Not without surprises: Italy's World Cup squad is set

Five players still had to be removed from the provisional squad: These are Lorenzo Casetti, Josè Antonio Magnabosco, Anthony Salinitri (all Asiago) and the two Bolzano players Dylan Di Perna and Diego Glück. While Glück's decision not to play (he was injured a lot this year) didn't come as a surprise, things are different for Di Perna. The 26-year-old defender played a strong season and was always used in the ICE playoffs. That's why Gregorio Gios is in the final 22-man squad. This was communicated on Friday at a PK in Nottingham, where sporting director Stefan Zisser, coach Mike Keenan and captain Thomas Larkin were present. As Zisser emphasized, Marco Insam is primarily planned as a defender. The Rittner player could of course also be called up in attack. “We waited until yesterday’s test against South Korea to gather all the impressions. It was a long process – also because Bozen and Cortina played for a long time this year,” explained Zisser. In total the squad consists of 20 players plus 2 goalkeepers. Gianluca Vallini takes on the role of emergency goalie. A long process Coach Keenan said: “The process started a month ago at the training camp in Canazei. We had to wait a long time because of the playoff games. On the other hand, it is also nice that Bolzano was so successful this year. It’s clear to us that we don’t just want to be there in Nottingham, we want to be successful,” said Keenan. On paper, the Azzurri are among the top favorites for promotion alongside Great Britain and Poland. Two teams will win the race in the end. “We are ready for this tournament. We've waited long enough for this." Italy's captain Thomas Larkin At the start, the Blue Team will face Romania on Saturday. The Azzurri should be the clear favorites. “We are ready for this tournament. We've waited long enough for this," said Larkin, who will wear the "C" on his chest after Daniel Frank's cancellation. The title fights on the island begin for Italy on Saturday at 16 p.m. The games then continue with the games against South Korea (April 30th), Poland (May 2nd), Lithuania (May 3rd) and Great Britain (May 5th). SportNews will accompany both the opening game against Romania and all other games with a live ticker. Italy's World Cup squad Goalkeeper: Damian Clara (Färjestad/SWE), Justin Fazio, Gianluca Vallini (both Asiago) Defender: Alex Trivellato, Peter Spornberger, Thomas Larkin (all Schwenningen/GER), Phil Pietroniro (Trencin/SVK), Gregorio Gios (Asiago), Enrico Miglioranzi (both Bozen), Daniel Glira (Pustertal), Marco Insam (Ritten). Striker: Marco Zanetti (Lugano/SUI), Daniel Tedesco (Guildford/GBR), Brandon McNally (Sheffield/GBR), Michele Marchetti (Asiago), Luca Frigo, Daniel Mantenuto, Angelo Miceli (all Bolzano), Ivan Deluca, Dante Hannoun, Alex Petan (all Pustertal), Tommaso Traversa (Cortina), Pascal Brunner (Merano). Coaching staff: Mike Keenan (head coach), Mike Pelino (associate coach), Fabio Armani, Giorgio De Bettin, Diego Scandella (all assistant coaches), David Jamieson (goalkeeper coach), Matias Sarvela, Jarmo Tapio Koivisto (athletic coach), David Scott (mental coach)

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Not without surprises: Italy's World Cup squad is set

The World Cup in Division 1, Group A begins on Saturday in Nottingham. Italy has now announced the final squad at a press conference.

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