Belotti and Mirante return to Italy squad, Gollini gets first call-up

Torino striker Andrea Belotti and Roma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante have returned to the Italy squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Belotti emerged as an important player for Italy during their 2018 World Cup qualification campaign, but their failure to qualify for the tournament did not reflect well on him.

On top of that, the striker’s form suffered last season when he scored just only 10 times in 32 games, 16 fewer goals than the season before.

He was last included in an Italy squad in September last year, but his form has picked up, scoring eight times in Serie A in 2019 to take his tally for the season up to 15.

Uncapped Mirante also returns, having not been in a squad since 2014.

The 35-year-old dislodged Robin Olsen as Roma’s first-choice goalkeeper towards the end of the season and has done enough to impress Roberto Mancini, who named an initial 33-man squad.

Pierluigi Gollini of Atalanta – also a goalkeeper – earns his first call-up following injury to Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Italy face Greece in Athens on June 8, before hosting Bosnia-Herzegovina three days later at the Allianz Stadium in Turin.

The #Italy  squad named by Roberto #Mancini for the European Championship qualifiers against #Greece  and #Bosnia and Herzegovina #VivoAzzurro #EuropeanQualifiers pic.twitter.com/1TeUASvDYF

— Italy (@azzurri) May 27, 2019

Italy squad in full:

Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Pierluigi Gollini (Atalanta), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino), Antonio Mirante (Roma); Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Mattia De Sciglio (Juventus), Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Armando Izzo (Torino), Gianluca Mancini (Atalanta), Alessio Romagnoli (Milan), Leonardo Spinazzola (Juventus); Nicolo Barella (Cagliari), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Jorginho (Chelsea), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Stefano Sensi (Sassuolo), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain), Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma); Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Vincenzo Grifo (Freiburg), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Kean (Juventus), Leonardo Pavoletti (Cagliari), Matteo Politano (Inter), Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria).