Roberto Donadoni has called up Fiorentina defender Alessandro Gamberini to replace injured skipper Fabio Cannavaro at Euro 2008. Cannavaro, who captained the 2006 World Cup winning squad was ruled out of the tournament after a tackle by Giorgio Chellini in training resulted in him tearing his ankle ligaments. He went under the knife in Vienna and is expected to return to action in a couple of months.

Gamberini has been an important part of Fiorentina's successful league campaign, and has received only one red card in his eight seasons in the Italian Serie A. Fiorentina reached the UEFA Cup semifinals last season, and by virtue of their fourth place in the Serie A, will take part in the Champions League in the upcoming season. Gamberini is contracted to Viola till 2011, and has been capped twice for the Italian senior team.


Meanwhile Cannavaro has been given special permission to stay with the Italy team and offer them support. Considering the amount of influence and experience he has, Italy's defenders will be more than happy to have him by their side.