Former Fiorentina manager Cesare Prandelli has said that he already has an idea of the squad he wants to utilise at the Confederations cup in the summer. Italy will be one of the nations playing the Confederations cup 2013, which will be a major exercise towards the FIFA World Cup 2014. This would help the team get acclimatised to the conditions, which will give them an advantage over other teams at the World Cup next summer. Prandelli is expected to take a squad that will contain a mixture of players, as he also wants to build the team for the future.

Prandelli has suggested that the under 21 side will have a crucial role to play in the senior squad that will be taken to the Confederations cup. He expects the number of players to be included from the under 21 team, who have been performing really well in recent months. He has also dismissed talk about his future by saying that Italian managers do not always have job security. He wants to only look at the immediate future, which involves doing well at the Confederations cup and the World Cup. A number of players like Stephan El Shaarawy and Mario Balotelli have been made as important part of the first team by Prandelli.

“They are two very important tournaments, so we will wait until the end of the season. We have already worked out the two groups, but we want to wait a little longer. We don’t want to take anything away from the Under-21 side, nor remove those two or three who can already form part of the senior Italy squad. My future? In Italy it is our nature to have Coaches always hanging by a thread. Milan know how to deal with their players,” said Cesare Prandelli.

Italy will be playing in one of the high-profile friendly matches that is scheduled during this international break. The European team will be playing against five-time World Cup winners Brazil in a friendly match. Ahead of this match, Italy have been talked up as the favourites to secure the victory due to their better form for the last few matches. Brazil, on the other hand, recently appointed Luiz Felipe Scolari as replacement for Mano Menezes after a poor run of results. The new manager, though, is yet to secure his first victory in his second spell as the Brazil manager.

The first match for Scolari ended in defeat against England. Brazil come into the match ranked very low in the recent FIFA rankings due to their poor showings in recent major tournaments. Since the 2002 FIFA World Cup victory in Japan, Brazil have been unable to dominate the showpiece event from FIFA. The next event will be taking place in Brazil, which puts a lot of pressure on the nation to deliver. Prandelli has said that Brazil should not be treated as underdogs because they are one of the best nations in the world when it comes to football.

He has spoken about the talented players within the Brazil squad including Santos striker Neymar. “Are we the favourites against Brazil? That seems an exaggeration. Yes, they are seeking their identity, but never lost that spirit. They have extraordinary quality and their own style of football. We are not the favourites, but we hope to make life difficult for them tomorrow. Brazil are seeking the right team for the World Cup and this is a generational change. They will be prepared for the tournament as hosts,” said Prandelli.

He has praised Neymar by saying that he could become the best in the world.