Emanuele Giaccherini

Daniele De Rossi sparked Italy's fightback and Mario Balotelli scored a superb second-half equaliser as the Azzurri battled to a 2-2 draw against Brazil in a friendly on Thursday.

Torino midfielder Alessio Cerci was the only uncapped addition to Italy coach Cesare Prandelli's 27-man squad ahead of an upcoming friendly against Brazil and a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Malta next week.

Juventus host Genoa hoping the possible absence of key players has the same effect as it did last week when the champions hit four past Udinese to open up a five-point gap at the top of Serie A.

A Sebastian Giovinco goal in the 56th minute gave Juventus a 1-0 win over Cagliari on Wednesday and set the Serie A champions up with a potential Italian Cup quarter-final clash against AC Milan.

Claudio Marchisio and Sebastian Giovinco scored second half goals as Juventus beat 10-man Torino 3-0 to rack up their 60th win in the 'Derby della Mole' on Saturday.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli says it's time for Mario Balotelli to show whether he is title-winning material a day after unveiling his squad for two Word Cup qualifiers against Armenia and Denmark.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has named Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli in a reinvigorated 27-man squad unveiled on Sunday for upcoming Word Cup qualifiers against Armenia and Denmark.

Champions Juventus underlined their Serie A title credentials with a fourth straight win thanks to Champions League hero Fabio Quagliarella's brace in a 2-0 win over Chievo on Saturday.

Two late goals from Mirko Vucinic and Kwadwo Asamoah sent Serie A champions Juventus back to the top of the table thanks to a 3-1 win away to Genoa on Sunday.

AC Milan striker Giampaolo Pazzini was rewarded for his hat-trick heroics on Saturday with selection to Cesare Prandelli's Italy squad to face Bulgaria and Malta next week.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has ditched temperamental striker Mario Balotelli in favour of Antonio Di Natale in the Azzurri's must-win final Euro 2012 Group C clash against Ireland at the Municipal Stadium here on Monday.

Antonio Cassano believes Italy coach Cesare Prandelli will continue his attacking approach as the Azzurri tackle Croatia in their second European Championship Group C match on Thursday.

Holders Spain were held to a 1-1 draw by a dogged and determined Italy at the Arena Gdansk here on Sunday in the opening Group C match at the European Championship.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli on Monday trimmed his squad to 25 players ahead of Tuesday's UEFA deadline for submitting Euro 2012 lists.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli on Monday said he was not concerned over the volatility of Mario Balotelli after naming the Manchester City striker in his 32-strong provisional squad for Euro 2012.

Mirko Vucinic's extra-time strike sent Juventus into their first Italian Cup final since 2004 following a 2-2 draw with AC Milan on Tuesday, giving them a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Juventus missed the chance to retake the lead in Serie A as Parma held them to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday.

Juventus have one foot in the Italian Cup final after Martin Caceres scored a brace to hand them a 2-1 win over AC Milan in the semi-final, first leg at the San Siro on Wednesday.

Juventus maintained their unbeaten record in all competitions this season as despite fielding a second string side they overwhelmed a full strength AS Roma 3-0 in their Italian Cup quarter-final on Tuesday.

Francesco Totti set a new single-club scoring record in Serie A as Roma thrashed Cesena 5-1 on Saturday, while Juventus put daylight between themselves and the rest in a 2-0 success at Atalanta.