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Italy-USA Preview

June 14th, 2009 | By: Julian | 184 Comments »

Let’s get things out of the way. Spain is obviously a heavy favorite for the trophy. If they weren’t before, after seeing them today, they definitely are now. Sure they played a pretty easy team but scoring 5 is nevertheless impressive. I hope for nothing more than us to meet them and get our revenge for last summer.

But we have other things in the way before that happens. First and foremost, we open up our bid for the Confederations’ Cup tomorrow in a game against the USA. This game should be on ESPN/ESPN 2, so everyone should be able to see it.

Now, a disclaimer: the Confederations’ Cup is a weak tournament. No one who has won it has gone on to win the following world cup, and I really don’t mind if we lose here and continue that trend. But it is a nice way to see how we are developing, and I expect the players to play as if it really mattered.

Our squad is looking like this:

1 Gianluigi Buffon 28 January 1978 (age 31) Juventus 92 (0) v Russia, 29 October 1997

12 Morgan de Sanctis 26 March 1977 (age 32) Galatasaray 3 (0) v Iceland, 30 March 2005

14 Marco Amelia 2 April 1982 (age 27) Palermo 9 (0) v Côte d’Ivoire, 16 November 2005

Defenders

2 Davide Santon 2 January 1991 (age 18) Internazionale 2 (0) v Northern Ireland, 6 June 2009

3 Fabio Grosso 26 November 1977 (age 31) Lyon 42 (3) v Switzerland, 30 April 2003

4 Giorgio Chiellini 14 August 1984 (age 24) Juventus 18 (1) v Finland, 17 November 2004

5 Fabio Cannavaro 13 September 1973 (age 35) Juventus 124 (2) v Northern Ireland, 22 January 1997

6 Nicola Legrottaglie 20 October 1976 (age 32) Juventus 13 (1) v Turkey, 20 November 2002

13 Alessandro Gamberini 27 August 1981 (age 27) Fiorentina 6 (0) v South Africa, 17 October 2007

19 Gianluca Zambrotta 19 February 1977 (age 32) Milan 84 (2) v Norway, 10 February 1999

22 Andrea Dossena 11 September 1981 (age 27) Liverpool 9 (0) v South Africa, 17 October 2007

Midfielders

7 Simone Pepe 30 August 1983 (age 25) Udinese 7 (0) v Bulgaria, 11 October 2008

8 Gennaro Gattuso 9 January 1978 (age 31) Milan 67 (1) v Sweden, 23 February 2000

10 Daniele De Rossi 24 July 1983 (age 25) Roma 45 (7) v Norway, 4 September 2004

16 Mauro Camoranesi 4 October 1976 (age 32) Juventus 44 (4) v Portugal, 12 February 2003

18 Angelo Palombo 25 September 1981 (age 27) Sampdoria 10 (0) v Croatia, 16 August 2006

20 Riccardo Montolivo 18 January 1985 (age 24) Fiorentina 6 (0) v South Africa, 17 October 2007

21 Andrea Pirlo 19 May 1979 (age 30) Milan 56 (8) v Azerbaijan, 7 September 2002

Forwards

9 Luca Toni 26 May, 1977 (age 32) Bayern Munich 44 (16) v Iceland, 18 August 2004

11 Alberto Gilardino 5 July, 1982 (age 26) Fiorentina 32 (12) v Norway, 4 September 2004

15 Vincenzo Iaquinta 21 November 1979 (age 29) Juventus 28 (4) v Iceland, 30 March 2005

17 Giuseppe Rossi 1 February 1987 (age 22) Villarreal 5 (1) v Bulgaria, 11 October 2008

23 Fabio Quagliarella 31 January 1983 (age 26) Napoli 13 (3) v Scotland, 29 March 2007

1	Gianluigi Buffon	28 January 1978 (age 31)	Juventus	92 (0)	v Russia, 29 October 1997
12	Morgan de Sanctis	26 March 1977 (age 32)	Galatasaray	3 (0)	v Iceland, 30 March 2005
14	Marco Amelia	2 April 1982 (age 27)	Palermo	9 (0)	v Côte d’Ivoire, 16 November 2005
Defenders
2	Davide Santon	2 January 1991 (age 18)	Internazionale	2 (0)	v Northern Ireland, 6 June 2009
3	Fabio Grosso	26 November 1977 (age 31)	Lyon	42 (3)	v Switzerland, 30 April 2003
4	Giorgio Chiellini	14 August 1984 (age 24)	Juventus	18 (1)	v Finland, 17 November 2004
