Countdown to Euros: 2 Months

April 9th, 2012 | by: elaine | Comments Off

In 2 short months, Italy will kick off in the group stages for Euro 2012. Below are a few updates on the squad, followed by the schedule for the group stages.

Buffon is giddy with excitement for Euro 2012

• Prandelli got one of the midweek training camps for the Azzurri approved by the Lega Calcio after all. It will take place midweek during the last week of April.

• Balotelli was sent off again while playing for Manchester City on the weekend, which will likely influence Prandelli’s decision whether or not to call him up.

• Cassano played for the first time since his stroke and heart surgery for about 10 minutes for Milan over the weekend. He looked pretty good in that few minutes, certainly looked thrilled to be on the pitch again.

• Giuseppe Rossi is supposedly in training again with Villareal while rumors of a Serie A return, quite possibly to Roma, continue to pick up speed. There is still no known date set for his return to competitive action.

• Prandelli is still looking at Di Natale for inclusion in the squad this summer, and recently made a brief stop at Udinese to have a conversation with Guidolin. Speculation is that Prandelli requested Di Natale to be released for his training camp on April 23-24.

Italy’s Euro Schedule – Mark Your Calendars

Spain vs. Italy

Sunday, June 10 • 18:00 CEST (12noon EDT)

PGE Arena, Gdansk, Poland

Italy vs. Croatia

Thursday, June 14 • 18:00 CEST (12noon EDT)

Municipal Stadium, Poznan, Poland

Italy vs. Republic of Ireland

Monday, June 18 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)

Municipal Stadium, Poznan, Poland

The countdown is on… are you ready for Euros?

Elaine is on Twitter as often as Gilardino will be called up, but you can try to find her like he’s trying to find his form… @ItalyWCB