The potential for national side call-ups from Sicily’s “other team” is usually slim, as players with promise have usually moved on before they attain national attention. This year is a bit different, however, as there are two candidates that would be a good fit on Gli Azzurri today.

The first is striker Giuseppe Mascara, a Sicily native, who has bagged a team-leading 9 goals for Catania so far this season, and is a part-time captain. He is neither the fastest, nor the best-looking of Italy’s potential strikers, but had a deft touch around the goal, and is prone to scoring timely goals in key games. Of course, he featured in one of Serie A’s highlight goals this season, scoring from midfield in the Sicilian derby a few weeks back. He would certainly not be a starter on the international stage, but could be a nice late substitute when a scoring touch is required.

Second, goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri has been nothing short of spectacular this year, and it is not unreasonable to credit him alone for Catania’s nearly-assured survival in Serie A. Though the Rossoblu’s defence has generally played stoutly in front of him most games, he can always be counted on for 2-3 critical saves during any given match. I can’t think of anyone playing better between the sticks in Italy this year, Buffon notwithstanding. Not only should he be on the Italy squad, he should be playing. The downside is, if he keeps playing like this, it probably means his stay in Sicily will be short.

Catania thus have two players, a striker and a goalie, who have a valid shot at being in the Azzurri one day in the future. But probably not with Lippi at the helm.

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, the Great Man is refusing to give a reason as to why he won’t call up Cassano. The only thing he is saying is that it’s not related to his temper. An excuse which I find to be utter bullshit. Listen, we- and by “we” I speak mostly for myself- have given Lippi a pretty loose leash. We begged for him to come back, hoping it could erase the memory of Donadoni’s Azzurri. Has it? We’re joint top of our qualifying group but only after shoddy displays and hugely questionable decisions. We’re still not playing with the vigor and desire that was so evident in Germany, and it baffles me that none of the guys on the pitch seem to know how to beat an opponent one-on-one. We’ve seen zero real difference compared to what Donadoni did, besides the fact that we seem a bit luckier. Luck does not last forever.

Cassano isn’t just any player. No, he’s one of the few who can call himself one of the most naturally talented players out there. He’s not super fit but he can just do things with the ball most other guys can’t even think of. Lippi does need to tell us why he’s not calling up Cassano. Cassano deserves it, as he undoubtedly has the skill to not only be on the team, but start and even have the entire team work around him. We as fans deserve it, because we deserve to see Cassano play. We need the dynamicism and pace that Cassano brings. If Lippi is willingly choosing to ignore that, the least he can do is explain why.

Some would argue that we just have to take the call ups for what they are and move on. And to an extent, that’s true. But Lippi, by refusing to call up Cassano, is showing that he’s actually inferior to Donadoni to a degree. The Don at least called up Cassano and played him for the Euros. Yes, his starting 11 was often baffling, but at least we had all the guys who really deserved to be there get called up. Lippi is ignoring players and not even giving us reasons. That my friends seems to be a rather large step back. Donadoni, in the end, at least brought the best guys with him (well, mostly). Lippi isn’t.

For more thoughts on the Cassano situation, check out Francesco’s views on the topic.

Tomorrow: A preview of the game against Montenegro.

“SSC Napoli announce they have removed Eduardo Reja from his position and handed the reins to Roberto Donadoni.

“The club made this decision with great suffering, considering the crucial role Reja has played during the last five seasons which have seen Napoli go from Serie C to the top flight and then the UEFA Cup.

“Naturally the club thanks Reja with deep gratitude for his remarkable professional performance during these winning campaigns.”

This actually might work well for him. I’m far from Donadoni’s biggest fan. I think he lacked the experience to guide one of the biggest countries in all of football, and he was probably too young and tactically naieve to really take our country to any trophy. But Napoli is very similar to him: young, inexperienced, looking for a way up. At the least, he can get teams to play some decent attacking football (well, sometimes), something Napoli fans would probably love right now. It’ll be interesting to see him on the sidelines in the peninsula once again.

