Ciro Immobile has been named as captain in Italy's starting lineup for Thursday's 2022 World Cup Qualifying playoff semi-final against North Macedonia.
The Azzurri will be looking to continue their quest to qualify for Qatar with a victory over the Lynxes in Palermo, which would set up a playoff final tie against either Portugal or Turkey on March 29.
Roberto Mancini is unable to call upon centre-back Leonardo Bonucci, who has failed to recover in time from a calf injury, while his Juventus teammate Manuel Locatelli will also miss out despite registering a negative COVID-19 test this week.
Andrea Belotti, Cristiano Biraghi, Luiz Felipe, Pierluigi Gollini, Stefano Sensi, Gianluca Scamacca, Mattia Zaccagni and Nicolo Zaniolo are also not involved as Mancini is only allowed to name 12 substitutes as part of his 23-man matchday squad.
Tonight's starting XI 📋#ITAMKD #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro #WCQ pic.twitter.com/p8h2qcvQ59
— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri_En) March 24, 2022
Veteran centre-back Giorgio Chiellini was a minor doubt heading into tonight's game and he is only fit enough to begin on the bench, so Gianluca Mancini and Alessandro Bastoni will start at the heart of the defence, shielding goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Alessandro Florenzi and Emerson Palmieri, meanwhile, will operate as the full-backs.
In midfield, Marco Verratti returns to the starting lineup alongside Jorginho and Nicolo Barella, with Bryan Cristante, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Matteo Pessina and Sandro Tonali all midfield options on the substitutes' bench.
Lazio marksman Immobile, who has scored 21 goals in 25 Serie A appearances this term, will start as Italy's central striker, and he will be joined in attack by Domenico Berardi and Lorenzo Insigne.
Cagliari striker Joao Pedro will be hoping to receive his first international cap off the bench, while Alessio Cragno, Salvatore Sirigu, Francesco Acerbi, Mattia De Sciglio, Matteo Politano and Giacomo Raspadori are also options in reserve for Mancini.
Oliver Thomas
