Italy have appeared to be slowly finding their footing under new coach Antonio Conte. The Azzurri, who made it to the finals in the last edition of the EURO tournament, continue to unfortunately suffer on the bigger stage as they failed to get out of the World Cup groups for the second time.
However, with the former Juventus tactician at the helm, who took over after Cesare Prandelli resigned, they have currently won their last two matches, posting 2-0 victories in their friendly meeting with the Netherlands as well as earning three points against Norway.
Conte has made it clear, though, that the new Italy will be quite different from prior squads, namely in some of the names he has opted to include and exclude. Mario Balotelli, who was always granted a spot in Prandelli's team regardless of his antics on and off the pitch, now finds himself on the fringes as the new boss opted to select Southampton striker Graziano Pelle instead.
While the decision may seem surprising to those not in the know, for those who follow Dutch football closely it is not a surprise, with many wondering why Pelle, who enjoyed a fantastic run of form while in the Eredivisie wasn't called up sooner--especially for the last World Cup. However, as to whether he will feature is another story entirely, as Conte appears to be satisfied with the growing understanding between Ciro Immobile and Simone Zaza in attack.
Meanwhile their Eastern European opponents have not won a match since a slim 1-0 result over the Philippines back in March. After that, they lost to the United States, suffered a humilation at the hands of Russia and were unable to earn any points from their opening qualifier against Bulgaria.
Given the obvious gulf in class between the two sides--as the last time they met back in 2004, the Azzurri cruised to an easy 4-0 win--it will be interesting to see if Conte sticks to his preferred 3-5-2 formation from his Bianconeri days or opts to try out something different with some newer faces.
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