International Friendlies
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0 vs 3
Played
June 1, 2012 7:45 PM BST
Stadion Letzigrund — Zürich
Referee:‬ N. Hänni‎
Attendance:‬ 19032‎
 

Italy - Russia Preview: Prandelli’s men look to put distractions behind them in final Euro 2012 warm-up

The Azzurri will lock horns with Dick Advocaat's men on Friday in Zurich in the last friendly for both teams ahead of the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine

More On :  Italy, Russia, Italy vs Russia
  PROBABLE LINE-UPS


ITALY

Buffon
Maggio, Chiellini, Barzagli, Ogbonna
De Rossi, Pirlo, Marchisio
Montolivo
Cassano, Balotelli

RUSSIA

Akinfeev
Anyukov, Sharonov, Berezutsky, Zhirkov
Shirokov, Denisov, Zyryanov
Dzagoev, Arshavin
Kerzhakov

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli will welcome Giorgio Chiellini back into the fold after the Juventus defender recovered from a thigh problem which caused him to miss the Coppa Italia final loss to Napoli.

Riccardo Montolivo has shaken off a thigh strain and will likely play in behind strikers Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano.

Meanwhile, Russia boss Dick Advocaat will likely hand veteran Roman Sharonov a start at centre-back in order to give Sergei Ignashevich a breather before their Euro 2012 opener against Czech Republic.

Alan Dzagoev still needs to shake off some rust before the tournament and should get the nod ahead of Marat Izmailov.

  DID YOU KNOW?
  • Italy cancelled their friendly with Luxembourg after a deadly 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Emilia-Romagna region on Tuesday.
  • The Azzurri went undefeated in their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign (W8 D2), outscoring their opponents 20-2 in the process.
  • Domenico Criscito was dropped from Prandelli's final squad after police raided his room at Italy's training base in Coverciano as part of the Scommessopoli investigation.
  • Russia played out a 0-0 draw with Lithuania on Tuesday in their second warm-up before the summer showpiece.
  • Advocaat's side topped their Euro 2012 qualifying group after picking up seven wins in 10 games (W7 D2 L1).
  • Russia won their first and only European Championship in 1960, as the Soviet Union.

Want to check out Italy's competition in the Euros? Watch Croatia’s friendlies LIVE!

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Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
  • Italy 2-0 Russia
    20.51 %
  • Italy 2-1 Russia
    15.58 %
  • Italy 3-1 Russia
    9.37 %
Head to Head
International Friendlies ‎(FR)‎ Jun 1, 2012 Italy 0 - Russia 3
  • Player Ratings
  • Match Report
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Last Five Matches
Italy
Mar 26, 2013Malta 0 - Italy 2WCQ
Mar 21, 2013Italy 2 - Brazil 2FR
Feb 6, 2013Netherlands 1 - Italy 1FR
Nov 14, 2012Italy 1 - France 2FR
Oct 16, 2012Italy 3 - Denmark 1WCQ
Russia
Mar 25, 2013Brazil 1 - Russia 1FR
Feb 6, 2013Iceland 0 - Russia 2FR
Nov 14, 2012Russia 2 - United States 2FR
Oct 16, 2012Russia 1 - Azerbaijan 0WCQ
Oct 12, 2012Russia 1 - Portugal 0WCQ
Odds
Returns: Italy £710.00 WilliamHill Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Returns: Draw £360.00 WilliamHill Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Returns: Russia £36.00 PaddyPower Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets
Team News
Available Squads
1Gianluigi BuffonGoalkeeper
15Andrea BarzagliDefender
-Federico Balzaretti
19Leonardo BonucciDefender
21Andrea PirloMidfielder
2Christian MaggioMidfielder
8Claudio MarchisioMidfielder
18Riccardo MontolivoMidfielder
16Daniele De RossiMidfielder
-Antonio Cassano
9Mario BalotelliStriker
12Morgan De SanctisGoalkeeper
-Angelo Obinze Ogbonna
-Thiago Motta
-Antonio Nocerino
10Sebastian GiovincoStriker
-Antonio Di Natale
-Vyacheslav Malafeev
12Alexey BerezutskiyDefender
21Kirill NababkinDefender
4Sergey IgnashevichDefender
-Andrey Arshavin
17Alan DzagoevMidfielder
7Igor DenisovMidfielder
-Konstantin Zyryanov
6Roman ShirokovMidfielder
5Yuri ZhirkovMidfielder
11Aleksandr KerzhakovStriker
1Igor AkinfeevGoalkeeper
-Roman Pavlyuchenko
18Aleksandr KokorinStriker
15Dmitriy KombarovMidfielder
Players to Watch
Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli
Position: Striker
Squad Number: 9
Games Goals YC RC
2 1 0 0
The enigmatic Manchester City striker will be hoping to repay Cesare Prandelli’s faith after he was dropped from the Italy squad earlier in the year. The former Inter forward has been handed the No.9 shirt and will look to live up to the lofty expectations that wearing the jersey entails.
Andrey Arshavin
Andrey Arshavin
Position:
Squad Number: 0
Games Goals YC RC
0 0 0 0
The captain of the national team will be aiming to replicate his performance from the 2008 edition of the tournament when he led the Russians to an upset win over Netherlands in the quarter-finals before falling to Spain in the last four.
Prediction
Italy will be raring to go after their friendly against Luxembourg was cancelled on Tuesday and will face a stiff test against a Russian side looking to work out some kinks ahead of the summer showpiece. Both teams will compete hard but the players will be concious of not picking up any injuries.
Editor's Prediction
Italy 1
Russia 1
Results
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Top Scorers
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Al Faisaly Amman 		4 1
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Fred Fred
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Fluminense 		3 0
Felipe Caicedo Felipe Caicedo
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Lokomotiv 		3 0