Euro 2024 Qualification: Italian National Team Faces Ukraine Without Politano and Mancini

Italian national team player Matteo Politano. (Photo: Twitter/@Azzurri)

JAKARTA - The Italian national team will certainly not be able to field its best squad when facing Ukraine in the Euro 2024 qualifying process, Tuesday, September 14.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced that Matteo Politano and Gianluca Mancini would be absent from the match. Both suffered injuries.

Politano reportedly has a calf injury, while Mancini has a thigh injury. Both of them suffered injuries while defending Italy, which drew 1-1 against North Macedonia, Saturday, September 9.

Previously, the Italian national team had lost striker Federico Chiesa and midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini. Both of them also had to be sidelined due to injury.

Italian national team coach Luciano Spalletti has called up Bologna striker Riccardo Orsolini for the match against Ukraine.

Italy is third in Group C. They are three points behind Ukraine, who are in second place, but Italy still has one game in hand.

Group C is led by the England national team, with a collection of 14 points from five matches.

Spalletti took over the coaching staff of the Italian national team last month, following the resignation of Roberto Mancini. Mancini himself is now managing the Saudi Arabian national team.