Lausanne, Switzerland - 02.06.2006

Italy's National team is up for great things this year as they go to Germany to participate in the biggest soccer event; the Italian squad is one of the most renowned teams in the history of soccer, always with great performances in the final stage of the FIFA World Cup and this year won't be the exception.

In the pre-FIFA World Cup training camp, the Italian squad will face the Ukrainian squad in Switzerland just a few days before the competition starts.

Italy will tune and sync the National team in this training camp; this is the time to go back and review all the mistakes made in the qualifying round and hopefully try to correct them in time.

In team news, Monaco striker Christian Vieri and Sampdoria defender Aimo Diana have been ruled out of Italy's FIFA World World Cup squad due to injuries, Italian coach Marcello Lippi said on Tuesday.

"I have very clear ideas about my squad and a few injuries have contributed to clarifying the position," Lippi told the Italian news agency ANSA on Tuesday.

Now we are focusing on the Ukrainian team lead by Milan's superstar forward Andriy Shevchenko. They want to make their first participation in the World Cup a very good one; it's a very motivated and talented squad that can surprise any team.

But they received bad news this week; Andriy Shevchenko has been sidelined for 25 days with a knee injury; the Serie A club said on Monday. The former European Player of the Year picked up the injury early in Milan's 3-2 win over Parma in the Serie A on Sunday. Milan said the forward had suffered "a sprain and stretching of the medial collateral ligament" but ruled out any need for an operation.

Shevchenko will miss Milan's final game of the season at home to Roma. Milan trails leaders Juventus by three points with one game remaining.

Ukraine will face their Italian counterparts on June 2nd in a game that will work for both teams as the final tune-up just two weeks before the World Cup begins.

For all the soccer fans out there most sports books will have lines for these friendly matches, so do your homework and pick your winners in this preparation road for the big event.