Andrea Barzagli has handed Cesare Prandelli a welcome boost by confirming his fitness ahead of Italy’s crunch final Group C fixture against Republic of Ireland on Monday.
The centre-back met the media earlier at the squad’s Polish base and spoke about the Azzurri’s qualification hopes.
After drawing their opening two fixtures against Spain and Croatia, Italy have their sights on the three points required to secure a spot in the quarter-finals.
And Barzagli insisted the squad are fully focused on overcoming Giovanni Trapattoni’s side.
“None of us are thinking about an agreement between Spain and Croatia,” he said. “It’s already happened in football, but we’re not thinking about this possibility, we’re purely focused on winning our game.”
“I’m not thinking about going home, we know there’s a chance we could, but we won’t be considering it. We just need to concentrate on this game, win and then see how the other two sides get on. I’m convinced that if we do well, we’ll beat Ireland and go through.”
The 31-year-old also found time to comment on the discussion surrounding Juve’s Scudetto triumphs.
“The ’30 sul campo’ [30 on the pitch] inscription on our shirts is significant. All of us at Juventus are convinced we’ve won thirty titles on the pitch.
“Whoever won them has deserved to do so as they have been the strongest. Of course, there have been trials, but footballers are only interested in the outcome on the pitch.”
Source: Juventus.com
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