dot   Home     World     Europe     Italy  
Flag Italy

Italy

MatchCentre: Northern Ireland v Italy Liveblog

   

nivitalyoct08

Bongiorno Tutti.

Below you’ll find all the information on tuesday’s match along with the live blog. Please feel free to take part in today’s live blog!

Italy
Manager: Cesare Prandelli
Starting XI 1. Emiliano Viviano (GK) – 3. Domenico Criscito – 4. Giorgio Chiellini – 5. Daniele De Rossi – 6. Stefano Mauri – 7. Simone Pepe – 10. Antonio Cassano – 11. Marco Borriello – 16. Mattia Cassani – 21. Andrea Pirlo (C) – 23. Leonardo Bonucci.

On the Bench Sirigu, Marchisio, Bovo, Palombo, Zambrotta, Pazzini, Rossi

Northern Ireland
Manager Nigel Worthington
Starting XI 1. Maik Taylor (GK) – 2. Gareth McAuley – 3. Jonny Evans – 5. Stephen Craigan – 6. Chris Baird – 7. Steven Davis – 8. Grant McCann – 9. David Healy – 10. Warren Feeney – 11. Chris Brunt – 18. Aaron Hughes (C)
On the Bench Tuffey, Clinghan, Evans, Lafferty, McGinn, Patterson, Gorman

LiveBlog


Subscribe

 

rss icon Italy World Cup Blog RSS Feed

Print

Share

  • http://italy.worldcupblog.org Julian

    I won't be able to see the game sadly (damn work) so if anyone finds a link after where I could watch it, that would be awesome. In any case, I think I speak for everyone when I say FORZA AZZURRI!

  • Tifozi83

    Forza Ragazzi!
    Let's do it!

  • Gigi

    I dont fucking believe my eyes .. Pepe starts again. He must give great head or something. Absolutely rediculous.

  • Fran_italia

    does someone have a stream? please.

  • QuagFan

    Where's Quagliarella?

  • Gigi

    We look crap…

  • Rinaldo2882
  • Gigi

    I posted 3 streams but nobody has approved them .. sorry dude

  • Anthonyb587

    If you have at&t as an internet provider or are on a college campus espn360 is doing a quality stream of the game

    just missed the last 10 minutes of the first half but for the first half hour all I can say is that I already hate pepe, seriously why the fudge is he always starting he just ruins everything.

    Cassano is giving some clever balls in, we just need someone to finish

  • Gigi

    Nice shot pepe you utter pile of turd.

  • Gigi

    wowy rossi gets 6 minutes .. nice prandelli!

  • Gigi

    New manager same old shit. Pick pepe again i will hunt you down and shoot u myself prandelli. Twat!

  • http://twitter.com/NiccoloA Niccolò Adami

    Pepe. vattene!

  • Marco

    Serious? I had everyone on Unmoderated! not sure what happened sorry about the difficulties

  • dye_go

    Ugh. That game made me all sorts of angry. Our passing in the 2nd half was pathetic. And why is it a non-stop trend in Italian soccer that we only start thinking at the very end of games. Sub Rossi in with 7 minutes left? Are you freaking kidding me?

  • Paoloitalia

    Few thoughts after todays game……

    Prandellis substitutions were way too late. Pepe and Boriello should've been out at half time and are not international material. This team needs Giovinco and Balotelli. Most of the youth on this team needs much more time to develop. They're good enough to play but really not able to produce. I would really like to see Totti Cassano Pirlo Balotelli Giovinco on at the same time surrounded by youth. Given the time it will take for the youngsters to develop, I don't see anything wrong with Totti being included to try and take home a Euro cup.

    Not a bad result considering Serbia lost. But this team is not gonna take home the Euro as is. Did I mention Boriello and Pepe should never be called up again.

  • Juan Montoya Novielli

    :S bad game….even worse team…….we need more tottis, del pieros….we dont have them….

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NKAZ7LTBZOB3QFERREGVUQDUO4 jorid22

    -Totti bringing home a Euro cup=bahahahaha.

    -Cassano=does not have the consistency necessary to truly lead this Italy team.

