| RUUDGULLIT | Reportedly offensive winger, Italian footballer (4,6) |
| ASSAULT | A matelot, reportedly offensive |
| INTERBREED | Italian footballers on British grass produce a cross (10) |
| BAGGIO | 'The Divine Ponytail' Italian footballer (6) |
| INSIGNE | Lorenzo ..., Italian footballer who till recently captained Napoli. (7) |
| MARIO | _ Balotelli, Italian footballer (5) |
| BALOTELLI | Mario - - -, Italian footballer |
| KEAN | Moise ___, Italian footballer (4) |
| ROBERTO | --- Di Matteo, Italian footballer (7) |
| EMERSON | Italian footballer who also plays for West Ham United (7) |
| NESTA | Italian footballer Alessandro ___ |
| ROSSINI | Italian footballer concerned with making a comeback -- he hasn't scored for years (7) |
| CONTROVERSIALLY | Italian footballer and friend entertaining Tranmere team in a contentious manner (15) |
| ROSSI | Recently deceased Italian footballer, he was the top scorer at the 1982 World Cup (5) |
| BORINI | Fabio ...... , Italian footballer who currently plays for U C Sampdoria (6) |
| DICANIO | Paolo ___, Italian footballer who played for West Ham from 1999-2003 (2,5) |
| RIVA | Italian footballer, his country's all-time leading goalscorer who died last year |
| MATEO | Identify the first name of this Argentina born Italian footballer who ended Serie A 2024-25 season as the top goal-scorer. (5) |
| BARESI | Franco, Italian footballer who missed the first penalty in the 1994 World Cup Final shoot-out against Brazil (6) |
| INTER | Italian footballers spend cold months without women (5) |
