{"id":4698,"date":"2026-04-07T18:13:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/4698\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:13:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:13:50","slug":"roma-talent-emerges-as-future-midfield-option-for-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/4698\/","title":{"rendered":"Roma talent emerges as future midfield option for Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nicol\u00f2 Pisilli\u2019s rise at Roma has earned him a senior call-up for the March World Cup play-off, and with growing excitement around the Azzurri, the 21-year-old is shaping up to be a future regular starter.<\/p>\n

The Roma midfielder made his Azzurri debut in October 2024 under Luciano Spalletti, but to date, that remains his only senior international appearance.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The adrenaline of an international match further boosts the experience of playing Rocketplay online<\/a>, bringing on an added sense of excitement that mirrors the intensity and passion seen on the pitch.<\/p>\n

Italy U21 coach Silvio Baldini could do anything but smile when he learned that Pisilli had earned a call-up to the senior Azzurri team for the crucial World Cup play-off.<\/p>\n

Both Pisilli and Cagliari\u2019s Marco Palestra were promoted to Italy\u2019s first team, a source of pride for the Azzurrini.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a success for us that they have been promoted to the senior squad, because it means we contributed to their growth process,\u201d Baldini said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke to Gattuso and Gigi Buffon over the last few days; they are accustomed to this kind of stress, having played in the biggest tournaments. They know there is a big responsibility on their shoulders, but we are all behind them, and I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone better with which to achieve qualification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pisilli impressed with the Azzurrini, scoring five times in 19 appearances.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

His performances at a club level have been just as good this season as the Roma<\/a> academy product has scored three goals and provided two assists in 26 appearances across all competitions.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old is also lucky enough to train with some of his role models while on international duty with Italy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ROME, ITALY \u2013 JANUARY 22: Niccolo Pisilli with his teammates of AS Roma celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the UEFA Europa League 2025\/26 League Phase MD7 match between AS Roma and VfB Stuttgart at Stadio Olimpico on January 22, 2026 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cI think of Barella, Tonali<\/a>, when he exploded with Milan, I always watched them on TV. It\u2019s a great opportunity for me to be able to learn from them now,\u201d he said last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a very strong group. Everyone here is really strong; they wouldn\u2019t be here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has to be a balance. We need the calmness of a squad that knows that with 100% commitment, they can achieve the goal, but also with the awareness that something really important is at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ROME, ITALY \u2013 JANUARY 22: Niccolo Pisilli of AS Roma celebrates with his teammate Kostas Tsimikas after scoring the opening goal during the UEFA Europa League 2025\/26 League Phase MD7 match between AS Roma and VfB Stuttgart at Stadio Olimpico on January 22, 2026 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A complete central midfielder, Pisilli can operate in many areas in the middle of the park, from holding midfielder to box-to-box or even No.10.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Given his role models, Tonali and Barella, Pisilli will be looking to emulate the Azzurri stars and become a midfielder who can make an impact at both ends, and in just a few years, he might be playing alongside them in the Italy midfield.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nicol\u00f2 Pisilli\u2019s rise at Roma has earned him a senior call-up for the March World Cup play-off, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1179,783,832,5,1385,3523,831,175,3522,3524,2047,43,2526,794,695],"class_list":{"0":"post-4698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-as-roma","9":"tag-barella","10":"tag-cagliari","11":"tag-italy","12":"tag-kostas-tsimikas","13":"tag-league-phase","14":"tag-marco-palestra","15":"tag-milan","16":"tag-niccolo-pisilli","17":"tag-nicolo-pisilli","18":"tag-pisilli","19":"tag-roma","20":"tag-silvio-baldini","21":"tag-tonali","22":"tag-vfb-stuttgart"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}