    Also, if you really think this team would be able to work with Totti, Balo, Gio and Cassano all starting at the same time…

  • Paoloitalia

    -Any other suggestions apart from Totti to add a lot of flair?

    -Cassanos been the most consistent player in the qualifiers so far. Had a bit of an off night tonight.

    -A good manager can make those work, and should make those work. Really would be the best Italian attack we can offer at the moment.

  • http://inter.theoffside.com Johonna

    Well, at least the babies all won. The U21 and U19 teams are doing just fine. Conceivably, some of those players will be available for the 2012 Euros. Maybe the Azzurri need to start looking to bring in the next generation.

  • booyah

    paolo – the problem i see is that you are essentially advocating 4 playmakers for our attack (totti, cassano, giovonco and pirlo). we need guys who can also run in behind defenders to both get onto the service and allow a playmaker more space and time by opening up the d-line.

  • Gigi

    No idea how anyone can mock cassano .. he has been the best player every game he has been chosen so far. As for Totti? No way .. he is so out of form it isnt even worth a second of consideration. Pazzini would have got the job done if he got more time .. wtf was boriello on for so long? His shooting was pathetic.. pepe .. nothing needs to be said .. HE should not now or ever have warn an italy shirt yet he continues to .. whats bringing rossi on with 6 minutes to go going to do? Northern Ireland are crap .. lets face reality they are a below average team .. last time we met we thumped them 3-0 .. we were not good!

  • Gigi

    fraid so … no biggy.

  • booyah

    …not to mention compensating defensive coverage. given our less than stellar defence, that would be suicide.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NKAZ7LTBZOB3QFERREGVUQDUO4 jorid22

    -Cassano, Balotelli and Giovinco would offer more than enough flair IMO. Put them behind a healthy Pazzini (he's had a shit start to his season also due to an earlier back injury) and up front Italy should be fine. Add GiuRo, Quags and Matri as subs.
    Shit, if Prandelli is feeling risky, call up Fabbrini.

    -I think Cassano's a quality player but he has so far played very well against Far Oer and Estonia…Today, against an equally weak team, he seemed out of it and was constantly trying to complicate things instead of going for the easy play.
    He's more than good enough to start for Italy, not consistent enough to be considered an undisputed leader per se.

    -Either way, this team will only get better like you originally mentioned. Prandelli now just needs to make a few necessary decisions (call up Balza and make him start once and for all) after experimenting a bit. Give this team the year and a half left until the Euro 2012 to gel and it should be a strong contender.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NKAZ7LTBZOB3QFERREGVUQDUO4 jorid22

    Saying “Cassano is a worthless player who fucking sucks” = ridiculing him in an ignorant manner.

    Saying “Cassano is a quality player but has yet to prove he's consistent enough to lead this team forward” = fact.

  • Italia2006

    @ Marco Congrats on being the c0-blocker

    @ Paul wish you the best w/school and please drop in once in a while

    @ Juilan, if you have access to espn3. you can see the match in reply.

    and not really impressed w/Prandelli subs and enough alrreay with 433

    time for diamond 442, where in Cassano would be more effective behind 2 strikers

    .

  • ROD

    pepe F***off Boriello crap Cassano needs to play in the center not out wide What the hell was prandelli on putting Rossi just for 6 minutes? Prandelli needs to take full responsibility for what happened in this match picking the wrong players,wrong tactics,and putting players out of positions absolute disgrace

  • Rufus T. Firefly

    While I can understand everyone's concern, if not concern, relatively speaking, I think they played fairly well. They seemed more balanced, comfortable and confident.

    They didn't concede in a hostile environment historically hard on the Azzurri.

    True, they should have buried their chances and the strike force is cause for some concern but they're three games removed from a disaster in South Africa. I think they have accorded themselves well and the idea that Italian soccer is “dead” has been proven wrong as witnessed by the quality they can select and field. The key for Prandelli is to find the right mix.

    Personally, I think Rossi merits a start for a full game. We've seen Quagliarella, Boriello and Gilardino. Let's see Rossi again.

    As for Cassano. He's been solid. But as I've said in the past, he's not the player that can take a team over the top. He's an important part of an overall program.

