Italy recommence their World Cup qualifying campaign with a trip to the National Stadium in Malta Tuesday evening. Italy are currently top of a tough Group B, one point ahead of Bulgaria and with a game in hand. The Azzurri will be looking for a fourth successive victory in the qualifying campaign. Cesare Prandelli’s men come off the back of an inspiring 2-2 draw against Brazil in Geneva last Thursday evening. A strong second half display enabled the Italians to [...]
Mario Balotelli produced a moment of brilliance to earn the Azzuri a 2-2 draw against Brazil on Thursday evening in Geneva. These two powerhouses of world football have produced memorable encounters through the years. Thursday’s match was tabled as a friendly but in reality Italy v Brazil is never a friendly, and so it turned out. The game was a thrilling encounter which produced excitement for the full ninety minutes. Despite four goals being scored the final score line does [...]
Five Milan players have been called up by Italian coach Cesare Prandelli. The Azzurri play a International friendly against Brazil on Thursday and then a World Cup qualifier against Malta five days later. A look at the five Milan players called up: Riccardo Montolivo Montolivo has been a vital cog in the Milan machine that has seen them surge up the Serie A table. He has controlled the midfield and become a central figure in this season’s new look Milan [...]
Italy won their third straight match Tuesday night as they dispatched Denmark 3-1 in a sparsely filled San Siro. Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli proved to be the decisive figure yet again for the Azzurri, assisting on the first goal and scoring one himself to seal the three points for Cesare Prandelli’s men. Prandelli deployed the same formation that he used last Friday against Armenia, eschewing the 3-5-2 in favor of his tried and true 4-3-1-2 but not without a [...]
Before the start of the European Championships this summer, many in Italy were feeling pessemistic about the Azzurri’s chances, not only with regards to the knockout stages, but towards getting out of the group itself, needing to navigate through the likes of a seemingly invincible Spain, a Croatia team that has always given Italy fits, and an Ireland side managed by the wily Giovanni Trappatoni. Between the difficult group, the exploding match-fixing scandal at home, and the departure of Cesare [...]
When Juventus are strong so too are the Italian national team, as the old calcio legend goes. And when reviewing past tournaments it is hard to argue with that. Juventus have provided the most World Cup winners of any club, with 22 of the 24 champions Italian. In 1934, amidst the golden Quinquennio era, Juve has nine players in the squad as Italy defeated Czechoslovakia in the final. When Italy finished fourth in Argentina 1978, Juve contributed up to nine [...]
They may have looked about as nervous as a turkey with an invitation to a Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, but in the end they made it. A jumpy, twitchy, seat-of-the-pants Italy display took them out of the group stages to the knockout rounds of a major championships. Some things never change. The Azzurri stepped into the last eight of Euro 2012 with probably their worst performance of the competition. The return to a 4-3-1-2 formation was supposed to bring familiarity [...]
Italy were pegged back for the second consecutive match as they drew 1-1 with Croatia in their Euro 2012 Group C encounter in Poznan. A vibrant Italy took command of the opening 45 minutes and were rewarded when Andrea Pirlo curled in a free kick, only for Mario Mandzukic to equalise with 20 minutes remaining. The result leaves Italy in a must-win situation against the Republic of Ireland. Italy started brightly, with Mario Balotelli and Claudio Marchisio each having chances [...]
A 1-1 draw against the reigning world champions can be counted as a good result for the Azzurri despite the injuries and off field distractions. Cesare Prandelli utilized the much talked about 3-5-2 after experimenting with the unorthodox formation in training last week, with the back three comprised of Juventus duo of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, plus Daniele De Rossi making his international debut as a center back. Up front the attack was also as expected, as was most [...]
Admittedly this is a late preview, but with all the tumult going on both inside the Azzurri camp and in Italian football as a whole, now is a good time to look at how Italy may fair at Euro 2012, what to expect and how Prandelli’s men compare to their group competitors. First up is the injury problems Italy is facing, particularly in defense. Giorgio Chiellini is just coming off an injury suffered in Juventus’ last home game of the [...]
The footballing world was rocked as 25-year-old Piermario Morosini collapsed on the field and was confirmed dead upon arrival to the hospital. Just weeks after Fabrice Muamba of Bolton suffered a similar situation, fans are once again reminded that football is just a game and there are more important things at play than just who puts the ball in the back of the net. While not the most well known player, his story is an inspiration and makes his death [...]
As Juventus helped secure a piece of their long-term future during the week by extending the contracts of Leonardo Bonucci and Alessandro Matri until 2017, the immediate future of another player has once again been called into focus after yet another less than impressive display on the weekend. Marco Borriello led the two man attack alongside Mirko Vucinic in Antonio Conte’s 3-5-2 system against Napoli, yet did little to endear himself to the Juventus Stadium faithful. Beside one half chance [...]
