Soccer-Gattuso recalls Cristante to Italy squad, still no Chiesa

Oct 3 (Reuters) – Italy manager Gennaro Gattuso recalled midfielder Bryan Cristante when he named his squad on Friday ahead of this month's World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Israel, but Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa has again been left out. Gattuso has also included uncapped Fiorentina midfielder Hans Nicolussi Caviglia and Bologna forward Nicolo Cambiaghi, along with AC Milan defender Matteo Gabbia who has been in the squad before but has yet to make an appearance. Cristante has played 43 times for Italy, but the AS Roma player has not been a part of the current qualifying campaign, with his last cap coming at Euro 2024. Chiesa's last cap also came at Euro 2024 and, while the winger has only made brief appearances from the bench in the Premier League this season, he has scored twice for Liverpool. Italy have won both games since Gattuso took over, a 5-0 thumping of Estonia last month followed by a dramatic 5-4 win over Israel. The Italians face those two sides again as they bid to reach the World Cup having missed the last two tournaments. Norway top Group I with 15 points, six ahead of Italy who have a game in hand. Israel are level on nine points with the Italians but have played a game more. The group winners qualify automatically, with the runners-up going into the playoffs. Italy are away to Estonia on October 11 and host Israel three days later in Udine. Italy squad: Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris St Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham Hotspur) Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Diego Coppola (Brighton & Hove Albion), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan), Matteo Gabbia (AC Milan), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham Hotspur) Midfielders: Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Bryan Cristante (AS Roma), Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Hans Nicolussi Caviglia (Fiorentina), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United) Forwards: Nicolo Cambiaghi (Bologna), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter Milan), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Atletico Madrid), Mateo Retegui (Al-Qadsiah), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio) (Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)