Group: C
Bet-at-home odds: 12,00
Fixtures: Spain (10/6), Croatia (14/6), Republic of Ireland (18/6)
Squad
Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), De Sanctis (Napoli), Sirigu (Paris St Germain).
Defenders: Abate (AC Milan), Balzaretti (Palermo), Barzagli (Juventus), Bonucci (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Maggio (Napoli), Ogbonna (Torino).
Midfielders: De Rossi (Roma), Diamanti (Bologna), Giaccherini (Juventus), Marchisio (Juventus), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Motta (Paris St Germain), Nocerino (AC Milan), Pirlo (Juventus).
Forwards: Balotelli (Manchester City), Borini (Roma), Cassano (Milan), Di Natale (Udinese), Giovinco (Parma).
Italy qualified as winners of Group C, the Azzurri are hoping to get further than they did in the 2008 European Championship.
Giuseppe Rossi, who was injured playing against with Villarreal, was ruled out for at least 6 months, has injured his ACL again and will definitely not be fit for the tournament. Mario Ballotelli's spot in the 23-man squad was put in doubt, however Italy's coach Cesare Prandelli said his place was not in jeopardy, as the striker didn't 'break his ethics code'.
The Italians have a better record in the World Cup, as they won it four times, the last time being in 2006 after beating France in the final, they were runners up a further two times (1970 and 1994). The Azzurri only won the Euro back in 1968, and were runners up in the year 2000.
In 2008 they went out when they lost the penalty shoot-out against Spain.
The average age of the Italian squad is of 27.3, the average for the the last Euro's was 28.2. Their most capped player is Goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon with 113 caps, the second most capped is Andrea Pirlo with 82.
Source: DSG
