Italy's defensive crisis deepened on Monday when Giorgio Scalvini was ruled out of the European Championship after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in the final moments of Atalanta's final game of the season.
Scalvini appeared to be crying on Sunday when he was taken off five minutes from time in Atalanta's 3-2 loss to Fiorentina. Tests confirmed that the center back had torn a ligament in his left knee. He had scored in the first half.
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The match, which took place a week after the end of the Serie A season, was rescheduled from March when former Fiorentina general manager Joe Barone fell ill. Barone died two days later.
The 20-year-old defender has been replaced in Italy's provisional squad by Juventus' Federico Gatti, the Italian football federation announced, with the azzurri beginning his title defense in less than two weeks.
Gatti was already on hold after Inter defender and Euro 2020 champion Francesco Acerbi had to withdraw with a groin injury last week.
Gatti, 25, who made his debut in 2022, has played three times for Italy.
Scalvini was supposed to join the Italian national team on Monday, along with teammate Gianluca Scamacca.
Gatti will now head to Italy's training headquarters in Coverciano, near Florence. Italian coach Luciano Spalletti alerted him to the possibility of being needed last Thursday, a day before the rest of the season. azzurri The team met in Coverciano and had been working alone ever since.
Scalvini has played eight times for Italy. Acerbi, 36 years old, he has played 34 games with the azzurri.
Three players must be removed from the team by Thursday. Euro 2024 begins in Germany on June 14.
Italy begins its title defense against Albania in Dortmund the following day. Spain and Croatia are also in Group B.
Before leaving for Germany, Italy will play warm-up matches against Turkey on Tuesday and Bosnia-Herzegovina five days later.
