Italy: Roberto Mancini Has Made a Decision: 10 Players Cut

Italian national team head coach Roberto Mancini has made his decisions ahead of Monday night’s match against Turkey, which is part of the second matchday of the Nations League group stage.

The Jesi-born coach has decided to exclude 10 Azzurri players from the trip to Turkey; they will remain in Italy and follow a specific training program at Coverciano: the players are Ahanor, Barella, Coppola, Samuele Inacio, Kouadio, Maldini, Mancini, Pessina, Ricci, and Zoma.

The other 23 Azzurri, meanwhile, will fly to Bursa, where they’ll all be available for the match against Vincenzo Montella’s team. Mancini hopes to give some players a breather, including Mancini, Barella, and Coppola—all starters in the first match, a loss to Belgium. In fact, two more matches are scheduled in the coming days, against France and Turkey again.

Part of the coaching and physical therapy staff will also remain with the players who have been left out. Against the Istanbul squad, changes are expected in every position: Bastoni will return to the center of the defense, while Mandragora and Frattesi could see playing time in midfield. Up front, all eyes are on Raspadori and Scamacca.

Nicolò Zaniolo has also been added to the list of unavailable players; he has left the Azzurri training camp and will not be available for the next three Nations League matches. The Udinese forward, who had reported to Coverciano as scheduled, was unable to recover from the muscle injury he sustained in his last league match. On Saturday, Zaniolo did not participate in group training, instead undergoing a physical therapy session. Upon his return to Udine, he will undergo tests to determine the extent of the injury, with the hope of recovering in time for the league’s resumption on October 12 against Torino. This is already the second muscle injury in two months for the former Roma and Inter player, who was sidelined in late August with a hamstring injury in his right thigh.