In other news, Juve drew 2-2 with Chelsea at home today and were eliminated from the Champions League on a 3-2 aggregate score. I’m really sad to see them go- like I said before, I really thought they had the best chance out of all 3 Italian teams to progress. Gigi had some nice saves, Giovinco and Marchisio both played comfortably, and Juve as a whole were full of determination and attacking play, but it wasn’t enough. It’s a shame on one hand and yet, there’s still promise for Juve. For thier first year back in the CL in years, they’ve done a tremendous job and deserve recognition. If Raineri/whoever’s coaching the team next year can keep the club on the right track, I expect them to go a bit further. I still blame Raineri for the loss though- I think Giovinco in the first leg would’ve given Juve a goal. But I guess we’ll never know.

Buffon, Zambrotta, Legrottaglie, Cannavaro, Grosso; Montolivo, Pirlo, De Rossi; Pepe, Gilardino, Di Natale.

Far too much age against a Brazil side full of samba and flair; and yet, at the same time, the young guys that were in there didn’t have enough experience. Monto and Pepe really aren’t players to put out against the most successful international side in history. Gila hasn’t been inspiring confidence, and I refute that Christmas is Azzurri material.

And the first half reflected the line up. We were God-awful. Brazil played at a much higher pace than us, beat us to many passes and took advantage of our mistakes. That being said, we actually played pretty well for the first 15-20 minutes. We were absorbing pressure well, and though they had the brunt of possession, it was actually us who scored first- a beaut of a goal by Grosso that was incorrectly ruled offside. If that stood, it could’ve been a completely different game.

Instead, it was Brazil who nicked the first goal that counted, a goal that I would’ve loved had it been against any other team. Robinho and co revealed the problem with our backline- age, and subsequently, a lack of pace- with a striking through ball that cut through Canna and Legro like butter. Elano chipped it over the onrushing Buffon, and Brazil had the first goal. ‘

My notes up until here read like this: “Good start-Brazil possess. but absorbing pressure well (hey, it’s Italy). GROSSO- OFFSIDE *expletive* Pirlo showing class with the pass- was ONSIDE*

Ironically enough, it was Pirlo and Canna- our two saviors from Germany- who eventually cost us this match. Shortly after Brazil scored, Canna was shepherding the ball back to Buffon, unaware that Robinho was about to nick it from him. Buffon had to yell and point for Canna to clear. This turned out to be a foreshadowing of the second goal, where we lost the match for ourselves. I will be forever grateful to Canna and Pirlo for what they did three years ago. But there’s the problem- the last World Cup was three years ago. A lot has changed since then.

In the end, it was Pirlo’s sloppiness that cost us the second goal. Yes, he was largely playing by himself. There’s absolutely no excuse for losing the ball right outside the box, especially not to a guy like Robinho. I don’t care if he had lobbed it halfway to Mercury, anything would have been better than what he did.

The first half ended with us largely on the backfoot, and me being furious. The second half, thankfully, was loads better. Lippi finally did what he should’ve done from the beginning- put in Rossi. Giuseppe was far and away the best player out there for us, bar Grosso, who was running around like the Emirates stadium is in Berlin. Rossi had pace, he beat his man multiple times, and took on numerous defenders and always came out on top. Mind you, he just turned 22. If nothing else, this game proved that Rossi:

A. Needs to start from now on

B. Is a top class player at such a young age.

As good as we were in the second half, we still couldn’t score. Not for lack of trying- Rossi in particular was causing all kinds of havoc, and even Toni was playing with his heart on his sleeve. But we were either missing that final ball, or Cesar was there to thwart our efforts.

