Acerbi’s refusal makes it unclear who will mark Haaland for Italy in key World Cup qualifier

ROME AP Francesco Acerbi the defender who was supposed to mark Erling Haaland turned down the callup to the national company The other Inter Milan players are demoralized after getting routed - by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final Italy s preparations for a key World Cup qualifier at Norway on Friday have been anything but ideal Add in the extra pressure that the Azzurri face after failing to qualify for the last two World Cups and it s easy to understand why coach Luciano Spalletti says it won t be a simple qualifier It s Italy s first qualifier and the Azzurri are already trailing group leader Norway which has a full six points and a plus-seven goal differential after beating Moldova - and Israel - Winning the group is the only way to ensure direct qualification to next year s tournament in North America The second-placed squad goes into the playoffs the stage where Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia and ruled out of the and World Cups respectively Haaland scored against Moldova and Israel and in recent weeks returned from a left ankle injury that kept him out for all of April Acerbi s relentless man-to-man lockdown efforts kept Haaland scoreless both in Inter s Champions League opener at Manchester City in September which ended - and the Champions League final But Acerbi informed Spalletti shortly after Saturday s Champions League final that he was turning down his first callup since March Acerbi mentioned on Instagram that he felt disrespected I don t want to stay where I m not really desired and it s clear that I m not part of the coach s plans Acerbi wrote Alternatives to Acerbi Since Alessandro Buongiorno another center back left Italy s training camp due to a right thigh injury and Roma center back Gianluca Mancini was left out of the squad it s unclear who will mark Haaland One option could be Federico Gatti of Juventus although Gatti has played only eight minutes since urgent a bone in his left leg in March Another key could be Matteo Gabbia of AC Milan Or Alessandro Bastoni could be moved from left back to central defense in Spalletti s three-man back line Haaland has goals in matches for Norway If they have one very good performer we should have former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi declared in the Gazzetta dello Sport The challenge isn t Haaland it s us We need to play as a organization and start interpreting football as a collective effort Italy s goals came late in a Nations League quarterfinal loss to Germany in March when Moise Kean scored twice and Giacomo Raspadori converted an injury-time penalty in a - second-leg draw that eliminated the Azzurri and sent them into a tougher qualifying group There was also an embarrassing goal conceded in Germany s - first-leg triumph when goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and the entire Azzurri defense were protesting to the referee Donnarumma enters the Norway match on a high though after helping PSG to the Champions League trophy With Acerbi gone the remaining Inter players with Italy are Bastoni Federico Dimarco Nicol Barella and Davide Frattesi Juventus captain Manuel Locatelli who had a strong finish to Serie A also left the training camp injured Kean however is coming off the best season of his career with goals for Fiorentina Whether we go to the World Cup or not depends a lot on how we play in Norway Spalletti reported The players and I know how essential this match is AP soccer https apnews com hub soccer Source