Nightmare in Hungary

With two and a half weeks to go before our crucial qualifying match against rivals France, the Azzurri, though rusty, looked to the international friendly against Hungary as an easy prep match. They couldn’t have been any more wrong.

Let’s be honest first, we had some issues with players. With Perrotta, Gattuso, and De Rossi out on injuries,
Totti and Nesta retired, and players like Camoranesi out due to complete rustiness, we weren’t fielding our best team, and it showed.

Offensively, we played decently. We started with Quagliarella, Del Piero, and Toni. We created several solid chances and would have scored more, Hungary’s keeper made some excellent saves. Del Piero played solidly, shooting on target several times and forcing two corners, Quagliarella was also playing well up front, moving the ball around well and assisting sub DiNatale for Italy’s only goal. Toni, however, was marked solidly and if you weren’t watching closely, you might not have known he was playing. Toni scored on a header (called for offsides) but was covered well and didn’t really see any action. Inzaghi and DiNatale came on and played decently, nothing special.

In midfield, with some of our superstars absent, it came down to Ambrosini and Aquilani anchoring our midfield. I don’t watch Roma a whole lot, but it was clear Aquilani was uncomfortable playing defense when Oddo or Zambrotta pushed forward. Ambrosini played hard and well, but was simply outmatched. The only bright spot in midfield was Andrea Pirlo, who played excellently delivering solid free kicks and through passes as usual. Pirlo is known for his consistency and he showed us why in Budapest.

While our attack and midfield played mediocrely, our defense was a nightmare. We started with Oddo, Cannavaro, Materazzi, and Zambrotta. Materazzi was injured in the 46th minute and reports have said he may be out until New Years. Oddo played decently but caused problems whenever he pushed forward. Grosso and Zambrotta played well on the wings and actually seemed to understand what the rest of the team was doing, which seemed to be the problem with others. The worst part was Fabio Cannavaro. Cannavaro gave up two goals, tackling awfully to give Hungary a free kick and being completely caught offguard which led to the third. He showed none of the marking, tackles, vision or leadership that gave him the Golden Ball last year. I haven’t watched him at Real Madrid, but supposedly this has been a reoccuring theme with Madrid.

Buffon played well and really can’t be faulted for the three goals.

The lesson? Match fitness clearly wasn’t there, and with two Serie A games under our belt when Les Bleus arrive, hopefully we will play better. We didn’t challenge for the ball, played lethargically, and seemed to come into the game expecting to be beaten, there wasn’t the team synergy that we usually have. Cannavaro needs to snap back from this dreadful performance as without Materazzi, we will really be counting on him to play well in center-back. We will see what two games will do in two weeks.