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.

After the 1-1 draw with Netherlands, the Italian manager Cesare Prandelli has said that he sees a lot of potential in the strike partnership between the Milan players Stephan El Shaarawy and Mario Balotelli. The 22-year-old former Manchester City player recently returned to Italian football after the £ 16 million deal with AC Milan. He has instantly made an impact at the San Siro by scoring two goals in his debut. The two players were picked by the national team manager for the friendly match against Netherlands. It was an important match for the Italians especially after their loss at the hands of France in November.

However, it needed a late goal from the promising midfielder Marco Verratti in order to secure the draw for the Italians in Amsterdam. This result has resulted in criticism for the manager Prandelli, who has said that the results will continue to improve because it is still a young team. He has said that Balotelli could have done extremely well had he been fully fit. The striker is still recovering in full fitness. Even though Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy were on the pitch together, the formation did not bring the most out of them. However, Prandelli has identified several areas that will make them work as a partnership.

“They obviously need to work together. Mario knows he’s not in great shape and needs to recover, but we have an interesting future to work on. We didn’t want to lose and we didn’t want to concede. Obviously the 4-3-3 system is particular and we need time to work on the details, but I saw interesting things in the first half. We need more character, as we have the players with the right qualities,” said Prandelli, whose team will be playing in a friendly match against Brazil in March.