Italy and Portugal are playing out a goalless draw in their friendly clash at the Stade de Geneve.
The game went through the motions in the early stages, but the Azzurri came close to breaking the deadlock in the 19th minute.
Andrea Bertolacci seized on a loose ball in the Portugal box after Antonio Candreva's pass to Ciro Immobile was intercepted, but the Genoa man lashed his shot just wide of the left post.
There was a moment of concern for Portugal as Fabio Coentrao was forced to come off in the 24th minute after going down clutching his hamstring, despite his attempts to shake the injury off and continue.
Despite the break in play, the action continued as Stephan El Shaarawy marauded into the box from the left channel, cut inside and fired an effort that struck the wrong side of the net.
Moments later it looked like Portugal would draw first blood after Eder's cutback from the byline found Silvestre Varela, but the Porto winger's strike was cleared off the line by Andrea Ranocchia.
Fernando Santos's charges ended the first half in a dominant position but were unable to convert their superiority into goals as both sides went in goalless at the break.
Giuseppe Labellarte
