Simone Zaza has earned a recall to the Italy squad for their World Cup playoff against Sweden.
Zaza, who last pulled on an Italy shirt almost a year ago to the day, in a goalless draw with Germany, has been rewarded for his return to form with Valencia in Spain by being included in Gian Piero Ventura's 27-man squad.
The 26-year-old has scored eight goals in his last seven La Liga outings, although his run of scoring in six consecutive games ended in the 3-0 win over Leganes on Saturday.
Roma's Alessandro Florenzi is also back for the first time in a year, while Napoli midfielder Jorginho returns for his first call-up since June 2016. Torino forward Andrea Belotti, who missed last month's games against Macedonia and Albania, has also been included after recovering from injury, together with Daniele De Rossi and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti, who also missed out in October.
Italy's squad will meet on Sunday and travel to Stockholm on Thursday, for Friday's clash at the Friends Arena. The Squadra Azzurra then host Sweden at the San Siro in Milan next Tuesday, where they are hoping to extend their record of having appeared in every World Cup since last missing out in 1958.
Squad in full: Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Mattia Perin (Genoa); Defenders: Davide Astori (Fiorentina), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Danilo D'Ambrosio (Inter), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Daniele Rugani (Juventus), Leonardo Spinazzola (Atalanta), Davide Zappacosta (Chelsea); Midfielders: Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Inter), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Roberto Gagliardini (Inter), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Jorginho (Napoli), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain); Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Eder Citadin Martins (Inter), Manolo Gabbiadini (Southampton), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Simone Zaza (Valencia).