Monday, May 28, 2007

Don chooses Inzaghi


Having scored twice in the Champions League final, Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi has been recalled to the Italy squad for the first time since October ahead of the Euro 2008 qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Lithuania.

The 33-year-old has registered 22 goals in 53 games for the Azzurri but has not played for his country since the 2-0 win against Ukraine on 7 October.

Coach Roberto Donadoni has also rewarded forwards Cristiano Lucarelli and Tommaso Rocchi, who boast 20 and 16 Serie A goals for Livorno and Lazio respectively this season, with call-ups into his 23-man squad while 25-year-old defender Alessandro Gamberini, whose Fiorentina side had the best defensive record in Serie A, is the only uncapped player involved.

Italy are fourth in Group B with ten points from five matches, two behind France, Ukraine and Scotland. They play the Faroes in Torshavn on 2 June before travelling to Kaunas to meet Lithuania four days later.

The squad will meet at the Coverciano training camp in Florence on Tuesday morning for two days of training, before travelling to the Faroe Islands on Thursday afternoon.

The Azzurri will return to Italy after Saturday’s match and will train in Milan before flying to Lithuania on June 5.


Italy Squad:
Goalkeepers: Christian Abbiati (Torino), Marco Amelia (Livorno), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus).
Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina), Marco Materazzi (Inter), Massimo Oddo (Milan), Manuel Pasqual (Fiorentina), Max Tonetto (Roma), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona).
Midfielders: Massimo Ambrosini (Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Aimo Diana (Palermo), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Simone Perrotta (Roma), Andrea Pirlo (Milan).
Forwards: Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Filippo Inzaghi (Milan), Cristiano Lucarelli (Livorno), Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Tommaso Rocchi (Lazio).



Group B Fixtures:
Saturday 2 June 2007
Faroes Islands v Italy
Lithuania v Georgia
France v Ukraine

Wednesday 6 June 2007
France v Georgia
Lithuania v Italy
Faroe Islands v Scotland

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