FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Italy coach Roberto Mancini included uncapped Sassuolo forward Giacomo Raspadori in his 26-man squad for the upcoming European Championship on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old Raspadori had been omitted from the provisional 28-man squad that Mancini named over the weekend but was brought back after Italy crashed out of the Under-21 European Championship.
Raspadori received his first call-up to Italy’s senior team ahead of the warmup game against San Marino but did not feature in the 7-0 victory on Friday.
The Italy squad for the rescheduled Euro 2020 was announced during a televised show, which featured music and comedy and even saw several Azzurri players joining in with the singing.
Gianluca Mancini, Matteo Pessina and Matteo Politano were cut from the squad.
“It’s always difficult to get to the list of 26, because you have to leave at home players who have nevertheless been protagonists,” said Mancini, who transformed Italy since taking over after the Azzurri failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
“Our team has been reborn after the disappointment of the last World Cup and we have done well in building a good path.”
Italy is in Group A with Turkey, Switzerland and Wales for the European Championship. The opening game of the tournament features Italy against Turkey in Rome on June 11.
Italy hosts the Czech Republic on Friday in a friendly.
The Azzurri are on a 26-match unbeaten run.
SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino)
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson (Chelsea), Alessandro Florenzi (Paris Saint-Germain), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta)
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter Milan), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Jorginho (Chelsea), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Stefano Sensi (Inter Milan), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain)
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo)
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