Caretaker Italy CT Luigi Di Biagio says Gianluigi Buffon will “probably” be called up for the March friendlies, but he hasn’t decided on Mario Balotelli.
The Under-21 boss has been promoted to the senior role for the friendlies against Argentina and England, and is holding a training camp at Coverciano today and tomorrow.
“Today I’m the Coach of the national team, you can call me what you want,” Di Biagio shrugged in today’s Press conference.
Caretaker Italy CT Luigi Di Biagio says Gianluigi Buffon will “probably” be called up for the March friendlies, but he hasn’t decided on Mario Balotelli.
The Under-21 boss has been promoted to the senior role for the friendlies against Argentina and England, and is holding a training camp at Coverciano today and tomorrow.
“Today I’m the Coach of the national team, you can call me what you want,” Di Biagio shrugged in today’s Press conference.
“It’s normal to think about what I’ll have to do in the next few months, I’ll decide when the time comes to make the call-ups.
“I’ve met with some of the veterans, because I understood that some of them wanted to quit. I talked to Buffon to see if he wanted to continue.
“It’s not fair that his last game was the one against Sweden, so I proposed that he come back for one, two or possibly three games. Gigi will probably be there in March.
“As for the other players, without going into details I’ve spoken to a lot of them. [Andrea] Barzagli and [Daniele] De Rossi won’t be there. [Giorgio] Chiellini yes. We want to relaunch the team with enthusiasm.
"Gigio Donnarumma and Alex Meret? We're doing well with goalkeepers for the next 20 years. [Mattia] Perin is there too, and when Gigi unfortunately stops we'll be well covered.
"We're solid from that point of view, but Gigi's story doesn't have to end with that Sweden game."
Mario Balotelli hasn’t been capped since the 2014 World Cup, could he make his return next month?
“I’m following him constantly and we’ll evaluate whether or not to take him. We haven’t made any decision at the moment though.
“At this moment Italian football is in great difficulty and there isn’t much choice, but we need to create the right enthusiasm after the disappointment of the World Cup.”