I gave Lippi the benefit of the doubt a few days ago, saying we needed a slow transition. But this is enough. His decisions today were baffling- does Pepe really deserve to start over Rossi? In fact, most of his call ups were just awful. Raise your hand if you remember seeing Gila more than twice. Now keep them raised if you remember seeing him with the ball more than twice. Di Natale puts in good running, but at 31 he’s not the future of the team. Lippi claims to call players based on form, but if that’s the case, where was Floccari and Cassano? Lippi hasn’t proven that he can do anything that Donadoni didn’t. We qualified for the Euros under Donadoni, so merely qualifying for the WC means nothing. We need to get the right players in the team, and they need to start playing as a team.

We were just too damn sloppy. Pirlo has fallen from a great height, and even DDR gave away the ball way too often. I don’t even remember seeing Aqui when he came on, though I was very impressed with Camo and, surprisingly, Toni, who would’ve had a goal against anyone else except Cesar. And as for our defense, I give up. I honestly don’t care at this point if we see Motta-Santa-GC-Maggio for the next game. You know what? I’d actually prefer that. Zambro and Grosso were immense going forward but they just couldn’t get back, leaving us hugely exposed on the counter. We need young guys who can run.

The most disappointing thing is that, as bad as our defense was, as much as the team selection sucked, we still could’ve won. Had it not been for a bad offside call and Toni molesting the ball before poking it in, we would’ve tied at the very least.

So yes, all in all, this counts for nothing-it was a friendly. But at the same time, it was so much more than that. We were playing for prestige, and honor, against the one side with more World Cups than us. Against the one side that has been in more turmoil recently than we have. A win/tie would’ve given Lippi the record, proving that he’s a master technician, and a great coach.

Sadly, based on how we played today, he didn’t deserve it. We were outclassed, outrun, and out-lucked by a superior Brazil side.

The only way to go from here is up. Let’s hope this serves as a wake up call for Lippi. Cause it did for me, and tomorrow we’ll look at who needs to be axed from the team and who deserves to stay.

“Highlights”:

But a lot has happened in this year. Looking back now, a few things stand out. We crashed out of the Euros. Lippi returned. Rossi and Giovinco are well known- at least to Juve/Villareal fans and readers of this blog- and Luca Toni is well, in a poor run of form. And some guy named Julian took over the Italy World Cup Blog.

Overall it was a poor year for the Azzurri. I think when we look back on 2008, more than anything we’ll remember it as a transition year. The Euros showed us that our squad is just too old, and we need to get younger guys into the mix. Donadoni showed us that he really wasn’t ready to coach the national team, or any team that has any ambition to achieve anything. But more than that, we saw hope. A poor Euro showing is nothing if it means we can use the experience to defend our title in 2010.

So for the year in review, I’m using a report card format. And because I’m lazy, I’m only doing a few key players. Feel free to argue about this in the comments section:

Lippi: B This squad under Lippi has been an interesting one. The united, defense-first squad that was in Germany isn’t there. But neither is the ball out attack and scrappy play Donadoni went for. It’s somewhere in the middle. We don’t look quite as disjointed as we did a year ago, but we’re nowhere near looking like the squad that overcame all in 2006. Our play is rather predictable, as our attack is still mostly based on the fullbacks crossing the ball to a big target man. And with defense looking weak, we need to change it up. Lippi so far has shown a calculated, careful method. He’s slowly integrating youth and new guys into the team. So while it hasn’t been eye dropping joga bonito, we are getting results. Numbers don’t lie and we haven’t lost under Lippi since what, 2005? We’ve had close calls- see his first game when he took charge for a second time- but a combination of luck and skill keep us going.

He needs to introduce a trequartista/ attacking CM asap. We need to play more up the middle, and we are in desperate need of guys who can dribble. Cassano’s exclusion remains a mystery, and why he sticks with Toni while shunning explosive bombs like Quags is unkown. But he’s doing what Donadoni couldn’t- winning, and winning consistently.

Chiellini: A+ I feel like I talk about him all the time on the blog, but 2008 should go down as the Year of the Giorgio. How important was he?

Game 1 of the Euros: Chiellini doesn’t play, Italy concedes 3.

