Cesare Prandelli, the Italy National Football Team coach has come out in public support of Antonio Cassano, stating that he is one of those players that he is sure to take to the European Championships of 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Cassano, who is currently playing for Italian champions AC Milan has not had much game time this season and was criticized from various media about his credibility to play in the European Championships.
The 28 year old striker, who began his career at AS Roma before heading to Spain and play for the Spanish giants Real Madrid before heading home for the lack of playing time with Sampdoria, joined AC Milan in January 2011 but his time on the pitch with them has been very limited.
However, Prandelli believes that Cassano is one of those players who have the experience to lead a very young Italy National Football Team in the European Championships in the absence of star names such as Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero.
The eccentric striker may not be at the peak level of fitness at this time but the striker is confident that if he is given playing time in the League or the Cup or even in the UEFA Champions League, he will be able to get his fitness level to an optimum.
But that might well be a problem for the striker, because Milan manager Max Allegri appears unwilling to change his side, which has been playing some of the best football in the country recently.
Cesare Prandelli, who took over the reins of the Italy National Football Team after the debacle of the FIFA World Cup 2010, when the then World Champions were knocked out in the first round, is ready to give the player all the time he needs to get himself fit.
Italy remain one of the favourites to win the tournament according to the Euro 2012 betting markets.