Luciano Spalletti has confirmed that Italy will indeed move on from Jorginho as a PK taker following his latest error against North Macedonia. Italy didn’t pay the price for it last Friday, unlike in other instances, most notably in both World Cup qualifiers versus Switzerland in 2021. The gaffer explained in the pre-game presser.
“We have other players who can do it. It’d be wrong to insist, as it’d put him in a difficult spot.”
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Domenico Berardi would have been next in line. He and Jorginho chatted before the attempt in the past game. However, the Sassuolo star hasn’t been called up for the Ukraine game due to some rotation.
There aren’t many specialists left in the Italy squad. All signs point toward Matteo Politano, who’s the only one who has converted a PK this season. He’s tipped to start. He was perfect in his three tries in the past campaign while Spalletti was helming Napoli.
Federico Chiesa and Gianluca Scamacca have done it in the past but not recently. The winger last converted one at Fiorentina, the striker at Sassuolo. Nicolò Barella offered himself, but he too hasn’t had a chance to step up to the plate since leaving Cagliari.
Federico Dimarco is a fine shooter but stopped taking them in the youth sector. Francesco Acerbi buried one with Sassuolo. Nicolò Zaniolo and Giacomo Raspadori are more likely options, but they don’t have a ton of experience.
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