Repubblica Italiana
FIGC (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio)
1898
Coach: Marcello Lippi
Confederation: UEFA
FIFA Ranking (Dec 09): 4
Previous Appearances: 16 (winner 1934, winner 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, final 1970, 1974, 1978, winner 1982, 1986, third place 1990, final 1994, 1998, 2002, winner 2006)
Italy v Paraguay 14 June; Cape Town
Italy v New Zealand 20 June; Nelspruit
Italy v Slovakia 24 June; Johannesburg
1950, 1954, 1962, 1966 1974 First Round; 1986, 2002 Second Round; 1998 Quarter Finals; 1978 fourth place; 1990 Third place; 1970, 1994 Runners up; 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006 Champions.
Background
Next only to Brazil with four championship victories, Italy is the defending champions. Their winning run in 2006 was quite a surprise. But the next four years have not been very promising with below par showing at Euro 2008 and the Confederations Cup in 2009. The fans are quite skeptic about the chances of their team in South Africa.
The road to the 2010 World Cup finals
Only one in four stood a chance to qualify for the World Cup finals with 52 countries competing for the 13 slots from Europe. The going had not been all that bright for the Italians after the surprise show in Germany 2006. so they had a real fight at hand, being placed in Group 8, along with the Republic of Ireland, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Montenegro, and Georgia.
Italy’s first match was against Cyprus at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca on the 6th of September 2008. The game was heading for a 1-1 draw; but Di Natale scored his second goal of the match in the injury time to goal to grab three points for his team. It was now the turn of De Rossi to score a brace and thanks to it, Italy won the home match against Georgia 2-0. But a month later, Bulgaria held them to a 0-0 draw in Sofia. Then the Azzurri recovered form to win both the home and away games against Montenegro. The tougher Republic of Ireland forced the Italians to a 1-1 draw on April 1st 2009, in Bari. But the Azzurri bounced back to reckoning defeating Georgia and Bulgaria with the identical margin of 2-0. However, Ireland remained invincible and their second encounter too ended with even honours, sharing four goals. In the last qualification match, the defending champions pipped Cyprus 3-2 at Parma, on the virtue of a hat-trick by Gilardino to book tickets for South Africa leading the group with 24 points. The fans were delighted that their team did not lose any match in the qualifiers. Thus Italy is on to its 17th World Cup appearance.
Strengths
Despite being a star studded team or because of it, the coach Marcello Lippi focuses on the group, collective effort and team spirit. A team game should not falter into personality based game plan, he believes. The cohesiveness and combined endeavor that results from such thinking is the strength of the Azzurri, supplemented by the unyielding defence led by Buffon, Cannavaro and Chiellini.
Weaknesses
Absence of sharpness and imagination in attack is Italy's biggest worry. The squad does not have natural winners similar to Messi or Kaka. De Rossi, Gilardino, Iaquinta and Di Natale are world class forwards, but not just the best.
The Coach
Marcello Lippi had taken Italy to the podium in the 2006 World Cup. He returned for the same job after the dismal performance of the country in European Championship under Donaldini. He is a winner, with an astonishing list of achievements; Serie A, Champions League, Intercontinental Cup and World Cup. Lippi is not a populist and does not alter his stratagems on the face of media/public pressure. Hence, not very popular despite attaining the crown last time around.
Star Men
Gianluigi Buffon;
Some consider him the greatest goalkeeper of all times. He was the key difference between the contenders in the final match in Germany, saving crucial balls in the penalty shoot out. Almost all the honours in the world have come his way in an illustrious career. His presence under the bar is a great confidence booster to his team mates on the pitch.
Fabio Cannavaro;
Cannavaro had the proud privilege of receiving the prestigious Cup at Germany in 2006, captaining the team. The 36-year old veteran defender is a symbol of solidity in front of the goal. He has played for mammoth European sides like Inter Milan and Real Madrid and now a Juventus player. Cannavaro has received innumerable awards for his performances both at the club level and at the international level. May be he is in line to be on the platform of glory once again, in South Africa.
Andrea Pirlo;
Pirlo is an exceptional playmaker from the midfield. But he also scores important goals on big occasion. In the last World Cup, his was the opening goal for the team in the tournament, when he scored against Ghana. The AC Milan mid fielder was the Man of the Match in the 2006 World Cup final against France. Andrea Pirlo has been capped no less than 60 times for the Azzurri.
Fabio Quagliarella;
In the World Cup squad thanks to a late call by coach Marcello Lippi, the Napoli striker has an uncanny knack of surprising the opposition by scoring from virtually impossible positions.
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus);
He is regarded the best defender of the Italian squad. His evolution as a complete player during the last few seasons was amazing.
Best Footballing Moment
In Spain 1982 Italy defeated Argentina, Brazil and Germany, the all time greats to lay hands on the world cup. Germany 2006 was a reaffirmation of Italy on the international scene after a turbulent period of scandals and shame. .
World Cup Objective
Retaining the World cup and equaling the record of Brazil.
|
