New Chelsea signing Davide Zappacosta has been called up by Italy for their game against Israel on Tuesday. The right wing-back is a late addition to the squad, replacing Atalanta left back Leonardo Spinazzola, who picked up an injury in Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Spain. Hopefully Zappacosta won’t suffer a similar fate, now that he’s been signed by Chelsea as crucial depth at a key position.
Davide #Zappacosta convocato per la gara con #Israele di Reggio Emilia. Il calciatore sarà a disposizione per l'allenamento del pomeriggio pic.twitter.com/Xl75lbMJLW
— FIGC (@FIGC) September 3, 2017
Zappacosta has four caps for the Azzurri, playing as a right back or a right midfielder in games during the November and March international breaks. He was not picked for Italy’s last three games, staying only on the fringes of the team, just as he was during Euro 2016 when Antonio Conte ended up choosing him only for the standby team. Italy’s current head coach, Gian Piero Ventura was Zappacosta’s coach at Torino for two years so he should know how to best utilize the new kid on the Chelsea wing-back block.
After Saturday’s embarrassing defeat, Italy need a win against Israel on Tuesday to get back on track for qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.