Games 2, 3 and 4: Chiellini plays, Italy concedes one, and only due to a poor decision by Zambrotta.

And he’s only 24. It’s all too common to hear people complain that Italy isn’t turning out world class Nestas and Maldinis anymore. But Chiellini and Santacroce could be the two to prove those people wrong. Watch him.

Toni: C Earlier in this year, he was unstoppable, and it’s easy to forget that. From June onwards, he was as useful on the field as a baby hippo, only with less pace. He’s on the wrong side of 30 and it really seems like Lippi should drop him. But how? He’s still great in the Bundesliga, and we really don’t have any other target men to replace him. Until Balotelli or Acquafresca explodes (or Gila fulfills his destiny), I don’t think Lippi will drop him.

But just because it’s from the Jefferson’s don’t mean it ain’t true Lippi won’t drop him, doesn’t mean that he gets off the hook. I realize he’s never been a pacey player, but he has to start scoring again. If he could recapture his form from earlier in the year, I’d be thrilled. He could potentially earn a higher grade for next year, but for this year he was average- his first six months were great and the last 6 sucked. Like the rest of the team, he just needs some consistency.

Amauri: F After all that hoopla, he finally comes out and says:

“I know that Italy are considering me, but I am Brazilian. It’s an honor to know that both teams want me, but if the Seleçao’s call up came I would realise a dream. Since I heard Dunga’s words about me, I’m the happiest person in the world.”

And you know what? I agree and I’ve been saying the same thing the whole time. The man is Brazilian. He’s not Italian, and no piece of paper can make him Italian. But he gets an F for dragging out this whole affair. This was quickly becoming the Christiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid or Man U? of national teams. I wish him the best on Brazil- just not against us in January.

Me: ? While watching the Euros over the summer, I first found theoffside.com and I quickly fell in love with it. When I found out that they had openings to post, I was thrilled. I applied for the job here, and I was ecstatic when I got it. I still feel the same way now as when I did when I first started blogging- I love it. How have I done so far? What would you grade me?

Let’s end this on an uber cheesy cheer!

2008 wasn’t so great.

2009 could be fine.

And in 2010, let’s do it [win the world cup] again!

No more cheers like that from me- I promise.

“It was a struggle right to the end, despite our great qualifying campaign. We even ran the risk of not going through at all,”

“The lads were wonderful, tactically brilliant, especially considering at this moment their fitness levels are not great.

“They worked hard and sacrificed themselves for the team, so when that happens it helps everyone. Sebastian Giovinco and Mario Balotelli were right in there too and gave a helping hand to their teammates.”

(Apologies for the tiny text. Wordpress was giving me problems with formatting it)

So yay for the young guys. They’re so close to making their tourney, but the spotlight shifts tomorrow to the senior squad, who have to start winning convincingly on the road to their tourney (aka South Africa 2010). As promised, here’s my preview:

Italy-Georgia Preview

Georgia Breakdown:

This is their squad, and I feel like an ignoramus cause I once again know not a single person on that list. I mean, the only things I think of when I hear the word “Georgia” are these:

Yup. Peaches

What I do know is that we’re in the same group as them, and they currently lie bottom of the table after one match. Keep in mind that they only lost by a single goal, and we were very fortunate to win last time, so the table isn’t exactly accurate in terms of who deserves to be where.

But, let’s be honest here. This game really isn’t about them. It’s about us. We need to go out there and win convincingly, and that’s going to be much tougher to do now with the mini injury crisis we’ve got giong on.

Italy Breakdown:

We’re a mess right now. The last game showed a lack of effort, focus, and desire. We’ve got enough guys injured (that’s what I meant in the title where it said “Feeling Blue”, for those who missed that) to field a decent team, including Amelia, Chiellini, Gamberini, Grosso, and Gattuso. Notice anything interesting there? 4 out of the 5 guys who got injured are either defenders or goalies. Anyone else wishing Nesta never retired?

