Posts Tagged ‘Pierluigi Casiraghi’

Israel 1-3 Italy: TurboMario & Abate Send the Azzurrini to Sweden! (U-21 Euro 2009 Playoff for Final Tournament)

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

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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Italy 0-0 Israel: Azzurrini Draw Blank in Home First Leg (U-21 Euro 2009 Playoff for Final Tournament)

Saturday, October 11th, 2008

Bad day for Italy’s U-21 team. The Azzurrini could not do better than a 0-0 goal-less draw at Ancona Saturday, making their road towards the Euro 2009 final tournament a little bit harder. Casiraghi’s boys now need either a win or a draw (with goals) on Wednesday, as they travel to Tel-Aviv to face a tough Israel U-21 side.

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Euro 2009 U-21 PLAYOFFS Draw: Italy get Israel, Germany vs. France to Whet the Appetite

Saturday, September 13th, 2008

It’ll be Israel for the Azzurrini. Pierluigi Casiraghi’s Italy U-21 team discovered their playoff phase opponent this Friday, after the Euro 2009 Under 21 Draw that gifted us clashes like Germany vs. France and Wales vs. England.

The home-and-away matches will be played on October 11/12 and 14/15 (with match venues, dates and kick-off times to be confirmed next Friday), while the final tournament itself will take place from June 15 to 29, 2009.

(From Uefa.com): Heavyweights Germany and France will meet in the play-offs for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and there is also an all-British contest after outsiders Wales were pitted against heavily fancied England at today’s draw in Malmo, Sweden.

Germany qualified as winners of Group 9 but they face a difficult test against 1988 champions France as they bid to win the tournament for the first time. Les Bleuets qualified as one of the four best runners-up from Group 10 behind Wales who, having surprised many by getting this far, now face a daunting tie against two-time champions England.

Italy have won the competition more times than any other side and now only Israel stand between the Azzurrini and a chance to win their sixth title. Having knocked out champions the Netherlands, winners in both 2006 and 2007, Switzerland have been paired with twice-winners Spain, the only side who did not drop a point in qualifying.

There will be at least one newcomer in Sweden next summer as Austria take on Finland with both nations bidding to reach the final tournament at this level for the first time. Serbia, runners-up last year, take on Denmark, while Turkey meet Belarus.

It will be a demanding matchcommented Casiraghi after the draw. “Israel is not a team which I know very well, but the fact they finished tied with Germany during the qualifiers makes think they are pretty good. All teams who have made it to the playoff round are good teams. Our only concern is having to play the first leg at home, but overall our fitness level will be much better then that it is now. We are just hoping to recover our injured players in time.”

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2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
PLAYOFF Draw

First leg: October 11/12
Second leg: October 14/15

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Germany
Germany
vs.
France
France
Denmark
Denmark
vs.
Serbia
Serbia
Turkey
Turkey
vs.
Belarus
Belarus
Austria
Austria
vs.
Finland
Finland
Wales
Wales
vs.
England
England
Italy
Italy
vs.
Israel
Israel
Switzerland
Switzerland
vs.
Spain
Spain


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Croatia 1-1 Italy: Azzurrini Through to Playoffs Round (U-21 Euro 2009 Qualifiers)

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Mission accomplished for Italy’s U21 team. In order to qualify for the Euro 2009 knock-out round, a win or a draw against Croatia was necessary for Casiraghi’s boys Tuesday, a task which the Azzurrini completed with brio.

In truth, the final scoreline doesn’t really reflect how this match played out, because of over 83 minutes the blue youngsters completely dominated their chequered-shirt opponents, after having taken the lead by a great Marco Motta goal in the 37th. Only a ballistic exploit in the final quarter (signed Ante Kulusic) could tie the game for the home team, but alas it was too little too late. Italy will move on, Croatia’s run will stop here.

The playoff draw will take place in Malmo (Sweden) at 12.00 CET on September 12, while the playoffs themselves will be played on October 10/11 and 14/15 on a home/away leg basis. The victors from each two-legged tie will join hosts Sweden in the competition proper from June 15 to 29, 2009.

