Originally Posted by Gabriel Marcotti
When Antonio Conte sends out his Italy side to face the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday, he may well have just two holdovers from the Azzurri's last game: Alessandro Florenzi and Andrea Barzagli.
Italy have already mathematically clinched first place in Group E, so you can see his logic. He's dropping five guys (Gigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Eder and Daniele De Rossi) who are one yellow card away from a suspension, plus another, Antonio Candreva, who picked up a knock and probably would not have been able to play anyway. That's already six.
Center-forward Graziano Pelle is also destined for a rest, since Conte sees his strikers as pretty much interchangeable, and with Eder out, Conte wants to see what Ciro Immobile and Simone Zaza can do. The other two getting a breather are his central midfielders, Emanuele Giaccherini and Marco Parolo, who could use it after playing 180 minutes. (And not just any 180 minutes, but 180 minutes of Conte-brand football: Despite being one of the oldest squads in the tournament, Italy are among those who have covered the greatest distance.)