Jorginho, Tonali need virus tests before joining Italy

Updated Aug. 27, 2020 2:18 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Midfielders Jorginho and Sandro Tonali were provisionally included in the Italy squad while they complete isolation procedures after potential exposure to the coronavirus.

Both players had asterisks next to their names in the large 37-man squad named by coach Roberto Mancini on Thursday ahead of Nations League matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Netherlands.

The team announcement said “the call-up is suspended pending the outcome of tests at the end of the isolation period.”

Several Chelsea players reportedly tested positive for the virus upon returning from vacation, resulting in Jorginho being placed in isolation.

Brescia players, including Tonali, were also placed in isolation for the same reason.

Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni, Sassuolo midfielder Manuel Locatelli and Sassuolo forward Francesco Caputo each received their first call-ups.

Captain Giorgio Chiellini is back in the squad after more than a year off due to injury.

The Azzurri host Bosnia in Florence on Sept. 4 then visit the Netherlands three days later in Group 1.

They will be Italy’s first matches since November, when the Azzurri beat Bosnia 2-1 in European Championship qualifying then followed up with a victory in Armenia to stretch their record winning streak to 11 matches.

Mancini was hired after four-time champion Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Italy failed to advance from the group stage in the 2018-19 Nations League -- Mancini’s first tournament in charge.

ITALY:

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino).

Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Cristiano Biraghi (Inter Milan), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Mattia Caldara (Atalanta), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Danilo D’Ambrosio (Inter Milan), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Luca Pellegrini (Juventus), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma).

Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter Milan), Giacomo Bonaventura, Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Jorginho (Chelsea), Roberto Gagliardini (Inter Milan), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Stefano Sensi (Inter Milan), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma).

Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Francesco Caputo (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarawy (Shanghai Shenua), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Kean (Everton), Kevin Lasagna (Udinese), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna).

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports