Italy’s Next Top Co-Blogger. ep. 3

April 4th, 2011 | by: Marco | Comments Off

ARTICLE THREE.

Written by Paolo.

IN PRANDELLI WE TRUST!

Following the disastrous showing at the 2010 World Cup, Italian fans young and old were looking for redemption. Their cries for youth on the squad had gone virtually unheralded by Coach Marcello Lippi. And although he had brought them supreme glory in 2006, he was now the scapegoat for all that was wrong with the National Team.

Enter Cesare Prandelli. Having signed on in May to lead the Azzurri post-World Cup, filling Lippi’s big shoes had now almost become like filling clown shoes. Perhaps the general public’s cries for change were appeased by his appointment, but he has been welcomed as a savior by some, and with skepticism by others, as well as everything in between.

The well-liked and highly successful coach of Fiorentina for the previous 5 years and winner of 2 Panchina d’Oro (Golden Bench) Awards for best Italian club coach as well as an Oscar del Calcio “Serie A Coach of the Year” award, he would need to make some wholesale changes if he was going to be as well-liked and successful with the Azzurri as he was with the Viola.

So having been unveiled July 2nd, 2010, his first International lineups were released for his first friendly at the helm in August. Included in the lineups were plenty of youth, an Oriundo (foreign-born player of Italian ancestry) and oh yeah, controversy.

The Oriundo was Amauri, the then Juventus striker with both Brazilian and Italian citizenships. The controversial callups were the young and hot-tempered striker Mario Balotelli and the talented troublemaker and then Sampdoria striker, Antonio Cassano. Cassano specifically had been called for extensively by fans and media to play for the Azzurri, but Lippi stubbornly refused. Prandelli clearly either wasn’t as stubborn, or was trying to right the wrong immediately.

And thus the era of Cassano was born. Prandelli praised him and spoke of building the team around him. Whether this was just his way of appeasing the public or if he truly has that much faith in the striker remains to be seen. But all of his choices were refreshing, even if not exactly successful. He lost his first match, 1-0, a friendly against the Ivory Coast in August.

Friendlies have, in fact, proven tricky for Prandelli. After the loss to the Ivory Coast, the Azzurri tied Romania in November 1-1 and then tied Germany in February, also 1-1. It was only recently that they were able to shake this curse and triumph over the Ukraine in a friendly at the end of March, 2-0.

Meanwhile, where it counts, the Azzurri have managed much better. In qualifications for Euro 2012, Italy are top of their group by 6 points, with 13 points earned thus far. They won their first qualifier 2-1 to Estonia, followed by a decisive, if easy 5-0 win over the Faroe Islands. A frustrating and painful nil-nil draw against Northern Ireland saw them drop 2 potential points, while the suspended match against Serbia saw them awarded 3 points due to Serbian hooliganism and violence. Their most recent qualifier was a 1-0 victory over troublesome Slovenia away, and that leaves them in excellent shape going forward.

From their success in competitions, it seems that Prandelli was indeed a step forward for the Azzurri. But the true measure of his reign can be found by looking at the variety of callups he has offered. It’s as if he has taken it upon himself to prove everyone wrong who said there is no young talent in Italy. Like Prandelli’s faith in young players such as Villareal’s striker Giuseppe Rossi, left home from the World Cup last year after having played some brilliant qualifiers, or the tiny Atomic Ant, Parma’s Sebastian Giovinco, who maybe was just too short for Lippi’s bifocals to catch.

At other times, Prandelli seems a little frustrating in his callups, like waiting so long to give young Juventus striker Alessandro Matri a spin. Or giving another chance to the not-as-young yet in form Palermo left back, Federico Balzaretti. Or on the flip side, his allegiance to Fiorentina striker Alberto Gilardino whose contributions to the Azzurri seem to have grinded to a halt (ironically reflecting his movement on the pitch.) Others, like including Lazio’s Stefano Mauri are just puzzling in their mediocrity, particularly with the rich crop of midfielders Italy are currently blessed with.

So is he a savior or just lucky? Considering that 9 months after his appointment, it is virtually impossible to recognize the Italian National Team from South Africa and the press are not all over him for it, I would say that he is at least successful. He has done what Lippi said he was going to do, but couldn’t bring himself to actually do it: out with the old, in with the new. The tarnish from going home early last year is being wiped away with each new victory, and there is something there now that we thought we’d lost last year: hope.

Paolo’s  Most Memorable Azzurri Moment:The Azzurri are the reason I fell in love with football. While watching my 1st World Cup in 1994, I followed the Azzurri despite all of my co-workers and friends saying I should follow Brazil. I watched them scratch their way to the final, all 120 nail-biting minutes of it, into the PK’s. When Baggio’s kick sailed over the crossbar into the heavens, my heart broke. Not like any mere boy had ever managed to break it, this was something much bigger than that. And from that point on, I have watched my Azzurri boys through triumph and tragedy whether it is a friendly, a qualification, or a tournament. I’ve learned the Italian National Anthem, always wear my jerseys on game day, etc.

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