5	Fabio Cannavaro	13 September 1973 (age 35)	Juventus	124 (2)	v Northern Ireland, 22 January 1997
6	Nicola Legrottaglie	20 October 1976 (age 32)	Juventus	13 (1)	v Turkey, 20 November 2002
13	Alessandro Gamberini	27 August 1981 (age 27)	Fiorentina	6 (0)	v South Africa, 17 October 2007
19	Gianluca Zambrotta	19 February 1977 (age 32)	Milan	84 (2)	v Norway, 10 February 1999
22	Andrea Dossena	11 September 1981 (age 27)	Liverpool	9 (0)	v South Africa, 17 October 2007
Midfielders
7	Simone Pepe	30 August 1983 (age 25)	Udinese	7 (0)	v Bulgaria, 11 October 2008
8	Gennaro Gattuso	9 January 1978 (age 31)	Milan	67 (1)	v Sweden, 23 February 2000
10	Daniele De Rossi	24 July 1983 (age 25)	Roma	45 (7)	v Norway, 4 September 2004
16	Mauro Camoranesi	4 October 1976 (age 32)	Juventus	44 (4)	v Portugal, 12 February 2003
18	Angelo Palombo	25 September 1981 (age 27)	Sampdoria	10 (0)	v Croatia, 16 August 2006
20	Riccardo Montolivo	18 January 1985 (age 24)	Fiorentina	6 (0)	v South Africa, 17 October 2007
21	Andrea Pirlo	19 May 1979 (age 30)	Milan	56 (8)	v Azerbaijan, 7 September 2002
Forwards
9	Luca Toni	26 May, 1977 (age 32)	Bayern Munich	44 (16)	v Iceland, 18 August 2004
11	Alberto Gilardino	5 July, 1982 (age 26)	Fiorentina	32 (12)	v Norway, 4 September 2004
15	Vincenzo Iaquinta	21 November 1979 (age 29)	Juventus	28 (4)	v Iceland, 30 March 2005
17	Giuseppe Rossi	1 February 1987 (age 22)	Villarreal	5 (1)	v Bulgaria, 11 October 2008
23	Fabio Quagliarella	31 January 1983 (age 26)	Napoli	13 (3)	v Scotland, 29 March 2007

Of course, Canna is out injured and Legro is also in doubt. We’ve covered this before though, so nothing new.

The USA’s squad:

1	GK	Tim Howard	March 6, 1979 (1979-03-06) (age 30)	39	0	Everton
2	DF	Jonathan Bornstein	November 7, 1984 (1984-11-07) (age 24)	15	1	Chivas USA
3	DF	Carlos Bocanegra	May 25, 1979 (1979-05-25) (age 30)	67	11	Rennes
4	FW	Conor Casey	July 25, 1981 (1981-07-25) (age 27)	10	0	Colorado Rapids
5	DF	Oguchi Onyewu	May 13, 1982 (1982-05-13) (age 27)	42	5	Standard Liège
6	DF	Heath Pearce	August 13, 1984 (1984-08-13) (age 24)	23	0	Hansa Rostock II
7	MF	DaMarcus Beasley	May 24, 1982 (1982-05-24) (age 27)	87	17	Rangers
8	FW	Clint Dempsey	March 9, 1983 (1983-03-09) (age 26)	51	13	Fulham
9	FW	Charlie Davies	August 28, 1986 (1986-08-28) (age 22)	6	1	Hammarby
10	FW	Landon Donovan	March 4, 1982 (1982-03-04) (age 27)	110	39	Los Angeles Galaxy
11	DF	Marvell Wynne	May 8, 1986 (1986-05-08) (age 23)	3	0	Toronto FC
12	MF	Michael Bradley	July 31, 1987 (1987-07-31) (age 21)	29	5	Borussia Mönchengladbach
13	MF	Ricardo Clark	February 10, 1983 (1983-02-10) (age 26)	19	1	Houston Dynamo
14	DF	Danny Califf	March 17, 1980 (1980-03-17) (age 29)	23	1	Midtjylland
15	DF	Jay DeMerit	December 4, 1979 (1979-12-04) (age 29)	10	0	Watford
16	MF	Sacha Kljestan	September 9, 1985 (1985-09-09) (age 23)	17	3	Chivas USA
17	FW	Jozy Altidore	November 6, 1989 (1989-11-06) (age 19)	11	6	Villarreal
18	GK	Brad Guzan	September 9, 1984 (1984-09-09) (age 24)	12	0	Aston Villa
19	MF	Freddy Adu	June 2, 1989 (1989-06-02) (age 20)	13	1	Benfica
20	MF	José Francisco Torres	October 29, 1987 (1987-10-29) (age 21)	5	0	Pachuca
21	DF	Jonathan Spector	March 1, 1986 (1986-03-01) (age 23)	13	0	West Ham United
22	MF	Benny Feilhaber	January 19, 1985 (1985-01-19) (age 24)	17	2	AGF
23	GK	Luis Robles	May 11, 1984 (1984-05-11) (age 25)	0	0	Kaiserslautern

The ref is a 36 year old Chilean named Pablo Pozo. I know nothing about him, and I hope we don’t remember his name afterward. The mark of a good ref is that they stay anonymous. You really only remember the ones that screw up epically.

