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Italy finds itself in quite an interesting spot.
We've known for days now that Italy has won its group. We've also just found out 24 hours earlier that, thanks to Croatia's upset win over Spain on Tuesday, that it will be a rematch of the 2012 Euro Final in the Round of 16 early next week. That's something that wouldn't be happening if not for an Inter player (Ivan Perisic) doing what Inter players do and making things nothing close to logical for an Italian team.
Does Antonio Conte rest players with Spain in mind? Or does he roll out a starting lineup like in his first two group stage game so that his squad can continue to work together seeing as Spain is up next?
You would think that somebody like Leonardo Bonucci, who is one yellow card away from a suspension, would get the day off with Spain in mind. (No need to even risk him missing a knockout round game when you can control the situation, right?) Maybe Andrea Barzagli gets the day off, too.
It's interesting, surely. Conte will want to keep this momentum that his squad has created to open the tournament going no matter who plays. But does he turn to a lot of squad rotation with a Round of 16 opponent already determined and the top spot in the group locked up?
This is what they pay Conte to do. And soon we're going to see what actually happens.
Italy vs. Sweden
Location: Stadium Municipal, Toulouse, France
Kick-off time: 21:00 CET, 3:00 PM Eastern, 12:00 PM Pacific
Available TV: ESPN, ESPN Deportes (United States); TLN, TSN4, RDS, TSN5 (Canada); ITV 1 UK (United Kingdom); RAI Uno, Sky Sport 1 HD Italia (Italy)
Available online streaming: ESPN3 (United States); SKY Go Italia (Italy)
For listings in other countries, check out LiveSoccerTV.com.