(From Gazzetta): Compared to the 1-1 draw vs. Greece, manager Pierluigi Casiraghi decided to make several changes to his formation: take out Salvatore Bocchetti, backtrack Paolo De Ceglie in defense, and insert Antonio Candreva in midfield. Against a Croatian team overwhelmed by their opponents’ technical superiority, this was a match in which concentration and experience would be the determining factors.

After a good start to the match, the Vatreni (nickname for the Croatian football team, meaning “fiery ones”) considerably dropped in rhythm, thus allowing Italy to progressively get their heads of their shells and put the technique of Giovinco, Balotelli (and a surprise: Motta) to full use. Counter-attacks were flocking in the Croatian box, and it was only due to a serious lack of cynicism that the Azzurri could not capitalize on their domination. Until minute 37 that is…

At the heart of the action, there was once again Sebastian Giovinco: after a daring shoot-straight-from-the-corner-kick attempt, “La formica atomica” tried his luck again from the other corner and delivered a perfect cross for Marco Motta. The right-back’s header was as powerful as it was accurate: ball below the bar and 1-0 Italy.

In the second period, Croatian coach Dražen Ladić attempted to give his team a “boost” with the insertions of Tomasov and Vida, but it had little to no effect on the course of the game. The Azzurrini central defense had litterally built an iron wall to defend Consigli’s goal, while on the other end scoring chances continued to multiply for the Italian strikers. Giovinco however was having some accuracy problems today (dribbling well but shooting wide), while someone had apparently replaced the Balotelli we saw against Greece Friday with an injured dummy. Thus, Casiraghi insert Osvaldo and Dessena into the mix, and the two immediately combined to give Giovinco yet another opportunity to close the match. Once again however, the Juventus trequartista blanked out.

And so, amidst all these wasted chances (and a scary 60%+ ball possession statistic for Italy), Croatia managed to grab the equalizer. Almost fortuitously I might add, stemming from a free-kick and a general massive brain-freeze of the Azzurrini defense. The 1-1 was however too late. Casiraghi replaced Giovinco with Bolzoni, and held the fort until the full-time whistle. The next rendez-vous will be on September 12, to find out the Azzurrini’s playoff round opponent.

Ten group winners:
Italy, Turkey, England, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, Serbia, Germany, Wales.

Four best runners-up:
Belarus, Israel, France, Denmark.

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Croatian Football Federation (Croatian: Hrvatski Nogometni Savez - HNS)
CROATIA U21-ITALY U21
1-1
[Match Highlights]
 Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
GOALSCORERS: 37′ Motta (I), 83‘ Kulusic (C).
CROATIA (4-4-2): Kelava – Simek (46’ Vida), Kulusic, Ipsa, Ilicevic – Jajalo, Ljubicic (46’ Tomasov), Pamic, Badelj – Brezovec (63’ Krizman), Smrekar. (bench: Jezina, Dinjar, Maloca, Prahic). Coach: Ladic.
ITALY (4-4-1-1): Consigli – Motta, Andreolli, Criscito, De Ceglie – Candreva (75’ Morosini), Dessena, Cigarini, Marchisio – Giovinco (84’ Bolzoni) – Balotelli (59’ Osvaldo). (bench: Sirigu, Bocchetti, Ranocchia, Paolucci). Coach: Casiraghi.

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Italy 1-1 Greece: Great Balotelli Display Isn’t Enough for Azzurrini (U-21 Euro 2009 Qualifiers)

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

18 years… Super Mario’s wait was a long one, but it was worth it: not even a month after receiving his official Italian citizenship papers, Balotelli has already conquered Italian hearts. His goal vs. Greece’s U-21 team today was magnificent, but alas was not enough for the Azzurrini to get an automatic bye to the next round. Indeed, Italy’s U-21 will have to wat a few more weeks to earn a ticket to the Euro 2009 finals.

