Cesare Prandelli is giving nothing away ahead of his side's World Cup clash with Costa Rica – indeed the Italy coach has become almost Machiavelli to keep his rivals guessing.
Prandelli knows the Azzurri will all but book their second round place if they follow their 2-1 victory over England with another win in Recife.
But he is not taking the challenge of Los Ticos for granted after their 3-1 win over Uruguay, inspired by Arsenal striker Joel Campbell.
Keeper Gianluigi Buffon appears to have recovered from the ankle injury that ruled him out against England while Mattia De Sciglio also returned to full training after injury.
Prandelli kept watching media guessing as he mixed things up for their last training session in Mangaratiba, separating his squad into two groups with no obvious reason behind his decision.
It is expected Gabriel Paletta will be dropped moving Giorgio Chiellini into a more central role and swapping Matteo Darmian to the left and introducing AC Milan right back Ignazio Abate.
Thiago Motta is expected to play alongside Andrea Pirlo in midfield, instead of his PSG teammate Marco Verratti, while Andrea Barzagli is likely to be the only injury absence.
"Prandelli has created our style of play, adapting it to our own characteristics," said Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi.
"It's very hot here but our way of playing means that we are not affected as much as other teams by the conditions.
"It was better for us that Costa Rica beat Uruguay otherwise we would have risked underestimating them. Now we won't. We have to have the right fear. There are no longer weak teams in the tournament, as many players play in Europe and are competitive."
Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto claims his squad are under no pressure to deliver, having been widely tipped to be the whipping boys of a group that includes three former world champions.
And he hopes to have secured qualification before next Tuesday's date with England in Belo Horizonte.
"We respect England, Italy and Uruguay. But they should know now that we can play football too," he said.
"We are playing without fear, without expectation. That frees us up to express the joy we feel just being here at the tournament, there is no better motivation.
"I've admired Italian football for so long, since I first saw them play at the 1978 World Cup.
"People say their football is defensive but I don't agree. I believe they are a very balanced and structured team.
"It's a dream to coach a team to play a team like Italy but we aren't afraid of them. I saw things against England that I believe we can exploit."
