Italy coach Cesare Prandelli is set to hand Roma striker Fabio Borini his debut in today's friendly against the United States in Genoa.
The Azzurri are still without injured strikers Antonio Cassano and Giuseppe Rossi, while Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli and Roma striker Daniel Osvaldo were omitted from the squad after breaching Prandelli's code of conduct with their recent indiscipline for their clubs.
With Prandelli calling up just three strikers for the game, the 20-year-old Borini could be handed a start alongside Parma's Sebastian Giovinco.
Borini has scored seven goals in 15 league appearances for Roma this season.
"I have monitored him (Borini) for some time," Prandelli said. "After Osvaldo was sent off at Atalanta, I accelerated the process to call up Borini.
"Besides the goals, what has surprised me most about him is that, despite his young age, he has a lot of determination and there is a continuity in his performances.
"Borini's unselfishness is contagious and I predict an important future for him."
The Azzurri return to play at the Luigi Ferraris stadium for the first time since October 2010 when their Euro 2012 qualifier against Serbia was abandoned after seven minutes due to crowd trouble.
The Italians will be looking to start what they hope will be a successful year on the right foot.
Prandelli's men lost 1-0 to Uruguay in Rome in their last game back in November.
However, Italy finished unbeaten and top of Group C in the qualifying campaign and USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann is well aware of the challenge his side will face.
"We are not at the level of Italy or Germany," he said. "However, we can improve step by step.
"We want to show our worth on Wednesday."
Klinsmann, whose side head into the encounter on the back of consecutive wins against Slovenia, Venezuela and Panama, believes this match will be a good test for his men.
"It's very important we get to play games like this one and in particular play them on the road," the former Germany coach said.
"That's when you really get players out of their comfort zone and they have to deal with a difficult environment on a physical and psychological level.
"Our roster is highly competitive and ready to give them a real fight."
The Americans have never beaten Italy in 10 attempts, with the Azzurri winning seven of those encounters.
Moreover, Italy have conceded just four times to them and scored a huge 33 goals.