On the brighter side of things, we have enough players healthy where we should be able to field a squad that will kick ass and take names. I don’t know why we weren’t motivated last game, but this is a new game, and a new chance to redeem ourselves. Here’s the 11 that I would start for the game:

Buffon

Dossena Canna Legro Zambro

DDR Pirlo Aqui

Camo Iaquinta Di Natale

Buffon is untouchable and outclassed every damn person on the pitch last game, bar Toto. Before the game, every other person who plays for Italy-including Lippi and, why not, Donadoni- should go up to him, apologize and give him a hug for keeping us in it last time. The true leader of the team.

As for the back 4, this lineup should be pretty solid. I envision Canna-Legro being a good centerpairing (I’d prefer GC but we all know what happened to him). Dossena is young but he’s shown that he can be a good fullback. Zambro… well, he’s aging but we really don’t have a choice right now.

The midfield should be set as long as DDR and Pirlo do what they do best. That is, cover the back 4 and push forward, and create plays out of nowhere (respectively). I don’t know what happened with these 2 guys last game, but we need them running at full potential for this game. Pirlo is untouchable for now (until/if Monto ever reaches his potential), and DDR is only in his mid 20s. So, unlike with Barzagli, I don’t think they should be dropped, and I’m not calling a crisis here just yet, but last game can’t be repeated. Aqui in there for good measure.

Anyone else notice that we kinda have a forward crisis right now too? We don’t really have anybody banging out goals for the Azzurri on a consistent basis. Christmas gets a starting spot by default for saving Lippi’s ass last game. Camo is too creative to leave on the bench, which leaves us one more slot in the 4-3-3 that everyone’s predicting Lippi will use. The way I see it, Camo and Christmas are both pretty creative but neither are prototypical strikers. Conversely, Iaquinta probably is. He can hold up the ball, he’s tall, he’s strong… the three of them should click together rather well. I’d throw on ADP late on as a sub, and as for the last option Gila… I haven’t made up my mind about him just yet. I wanna see more consistency on Fiorentina first.

Prediction:

We’ll be eager to prove that last game was a joke, and win convincingly. 3-0 to the Azzurri, with goals Christmas, Legro, and Camo.

That being said, for my first few entries I thought we could take a quick look back at the Euros
I know some of this has been beaten to death but bear with me. We will eventually look ahead to WC 2010 and some things that we have to do in order to defend our title.

But before then, there seems to be some misconceptions about how Italy did at Euro. Some people even branded Italy as a “failure”. Those people? Ignorant. Sure, there was a lot of stuff that didn’t work out for the best, yeah, but a lot of stuff that did.

Italy crashed out of Euro 2008 in usual Azzurri fashion: controversially. We could go over the long list of things that proved decisive in the tourney (starting with Mr. Van-Nistel-I’m-Offside-Rooy) but we should look at some of the positives:

We learned that the Azzurri are multifaceted. In the past, the old cliche of catenaccio usually held true. Even Lippi’s squad, united and winning as it was, was primarily defensive. But in this tourney, we saw glimpses of a new Azzurri. An arguably better Azzurri: one that constantly attacked. The biggest glimpse of this came in the Romania game (Unsuccessful as we were at scoring there. Thanks Toni). Donadoni isn’t the smartest or brightest coach in football- far from it. Hell, he’s not even amongst the best Italian coaches (Spalletti and Prandelli might have something to say about that), but he did add a new attacking dimension to the team.

Second, we learned that Georgio Chiellini is an absolute monster at defense. I know I just said that one of the positives of the tourney is that Italy attacked more than ever, but defense still wins championships (as the old saying goes). Yeah, Italy struggled at first without Canna, but what team wouldn’t after having him at the back for so long? It took a horrible experiment in the Netherlands game- and by “experiment,” I mean, “Let’s see if Materazzi is still as bad now as he was for Inter all year”- the team was able to reshuffle. And hell, for 3 games in row starting with Romania, Buffon and co. only let in a single goal. By the last game against Spain, the defense was a rock. There’s no denying who the young star of the tourney was for Italy (De Rossi doesn’t count cause he was introduced in WC 06, but more on him in a bit). GC had some brilliant tackles and his position was usually stellar. Even when he was caught off, he had the speed to make up for it. Ladies and gentlemen, I think Italy has found a new centerback for the next decade.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the one other superstar of the tournament for Italy, and look ahead at how the team can transition for WC 2010. After that, expect regular updates about all things Azzurri.

