After overcoming England in a dramatic quarter-final penalty shoot-out on Sunday night, Italy will continue their Euro 2012 campaign when they take on Germany in Warsaw this evening.
A place in the final against Spain is up for grabs after Vicente Del Bosque’s men prevailed on penalties against Portugal.
Italy boast a good record against Germany and are unbeaten in the seven previous tournament meetings between the two sides. These include the World Cup final in 1982, where Bianconeri duo Paolo Rossi and Marco Tardelli found the target in a 3-1 success, and the 2006 semi-final, wrapped up by Alessandro Del Piero’s strike at the end of extra-time.
Once again, Cesare Prandelli is expected to call on several Juventus players to form the spine of his side.
Gigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio have played every minute of every game, while Leonardo Bonucci should keep his place alongside Andrea Barzagli after successfully shackling the threat of Wayne Rooney in Kiev.
While Giorgio Chiellini’s condition has improved dramatically since taking a knock in the final Group C game against Republic of Ireland, Prandelli is expected to err on the side of caution and hand the defender a place on the bench.
Emanuele Giaccherini, who started the opening two group games, and Sebastien Giovinco will also be pushing for a taste of the action.
Source: Juventus.com
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