Hello South Africa. Mind If We Stop By For A Bit?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_-_UEFA_Group_5

Interesting…

Interesting Article; posted at fifa.com
Unconvincing, but ominous Italy
Reigning champions Italy have qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ and will justly start the competition, the first time it is to be held in Africa, amongst the favourites. They qualified with a Group 8 match to spare following Saturday’s 2-2 draw against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin and, as long as they do not lose at home to Cyprus on Wednesday, they will have gone through the group stages unbeaten.
The statistics are impressive: Italy have scored the most goals and conceded the fewest in what could have been a tricky group that included Bulgaria and the outrageous talents of Dimitar Berbatov as well as the gritty Irish, inspired by their Italian legend of a coach Giovanni Trapattoni. But at closer inspection, this was far from a comfortable cruise to the finals.
Italy began their campaign back in September last year in Cyprus and needed an Antonio Di Natale goal two minutes into injury time to snatch a win they did not deserve. That was followed four days later by a 2-0 home win over Georgia thanks to a brace from combative midfielder Daniele De Rossi including one unstoppable 30-yard rocket, but Italy had not shown the dominance they should have against such minnows.
They earned a solid point in Bulgaria before then struggling to a slightly fortuitous 2-1 home win against Montenegro in yet another unconvincing display. A more composed victory followed in Montenegro and then Italy’s ten men, having had Giampaolo Pazzini sent off early on, battled to an honourable 1-1 home draw against Ireland, in one of the few performances from which they actually emerged with any credit.
But it was soon back to reality as their next result was a drab 2-0 win in Georgia, thanks to two own goals from AC Milan’s Kakha Kaladze. Italy themselves did not break down the plucky Georgians and that came at a time when they had failed to find the net in their previous three games following a disastrous FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 in which they were eliminated in the group stages after defeats to Egypt (1-0) and Brazil (3-0).
They more or less secured their qualification for South Africa in their next game, though, by beating Bulgaria 2-0 at home as their forwards finally found the target, but the visitors to Turin that day could easily have snatched a draw were it not for some terrible second-half profligacy.
But what the FIFA Confederations Cup and subsequent matches highlighted was the worry surrounding Italy’s failing attack, which has been steadily building since the European Championships. Their forwards scored only six goals in nine games in qualification and Lippi has used a wide variety of combinations as he searches for one that works.
In fact, it seems as if Lippi simply does not know what his forward line should be, having called on Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alberto Gilardino, Fabio Quagliarella, Di Natale, Pazzini, Giuseppe Rossi and the now seemingly-forgotten Luca Toni during this campaign, while also switching back and forth from a two-man attack to a target man with two wide players.
The defence is aging and the midfield looks less convincing since Andrea Pirlo’s form has started to dip over the last couple of years and it has become over-reliant on the grit and determination of De Rossi. Probably the only positive point from the Italy team’s point of view is the continued brilliance of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, still one of the best in the world.
But the flip side to these difficulties is this: Italy, as captain Fabio Cannavaro recently said, have never played well, but Italy are not about playing well, they are about winning when it matters, as their 2006 victory in Germany so aptly demonstrates.
And that is what makes Italy look ominous. It is just this kind of Italy – aging, struggling, unconvincing – that is most dangerous when it comes to the big competitions. They may not win in a pretty fashion, but no-one should be surprised if Italy nevertheless do win in South Africa.

hooray, an aging old shitty team who may manage to grind out results if we’re very, very lucky.
fuck it…i’ve had enough. we don’t need to play like this. bring in our players with flair and passion and let’s win like champions. Why make us struggle? Lippi’s head is still in the clouds. I’ll be very interested to see the kind of teams he fields in friendlies we have before the world cup.

Posted from  Australia

I am just relaxing now that we have qualified. Would be nice to see some of the newer players on Wednesday.

Ihope Marchisio and Buffon can get their health back and into shape pretty quickly.

lol that article is amusing. What it does fail to mention is exactly how aged and uncreative this team really is.

With who and what we have available, I can honestly say that we don’t need to grind out victories in ugly fashion to win the world cup. We have more then enough talent to do it properly. It’s time we start going to that talent and using them to our benefit. Let’s win 2010 in style, like we did in 1982!

man o man the formation versus ireland did not work well at all

Posted from  United States

Lippi will try 4/3/2/1 verus Cyprus

Ok this just makes things even better so now even Totti has offered to rejoin the national but Lippi being the stubborn prick we all know him to be will surely not call him up, Totti has as much chance of playing in the world cup next summer as Cassano or Miccoli do.

ok, i do not see any enthusiasim from the press about Italy qualification to world cup 2010 in south africa, that is due to the fact that most people think it is not about the qualification it is about Italy’s performance and the quality of squad under the management of Lippi ever since he returned back to coach the Azzurri. Even, the international press not so impressed with Italy’s team, yes Italy wins games in group stage but the truth of the matter is winning without style and convincing performance. Ironicly, Lippi earlier said that in the past when Italy qualifies to world cup having one game left brings alot of shine that Italy might lift the world cup again in south africa, i say teams win world cup not in statistics way but in mobilizing the good players who deserve to play for the team to win games logically, tactically and physically. contrary Lippi is heading to south africa with aged, less convincing team.

Call me crazy but if I was Lippi I would take Totti to the WC (if he is fit). He is still world class. Period.
And then I would call Nesta and force him (if necessary at gunpoint ) and order him to come back to the NT.

And yes, I would call Cassanno back. Totti and Cassanno up front together is too much for any defense to handle.

Posted from  Switzerland

Deleted – Daryl

Posted from  Spain

Deleted – Daryl

Posted from  Spain

italian stallion…where did you hear this news that lippi has chosen his 23 already?

