Azzurri Coach Antonio Conte has 16 certain names for Euro 2016, but is still uncertain about the rest of his squad.
The Nazionale has not been lucky with injuries this year, as midfield starters Claudio Marchisio and Marco Verratti have both been ruled out of the tournament, along with second goalkeeper Mattia Perin.
Azzurri Coach Antonio Conte has 16 certain names for Euro 2016, but is still uncertain about the rest of his squad.
The Nazionale has not been lucky with injuries this year, as midfield starters Claudio Marchisio and Marco Verratti have both been ruled out of the tournament, along with second goalkeeper Mattia Perin.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Conte currently has 16 players that he is certain of: Gianluigi Buffon, Salvatore Sirigu, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Matteo Darmian, Antonio Candreva, Alessandro Florenzi, Thiago Motta, Marco Parolo, Emanuele Giaccherini, Stephan El Shaarawy, Federico Bernardeschi, Eder, Simone Zaza and Graziano Pelle.
The remaining seven positions are still open, and the Coach is trying to figure out the best combination for his final call-ups.
With the team currently involved in a training camp (not inclusive of the Juventus and Milan players involved in tomorrow's Coppa Italia), Conte ran a number of physical tests yesterday to gauge the resistance and stamina of the players.
Roma's Daniele De Rossi is among the players who responded best, and is currently looking to be the favourite over Jorginho and Riccardo Montolivo to take the playmaker's role.
He would be flanked by one between Giacomo Bonaventura, Roberto Soriano and Stefano Sturaro, though a number of combinations are possible in this department, including playing Candreva in the centre.
Marco Sportiello and Federico Marchetti compete for the third goalkeeper's shirt, while Daniele Rugani, Angelo Ogbonna, Davide Astori and Francesco Acerbi are the candidates for the final central defender. Lorenzo De Silvestri and Mattia De Sciglio are in competition for the full-back position, with Luca Antonelli in doubt because of his injury.
Finally, in the attack, it's a race between Lorenzo Insigne, Ciro Immobile and Leonardo Pavoletti. The former had the best season by far, but may be less pliable in Conte's 3-5-2 or 4-4-2. Pavoletti had an excellent season, with 14 goals at Genoa, but his lack of experience by comparison with Immobile may favour the latter.