  • Rufus T. Firefly

    Ouch. Meant “if not frustration.” Sorry. I repeated the word “concern.”

  • Paoloitalia

    Agree that Totti is not on form. But if he does gain that within two seasons, having him even as a sub will not cause a superstar to be dropped. Far from. A shit Totti is better than half the majority of guys anyone can think of.

    I agree that having them all on at the same time would create havoc for our defense. But the way I see it we're not a stellar team up front, and not stellar at the back. There's no gamble hence the 0-0 tie. The possibility to be dominant up front is there (more so than at the back) and would like to see it , rather than be a mediocre team and just mediocre all around- which is what we are. The game works in time periods. You build and build a team so that they're good enough to win one world or one euro cup, if that doesn't happen, you're back to scratch. In a transition time (which we are still in) I don't see the hurt in calling up some of the old guys if they were superstars and still have some of that flair (totti del piero etc). Look at Blanco for Mexico in this WC. Still produced magic. I think a little more magic could not possibly hurt this team or exclude a much needed player.

  • Raffe

    http://www.football-italia.net/oct09c.html

    “There is a great deal of regret at that incident, but I will learn from this mistake. After all, I have always scored goals.”

    I hope something was lost in translation because that's a really cocky comment he really has no business making.

blog comments powered by Disqus
 

MORE EUROPE BLOGS

france
France World Cup Blog
997 articles | 12,643 comments
 
croatia
Croatia World Cup Blog
201 articles | 1,850 comments
 
czechrepublic
Czech Republic World Cup Blog
196 articles | 322 comments
 
england
England Football Team World Cup Blog
1,035 articles | 5,228 comments
 
germany
Germany World Cup Blog
687 articles | 5,278 comments
 
italy
Italy World Cup Blog
1,063 articles | 32,761 comments
 
netherlands
Netherlands World Cup Blog
2,548 articles | 66,460 comments
 
poland
Poland World Cup Blog
489 articles | 7,787 comments
 
portugal
Portugal World Cup Blog
550 articles | 9,458 comments
 
serbia
Serbia World Cup Team Blog
208 articles | 1,511 comments
 
spain
Spain World Cup Blog
347 articles | 3,327 comments
 
sweden
Sweden World Cup Blog
227 articles | 386 comments
 
switzerland
Switzerland World Cup Blog
270 articles | 452 comments
 
ukraine
Ukraine World Cup Team Blog
119 articles | 1,059 comments
 
greece
Greece World Cup Blog
210 articles | 217 comments
 
russia
Russia World Cup Blog
117 articles | 1,119 comments
 
scotland
Scotland World Cup Team Blog
129 articles | 124 comments
 
ireland
Ireland World Cup Team Blog
112 articles | 166 comments
 
norway
Norway World Cup Team Blog
16 articles | 8 comments
 
turkey
Turkey World Cup Blog
49 articles | 314 comments
 
romania
Romania World Cup Blog
78 articles | 281 comments
 
austria
Austria World Cup Blog
111 articles | 118 comments
 
denmark
Denmark World Cup Team Blog
72 articles | 149 comments
 
albania
Albania World Cup Team Blog
4 articles | 8 comments
 
belgium
Belgium World Cup Team Blog
49 articles | 59 comments
 
wales
Wales World Cup Team Blog
62 articles | 17 comments
 
bosnia
Bosnia World Cup Team Blog
52 articles | 112 comments
 
israel
Israel World Cup Team Blog
33 articles | 28 comments
 
slovakia
Slovakia World Cup Team Blog
18 articles | 20 comments
 
slovenia
Slovenia World Cup Team Blog
43 articles | 133 comments
 

CATEGORIES & ARCHIVES

 

 
Closer

Serie A News
Palermo Blog
Italy Soccer Jerseys
Italy Travel Guide
Juventus jerseys
AC Milan jerseys
Travel to an Italian football match
Tournaments
Euro 2012 Qualifying
Africa Cup of Nations 2012
UEFA Champions League
Europa League

Follow WorldCupBlog on Facebook   Follow WorldCupBlog on Twitter  
World Cup Resources
World Cup History
World Cup Legends
World Cup Memorable Moments
World Cup Photos
World Cup Videos