Posted from  Australia

Why should Totti be included over Cassano? Give me a break. Cassano wanted to play for Italy while prima donna Totti sat on the sidelines while Italy qualifed for WC2010. I rather Italy lose with the guyes who worked hard to get to South Africa, then take along prima donna Totti. I say Cassano before Totti and Amauri will be there just watch and see.

Gilardino is bench player for Italy. He’s not a World Class Center Forward. Why do you think Lippi wants to take Amauri? In form Amauri is 100% better than Gilardino ever will be.

totti cannot play treq anymore. he’d have to be used as a striker. something more like this would be ideal, if not impossible:

boofs
zambrotta canna chiellini grosso
de rossi pirlo camo
cassano
rossi totti

Posted from  Canada

daniel ur right. totti no longer is a playmaker. he’s basically used by roma as a striker. but he is better than iastinka – 5 gols in 35 matches & gilardino.

Posted from  United States

In form Amauri is 100% better than Gilardino ever will be.

Yeah I agree, but there’s a big “if” there. 9 months, 1 goal.

Posted from  United States

Totti ponders international return

Italy never have a convincing qualifying round. They are a team that play just a tiny bit better than they need to. When they needed to play incredible against Germany in the 2006 semi final, they did. In the final game against France, they played so much worse, but still, they played a fraction better than what they had to to win. They will get better as the situation needs be and will rise to every challenge. Consequentially, there is no problem with Lippi at the moment.

p.s. totti would be only a plus to italyy, not a hinderr, an extra depth optionnn

I don’t understand why people are still bringing up stats from other world cups/qualifications to try and demonstrate that this version of the azzurri will rise to the occasion.

This version is doomed. Trust me, there is No extra gear here. What we saw against ireland was as high as they are capable of going.

No Gilardino is not a world class striker. Pazzini is! Period. Amauri will be selected by the new manager of Juventus (lippi) to increase his stock in the transfer market.

Totti is a bonus to this team in form. He and Cassano playing next to each other with pazzini in front would be incredible. Fortunantly we get to see Zambrotta fumble around on the field instead.

Don’t look at 2006 as a bench mark. THis time around we will not be fortunate to play the like of the Ukraine, a mandown Czech, or a team from down under. Odds are we will have to play Brazil, Spain, England, Argentina, heck even a more experienced Germany. Don’t rest on our laurals people, this team needs to be drastically improved asap.

With regards to Cyprus, it should be interesting to see how poorly we are able to perform.

Marco, although I find your honesty refreshing, I have to ask: why are you a Azzurri fan? So Italy won the World Cup but it is somehow less meaningful because of the teams we played after the group stage? It seems (I say *seems* because with text is always harder transfer meaning) like you actually want the team to fail to prove your point.

If I am infering the wrong thing, my bad – but if you think so little of the team, why bother commenting, watching, etc.,

I can see where your coming from JC.
Let me explain, like most around here, I am Italian. Calcio is in the blood. The Azzurri for me are not a club team with allegances, this is a squad that represents the country I was born in, the country I am from.

With a club team, like Inter, Juventus, etc., you can change your allegances, you can like one or choose to like the other. If they fail, they fail, your disappointed, but not upset or anything. With International football it is completely different. This is a passion, this is the nation’s identity. Nothing on earth brings people more together than the world cup. This is the big show, center stage. You have not only your identity, but your whole country’s at stake.

For the record, I never want the Azzurri to fail, I want them to always succeed. I was there in Stadio Olympico as a very young child when the Azzurri beat Ireland in 1990. I watched when they fell against Argentina. When Baggio missed the penalty in 94, or when he brilliantly salvaged the first game of france ‘98. You always want your country to succeed no matter the cost.

The difference this time around is that I can see this team is headed the completely wrong way. Lippi doesn’t have a direction, I feel. I am not claiming to be the coach, manager, or even player. But what I know about Calcio, who I know that is out there, I can’t help but feel shafted with this version. We have a very rich history, a history of great successes and great heart breaks. I can honestly say that through all my time of watching the azzurri we have never been humiliated, we were always there at the end, and some times when the dust cleared we were on top, and sometimes we were not. But always we were there. Even at Euro 2008, with arguably the most underqualified coach of our modern time we were still there, fighting to the end against the eventual winners. This time around, we are not there, for the first time I can honestly say that this is a grand humiliation in the making. This team is NOT composed of the best players in Italy. Instead of going with the most worthy were have selected the most arrogant. So, sue me, if I don’t want my country to be humilated at the World Cup. I think we can honestly win the next world cup. Without a shadow of a doubt. But I also know we can get humiliated. Which direction do you think we’re headed?

Finally about 2006. Listen, I am taking nothing away from our triumph in Germany. I was the first to say that we were easily the best team. We had the cream of the crop of the time on the team. But it’s simple, we did have an easier road than France to the final did we not? Does that mean we would have certainly lost against brazil if we played them? Probably not. But all it means is that our road had less obsticles. in 2010 I doubt we will be fortunate. The team in 2006 could have faced all but Argentina I think and won, the team at this time can’t even scrape by Ireland properly how do we expect them to play against Brazil? Actually an interesting thought, It seems that over the last 2 occasions of playing Brazil, we have progressively gotten worse, I thought we were supposed to be progressing?

This forum for me at the end of the day is a medium where I can voice my frustration, I know I am not the most positive person here, but I am a realist. This team looks to my like it’s doomed. Actually interesting fact, I believe the last positive remark I made about the Azzurri came way back at the game against northern Ireland. It just goes to show you how we have gone since. Hope I answered your questions.

Marco, Thank you for answering me. I feel silly for asking ‘why are you a fan.’ You summed it up incredibly. I think a dose of reality is always good, and needed…. I am expecting too much, I guess.
Cheers.