Welcome aboard!

I thought the Azzurri post was the highest of the high, reserved for those who’d truly accomplished something and with the foresight to accomplish more. Certainly not a place for an untested young coach whose main qualifications going in hovered around nepotism. Most have been saying this from the beginning, and it took only the first game to realize it was time to focus on 2010. There was so much wrong with this tournament on so many levels, including the game against Spain, and he is the prime reason.

The problems with the Spain game began during callups. If you can foresee a game where you’ll have to tie the back four together with a rope, which you should because it is a major tournament and these things happen, then perhaps an alternative to Grosso would’ve been a smart idea. Fabio was hardly at fault, but hardly the best option, either (as evidenced by the 17,000 times they attacked his side). I love Fabio, but a world class vacuum of a defender he ain’t. Again…foresight.

And why call up SIX forwards if you’re not going to use them? Quagliarella enjoyed his cup o’joe against the Romanians, and I hope Borriello enjoys the chapped ass he got from the bench. Good call ups there; as opposed to, say, some more defensive cover. Cassano wasn’t in sync the way we all had hoped, but he’s certainly a talent worthy of a spot, for this tournament and the future. Di Natale was fine in his short spell against Spain and obviously a victim of the scrapped tridente. Del Piero? Start was mediocre, substitutions were closer to what we’d expect from the supersub. But I have one major gripe with his substitution in the Spain game. I’d like to have seen him on for Cassano and Di Natale a bit later – though certainly not 110th minute – but that’s neither here nor there. Logic would dictate he was brought in at the very least to take a pk unless he could Houdini a rabbit out of his arse. So where was he during pks? Where was the freshest set of legs? Fifth? If that? Are you shitting me? Are you really that arrogant/stupid as to think #5 is a sure thing? Yeah, Buffon is Buffon, but Casillas is no slouch. Hardly a time for anything but winning the one in front of you. This, to me, provided Donadoni made the list (was told he did), is a clear indication of what we were up against all tournament: the coach.

As for Luca Toni, I don’t know what to say. Not deserving of the hate he’s suffered – he was, after all, the only avenue of the offense for most of this tournament and thus the main target of the opposing defenses – but he was far, far away from his Bavarian form. At some point, somebody (that’d be you, Don) needs to either change the guard or formulate a Plan B. But until the very end, it was hoofing it to Toni. Still with the whole of Italia, down on its knees praying he’d find that spark. Didn’t happen. Hello, goodbye.

The rest of the team performed admirably on the defensive end, and put on a clinic for the Spaniards. The midfield and fullbacks each quite clearly had a leash, the resulting gameplan to defend defend defend and hope for three attackers to find some chances. The backline became almost a back seven and defensive shape was the phrase of the day – something they kept very, very well. Chiellini was MOTM and Zambrotta was pretty impressive himself, considering he actually got up the pitch once or twice to throw in some brilliant crosses. No qualms whatsoever up against a wildly gifted Spanish attack.

The problem, of course, is that to win games you must score. Playing English longball has not worked for the duration of the tournament and yet that was always the first option (Panucci is enjoys the long balls a bit too much at Roma, so as much was to be expected from him – pining for an EPL return, methinks). Yeah, Toni went down easily, but sometimes I wondered whether or not that was a tactical ploy on his part. I mean, nothing else was working. Hoping for free kicks in the Spanish half was the best thing the attack had going. And with that, we saw a frustrated, ill-supported key component of the squad unable to fully exploit his talents. Theme of the tournament.

