Luciano Spalletti confirms that he is planning numerous changes to the Italy starting XI, warning Ecuador have ‘quality, determination, pace and technique.’
It kicks off at the Red Bull Arena in New York on Sunday at 20.00 GMT.
The Azzurri are in America for warm-up tests going into the Euro 2024 tournament this summer, having beaten Venezuela 2-1 on Thursday in Fort Lauderdale thanks to a Mateo Retegui brace.
“I have the starting XI in mind, especially in games like these, as it is important to get the know more players better,” Spalletti told the official FIGC social media channels.
He is expected to make circa nine changes to the line-up, although Lorenzo Lucca won’t be getting his senior Italy debut, as he sustained a slight muscular issue in training.
“Tomorrow is already a more difficult test, as Ecuador have quality and determination, pace and technique, so I am curious to see how the players apply those things we talked about following the win over Venezuela.
“I like the squad, they are very close to the right kind of behaviour we need.”