The Official Azzurri thread 2

[howsaboutno(CalUk)]

[Bagg10]

Santon always seems to perform well for the azzurri despite his club form.

[Messinterista]

Santon ftw!

[forzaitalia]

I'd have Abate in there definitely. I didn't used to think too much of him but he's had a good season.

Agree about the forward line, looks a whole lot more promising than what it has been previously. Rossi is reportedly on the verge of joining Barcelona for 40m euros, hopefully he'll continue to develop there as he's a cracking player.

[RomaShield27]

Doesn't say much for Cassani's defensive abilities if he allows a player like Pandev to get by him so embarrassingly in the corner and set up the goal which sealed Inter's Coppa win.

[maro]

Well, Nesta's not a bad player and I remember his having to be subbed after Monty had knocked four past him inside 45 minutes, or whatever it was.

[RomaShield27]

Cassano-Rossi to lead Italy
– Thursday 2 June, 2011

Italy will face Estonia in Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier without a recognised centre-forward, boss Cesare Prandelli has confirmed. The tactician has named his side for the Modena tie, but there is no target man despite the presence of Alberto Gilardino, Alessandro Matri and Giampaolo Pazzini in the squad.

“Buffon will be in goal, then Maggio, Ranocchia if he is fit – otherwise it will be Gamberini – Chiellini, Balzaretti, Pirlo, Montolivo, Marchisio, Aquilani, Cassano and Rossi,” Prandelli revealed. “Cassano and Rossi will start in attack. I’ve gone for a light pair up front as I don’t want to give Estonia any points of reference.

“We saw in Tallinn that we managed to create problems for them with movement. It is a decision based on our opponents.” Rossi will be expected to provide the goals after his fine season at Villarreal, while Milan man Cassano will be asked to create – although he may not last the 90 minutes.

“Cassano can give 100 per cent and be decisive for an hour,” the tactician continued. “I’m convinced that he will be able to give an important contribution tomorrow. He’s very attached to the blue shirt. His personality and exuberance will give us a great hand. “There are players who are more tired than Antonio, but he is a proud player and I’m counting on that. “At a slow pace he could last longer than an hour, but we will be playing at a high rhythm tomorrow.”

There will be five Juventus players in the starting line-up on Friday, while Fiorentina’s Alessandro Gamberini is on stand by if Andrea Ranocchia of Inter is not risked. Italy lead Euro 2012 Group C by five points over Slovenia and Serbia, as well as having a game in hand over those two nations. A win for Italy would be a massive step towards qualification. “That’s why tomorrow’s game is the most important of the season,” added the Coach. “The three points mean a lot. I don’t know if they will be enough to qualify, but they could be decisive.”

Italy will be hot favourites, but Prandelli has respect for his opponents. “We saw their game in Serbia where they won 3-1 thanks to some good football. They have very tall forwards who attack space. They have improved as a team. It’s the end of the season, but I have asked the players for a last effort.”

Italy 4-3-1-2 v Estonia: Buffon; Maggio, Ranocchia (Gamberini), Chiellini, Balzaretti; Pirlo; Montolivo, Marchisio; Aquilani; Cassano, Rossi

[forzaitalia]

Estonia have surprisingly improved (unless Serbia are even more over-rated than I thought), but winning tomorrow shouldn't be too much of a problem. Looking forward to seeing how Cassano and Rossi do upfront.

[taz]

[forzaitalia]

Italia 3-0 Estonia!

'21 Rossi
'39 Cassano
'68 Pazzini

Forza Azzurri, good to see all strikers on the score sheet

[Bagg10]

I thought this was Montolivo's best performance in an Italy jersey. I like the way we played against ESTONIA, but I'd like it a lot more if we could put in this kind of performance against a better team. Btw I really think we have better options than Balzaretti for that LB position, Criscito being one of them.

[Messinterista]

Italy 3 - 0 Estonia
Rossi 20 (I), Cassano 40 (I), Pazzini 68 (I)
Stadio Braglia, Modena

Giuseppe Rossi, Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini made short work of Estonia, winning this Euro 2012 qualifier 3-0. Italy now have an eight-point lead at the top of Group C and can practically consider themselves qualified for the tournament in Ukraine and Poland next summer.

The Azzurri were marching towards the European Championships and Cesare Prandelli adopted a 4-3-1-2 system with no recognised centre-forwards. It was a Barcelona-style attack with Alberto Aquilani supporting Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano. Andrea Ranocchia passed a fitness test to start in defence, while Daniele De Rossi was dropped due to disciplinary matters. Mario Balotelli and Thiago Motta pulled out injured. Estonia were in fourth place in Group C with seven points from five games, but had to do without suspended top scorer Konstantin Vassiljev.

Early on the new style was immediately on show, as Riccardo Montolivo and Cassano exchanged back-heel flicks and Estonia needed a crucial interception in the box.

Cassano wasted a golden opportunity when a defensive error let him clear on goal, but he tried to turn and lost momentum, eventually chipping into the goalkeeper's arms. Rossi ran at the defence and the ball rolled into Aquilani's path, but he was quite rightly booked for simulation as he tumbled.

Rossi's through ball released Cassano, whose daisy-cutter was parried by the Estonian goalkeeper's legs. From the resulting Andrea Pirlo corner, Sergei Pareiko performed another crucial save on Rossi's header at the near post. The move continued and Aquilani nodded in, but the referee had already rather harshly blown the whistle for a push.

