Italy vs. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergei-Pareiko-c32968 the stars -
Euro 2012 Qualifier preview
Cesare Prandelli’s Italy will take on Estonia in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier at Stadio http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alberto-c4309 Braglia in Modena on Friday, June 3. The Italians currently lead the Group C whereas Estonia sit in fourth place. The reverse fixture was won by the Italians 2-1
after two second-half goals from Antonio Cassano and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Leonardo-Bonucci-c22064.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926
Azzurri have had a brilliant qualifying campaign and are yet to lose in the qualifiers. The Blues have won four of the five games played and drawn one. The wins came against Estonia, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Slovenia-c3008 whereas they played a stalemate against
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Northern-Ireland-c2972 in October last year.
The Italians are atop the Group C with 13 points and look most certain to qualify for the championship to be held in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Poland-c2983 next year. Prandelli’s men have scored 11 goals in the qualifying campaign and conceded only one in the process.
Estonia
Tarmo Ruutli’s men are currently fourth on the qualifying table with seven points. They are struggling for results as they have won two and lost two in the five games played do far. The two wins coming against a dismal Faroe Islands side and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Serbia-c3002 in Belgrade.
The Sinisargid have scored seven goals and conceded six thus far. A win for the Estonians would see them leapfrog Slovenia and Serbia to second place with 10 points and with four games still to play in the qualifying stage.
Team News
Italy
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Antonio-Cassano-c6302 and Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi will start upfront for the
home side whereas http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Andrea-Pirlo-c5702 will start in the centre of the park.
Estonia
The visitors will be without two of their most experienced central midfielders, Aleksandr Dmitrijev and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Konstantin-Vassiljev-c21310, for the important clash. The duo has over 100 international caps between them and Estonia will surely miss them in a fixture where
experience could be http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tarmo-Kink-c34699 are expected to take their places and start in the centre of midfield.
Players to watch
Giuseppe Rossi
The Italian has had a sensational season with Villarreal this term and has been widely linked to Champions League winners, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Barcelona-c39078. Rossi scored 32 goals in 56 appearances for the Yellow Submarine this season and will be hoping to convert his form on
the international front as well to establish himself in the starting line-up.
Sergei Pareiko
The goalkeeper has been in inspiring form in the past few matches. The player’s impressive performances have seen him join Polish champions Wisla Krakow at the start of this season. He could be Estonia’s most important player as Italy will look to attack
and score some early goals.
Prediction
Italy have been in brilliant form under manager Cesare Prandelli and have had a sensational qualifying campaign so far. The Italians have scored the most goals in the group while conceding the least number of goals, so they are favourites to win the clash.
Estonia’s recent form and the absence of key players will not help them either. Azzurri will secure three points with a comfortable 2-0
victory.
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