I’m not sure there’s much else to say, or that there’s much more I want to say. Now’s the time to focus on the future. Yes, we all believed because it’s either in our blood or because those four stars indicate something – usually both – but this always appeared to be the inevitable outcome. Maybe Donadoni will become a good coach someday (doubtful) but at the very least he was not suited for this job at this time. We can only hope this squad learned invaluable lessons as they head towards the one that really matters: defending the World Cup. With the sheer volume of grossly talented youngsters coming through, one that we may never see repeated in our lifetimes, the future is mighty bright and optimism is not encouraged, it’s expected.

Now bring back Marcello and let’s do this right.

Barzagli Down & Out

When Donadoni released his squad list with only 7 defenders, I simply thought “alright, whatever”. When Canna went down and Gamberini was forced into the fold I thought “Shit, calling up 7 defenders, 5 of whom are into the Geritol stage of their careers wasn’t too brilliant, was it?”. Now that Barzagli has gone down with a torn meniscus without a replacement able to be made, all I can think is “WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?!”. Is it me, or is this guy capable of making a good decision from the start? No, he couldn’t have seen this coming, but was, say, Fabio Quagliarella really that necessary to the squad?

Luckily, there is some versatility and coverage at CB now with Panucci in the middle. Of course, should one or both fullbacks go down (knocking on wood profusely), then we’re up shits creek with Donadoni as a paddle. Unless you’re looking forward to…

Panucci-Matrix-Gamberini-Chiellini.

….which you shouldn’t be.

Now the better question: If one of the center backs goes down, who comes in? Probably depends, but Materazzi is still sitting on the bench with a fork firmly planted square in the middle of his back, so I’d have to think Gamberini is the only one worth a look right now. Shit, I’d rather have De Rossi at CB than ever see Materazzi in the back again.

And I loved the GoogleAd which accompanied the article:

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I’ll just strongly suggest you don’t put your meniscus in the hands of GoodleAds.

Them’s Fightin’ Words

I love it when public figures not involved with football in any way whatsoever gives their insight on the beautiful game. I’m sorry, but who asked you? (Alright, probably somebody, but that’s beyond the point.)

“Our football is top quality, but every time we play in a major competition we have problems with confidence.

“However, our team is better than Italy’s and I think that we will win the game 3-2.”

Canna feels differently:

“I have a different opinion to Zapatero. He thinks that Spain will win 3-2 and I believe Italy will win 1-0.

“They have more individual quality than us, but we have a better group solidarity. We are more of a team and that is our winning weapon.”

I’ll take Canna’s expertise any day. After all, he does know Spanish football pretty well these days. And it’s not the Best XI, it’s the Best One.

Aragones

I hate Aragones for a lot of reasons, mainly because of that racist remark he had a couple years back, but I like what he has to say here:

“It is one of the worst opponents we could have drawn…..The Azzurri represent a significant hurdle in a show like this one and a team that sets out to beat them has to be sure of the means it has at its command, as well as put in a great deal of work…..[A team] that works well in defence but is unlikely to finish a match without having created at least two scoring opportunities.”

High praise. Praise which I hope puts the Spanish mentality back into, well, Spain.

uefa Updates

I’m beginning to really enjoy these player updates being offered to us by the good people at uefa.com. Some of them are great inside info (typically of the injury variety), yet most are so far off the rocker they’re in the next room (I’m thinking back to “Ambro over Pirlo” as a prime example – although, this mancrush Donadoni has on Ambro can’t exactly rule it out). Today there were a few that caught the eye:

Luca Toni
Light jogging and abdminal exercises today for Toni, who might want to consider extra shooting practice after the latest catalague of missed chances against France.

Yeah, ya think? They should chauffeur him out to the countryside, find a farm and tell him not to come back until he hits the side of the barn. So they can plan to pick him back up Saturday morning. (He still does a lot, but the goals would be nice any day now.)

