Sampdoria striker Eder (right) has been called by Antonio Conte in the Italy squad.

Italy coach Antonio Conte is defending his call-ups of non-Italian born players to the national team.

Sampdoria’s Brazilian-born striker Eder and Palermo’s Argentine playmaker Franco Vazquez, who each have Italian nationality, have been included in the Azzurri squad for upcoming games against Bulgaria and England.

Eder is naturalised while Vazquez’s mother is Italian.

Since Conte named his squad, prominent coaches have expressed reservations about the inclusion of foreign-born players.

“I’m not the first nor will I be the last to call up these players (immigrants of Italian descent),” Conte told the Italian media yesterday.

“There have been other players included in the past, I think of (Mauro) Camoranesi, (Cristian) Ledesma, (Gabriel) Paletta, Thiago Motta, (Carvalho) Amauri and Romulo.

“In the 1982 Word Cup we had those (immigrant) players in the squad.

“These are the rules and this is football.”

Inter coach Roberto Mancini was among those to question Conte’s latest selection.

“I believe that an Italian player deserves to be in the national team but those that were not born in Italy, even if their parents were, don’t deserve to,” Mancini told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“If the rules are those, Conte does well to apply them but I stand by my opinion.”

Cagliari’s Czech-born manager Zdenek Zeman, who has more than 30 years of coaching experience in Italy, said: “If one plays in the national team, it is because he is born, grows up and understands that country.”

Conte does not see the controversy.

“I respect them but I haven’t done anything different with regards to the past,” he said.

“These players feel Italian. I want to reward these players and evaluate them in the next few days.”

Vazquez, 26, has scored seven goals and set up nine more in 27 league appearances for Palermo.

The 28-year-old Eder has also enjoyed an impressive campaign for Sampdoria and struck his ninth goal of the campaign on Sunday to hand his team a 1-0 triumph over Inter.

“Vazquez and Eder are doing really well,” Conte said. “I want to evaluate them and understand if they can be useful to us.

“The national team is for the best players and only the best should arrive.”

Empoli playmaker Mirko Valdifiori has received his first call-up while Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli returns for the first time since the 2014 World Cup after recovering from a heel injury.

Conte left out veteran midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi from the squad with 22-year-old Marco Verratti from Paris Saint-Germain expected to lead the Azzurri’s midfield line.

“They can all give their contribution ,” Conte said.

“But this could be the opportunity for players like Verratti to have the possibility to prove themselves.”

Conte has called up Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti as a replacement for Genoa’s Matteo Perin, who sustained a shoulder injury on Sunday.

Italy take on Bulgaria in Sofia in a Euro 2016 qualifier on March 28 and face England in a friendly three days later.