Italy to announce squad on Tuesday

Italian national football coach Roberto Donadoni has declared that he shall announce his 23-man squad for the Euro 2008 finals next Tuesday.

The last date for the announcement of the final squad for all nations participating in the competition is May 28 but Donadoni has said that he shall announce his squad eight days earlier on May 20.

Donadoni believes that this will then allow his players more time to settle in and train. The players called to the national line-up would have to group on May 25 at Coverciano.

Italy play Begium in Florence the following Thursday in a friendly international as a preparatory match for the Euro finals.

Italy are pipped in a tough group, Group C, where they have to fight it out against Romania, the Netherlands and France. Italy begin their competition on June 9 against the Dutch, then take on Romania four days later and complete their Group C fixtures against France whom they defeated in the 2006 Germany World Cup final.