Marco Borriello
Has been unlucky to see no action whatsoever, considering his continued excellence in front of goal in training and Toni’s utter loss of form in front of goal.

Three words: The Belgian Waffle. (The sitter he missed against Belgium was so bad it got a name. That was Mario Gomez-esque.)

Marco Amelia
Has not looked in good form in training, Were anything tragic to befall the peerless Buffon, Morgan De Sanctis would get this observer’s vote.

Nice, Sevilla’s #2 is the Azzurri #2. I need a drink.

Gianluigi Buffon
Was given an intensive workout by his goalkeeping coach, involving a great deal of abdominal, back and stretching exercises in addition to close-range catching practice. In world-beating form at present.

When isn’t he? (If he goes down, I may kick the bucket right there.)

Full player update list here.

Links

A couple of good links for you to check out:

First is the always great mCalcio and his quite successful attempt at photojournalism.

And then there’s Jessica over at the ItalyLouge (also very good) with a rundown of the best WAGs Italia has to offer (and they’re fantastic).

Best of both worlds, really. Photo documentation of hot chicks and a victory over France. What more could you ask for?

I don’t think this would (will? – being called a mere “formality” and we’ve all been expecting this for some time) be a great shock to anyone, but it doesn’t temper down the excitement in any way whatsoever. This man is a walking, talking trophy cabinet. He’s shortlisted for the best coach in the world, despite spending much of the last two years smoking finely crafted Cubans and basking in the Mediterranean sun aboard his yacht. Until the end of the 2010 World Cup he’ll still be the defending coach, and it looks like now he’ll have the chance to defend his trophy.

Nobody in their right mind could deny that this tournament would have gone differently with a quality coach at the helm, much less Marcello Lippi himself. 3-0 to the Netherlands with a lineup looking as though Donadoni had thrown a pot of capellini against the wall to see how much would stick never ever would have happened. There would have been more friendlies, better squad selections (though I have few arguments with the 23 – maybe just understanding you called up only 7 defenders, 5 of which are over 30, and one named Marco Materazzi), some actual semblance of tactics, quality substitutions (what was that with Romania?), and – gasp – a win or two already. In fact, as good as the Dutch have been, Lippi can put together a defense and I’m convinced they’d be at least 4 points in right now, maybe six.

There is no question a World Cup means more than a Euro title; they don’t put the number of European trophies you hold on the shirt, after all. The stars are on there because they are the highest summit a team can obtain in world football. Put a dozen European Championships up against one World Cup title and it’s without the hesitation of even a single heartbeat: the star.

If this tournament is what was needed to get Lippi back into the fold, regardless of what happens on Tuesday it can be considered nothing but a success. Time to defend the world title properly.

All hail Marcello!

“I will make three or four changes to the team that I picked to face Holland,” Donadoni revealed.

“I see Del Piero playing further behind the striker and more in the middle. Tomorrow we need the best from him and everyone else.”

Alright, fair enough. Del Piero played well and Chiellini deserves a start just as much, if not more, than anyone else in central defense right now. Of course, this also seems to indicate a change in formation somewhat, as Alex will be playing more centrally (a role I shockingly, and unfathomably, advocated, oh, 8-9 months ago – sometimes……).

So what does that mean? Something similar to a 4-3-1-2 with Toto playing a bit closer to Luca? Or perhaps one of the other changes could be a certain disgustingly gifted forward in a more central duel-creative role under the umbrella of the 4-3-2-1. Seems fruitless to guess, because Donadoni seems to eschew logic and listen solely to whatever driving force he has behind his brain.

As for the game, it appears he’s watched Romania:

“Romania are a well organised and close-knit unit, but we will have 90 minutes to score.

“We must be patient and control our opponents and try to find the energy because we will have lots of running to do.”

They’ll sit back, but Romania has that counter which can be deadly with Mutu on form. We’ll get to watch some fun anti-football as they attempt to pick the lock. As long as it’s the desired result, I’ll live.

Preview later.