One game. One more win and we are through to South Africa without having to worry about playoffs. One more match: a convincing enough display will keep the critics off Lippi for a while, at least until the call ups for next year come out. But even more importantly, a win against the strongest team [...]

Chris from the Catania blog gives his opinion on who deserves a spot on the Azzurri:

2008 is drawing to a close, and it was a hell of the year for the Azzurri. 12 months ago we were looking forward to the Euros and to being crowned European, as well as World, Champions. Luca Toni was on fire in the Bundesliga and in the national team, and we finished top of [...]

So yesterday we recapped some of the more positive things that came out of Euro for Italy- the rise of Chiellini and the birth of a new, attack-minded team (At least for some of the tourney. Note: this “attack minded team” is not the team we saw against Spain. That was a defensive team.) Today, [...]

Hey guys. My name’s Julian and I’ll be blogging here on the Italy WCB from now on. I’m super pumped to be here and I hope you guys are too. A little bit of backround info about me- I’m American, the son of 2 full-Italian parents and I love the Azzurri. So let’s [...]

Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye

“The Italian Football Federation would like to confirm that Donadoni’s contract has been allowed to expire.”
“President Abete met Donadoni today in the FIGC’s offices and during the course of the meeting they reviewed the work done over the last two years and the European Championships.
“While stressing his sincere [...]

I wonder why real life doesn’t translate to the world of football. Would a person with Donadoni’s qualifications, or lack thereof, have been shepherded to their career summit so readily in another profession? Highly doubtful. Show me a kid with a B average in pre-med classes offered a position as chief neurosurgeon after their sophomore [...]

Buh-bye. Now we can actually defend the title in 2010.

Espana v Italia – LiveBlog here
Well this is an unexpected treat. After the Dutch debacle the team was dead on their feet, with a coach in well over his head and heading for a pink slip. The Romania game provided little hope, because once again the tournament had succumb to a decisive refereeing error, and [...]

Italia and Espana (sorry guys, I can’t find the tilde on my keyboard) These two European powerhouses met not too long ago. We lost 1 zilch on beautiful goal from David Villa. Ironically, that goal came off a rare defensive error from Capitano Cannavaro. Looking back at the highlights, Italy looked livelier in this one. [...]