Preview

I’m not sure what lineup Lippi will put out. The USA caused us a bit of trouble last time we played them (though Zaccardo also had a bit of blame there), and they tend to play a pretty physical style of play. As a team, the USA plays more like England than Spain. They put more of an emphasis on phsycality than technicality, while we often do the opposite.

I rate Howard very highly as a goalie, but I think our forwards are more than capable of scoring. Rossi should have a big role in this game. He’s pacey and unpredictable, and should Lippi start him, will likely cause all kinds of problems for the USA’s defense. Speaking of, defense has been the weak point recently for the USMNT, though they have scored in most of thier games over the past year.

Our defense is probably going to be Zambro-Gamberini-Chiellini-Grosso, which isn’t stellar but should be enough to contain the US. As for midfield… could be anything. I expect DDR and Pirlo to start, and knowing Lippi, Pepe will play somewhere up front. No matter what, we should be good enough to beat the US. Lippi knows we need a good opening, though we traditionally make slow starts to tournaments. Considering how short this one is, I’d like us to make a good start.

Prediction: 2-0 win, Iaquinta and Pirlo scoring.

And finally, something to chew on.

Tags: Confederations Cup, Group E, Italy, Marcello Lippi, Rossi, USA

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 184 comments.

Read the rest of the comments

By Julian | June 15th, 2009 at 4:07 pm

Marco- do you know a site that has personalized ones?

By kurdt | June 15th, 2009 at 4:08 pm

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/photo/im:urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,getty:20050301:sow,photo,42d90edce722cd3ea41b1a25933f7e04-getty-fbl-wc2010-confed-usa-ita-match4:1

Heroes of the day!

Posted from Taiwan

By kqql | June 15th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

ITALIA (4-3-3): Buffon 6, Zambrotta 6, Chiellini 5, Legrottaglie 5.5, Grosso 6.5, Gattuso 5.5 (11′ st Montolivo 6), De Rossi 6.5, Pirlo 6.5, Camoranesi 5.5 (11′ st Rossi 7.5), Gilardino 5.5 (24′ Toni 5.5), Iaquinta 6 (14 Amelia, 2 Santon, 22 Dossena, 13 Gamberini, 18 Palombo, 7 Pepe, 23 Quagliarella, 12 De Sanctis). All.: Lippi 6.5

hey At least Lippi put Rossi in………lol

http://www.repubblica.it/2009/05/sport/calcio/nazionale/italia-confederations-2009/italia-usa-diretta/italia-usa-diretta.html

By Weston | June 15th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

I hate this awkward transition phase, the olde are too old and the youngs to young. When polkraine and brasil2014 role around just imagine this:

………………….balotelli………………….
…………..Giovinco…Rossi……………..
…………..Aquilani…marchisio…………
…………………de rossi……………………
de ceglie.chiellini.santacroce.santon
………………….amelia……………………

Captains:
De rossi
Chiellini

Subs:
Acquafresca
Lanzafame
Rosina
Montolivo
Somebody I don’t know
Ariaudo
Curci
i

Posted from United States

By JP | June 15th, 2009 at 4:15 pm

I don’t really know, Julian.

With the current squad in S. Africa, perhaps Gamberini should start? I mean, I liked Legro today, I thought he was fine. But he looked on the edge of making a mistake, and he nearly conceded a PK when he mistimed his aerial challenge.

The Italy kits are only for the confederations cup. Italy will go back to the jerseys they wore since Euro 08 and then will get new ones for the World Cup. At least that’s what the PUMA advert says.

By chico | June 15th, 2009 at 4:19 pm

Lippi wake up

Gilardino, Iaquinta, Pepe, Toni (at least) should go home

Balotelli, Giovinco, Cassano, Santon (at least) should be called

By Julian | June 15th, 2009 at 4:24 pm

Gamberini is pretty poor, too. I wouldn’t mind Chiellini and Santa playing as our CBs in the World Cup. Sure they’re young but we really don’t have too much choice. We’re in transition and they have to play sometime.

By kurdt | June 15th, 2009 at 4:26 pm

Chico, Santon is in the squad and Iaquinta deserves to be in this team.

Posted from Taiwan

By Weston | June 15th, 2009 at 4:33 pm

I agree

Posted from United States

By Panna | June 15th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

“The ESPN commentators, from the booth to the studio, were like the Glenn Becks of football.”

Haha, JP. Brilliant. Montolivo definitely held his own today and played pretty solid. I was glad Pepe didn’t see any time.

