Two days away from the match against Montenegro, the composition of the Azzurri midfield still raises some questions: can De Rossi and Gattuso recuperate on time? Meanwhile, the vet (Zambrotta) and the rookie (Chiellini, although Euro 2008 pretty much catapulted him to 90%-vet status) share their views on the match to come.
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No goals between Bulgaria and Italy in Sofia. Almost emulating the performance of their junior team, the Azzurri could not do better than a 0-0 draw for their Saturday away game, a draw which at the end of today’s 90 minutes seemed to satisfy players from both sides. Not surprising, since the teams spent more time neutralizing each other than actually trying to score goals.
The Italian call-ups for their upcoming World Cup 2010 Qualifying matches vs. Bulgaria (October 11) and Montenegro (October 15) have been revealed. Italy coach Marcello Lippi just submitted the list of 23 players to FIFA, a list which as usual contains notable absentees and a few surprises.
| Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Amelia (Palermo), De Sanctis (Galatasaray) |
| Defenders: Bonera (Milan), F.Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Santacroce (Napoli), Zambrotta (Milan) |
| Midfielders: Aquilani (Roma), Camoranesi (Juventus), De Rossi (Roma), Gattuso (Milan), Maggio (Napoli), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Nocerino (Palermo), Perrotta (Roma) |
| Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Pepe (Udinese), G.Rossi (Villareal), Toni (Bayern) |
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Let’s start with the surprises. There’s about 4 new faces in Lippi’s Azzurri , namely defender Fabiano Santacroce and midfielder Christian Maggio from Napoli, striker Simone Pepe from Udinese, and striker Giuseppe Rossi from Villareal. Yup, Joe Red’s big day with the Azzurri senior team has finally come, which should put all those “play with us Joe” USA pleas to rest once and for all.
Also returning to the senior team are Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Montolivo, as well as Antonio Nocerino and Giorgio Chiellini (previously absent due to injury).
Finally, the list of non-calls includes some prestigious names, some due to injury (Legrottaglie, Materazzi, Cassetti, Grosso, Pirlo, Palombo, Iaquinta just to name a few), and some due to technical choice (Barzagli, Ambrosini, Maresca, Quagliarella). In the latter category, the biggest absentees are of course Alessandro Del Piero (not going through a great moment of form recently) and Antonio Cassano (evidently not a big Marcello-favorite).
The Azzurri will play away on Saturday October 11 against Bulgaria (in Sofia), and then host Montenegro on Wednesday October 15 (in Lecce).
Lucky? Marcello Lippi isn’t afraid of stating the obvious. In the first two games of his new managerial position (the 2-2 draw vs. Austria -courtesy of a goalkeeping blunder- and the painstaking 2-1 win over Cyprus on Saturday) lady luck was a big factor for the Azzurri, and their manager freely admits it. “I’m not sorry if people say I’m lucky. In Saturday’s game, I sure was, and you can find many examples in my career where good fortune contributed to a win. But there were also many many more victories which had nothing to do with luck.”
Amen to that Marcello, but everyone here will agree that Charalambous’s near-misses or Kostantinou’s shots straight at Buffon are just a darn fine example of good karma. The same type of karma which the Azzurri would desperately need in the infirmary: indeed, another player joined the injury list in the Italian roster on Sunday. Midfield dynamo and Azzurri “Braveheart” Gennaro Gattuso broke his wrist during a tackle in training (he slid and hurt himself falling into the sideline dugout), and will have to stay sidelined for at least a month (in his replacement Lippi called up Antonio Nocerino). After Alessandro Gamberini‘s dislocated shoulder and Fabio Grosso‘s broken ribs (both sustained during the match against Cyprus), things could be merrier at Coverciano right now.
But returning to Lippi, the Italian manager announced that his anti-Georgia line-up will be in many parts different that what we saw last Saturday. “I will make many changes” said Lippi, “and not just because of yesterday. I had planned this beforehand, because our fitness preparation is still fairly limited so early in September. Many players are tired, and playing two physically demanding matches in three days takes a big toll on your body. I will have to evaluate everyone’s condition, and then we’ll decide.”
Tactics-wise, Lippi also defended his three-men attacking formation and Luca Toni. “In my opinion, such a line-up is best used at the start of a match than during. When you throw several strikers into the mix like that, it’s generally because you are trailing behind. Toni? It’s just a fitness problem: he’s only played in one single Bundesliga game so far. He’s a very important player for the national team, and he will continue to be one and score goals.”
And speaking of fitness, the Italian manager also took the opportunity to make a suggestion on improving it. “Serie A should really start a few weeks earlier. But I am glad that the defending world champions are forced to go through a qualifying round. Playing tough matches is very important for the shaping & molding of a team. I have absolute faith in this group of people: in the next two years I will gradually introduce younger players into the roster, and this will give us the opportunity to grow. Our objective is to qualify for the 2010 World Cup without going through same painstaking efforts of Saturday.“
Well… you know what they say, right? “We got the three points, that’s the most important thing”. If only…
While the saying may be true, this Italy team will not get very far by playing like they did against Cyprus on Saturday. A shaky defense, a serious lack of concentration, and a weak offensive thrust are just a few of the many things that went wrong in the first competitive match of Lippi’s 2nd coming. Which just goes to show that despite Euro 2008 may be over, the Azzurri still need some effingly serious fine-tuning. Fast.
