Italy's Zaza remains with squad despite injury scare

Italy revealed that Simone Zaza's training session Thursday was cut short because of a knee injury that had been bothering the Valencia forward before he linked up with the national team.

Zaza will remain with the team, but there's no word as to whether he'll be available ahead of Friday's World Cup play-off against Sweden.

A brief statement on the national team's website read: "Simone Zaza stopped training on account of an existing issue with his left knee. The Valencia forward will remain in the squad and board the charter flight to Sweden."

If he's unable to overcome the knock, Italy has a number of other options in attack to choose from, such as Andrea Belotti, Eder, Manolo Gabbiadini, and Serie A leading scorer Ciro Immobile.

The second leg of the play-off tie is set for Nov. 13 in Italy.