Luciano Spalletti confirms Ciro Immobile will be the Italy captain for the time being, but the coach is open to changing the usual tradition. ‘A captain is to be respected, friendly with everyone and appreciated even by rivals.’
The Azzurri will visit Skopje on Saturday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT) for the EURO 2024 qualifier against North Macedonia, followed by Tuesday’s encounter with Ukraine at San Siro.
These will be the first matches with Spalletti at the helm and there has been speculation he will follow the same approach seen at Napoli last year, when handing the captain’s armband to Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Traditionally, the Italy captain is whoever is in the starting XI with the most senior caps under his belt, so in the current squad that is Immobile, followed by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
“Immobile will be the Italy captain until the European Championship, then we’ll see if we want to reshuffle something,” said Spalletti in his press conference.
“I don’t like the system where it goes automatically to the player with the most caps. The way I see it, the captain is someone who makes sure he is respected in the locker room, is friendly with everyone, generous and appreciated even by rivals.”
Lazio striker Immobile has played 56 matches for Italy at senior level, scoring 16 goals.
He had been behind the likes of Leonardo Bonucci, Jorginho and Marco Verratti, but they are not in Spalletti’s squad for these qualifiers.
Wow, he didn’t even wait to see how well Saturday goes!
Captain? Why is he on this team? He does not suit the National team, never has and never will.
it is a silly tradition.. here in north america the captain is selected as he describes.. yes, usually a veteran but not necessarily most games played… has to be a leader first and foremost and well liked.
I have a feeling Spaletti will turn immobile into a scoring machine
Curious to see if Immobile can produce. There has always been pressure on him for his lack of goals on the national team. This could be a good move to show confidence in him and it might actually be a smart move by Spaletti. I guess we’ll find out