Spurs pair in Italy squad | OneFootball

It is that time of the year - the first international break since the turn of the year is suddenly upon us, and will start in only a few days time. It has been a busy few days full of squads being announced - including for plenty of Tottenham Hotspur players.

The latest two to be confirmed are Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie, whom have been named in Luciano Spaletti's 25 man squad for their nations league quarter final double header with Germany later this month.

Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie called up to Italy squad

Although Vicario is likely to be the number two behind Paris Saint Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, there is a possibility that Udogie gets game time here, with first choice left wing back Federico Dimarco of Inter Milan absent through injury.

The first leg of this quarter final tie is set to take place at home - the San Siro - on Thursday, the 20th March, at 19:45 GMT. The second leg, away from home - will take place on Sunday, the 23rd of March - also at 19:45 GMT.

Should the Italians progress, they will play two games in June. The first game will be the semi final, and the second game either the final, or the third place play off. In the 2021 and 2023 iterations of the nations league, Italy lost to Spain in the semi finals, before winning the third place play off. Fortunately for them, although Spain remain in the competition, they are on the other side of the draw.

In fact, should Italy progress, their semi final will either be against Denmark or Portugal, so with Spain and France on the other side, things could have definitely been worse for them. It will be a tough tie against Germany - particularly with the second leg away from home - but Florian Wirtz is set to miss both games (he was suspended for the first leg anyway) with an injury, which certainly helps their chances.

Usually, during international breaks - you don't want your players playing when possible, because they could get injured, or risk fatigue and burn out. However, in Udogie's case, it could be a good thing. He is mostly being kept out of the team by Djed Spence at the moment, and Ange has only moved the latter to right back with the Italian at left back once.

So, getting some minutes in the legs here could actually help his match sharpness ahead of the business end of the season - albeit there is the possibility he could get injured in either of the games.