(From Gazzetta): Mario Balotelli’s Azzurr(ini) first (including the proud singing of “L’Inno di Mameli” -Italy’s national anthem) coincided with another important novelty in the Azzurrini: a brand new striking partnership up top, namely TurboMario supported by Sebastian Giovinco and Pablo Daniel Osvaldo (Giuseppe Rossi and Robert Acquafresca were injured and unavailable). Much to the contrast of the midfield (Dessena, Cigarini, Marchisio) and defensive (Motta, Bocchetti, Andreolli, Criscito) lines, who had been tested, re-tested, and tested again many times over before. As a result it wasn’t completely a baptism of fire for Pierluigi Casiraghi, although it certainly was for our young Italo-Ghanaian striker.

And speaking of Mario, Balotelli immediately got into the heart of the action very early on: 4 minutes into the game, a good run by Domenico Criscito down the left wing resulted in a good cross to the center, on which Inter’s nº45 applied a confident on-target finish (parried away by the Greek keeper). It was the first glimpse of things to come later on, but alas an isolated glimpse in the Azzurini’s offensive front for much of the first half.

Indeed, the Greek Under-21s had built a fairly solid dam in central midfield, which in turn allowed them to move fairly freely on the sides. The contributing factor was that unlike their Greek opponents, Italy did not establish a firm presence on the wings, in addition to suffering from a severe lack of movement and excess showboating. Casiraghi did his best in trying to reshuffle his cards, constantly asking the 3 forwards to switch positions with one another, but with little results. Greece were defending solidly, and hitting Italy on the counter. In minute 13, the Greeks could have actually capitalized on one of them, but fortunately for the Azzurri Marinos’s shot was wide of the mark.

After eventually managing to get their first shot on target (minute 24, a central effort by Marco Motta easily parried by Kasmeridis), it was finally Mario Balotelli that came to the Azzurrini’s rescue (with some help of the unprepared Greek defense, it must be said). Exploiting an insisted run of Osvaldo on the right wing (and the associated cross), Inter Milan’s forward picked up a poorly headed defensive clearance, waiting for the ball to drop before slamming a powerful right-foot volley into the top corner. Booyah. 1-0 Italy, a score that remained unchanged till the half-time.

Unfortunately in the second half, and much like they had done for large parts of the first, the Azzurrini allowed their opponents to get control of the ball back. Giovinco’s fitness limitations became far too evident (although after a non-stop season like his, Olympics included, that was understandable), and Osvaldo’s selfishness in final third wasn’t helping too much either (on a good number of chances, the Fiorentina striker preferred going for a difficult dribble instead of passing it to a wide-open Balotelli). Eventually Greece’s ball possession paid dividends, when a 54th-minute run by Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (following yet another counter-attack) was finalized by the Greek midfielder with mid-range blast just inside Andrea Consigli’s right post. 1-1.

Casiraghi decided to bring on Morosini and Lanzafame for Cigarini and Osvaldo, but it just wasn’t the Azzurrini’s night. Cruelly lacking ideas, the Italian attacks continually hit against an organized hellenic defense, and even Mario Balotelli’s touches of class (such as his 83rd minute narrowly-wide bicycle kick, after a good Motta cross) could not upset the balance of the game. Italy’s U-21 team remains first in the qualifying group, but will have to wait a little longer before earning their definitive ticket for the Euro 2009 finals.

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 Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
ITALY U21-GREECE U21
1-1
[Match Highlights]
 Greece FA (Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) (Greek: Ελληνική Ποδοσφαιρική Ομοσπονδία - (EPO))
GOALSCORERS: 34’ Balotelli (I), 54’ Christodoulopoulos (G).
ITALY (4-3-2-1): Consigli – Motta, Andreolli, Bocchetti, Criscito – Dessena, Cigarini (68’ Morosini), Marchisio (92’ De Ceglie) – Giovinco, Osvaldo (75’ Lanzafame) – Balotelli. (bench: Sirigu, Ranocchia, Candreva, Paolucci). Coach: Casiraghi.
GREECE (4-2-3-1): Kasmeridis – Maniatis, Siontis, Tripotseris, Ioannidis – Balafas, Rika – Marinos, Christodoulopoulos (81’ Pavlis), Dimoutsos (74’ Papadopoulos) – Petropoulos (63’ Mitroglou). (bench: Velidis, Oikonomou, Gentzoglou, Iantsis). Coach: Nioplias.

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