FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Nations League - League A - Group 2 - France v Italy - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - September 6, 2024 France's William Saliba and Youssouf Fofana in action with Italy's Riccardo Calafiori REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo
(Reuters) - Italy centre-backs Riccardo Calafiori and Matteo Gabbia have been left out of Luciano Spalletti's squad for this month's Nations League matches with Belgium and France through injury.
Arsenal's Calafiori suffered a knee problem in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk last month, while AC Milan's Gabbia has a calf injury.
Spalletti on Friday also did not include AS Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, who was sent off in the 2-2 draw with Belgium last month, nor Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli.
Fiorentina centre-back Pietro Comuzzo, Juve right back Nicolo Savona and Lazio midfielder Nicolo Rovella, who has made a strong start to the season, have been called up for the first time.
Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella is back in the squad after missing out in October while undergoing nose surgery.
Italy top Group A2 with 10 points from four games, a point ahead of France, with Belgium third on four. Italy visit the Belgians on Thursday before hosting France three days later.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alex Meret, Guglielmo Vicario
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni, Alessandro Buongiorno, Andrea Cambiaso, Pietro Comuzzo, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Federico Dimarco, Federico Gatti, Caleb Okoli, Nicolo Savona, Destiny Udogie
Midfielders: Nicolo Barella, Davide Frattesi, Niccolo Pisilli, Samuele Ricci, Nicolo Rovella, Sandro Tonali
Forwards: Moise Kean, Daniel Maldini, Giacomo Raspadori, Mateo Retegui
(This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Matteo in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Ken Ferris)
