Lausanne, Switzerland - 02.06.2006
This year, Italy's national team is going to Germany to compete in the biggest soccer tournament. The Italian team is one of the most famous in soccer history, and they've always done well in the final stage of the FIFA World Cup. This year won't be any different.
In Switzerland, just a few days before the World Cup starts, the Italian team will play against the Ukrainian team in a training camp.
In this training camp, Italy will get their national team in tune and in sync. This is the time to look back at all the mistakes they made in the qualifying round and try to fix them in time.
In team news, Italy's coach Marcello Lippi said on Tuesday that striker Christian Vieri of Monaco and defender Aimo Diana of Sampdoria will not be going to the World Cup because they are hurt.
Lippi told the Italian news agency ANSA on Tuesday, "I have very clear ideas about my team, and a few injuries have helped me figure out where we stand."
Now, we're putting our attention on the Ukrainian team, which is led by Andriy Shevchenko, the star forward for Milan. They want to do well in their first World Cup. They have a very talented and motivated team that can surprise any other team.
But they got bad news this week. The Serie A club said on Monday that Andriy Shevchenko will be out for 25 days with a knee injury. The former European Player of the Year got hurt early in Sunday's Serie A game between Milan and Parma, which Milan won 3-2. The forward had "a sprain and stretching of the medial collateral ligament," but Milan said there was no need for surgery.
Shevchenko won't be able to play in Milan's last game of the season against Roma at home. Milan is three points behind leader Juventus with one game left to play.
On June 2, Ukraine will play against Italy. This will be the last game for both teams before the World Cup, which starts two weeks later.
For all you soccer fans out there, most sports books will have lines for these "friendly" games, so do your research and pick your winners as the teams get ready for the big event.
