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How Italian Should the National Team Be?

July 14th, 2008 | By: Julian | 36 Comments »

First of all, sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. I was stuck at work for most of the day without a computer so I literally couldn’t post. And one more apology- I’m not typing this from my regular computer so no pictures or cool links in this entry (Sucks, I know). But I promise to go back to regular posting from tomorrow on.

Looking at the Azzurri now, there seems to be more diversity than ever. Camo is part Argentine, and we have many more players like Rossi and Balotelli who either weren’t born in Italy or who don’t have Italian heritage. And this seems to piss some people off. It’s even grabbing headlines with Amauri, who hasn’t said whether he will play for Brazil or Italy (Imo, anyone who considers Italy to be a backup shouldn’t even be eligible to play for the Azzurri. Instead, they should be forced to play for the Canadian national team). For those of you who don’t know, Amauri is Brazilian in heritage but has Italian citizenship, and has made it clear that his first choice is Brazil. What a bastard.

So where should the line be drawn? Should only players who are born and raised in Italy be able to play for the national team? Or do they just have to be Italian in descent? Or should citizenship be enough to make them eligible to play for the team?

Personally, I think the only criteria should be that a player’s parents be Italian. Ie, Rossi is Italian in heritage and should be allowed to play. Amauri lives in Italy but that doesn’t make him Italian in my view. Balotelli’s a tricky one because he was raised in Italy but is actually from Ghana (I think).

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 36 comments.

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By Tottigol | July 14th, 2008 at 7:37 pm

camo took up NT duties for us only once he was sure he couldn’t play for argentina.

By Nina | July 14th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

But Camo plays his heart out for the Azzurri. When he is on the pitch, he fights like a warrior and with that kind of dedication and spirit; you can’t question his place in the Azzurri.

By mike de robbio | July 14th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

Camo has Italian blood and an italian name. He’s not in question.
Amauri is as italian as David Beckham. Nuff said!

Posted from Australia

By Julian | July 14th, 2008 at 8:22 pm

Just to clarify guys- my post wasn’t referring to skin color at all. I was talking about heritage and place of birth mostly

By mike de robbio | July 14th, 2008 at 8:45 pm

Hey Julian, how about some posts about some brilliant young promising Italian defenders or exciting future midfield prospects. Have we got any speedy wingers?

Posted from Australia

By Julian | July 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pm

I’ll try to cover all positions in the starting 11 over the summer, especially defenders and wingers. If you guys have any ideas feel free to post them here

By mike de robbio | July 14th, 2008 at 9:33 pm

cool….love to hear about santacroce, motta and the like.

Posted from Australia

By Nina | July 14th, 2008 at 9:42 pm

Luca Cigarini is a clone of Pirlo.There is also Ignazio Abate a supper fast winger with great technique.Santacroce,Cristico,Motta,De silvestri,Coda, and the list of promising young defenders goes on and on.The future looks bright.

By Michel-Olivier | July 14th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

lippi can always go to agerntina to steal piatti or buonanotte from basile to replace camo since italy can’t produce any natural wingers.

cassano, del piero, and natale are not wingers, just to let anyone know.

Posted from United States

By Vincent | July 14th, 2008 at 10:15 pm

People here in N. America with Italian heritage can vote in the Italian elections if they do the paperwork. I can qualify thru grandparents on fathers side and am very proud of Italian heritage I grew up with even though I am American in fact.

I have always loved and supported the Azzurri so this is a great topic.

I think if you have Italian heritage and blood you should be eligible up to 3rd generation or by birth

By Domeneco Pauttusso | July 15th, 2008 at 4:24 am

Michel Oliver, u r ranting again when u say that Italy doesnt have natural wingers. Just to confound u,i quote the example of Emilio Benito Docente( 18, Messina) This kid again is one for the future, he needs more time to mature than Anatoli Todorov, but once he is in his prime, he will be a top winger and he will usually get into the Italy squad when he is about 26/27. It is worth buying him and loaning him out for a few seasons would be a worthwhile investment. He can be found playing for Messina in the Italian Serie B. His price tag is usually around £275,000.

2)Franco Brienza(23, ascoli)Brienza is an explosive attacking left sided midfielder who can also fill in as a striker. He starts the game at loan to Ascoli but is actually owned by Palermo, both teams are in the Italian Serie B. He is valued at £600,000 and if you are lacking width in your midfield or you need a pacey winger then this guy will do the job.

and these two are just ur next door neighbours…i guess we have an embarrasment of riches in wingers

By Al | July 15th, 2008 at 6:53 am

There’s nothing to add after Julian, Alessio and Michel-Olivier, but maybe another one optional criteria!

