Cesare Prandelli insists that the civil unrest in Brazil has not made him consider withdrawing Italy from the FIFA Confederations Cup.
Italy have recorded two victories in their opening two matches of the tournament, but protests all over Brazil have raised some concerns about player safety for the remaining matches. Squads have been advised not to leave their hotels and have received police escorts to the stadiums for their fixtures.
Prandelli's side have played in Rio de Janeiro and Recife so far and face the home nation in Salvador on Saturday, where there were clashes before the Group B match between Uruguay and Nigeria.
However, the Italy coach has no intention of taking his side back to Europe early.
"No, we absolutely aren't thinking about going back home because of the protests," he said. "Obviously the situation has changed in the last days, because in Rio everything was safe, we could visit the city, while in Recife and here (Salvador) they prohibited us to leave the hotel, so we're a little worried, but we absolutely aren't thinking of going back home."
Italy's final group match against Brazil will decide the winners of Group A after both sides won their matches against Japan and Mexico.
Both will be keen to finish top so they avoid world champions Spain in the semi-finals, but Prandelli admitted their meeting with the hosts - with whom they drew 2-2 in a friendly in Switzerland in March - will be a big challenge.
"We will be playing against Brazil and we will be playing in Brazil, so we'll expect a particularly tough and difficult match," he added. "I expect my team to be courageous, I absolutely don't want to see us defending for 90 minutes as that would be an agony.
"We need courage and I know we have courage. In Geneva we were in different conditions, but there we proved we can be dangerous against Brazil and we'll try and do it again tomorrow."
