Italy announce early training camp squad

Antonio Conte has named a 28-man pre-Euro 2016 training squad as the Azzurri begin their preparations for this summer's European Championships.

Over the next few days, the assembled squad will meet at the training camp in Coverciano, before Conte picks his preliminary squad on Monday next week. The training camp is an opportunity for some of the new faces to get used to how the national team prepares and trains.

Seven players are among the new faces. They are Sportiello, Izzo, Tonelli, Benassi, Cataldi, Zappacosta and Pavoletti. Sunderland's Borini and West Ham's Ogbonna join Marchetti and Mirante in making their return to the international fold from relative exile.

This training squad noticeably lacks the high-profile players from AC Milan, Juventus, PSG, Manchester United and even Anderlecht, who all have domestic cup games to play this weekend. Many players from the two teams contesting the Coppa Italia final are expected to link up with the national team after the weekend, and therefore, it's also very likely many players named in this training squad will not be included in the next squad announcement.

Notable players such as captain Gianluca Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Riccardo Montolivo and Simone Zaza are just some of those players, while Salvatore Sirigu, Thiaggo Motta and Marco Verratti of PSG and Matteo Darmian of Manchester United are other possibilities, injuries permitting.

Question marks remain as to whether veteran midfielder Andrea Pirlo will be involved in Conte's plans. The midfielder, currently playing for New York City in the MLS, was involved in three matches during qualification, but hasn't played for the Azzurri since September last year. Similar question marks surround Sebastian Giovinco, who also currently plies his trade in the MLS with Toronto FC.

The Azzurri play two friendlies before the summer tournament begins, on 29^th May against Scotland in Malta and on 6^th June against Finland in Verona. Conte will announce his final 23 man squad on 31^st May, between both these friendly matches. Italy accompany Ireland in Group E along with Belgium and Sweden, and kick off their group campaign against Belgium on 13^th June, before playing Sweden four days later and finally Ireland on 22^nd June in Lille.

The preliminary training squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Federico Marchetti (Lazio), Antonio Mirante (Bologna), Marco Sportiello (Atalanta).

Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Sassuolo), Davide Astori (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Armando Izzo (Genoa), Angelo Obinze Ogbonna (West Ham), Lorenzo Tonelli (Empoli).

Midfielders: Marco Benassi (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Danilo Cataldi (Lazio), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Lorenzo De Silvestri (Sampdoria), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna), Jorge Luiz Jorginho (Napoli), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Roberto Soriano (Sampdoria), Davide Zappacosta (Torino).

Forwards: Fabio Borini (Sunderland), Citadin Martins Eder (Inter), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Leonardo Pavoletti (Genoa), Graziano Pellè (Southampton).