2009: A Look Ahead

Two posts ago, I did a 2008 Year In Review, where we looked back at the year and how the team did. In summary: it’s not a year that’s going to be remembered by Azzurri fans 20 or 30 years from now. Moving on, 2009 doesn’t have a major Euro or a World Cup; instead we get the Confederation Cup for the National Team and the U-20 World Cup for the younger guys, as well as World Cup Qualifiers throughout the year. Plus friendlies.

The Confederations’ Cup is an interesting tournament. It’s only for the winners of the six FIFA Confederation Championships, so Spain will be there as the winner of the Euros, and the USA as the winner of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. In addition, the winners of the previous World Cup (That would be the Azzurri, for those who aren’t paying attention) and the hosts- South Africa- are also invited, for a total of 8 teams. This years’ tournament is looking pretty stacked, with the following teams taking place:

South Africa, Italy, USA, Brazil, Iraq, Egypt, Spain, New Zealand

These eight teams were divided into two groups for the group stages, and the top two go onto the semifinal knockouts. Italy’s group includes Brazil, USA, and Egypt. I’ll have a more in depth look at this closer to when it occurs, which is in June.

But to say the least, the Confederations’ Cup could give us a good idea of our shape heading into the World Cup in 2010. Or not- it depends on how seriously Lippi takes it. Winning the tournament would be nice, but I don’t mind if we lose as long as we do big things in the next World Cup. The thing I see as being the most interesting about the tourney is the squad Lippi calls up- that more than anything should give us a very clear picture of who’s going to South Africa to defend the title.

The U-20 World Cup is going to be played in Egypt from late August to early September. The Azzurrini are taking part, as well as the Czech Republic, Germany, England, Hungary, Spain, and hosts Egypt. Many more teams and info is TBA/TBD on this, so look for more info on this blog as the year progresses.

And let’s not forget that we have World Cup Qualifiers in between all of this. Our schedule for that looks like:

3/28/09: Away at Montenegro

4/1/09: Home against Ireland

9/5/09: Away at Georgia

9/9/09: Home against Bulgaria

10/10/09: Away against Ireland

10/14/09: Home against Cyprus

Those games seem really spread out, but remember that the national team plays much less frequently than the club teams. None of those games seem too tough- though the away games, especially against Ireland and Montenegro could be pretty tactical (read: low scoring/dull) affairs.

When all is said and done, this is what I expect from us in 2009:

• Finish at least second in the group stages of the Confederations’ Cup and make it to the finals
• Win/tie all of our World Cup Qualifiers, extending Lippi’s unbeaten run
• Rossi to be top scorer for qualifiers and really become of age
• Transition the team: Giovinco and De Ceglie should start to vie for starting positions, and older guys like Di Natale and Zambrotta to be used less and less

2008 was kinda a boring year for the Azzurri, one where we began to set things up for the future. It was almost like Lippi was lining up his fireworks display. In 2009, we have to begin to spark and show the world that we deserve to still be champs- in other words, light the fireworks up. In 2010, I fully expect the fireworks to explode, dazzling us in arrays of colors and joga bonito. And, just maybe, a retention of that title that we worked so hard for 2 years ago.