Preview: Italy vs. Suarez

November 13th, 2011 | by: gadsby | Comments Off

Not that Luis Suarez.

Uruguay! Land of barbecues, tango, and quite a bit of other things that I’m not quite sure about, and it is this land that our boys in blue will engage in a duel of football against (And I will eat this computer if there is a more cringeworthy turn of phrase than that). By no means will this match be easy, as this Uruguay side is, in my opinion, one of the best in the world, strong both in defence and particularly in attack, and go into this match with the advantage of being a slight underdog, despite their consistent magnificence.

Italy will likely continue with Prandelli’s favoured 4-3-1-2 with a similar line-up that started against Poland. I have run down Prandelli’s tactics in a preview a near infinite amount of times, and so I think we can continue sans tactical preview, primarily because my Uruguayan accent is really out of scratch, and also because every time I preview tactics, I’m always wrong, though it would be interesting to note that every time I’ve previewed a match, we’ve won, and by a larger score than I predicted as well. So there.

As for Uruguay, it would probably be for the best if those of a sensitive disposition just stopped reading now. Uruguay have enough firepower in attack to fully turn any piece of beef they may choose to roast into a sizzling lump of charcoal. The line is led by Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, who can do it on a wet, rainy night in Stoke, and Edinson Cavani of Napoli, for whom words are simply not enough.

In midfield, Uruguay are at their weakest, which should not by any means suggest that they are poor in that region. Due to this state of affairs, the midfield should be the area of Italy’s focus. If the Azzurri can keep possession in the midfield, where surely we are considerably stronger than Uruguay, then I envision that it would be distinctly possible to deny service to Cavani/Suarez, nullifying that particular threat. This would be by no means an attractive style of play, and would probably reduce us to the level of (the horror!) Spain, but it is not attractiveness that wins games, as anyone who watched Germany’s ill-fated attempt at winning the women’s world cup proved, it is tactics and resolve, and these are qualities that Gli Azzurri should have plenty of.

In defence, Uruguay are almost as good as they are up higher on the pitch. Width can and will be provided by attacking fullbacks Maxi Pereira (who was once Serie A player of the year three times in a row on Football Manager as Atalanta) and Martin Caceres, a player who inspires strong and varying feelings in any Juventino. This width could trouble Italy’s narrow formation, though, judging on their performance against Poland, Italy should be able to cope with this courtesy of their own strong fullbacks.

In the centre of the defence, Uruguay have their captain Diego Lugano and his cunning assistant Sebastian Coates, who, despite being of little talent, plays quite intelligently. In goal, Uruguay have Fernando Muslera, who alternates between being the best goalkeeper in the world and playing like Federico Marchetti (who replaced him at Lazio) at the 2010 World Cup.

When all is said and done, the best laid plans of mice and men go awry, as Burns said. Despite Italy’s considerable ability, I predict a Uruguayan victory, with two goals from Cavani and one from Suarez, a tally that could have been more but for some goalkeeping heroics by Gigi Buffon, For their part, Italy will have two, coming from Balotelli and Pazzini, for a final score of 3-2. Despite a performance of considerable merit, Prandelli will be greatly ridiculed despite overseeing an excellent performance against a strong attacking side even with the meagre defensive resources at his disposable. Let’s Go.

FORZA AZZURRI!!!