Player should sing the anthem) and know the words)
maybe it’s a joke, I love Camo so much, but his silent and wordless face before the match…
also italian anthem is very good to sing)

Posted from Poland

By Michel-Olivier | July 15th, 2008 at 7:51 am

jankovic? he play for serbia. none of them are natural wingers. forestieri, nocerino and palladino are makeshift wingers like cassano and natale. the only solution for italy is go to argentina and get a natural winger are play fullbacks like grosso, maggio or a. dossena as wingers.
tissone might play for agerntina.

Posted from United States

By Bobo | July 15th, 2008 at 9:20 am

You’re kidding right? Ignazio Abate is as pure a winger as one can get. I haven’t seen his like in Italy since the days of Bruno Conti and Roberto Donadoni.

And players like Paolo De Ceglie are in reality wingbacks, so the point is moot.

Posted from United States

By Michel-Olivier | July 15th, 2008 at 10:07 am

@ Bobo
ignazio abate is a good player just like giovinco, but if they are not playing regular football they will not make it to the NT.

fernando tissone is like camo. his first choice is argentina not italy.

Posted from United States

By Nina | July 15th, 2008 at 10:13 am

Bobo,I second that,Abate is no doubt a natural winger with the pace of a professional runner.

By Nina | July 15th, 2008 at 10:22 am

With the upcoming Olympic Games, I’m sure Milan will keep a close eye on Abate’s performance,so he might after all get enough playing time. If not, there is interest from Palermo and Lecce,so either way he will play, and in no time make it to Lippi’s squad. Little Gio will make it to the Azzurri,that one is for sure.

By julien | July 15th, 2008 at 11:58 am

Interesting post, but I have a feeling that the comments are going to get pretty ugly. Michel-Olivier, surely Balotelli’s skin color is a huge factor for many Italians. Italy is very racist and intolerant. It isn’t as accepting or multicultural as France or England. By the way, it is nice to see another person named Julian even though your spelling is different. I am French so it is spelled with an ‘e.’

Posted from United States

By lamagica | July 15th, 2008 at 12:25 pm

julien – what is the point of a generalised and completely unfounded statement like that? italy is no more ‘racist’ than any other country in europe. i’m not sure how you’d come to that conclusion without surveying the 60 million people that live there. if you want to look at something tangible to measure how ‘racist’ a country is then you should familiarise yourself with the immigration policies of european countries. once you do, you’d realise that italy is probably the least stringent.

are you at all familiar with france’s current immigration policies? how about the frequent racial conflicts (arabs, jews) in its metropolitan cities? what do you think this social unrest can be attributed to?

Posted from Canada

By Michel-Olivier | July 15th, 2008 at 12:54 pm

@ julien
i agree with lamagica, “italy is no more ‘racist’ than any other country in europe.”
-the problem italians see with balotelli is blood not skin. italians don’t have a problem if santacroce, liverani, tissone, ferrari… play for italy even if they have dark skin.
-the second problem, italian nationality law is base on blood just like many countries like israel, japan, greece and many old world countries.

in august i wouldn’t be surprise if lippi called balotelli, the kid is an awesome footballer and italians should be proud to have mario.

Posted from United States

By Steven | July 15th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

Domeneco, are you really that retarded? Franco Brienza, a promising winger of 23?

By julien | July 15th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

“italy is no more ‘racist’ than any other country in europe.”
Yes many European countries have problems with racism, but many have said that it is a bigger problem in Italy, Spain, and Eastern Europe.

Posted from United States

By Vincent | July 15th, 2008 at 5:34 pm

Can I play for the Azzurri, I have Italian blood and know the words to the “Fratelli d’Italia”? or Inno di Mammeli

By Porchetta | July 17th, 2008 at 9:29 am

i can answer for domeneco, poor guy got it all wrong, Brienza is 28 not 23 and also, he promised a lot but turned out to be just a decent player…steven, u r spot on in ur opinion

Posted from Spain

By Rinaldo | July 25th, 2008 at 9:28 pm

Balotelli was born in Italy. He was raised in Italy. He was adopted by Italians. He grew up in the Italian culture, and has publicly said that he “feels Italian” and wants to play for Italy.

In my opinion, he shouldn’t even be allowed to play for Ghana. He’s Italian, period.

Posted from United States

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