Rome (AFP) - Roma defender Gianluca Mancini withdrew from the matches against France and Belgium in the European Nations League, and will be replaced by the young German-born Matteo Palma, whose sporting nationality has been approved by FIFA, according to what the Italian Federation announced on Saturday.
Published on: 07/11/2026 - 17:07
The Italian Federation explained that Mancini, who is having a distinguished start to the season with Roma, apologized for joining the national team camp due to an injury, without giving further details.
To replace him numerically in a list of 31 players, coach Roberto Mancini summoned the Palma player, who has been playing since 2022 in the Udinese age groups, and since 2024 with the first team in the Italian League.
He played seven matches this season with Udinese, which is second-to-bottom in the league, and scored one goal.
Palma was born in Berlin and began his career at Hertha Berlin, representing Italy and then Germany in the age groups.
His father is of Italian-Austrian descent, while his mother is German-Cameroonian.
Since his return to lead the Italian team that was unable to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row, Mancini has launched a new generation of young players, including a number of immigrants, in an attempt to give new impetus to a team suffering from a shortage of talent and influential personalities.
The Italian team includes five new faces, with Palma, and they are: Riccardo Cassano (Como), Mattia Liberali (Como), Alphadjo Cisse (Milan), and Simone Lontani (Parma).
Before facing France at the San Siro Stadium on Thursday, then Belgium in Brussels next Sunday, Italy occupies second place in Group A of the first level in the Nations League with seven points.
© 2026 AFP
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