National team coach Cesare Prandelli has made the Azzurri’s roster official, and communicated his list to UEFA.
Compared his previous version, the manager has left out Andrea Ranocchia and Mattia Destro. Doubts remain on the eligibility of Leonardo Bonucci, currently under investigation in the massive betting scandal surrounding Italian soccer this week.
The list also made the squad numbers for the final phase of the tournament official.
Lazio vs. Torino Saturday really evoked punk-rock band Greenday to me for some reason. Must be because of that song, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams“, which seemed to perfectly illustrate the Stadio Olimpico tonight: two teams with high expectations early in the season (Champions League for Lazio, mid-table ranking for Torino) and who now find themselves with their face in the gutter.
The key number here was four. Four consecutive losses for the Biancocelesti, four consecutive draws for the Granata (plus a victory which has been eluding them since the last days of December). And would you be surprised if I told that even tonight the honours were even, resulting in one point per side not really helping either team but which at least puts an end to manager Delio Rossi’s losing streak. Odds are that it still won’t be enough to keep his job safe for much longer…
After their 0-0 draw in Ancona, the Azzurrini needed an exploit… and they delivered. Casiraghi can really be proud of his boys tonight, as Italy’s U-21 team travelled to Tel-Aviv and defeated Israel U-21 with a score of 3-1, courtesy of a Balotelli double and a cherry on the cake by Abate. A really wonderful performance, in which the outcome of the game was never in doubt for a single second, thanks to the immediate “we’re in charge” attitude of the boys in blue (wearing white for the occasion).
And speaking of Balotelli, how ironic that in a day when the Azzurrini were missing important pieces like Dessena, Giovinco, Marchisio and Andreolli, the missing link turned out to a player who, not longer than two months ago, was not even considered eligible. A beast and the indiscussed leader of the Italian team tonight, TurboMario took the Azzurrini by hand and unleashed his goalscoring power, as indeed there is no better word to describe Balotelli’s executions landing into the back of the Israeli net.
Sixteen years after their 1992 triumph, which proclaimed Italy U-21 European Champions for the very first time, the Azzurrini will be returning to Sweden trying to emulate the performance of Cesare Maldini’s boys. Hallå Sverige!
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