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Italy v Israel - FIFA World Cup 2026 QualifierGetty Images Sport
Gabriele Stragapede
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Italy, heading for the play-offs: Locatelli, Retegui, Kean and... Who will take the penalties?

Italy
Italy vs Northern Ireland
World Cup Qualification UEFA

Gattuso's possible options should a penalty be awarded.

Anticipation is building.

One of the most important matches in the recent history of the Italiannational football team: the play-off semi-final against Northern Ireland, to reach the final (in which case, against the winner of the match between Wales and Bosnia) and finally return to the World Cup.

Coach Gennaro Gattuso’s squad is preparing for the match on Thursday 26 March at the New Balance Arena in Bergamo. As the anxiety among Azzurri fans continues to mount, let’s try to work out – should a penalty be awarded – who might take the spot-kick from the penalty spot.

  • THE SQUAD

    Let’s start with the squad list.

    Goalkeepers: Elia Caprile (Cagliari), Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Alex Meret (Napoli);

    Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Diego Coppola (Paris FC), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Marco Palestra (Cagliari), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Leonardo Spinazzola (Napoli);

    Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle);

    Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Liverpool), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Atalanta), Mateo Retegui (Al-Qadsiah), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta).

  • WHO CAN TAKE A PENALTY

    Looking at Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy squad list, attention turns primarily to the attacking line-up: Kean and Retegui are the two main candidates to take a penalty, should one be awarded in the match against Northern Ireland.

    The two strikers have already shown they are comfortable from the spot, and whichever of the two is on the pitch will be able to take a penalty if the need arises. Secondly, we have Juventus captain Manuel Locatelli: despite having missed a penalty against Sassuolo in the league, he has the confidence and experience to step up and take a spot-kick.

    Last but not least, there are also Politano and Raspadori as potential options.

  • WHO BEAT THE LAST TEAM

    Looking at who has taken the previous penalties, Italy’s most recent spot-kicks were taken by Retegui and Raspadori: the Al-Qadsiah centre-forward has scored three of the four penalties he has taken (his only miss came against Estonia), whilst the striker, who joined Atalanta from Atlético Madrid in January, scored his spot-kick last year in the Nations League against Germany.

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