One of the biggest names to miss out on the World Cup this summer is Italy, who failed to overcome Sweden in the playoffs. They will now play against Saudi Arabia in a friendly match on Monday, with the Middle Eastern team gearing up for the World Cup.
Italy have made significant changes in their national team following their failure to reach the World Cup. They started by sacking coach Giampero Ventura, who was replaced by Roberto Mancino. Mancini already made a massive overhaul in the team's roster, bringing back some players that were overlooked by his predecessor. He brought back the controversial Balotelli who actually had a great season, along with Napoli's Insigne and Jorginho who were also catalytic to Napoli's awesome course in the Serie A this season.
Saudi Arabia finished at the 2nd spot of Group B in the Asian Qualifiers (6-3-1), behind only Japan. Since then they have been rigorously warming up for the World Cup, as they have played six friendlies since late February (3-2-1). They did suffer a couple of bad losses against Iraq (1-4) and Belgium (0-4), but they recorded clean sheet wins against Moldova, Algeria and Greece. They play some offensive soccer, but their defense is not that great, especially against top teams like Italy.