Does anybody know who De Rossi mugged on the sideline after he scored?

Posted from United States

By Julian | June 15th, 2009 at 4:44 pm

I would also like to add that Alexi Lalas makes people who listen to him less smart about soccer. He’s the Billy Madison of footy. If he knew what the game is about he wouldn’t have been fired from his old job…

By LorenzoRosanero | June 15th, 2009 at 5:01 pm

Panna – to answer your question, the guy De Rossi mugged was Silvano Cotti. He’s the phsyiotherapist for the national team. De Rossi had that tendon pain flare up the past couple of days and Silvano was able to help him out alot with it. So, that’s basically why he mugged him lol.

Posted from United States

By Steven | June 15th, 2009 at 5:08 pm

A guy with a name that sounds like a lesbian oral sex act should never ever talk about football. The fact that he’s ginger makes it even worse.

Let’s not forget how good Grosso was today. Dude is like a defender, midfielder and striker combined in one player.

Posted from Belgium

By jed | June 15th, 2009 at 5:14 pm

lol de rossi played in the middle and pirlo played a little wider, unlike the brazil friendly, this worked fantastically. rossi = italy’s next true number 10…

Posted from United States

By jed | June 15th, 2009 at 5:16 pm

congrats to italy, i may have exaggerated with rossi lol

Posted from United States

By Caroe | June 15th, 2009 at 5:26 pm

“lol de rossi played in the middle and pirlo played a little wider, unlike the brazil friendly, this worked fantastically.”

They also did that against France last year and it worked great too. They can co-exist if DDR’s in the middle and Pirlo’s on the left. Not the other way.

Posted from Denmark

By ricci | June 15th, 2009 at 5:48 pm

let’s see what happens on Thursday. Around the time that the USA started to get tired was the time that we started playing better. I still don’t think Lippi has got his team right yet.

Posted from United States

By Sneakers O'Toole | June 15th, 2009 at 6:58 pm

Is it just me, or was the pk a horrendous dive? I thought at least one of the commentators would have thought there was some doubt. He did his best Nedved with little contact.

By alessio | June 15th, 2009 at 7:14 pm

Early game in a tournament that no one cares about.
People should know better – just watch and enjoy the games as they are all we are going to get for quite a while.

For once I completely agree with MAD. It’s hilarious to see what reactions people we’re having in the first half when while far from dominating, we were playing fine.

I don’t know why Legrottaglie gets the hate, I thought he was just as good as Chiellini today; had a few good chances up top, didn’t cause a penalty, and all in all looked defensively sound even though we were playing a 2-5-3 for large portions of the match. (I freely admit I am a big Legro fan) Santacroce is nowhere near his level, let’s forget his discipline for a moment, does anyone remember that he was utterly mediocre in most of his matches this season? He was benched for several weeks for God’s sakes. I’m beginning to think people here just go off of names.

I thought the team selection was good, other than Rossi should have started over Camo up top, and it doesn’t surprise me the team took 30-40minutes to get going. Sure, the red card helped, but Italy never starts with a bang.

Lastly…..Giuseppe Rossi is a joy to watch.

Posted from United States

By Stasio | June 15th, 2009 at 9:27 pm

Alessio, i think you are bieng Juve biased… I read an earlier comment in which you thought de rossi shouldnt start that is foolish (over palomobo?).. now your are supporting Legro who is rubbish..he is clearly not national team material is the point eveyone is making.

By Weston | June 15th, 2009 at 9:42 pm

Well who would you put in instead? He is similar to gamberini (If not better) but already plays with chiellini so he is the obvious choice.

Posted from United States

By gio | June 15th, 2009 at 10:43 pm

1st, we won against a team with 10 men. they scored on us when they were down and all the goals we managed were against a team down a man,

Legro is pretty good, but Cannavaro is more consistent. definitely both better than Gamberini and Santacroce will be good someday if he can control his reckless tackles, but not enough experience.

i agree … “Gilardino, Iaquinta, Pepe, Toni (at least) should go home” -Chico, but Iaquinta has been great, and i say Foggia over Cassano anyday … and that coming from a Roma fan.

By David | June 16th, 2009 at 12:22 pm

I thought that this was interesting.
http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jun16n.html
Thoughts?

Posted from United States

By Weston | June 16th, 2009 at 8:05 pm

Stupid AS(s)

Posted from United States

By Weston | June 16th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

Who wouldn’t go play for a top flight Italian club at 13?? If I (rossi) lived in Italy, had Italian parents, played in Italy, loved Italy, and was good enough for their starting lineup, I WOULD DO IT! If I (weston) could chose I would be content with a sub for American Samoa, if I could make it.

Posted from United States

Comments are closed