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So clubs have submitted their rosters for Champions League, and by now, you've probably seen Napoli's -- but some of us are a bit internet-scattered right now. So in case you're like me and haven't managed to connect to wifi for more than five minutes in the last 36 hours...well, I'm here to help you out.
Also, do you know what's fun? Trying to read Uefa's rules of eligibility to determine why, exactly, certain players are chosen for the squad. Granted, there are few surprises in the partenopei squad, save for Palmiero and Romano, the two Primavera inclusions.
Uefa require a maximum 25 man roster with at least eight "locally trained" players included. If a club doesn't have eight locally trained players, they have to reduce the number of men on their squad list. That's either an "association trained player" or a "club trained player", and at least four must be club trained. Club trained requires a player being registered with his current club for a minimum of three years from age 15 to age 21.
Yeah, I'd imagine that's a bit tough for many clubs, including Napoli. Some speculated that's why Uvini was included, but he hasn't been registered at Napoli long enough. The requirements are met with Insigne, Cannavaro, and the two Primavera players (I would guess).
Anyway, Napoli's first match, against Dortmund, is on September 18. Get excited!
Napoli Champions League Roster
Goalkeepers
Rafael
Pepe Reina
Roberto Colombo
Defenders
Raúl Albiol
Pablo Armero
Miguel Britos
Paolo Cannavaro
Federico Fernández
Christian Maggio
Giandomenico Mesto
Bruno Uvini
Juan Zúñiga
Midfielders
Valon Behrami
Blerim Džemaili
Gökhan İnler
Luca Palmiero
Josip Radošević
Antonio Romano
Forwards/Attackers/Whatever we call these players
José Callejón
Dries Mertens
Marek Hamšík
Gonzalo Higuaín
Lorenzo Insigne
Goran Pandev
Duván Zapata