Spalletti, Spain’s rival, and his most surprising decision: “We’ll see if it’s the right one”

Luciano Spalletti, Italy coach confirmed today that he cannot count on the injured Francesco Acerbi for Euro 2024 and argued that inclusion in the pre-list of Nicolò Fagioli, who reappeared after a seven-month suspension for illegal betting, was “a technical decision.”

“We lost (along with Acerbi) an experienced player who was part of Inter’s defensive block where everyone knows each other,” Spalletti lamented at a press conference.

Acerbi’s defeat

“But a team is different from a club, what we need we can find elsewhere (…) We will start this concentration poorly if we only focus on those who don’t have, we have everything we need to do something good,” Spalletti remarked.

As announced on Thursday by the Italian Federation, Acerbi, Suffering from pubalgia, he did not go to the national center in Coverciano, where Italy, the current European champion, began its preparations for the Euro Cup today. In the first stage, the ‘azzurra’ will face Spain, Croatia and Albania.

According to the Italian press, Acerbi, 36 years old and capped 34 times, will undergo surgery on Monday and will be out for a month. Spalletti can’t hope either Nicolò Zaniolo because of an injury to his left leg.

“A technical decision”

Regarding Fagioli’s inclusion in his first list of 29 players, after serving a seven-month suspension for sports betting on banned platforms, Spalletti explained that “it was a technical choice. He is a quality player, who has talent, but lacks physical condition. We will see on the field if we made the right decision.”

“We also have to be understanding with him, he has not bet on his team’s games,” he continued. the former coach of Naples, whom he led a year ago to achieve a historic ‘scudetto’.

Just two games into a seven-month suspension

Fagioli has played just two games since his return. He reappeared on 20 May at Juventus to play the last 20 minutes of the match against Bologna and five days later he started the final league match against Monza.

On the eve of his first major tournament in charge of the Nazionale after relieving Roberto Mancini Last August, Spalletti congratulated his players with a speech. “I told them that we have to be clear on one thing, the importance of the Azzurri shirt. We must show that we are all fighting for the same thing,” he revealed today.

“Wearing the Azzurra shirt is something wonderful. We must promise all Italians that we will deserve this opportunity,” continued Spalletti, who plans to reduce his list to 26 selected on June 6.