Balotelli out of Italy squad as Giovinco returns

Joe Wright

Balotelli out of Italy squad as Giovinco returns image

Sebastian Giovinco has won his first Italy call-up for three years, but Mario Balotelli has been left out of the latest squad.

Toronto striker Giovinco, who has 23 senior caps, has not featured in international football since October 2015, when he was a substitute in a 2-1 win over Norway in Euro 2016 qualifying.

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The 31-year-old is joined in coach Roberto Mancini's latest squad by Sampdoria's Gianluca Caprari, who is called up for the first time, while Marco Verratti, Alessandro Florenzi, Patrick Cutrone and Danilo D'Ambrosio return.

Nice striker Balotelli has been omitted after a difficult start to the season in Ligue 1, as has Torino forward Andrea Belotti.

Italy face Ukraine in a friendly in Genoa on October 10, before they travel to face Poland in a Nations League match four days later.

Italy squad:

Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan), Mattia Perin (Juventus), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino); Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Danilo D'Ambrosio (Inter), Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Alessio Romagnoli (AC Milan); Nicolo Barella (Cagliari), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Giacomo Bonaventura (AC Milan), Roberto Gagliardini (Inter), Jorginho (Chelsea), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain); Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Gianluca Caprari (Sampdoria), Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Patrick Cutrone (AC Milan), Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Simone Zaza (Torino).

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.