FIFA World Cup Team Preview: Italy

Country: Italy

Nickname: Azzuri

Manager: Marcello Lippi

Group Opponents: New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia

Recent Form & News: Juve defender, Fabio Grosso is the shock exclusion. The lanky left-back was a key figure in the Azzuri’s march towards WC glory in Germany 2006. Even though he had a poor season in a weak Juve defence, his exclusion was indeed a shock. The other shock exclusions are Luca Toni, Amauri and Totti. Del Pierro was not as much of a shock but his exclusion is also one to take note of. Inter’s champions league victory means nothing in Italy’s context as none of the Inter players will be playing for Italy in the world cup.

Coach: Marcello Lippi

The man is a brilliant tactician. He led the Azzuri to victory in 2006 when all but had written them off. Has an experienced, confident head above his shoulders, which can be testified by the exclusion of big names by him. If you look at it, he has retained players who have helped Italy to qualify for the World cup, which makes sense. He was replaced by Donadoni in the Euro 2008, where Italy played badly. Italy’s strength is in defence historically. Lippi made sure Italy retained their strong point in the WC’06. At the same time, he added a sense of adventure going forward and there were 10 or 11 different goal scorers for Italy last time.

Expected 11

Goalie:

Eyes on the Cup

Gigi Buffon – Arguably the best goal keeper in the world. Dint have a great season with Juve. But he had a very weak defence in front of him.

Defence: Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Chiellini and they are not sure who their left-back will be, now that Grosso has left.But Just like Brazil produces talented attacking players on wholesale, the Italians are known to produce defenders of quality. Canna is 37 now and has not had a good season with the ‘Old Lady’. But these Italians, when it comes to playing for the country, I have seen that they up their game by a notch or 2.

Mid: Pirlo, Gattuso, Daniello De Rossi and Cameronasi

Gattuso could be the key here. Had a bad season with AC Milan. But again, considering the fighter that he is, and considering that he is an Italian, world cup might be the stage to put his career back on track. Pirlo and De Rossi (De Rossi in particular) are under-rated players.

Forwards: Well, There are no really well-known forwards like Baggio or Vieri or Inzhagi this time round. The Italians will have to rely on set pieces to score a lot of their goals, with the quality coming in from Pirlo. Giuseppe Rossi and Di Natalie will probably lead the line for the Azzurians.

Author’s Comments: The Azzuri are very very lucky to have an easy pool. I think that they will top the group and hence they will probably play Japan or Cameroon in the pre-quarters, which, again I expect them to win. With a brilliant coach, easy start to the campaign and a solid defence, they might go pretty far in the tournament. Despite being the defending champions, they have been written off by most pundits. If the summer is very hot in S.Africa, then defend all day and hit the opposition on the counter is not a bad tactic and will really suit the Azzuri. Their biggest problem would be goal scoring. Not a great deal of quality up-front for them. If they score first, then it would be horribly difficult for the opposition to breach their defence. If they concede first, it will be very tough for them to score with the pressure of being behind looming in their heads.

Prediction: Will do better than what most people think, but will go out in the quarters or semis.

The Team

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