 8. In fact, the Azzurri coach has selected as many as 28 players, three of whom are still without senior national team appearances. Among them is the much-awaited Francesco Pio Esposito, increasingly on the launching pad with the’Inter.
The Nerazzurri, however, is not the’only new addition to Gattuso’s national team. The coach from Corigliano Calabro has in fact also called into the Azzurri Giovanni Leoni, another very young star of Italian soccer fresh off a transfer to Liverpool, and Giovanni Fabbian, a star of the Bologna midfield.
In a dense attack full of names (including Mateo Retegui, now in Arabia at Al-Qadsiah after leaving Atalanta as Serie A’s outgoing top scorer, but also Mattia Zaccagni and Riccardo Orsolini in addition to the expected Kean, Raspadori, Politano and Maldini), Gianluca Scamacca is also seen again. In defense, however, the big return is that of Gianluca Mancini of Roma.
Italy, Gennaro Gattuso’s 28 call-ups:
Keepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham);
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Atalanta), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Giovanni Leoni (Liverpool), Gianluca Mancini (Roma);
Central midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Giovanni Fabbian (Bologna), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Nicolò Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);
Forwarders: Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Atalanta), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Atletico Madrid), Mateo Retegui (Al-Qadsiah), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).
