Mario Balotelli is again set to lead Italy’s attack against Uruguay today after his impressive display in the win over Poland.

Balotelli and Giampaolo Pazzini replaced injured starting forwards Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano in Friday’s game and both scored to earn Italy a 2-0 victory.

It was Balotelli’s commanding performance which attracted praise, as well as his first international goal.

“He’s really matured a lot,” Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said.

Rossi had an operation on his knee and Cassano is recovering from heart surgery, with both players expected to be out for up to six months.

The chances of either recovering in time for the European Championships next summer are slim. But Pazzini is confident their understudies are more than capable of shouldering the responsibility.

“Balotelli and I are different to Rossi and Cassano,” Pazzini said. “So there are more possibilities, maybe we can take advantage of other situations, not only low balls.”

Italy is in for a tougher test against Uruguay, which is fourth in the FIFA world rankings - two places above the Azzurri.

Luis Suarez scored all four goals in Friday’s 4-0 victory over Chile. There was initial concern that the Liverpool striker would have to return to England after picking up a knock in the game, but he has been passed fit to play.

Top striker Diego Forlan is still out after he was injured in a 1-1 draw at Paraguay last month.

“Forlan is an irreplaceable player,” Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. “We don’t have another footballer with his characteristics, but I have a national team which surprises.”

Tabarez has made several changes to the team which routed Chile. Goalkeeper Juan Castillo and attacker Sebastian Abreu are left out, while Emiliano Alfano and Diego Rodriguez have recovered from slight injuries and make the trip to Rome.

Today’s match is also a celebration of 150 years of Italian unification. Prandelli said before the Poland match he was extra keen to win to provide some happiness to the Italian people in the midst of the financial crisis which has struck the country and forced Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign on Saturday.

“I told the lads, before the whistle, that these two games were particularly important and not only for the football,” Prandelli said. “I was also thinking of what the country’s going through. Often people accuse footballers of being spoilt, I told them to be generous.”

Prandelli has said he will make several changes for the Uruguay game, with Alessandro Matri or Pablo Osvaldo likely to replace Pazzini up front as Balotelli’s partner in the starting lineup.