As qualifying campaigns go, Italy’s was not at all bad. They may have occasionally been unconvincing, but they also remained unbeaten, and by October had many tipping them for a decent run at the Euro 2012 finals.

Six months on, and they have suffered a difficult stretch, beaten at home by both Uruguay and USA and shorn of their two first-choice strikers. Now, with just seven weeks to go before the big kick-off in Gdansk, Azzurri coach Cesare Prandelli still appears completely undecided over the make-up of his forward department.

With a maximum of six spots up for grabs, Prandelli is no nearer to actually nailing down a single name in the front line for his final 23. Yet the one forward who has been in any kind of convincing form since the loss of Antonio Cassano and Giuseppe Rossi, Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale, is still awaiting a call from the national team boss.

Among a group of potential strikers who have all performed at varying degrees of average in the past season, Di Natale has again been the one stand-out. Having passed the 20-goal mark for a third successive term, the former Empoli man is still in the running for a hat-trick of capocannoniere crowns. What is more, only Uruguayan Edinson Cavani has scored more goals from open play in Serie A during the current campaign.

So why is it that the man in easily the best form of any of the candidates is being ignored by the coach? This writer has been behind Prandelli for a long time. From European achievement with Fiorentina, through to his appointment as national coach, there were many of us who were huge advocates of his. But right now it is nothing less than bewildering to watch Di Natale completely cast asunder.

If there were a plethora of other outstanding candidates, perhaps Prandelli would be in a position of greater authority on the ‘Toto’ issue. But with Cassano only just returning after heart trouble, Rossi now ruled out for the foreseeable future with a second knee ligament problem and Mario Balotelli treading a fine line in terms of the coach’s ethical code, Italy’s main striking hopes are not in a position of absolute power.

Beyond them, Sebastian Giovinco is a likely squad member, but nobody else can really be sure of their spot. The likes of Alessandro Matri, Giampaolo Pazzini, Fabio Quagliarella, Fabio Borini and Pablo Osvaldo still have a great deal of convincing to do at international level.