Above all, what strikes me the most is just how important Giorgio Chiellini’s absence and Andrea Barzagli’s ineptitude are becoming. The ex-Palermo center-back (on for Gamberini very early in the match) was just appalling today, and this despite the “calming” presence of Fabio Cannavaro (back from his ankle injury). Really, thank GOD for Gigi Buffon (in Superman-format today) and Antonio Di Natale, who might very well have sucked during the Euros but who has just stamped the Azzurri’s forward position with a big “MINE, DO NOT TOUCH” sign.
(From Gazzetta): Let’s not be picky here: the main take-home message today, is that Italy started their road to World Cup 2010 with a win. 2-1, 3 points, and thank you. And let’s try to put this generous and hard-working Cypriot team aside, the Azzurri played a good match and eventually deserved their wi… mwahahahhaha sorry, I just can’t keep a straight face while saying that. For those of you who aren’t following: Italy played bad.
The match’s first 20 minutes were a rare concentrate of emotions, thanks in no little part to both teams’ offensive work. Wait, let me rephrase that: thanks in large part to both teams’ defensive work (or lack thereof). For Italy in particular, I guess Alessandro Gamberini and Fabio Grosso‘s 4th and 18th minute injuries probably didn’t help (both players will have to skip Wednesday’s match vs. Georgia). What certainly didn’t help was Barzagli’s entrance… kinda like seeing the Euro 2008 opening-game disaster all over again. Brrrrr…
But back to the game. We were talking about Andrea’s shortcomings… let’s talk about Gigi’s achievements. In one word: lifesaver. Without Buffon, Italy could have easily gone 2-0 down in the first quarter, had it not been for the super-keeper’s saves on Aloneftis and Constantinou. Ironically, and as I love to say on this site (“but raté, but encaissé” remember?), Cyprus immediately paid a heavy price for their poor finishing rate: on their first shot on target, the Azzurri (i.e. Totò Di Natale) took the lead (smart acceleration to fool two defenders and low hard shot inside the left post). 1-0 Italy.
Game over? Hah! Right… not with this defense (and I’m talking about both teams). After Italy’s opener, scoring chances for Cyprus just seemed to multiply faster than horny rabbits. Buffon and Cannavaro combined to deny a double shot by Okkas and Constantinou, Barzagli continued to send shivers down Lippi’s spine (almost conceding a penalty for an obvious trip inside the box), and eventually… well, eventually the home team scored. Surprised? Nikolau got through on the right wing (yet another overlap), crossed for Kostantinou, Buffon made another miracle, but could do very little on point-blank poke of Stathis Aloneftis (Cassetti nothing more than a spectator on the occasion). 1-1 in minute 28.
The match thus proceeded to the half-time break and Lippi, despite having made two changes already, was forced to use substitution nº3 for Luca Toni. Indeed, except from the fact the Bayern Munich striker was just not “in it” today, the team crucially needed some re-balancing. So exit Toni, enter Gennaro Gattuso. The substitution definitely improved things somewhat, and also particularly seemed to please Alberto Gilardino (really not in his element on the right wing). Italy started to play better, and the Cypriots’ first 45 minutes of thunder had definitely left their mark fitness-wise (the hot weather also contributing). Coach Anastasiades pulled off his big tall striker and attempted to take cover, while Di Natale tried his luck again from mid-range (wide).
In the final 15 minutes, things went from crazy to insane. Cyprus came close (three times!) to the killer blow, especially on set-pieces (two point-blank headers by Charalambous just inches wide), and Barzagli even had the chance to make amends for his mistakes with a short-range tap-in (following a parried Pirlo free-kick), lacking power in the finish however. As for Buffon, the phrase “Thank God for Gigi” once again took a new meaning…
And then: a glimmer of light in a sky full of clouds. Second minute of stoppage time: a long kick by Buffon arrived all the way to Gilardino. The Fiorentina striker let the ball drop, backheeled it towards Camoranesi in the center, who was now wide open for the shot. Instead of shooting however, the Juve winger delicately crossed it for Di Natale on the left: volley on the run and ball in the sack. 2-1 Italy. God must still like the Azzurri…
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1-2 [Match Highlights] |
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| GOALSCORERS: 8’, 92’ Di Natale (I), 28’ Aloneftis (C) |
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| CYPRUS (4-3-3): Giorgallidis – Nikolau, Christou, Charalambous, Garposiz – Charalambides, Makridis, Michail (72’ Yiasoumi) – Okkas (74’ Pavlou), M.Constantinou (64’ Christofi), Aloneftis. (bench: Morphis, Okkaridis, A.Constantinou, Maragkos). Coach: Anastasiades. |
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| ITALY (4-3-3): Buffon – Zambrotta, Gamberini (4’ Barzagli), F.Cannavaro, Grosso (18’ Cassetti) – Camoranesi, Pirlo, De Rossi – Gilardino, Toni (46’ Gattuso), Di Natale. (bench: De Sanctis, Aquilani, Iaquinta, Del Piero). Coach: Lippi. |
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