One of the biggest stars of world volleyball, Alessandro Michieletto, will take his first step towards returning to play with the Italian national team.
The Italian Federation announced the squad for the preparatory camp in Cavalese, which starts on June 18, and among those called up by coach Ferdinando De Giorgi is the 24-year-old outside hitter.
This will be Michieletto's first appearance in a training environment since January. At that time, the MVP of the 2025 World Championship played his last match before a serious back injury sidelined him for several months.
Currently, there is no official information on the player's current condition and how close he is to a full return to the court. Just a few weeks ago, coach Ferdinando De Giorgi stated that the Italian staff is primarily focused on Michieletto's recovery with a view to the European Championship and is not rushing his return to play.
However, his inclusion in the group for the camp is a clear sign that the recovery process is moving in a positive direction.
Otherwise, attention in Italy is focused on De Giorgi's decision for the 14-player squad for the second week of the Nations League in Ljubljana. The final list will be announced on June 21.
Italy begins its participation in the second VNL tournament on June 24 in Ljubljana with a match against Bulgaria. After that, the "Azzurri" will face Ukraine, Brazil, and hosts Slovenia.
First Group (preparation starts on June 18)

• Lorenzo Cortesia

• Gianluca Galassi

• Tommaso Guzzo

• Tim Held

• Tommaso Ichino

• Daniele Lavia

• Alessandro Michieletto

• Federico Roberti

• Yuri Romano

• Roberto Russo

• Riccardo Sbertoli

• Matteo Staforini

• Nikola Dzonta
  
  Second group (joins on June 19)

  These are the players who participated in the first week of the Nations League, plus Francesco Comparoni:

  • Mattia Bonifante

  • Mattia Bottolo

  • Alessandro Bovolenta

  • Francesco Comparoni

  • Giovanni Gargiulo

  • Gabriele Laurenzano

  • Leandro Mosca

  • Mattia Orioli

  • Domenico Pace

  • Luca Porro

  • Paolo Porro

  • Kamil Rychlicki

  • Giovanni Sanguinetti

  • Francesco Sani
    
    photo: Nikolay Varadinov