2018 WORLD CUP
Sansone and Darmian recalled by Italy, Balotelli overlooked
The Villarreal forward returns to the Azzurra but there is no place for centre-forward Balotelli who is back among the goals at Nice. Ventura calls Criscito and Perin.
Sansone and Darmian back in the Italy squad
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has published Giampiero Ventura's squad list for this month's 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Macedonia. The coach decided against calling Balotelli, Zaza, Insigne and Jorginho, instead, bringing in Criscito, Darmian, Perin and Nicola Sansone - the latter earning his first call since June 2015 for his impressive performances with Villarreal.
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan), Mattia Perin (Genoa);
Defenders: Davide Astori (Fiorentina), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Angelo Obinze Ogbonna (West Ham), Alessio Romagnoli (AC Milan);
Midfielders: Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Giacomo Bonaventura (AC Milan), Antonio Candreva (Inter Milan), Domenico Criscito (Zenit), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Mattia De Sciglio (AC Milan), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Riccardo Montolivo (AC Milan), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Marco Verratti (Paris-Saint Germain);
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Eder Citadin Martins (Inter Milan), Manolo Gabbiadini (Napoli), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Graziano Pellè (Shandong Luneng), Nicola Sansone (Villareal).
