Roma players Daniele De Rossi and Pablo Daniel Osvaldo will be missing for the Italian national team tomorrow when they play Malta at the National Stadium.
Both were available for Thursday’s friendly against Brazil but De Rossi and Osvaldo left the Azzurri camp in Coverciano the following day as both have to serve a one-match suspension.
Roma, however, will have Alessandro Florenzi in Cesare Prandelli’s squad as the talented midfielder joined the national team from the U-21 squad after having played for the Azzurrini in a 2-0 victory over Russia.
Florenzi, 22, joined the senior squad in Coverciano on Saturday, 24 hours after the U-21 friendly in Cittadella.
Prandelli was also heartened by the news during the weekend that Claudio Marchisio, Ignazio Abate and Alessio Cerci had all resumed full training ahead of the trip to Malta this evening.
Marchisio, of Juventus, missed the 2-2 draw against Brazil in Geneva after coming down with flu last week but reports yesterday said he has now recovered fully and will be available for the Group B qualifier at Ta’ Qali.
On Saturday, Prandelli got more good news from the clinic as the national team medics assured him that Federico Mar-chetti’s shoulder injury was nothing serious.
The Lazio goalkeeper fell awkwardly during training and interrupted the session early to go for tests.
“Marchetti had a trauma to the right shoulder and felt pain after making a save, so he interrupted the training session as a precautionary measure,” Enrico Castellacci, the national team’s chief medic, said.
“It seems to be nothing serious, though. Federico will now rest and he’ll undergo more tests. But, there do not appear to be any serious lesions to cause concern.”
Meanwhile, Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli told reporters yesterday that Italy will have to adopt the right mental attitude to avoid a slump in form against Malta after the match in Geneva.
“We played a great game against Brazil, but now we need the right attitude in Malta,” he said.
“It is going to be a difficult match and it would be a terrible mistake for us to lose focus or take the wrong approach to the three points.”