Montolivo's through ball sent Rossi sprinting on the counter-attack, but once again Pareiko used his legs to deny the Villarreal striker. Tarmo Kink had the first Estonia chance after 19 minutes, which was wide from a good 30 metres.

Italy finally broke the deadlock when Cassano pounced on an Enar Jaager error, rolled across from the left for Rossi, who shimmied between two defenders in the box and place an angled left-foot drive past the goalkeeper with a tight finish into the far bottom corner.

Bad news for Prandelli, as Aquilani received an accidental blow to the head and could not continue, so he was replaced by Palermo's Antonio Nocerino. The Juventus midfielder was visibly dizzy and helped off the field.

Rossi threatened a brace from a similar position to his goal, as he burst between two defenders and smashed the rising left-foot shot on to the near post!

Cassano doubled Italy's lead with a sensational finish. Montolivo flicked on a throw-in. His first touch to take the ball was exquisite and he held off his marker to place a snooker shot in off the inside of the far post. New father Cassano celebrated by sucking his thumb in the Francesco Totti style.

On the stroke of half-time, Raio Piiroja's header was deflected wide from a corner, but Estonia barely gave Gigi Buffon anything to do in the first period.

Straight after the restart Montolivo blasted over after running on to a Rossi back-heel flick. Tarmo Kink also fired off target from distance after a defensive error. Martin Vunk and Ragnar Klavan received yellow cards and will be suspended for Tuesday's trip to the Faroe Islands. Estonia introduced two strikers: Jarmo Ahjupera and Kaimar Saag.

Rossi sprinted forward and exchanged passes with Cassano before he was shoulder-charged off the ball just outside the box. It was Cassano's last contribution, as he made way for his former Sampdoria teammate Giampaolo Pazzini.

Play resumed and Pirlo curled a free kick that thumped the base of the near post after looping over the defensive wall. Pazzini ran on to a through ball and pulled back to commit a defender, but the shot was charged down by Jaager.

Nocerino's snapshot was palmed out for a corner, but Pazzini got on the scoresheet after only a handful of minutes on the pitch. He sprung the offside trap from a smart Montolivo chipped pass over the top and drew out the goalkeeper to side-foot past him with his right foot.

Seconds later Federico Balzaretti burst forward from left-back and flashed a cross-shot across the face of goal that Pazzini just failed to connect with as he came sliding in.

Rossi went into a deeper role, the one held by Cassano, when Pazzini came off the bench. Sebastian Giovinco was also introduced in place of Rossi for the final stages.

Estonia had a decent chance, albeit an accidental one, as Ahjupera's snapshot took a deflection that looped it over Buffon and just past the crossbar. The goalkeeper did have some work by smothering a long-range effort from Vunk.

Giovinco smacked a fierce right-foot strike across the face of goal and Giorgio Chiellini attempted an audacious overhead kick that was comfortably caught by Pareiko.

Italy: Buffon; Maggio, Ranocchia, Chiellini, Balzaretti; Montolivo, Pirlo, Marchisio; Aquilani (Nocerino 24); Cassano (Pazzini 65), Rossi (Giovinco 79)

Estonia: Pareiko; Teniste (Ahjupera 58), Rahn, Piiroja, Kruglov; Jaager, Puri, Vunk, Klavan; Zenjov (Saag 58); Kink (Kams 79)

Ref: Tudor (Rom)

Source: http://football-italia.net/italy/ita-est.html

[Giacomo]

[RomaShield27]

Bit harsh on Balzaretti, I think he had a good game for the Azzurri and was a constant attacking threat down the left. Defensively he needs to improve a bit, as he can be vulnerable up against a tricky winger, but I've liked what I've seen from his so far and he will improve with more game time for Italy. I'd have him there ahead of Criscito.

Good win for Italy and lots of positive signs but like Bagg says its only Estonia, they need to keep this going and be able to do it against the big teams, starting with their next game against that European powerhouse they are playing next week.

Highlights of Estonia game here: http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodispl ... -10214569/

Prandelli has also called up Torino defender Angelo Ogbonna for their next game.

[Bagg10]

Lei ha detto che il prossimo anno baserà le sue scelte sulle indicazioni del campionato. Conferma che anche Totti e The Waterboy possono sperare in una convocazione?
«Se dal prossimo febbraio Totti e The Waterboy dimostrassero di avere la condizione di qualche mese fa sicuramente li prenderei in considerazione». - Parndelli

Corrieredellosport

[howsaboutno(CalUk)]

crap display against Ireland, why did italy arrange this friendly after the qualifier!?! It was obvious the players were tired and just wanted to go on holiday! Prandelli found out zero from tonight apart from Criscito and Gamberini are not good enough!

[RomaShield27]

Ha, what a result. Who said this was a meaningless end of season friendly? Not at all, this was a very important game. It was quite tense and there was a bit of bite about it, but in the end our greater desire and commitment brought us through. Quite a remarkable result for us, when u think of it, as it was an Ireland 'B' team after all (the same for which can be said for the Azzurri, no doubt). Ireland wanted it more. Great win.

Highlights:



Congratsa Ed.
Poor display...hopefully they come up with something better against Spain on august 11th

[forzaitalia]

As if Andrews scored a goal like that!

[red]

Looked pretty dull from the few minutes I watched.

Italy were playing lots of passes going nowhere and Marchisio was the only one running from deep to provide any penetration.

[Messinterista]

It was only a friendly...