The Official Azzurri thread 2

[juventino_italiano]

Fuck...

[p_maldini_3]

let's hope balotelli stays in shape, in his current form he is unstoppable.

[RomaShield27]

Its only matter of time before Balosmelli does something crazy and gets frozen out of the squad, something like setting off fireworks indoors... I mean revealing rude t-shirts after scoring... i mean throwing darts at teammates heads... Seriously, he is in great form but you get the feeling its all gonna come crashing down for him at some stage soon.

[juventino_italiano]

[RomaShield27]

Reuters - Yesterday, 21:16

Ignazio Abate's marauding performances for AC Milan were rewarded on Sunday after the right-back was called up for the first time to Italy's squad for friendly matches against Poland and Uruguay.

Coach Cesare Prandelli's 24-man squad also saw recalls for Juventus attacking pair Alessandro Matri and Simone Pepe who replace long-term absentees Antonio Cassano and Giuseppe Rossi.

Defender Angelo Ogbonna of Serie B side Torino was another surprise inclusion, but there was no place for the fit-again Alberto Gilardino of Fiorentina or Udinese veteran Antonio Di Natale, who is once again leading the Serie A scoring charts after notching his eighth strike of the season against Siena.

Mario Balotelli, Giampaolo Pazzini, Thiago Motta and Domenico Criscito all return after missing Italy's last games against Serbia and Northern Ireland because of injury. The Azzurri, who qualified for Euro 2012 with eight wins from 10 matches, play in Poland on Friday before taking on Uruguay at the Stadio Olimpico the following Tuesday.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)

Defenders: Ignazio Abate (AC Milan), Federico Balzaretti (Palermo), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Angelo Ogbonna (Torino), Andrea Ranocchia (Inter)

Midfielders: Alberto Aquilani (AC Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Thiago Motta (Inter), Antonio Nocerino (AC Milan), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus)

Forwards: Mario Balotelli (Manchester City), Sebastian Giovinco (Parma), Alessandro Matri (Juventus), Pablo Osvaldo (Roma), Giampaolo Pazzini (Inter), Simone Pepe (Juventus)

[Bagg10]

Giovinco got sent home injured.

[RomaShield27]

– November 8, 2011 – By Adam Digby

In recent games, they had been blossoming into a good partnership, each making his own vital contribution and working well together as a pair that, according to coach Cesare Prandelli, "gave the opposition defence no reference points".

Now, however, Italy's attacking options have been seriously diminished thanks to some terrible news. First, Giuseppe Rossi went down with a serious knee injury; next Antonio Cassano had to undergo surgery to repair a small hole in his heart.

Former Fiorentina boss Prandelli has just seven months before the European Championships kick off in Poland and Ukraine, and he has spent much of his 18 months in charge repairing the psychological damaged caused by the embarrassing first-round exit from last summer's World Cup by building a team around the two men Marcello Lippi failed to put on the plane to South Africa.

"It's really bad news for him and for us, but we will wait for him. All he has to do is to think of recovering with calmness. The day he returns to play then we will consider him again" - Prandelli on Cassano
They featured together in 13 of Prandelli's 16 games in charge of the national team and started alongside each other in four of the last five competitive games. The Azzurri qualified with two games remaining, conceded fewer goals than any other team (two) and recorded an encouraging 2-1 friendly win over Spain back in August. Cassano was a surprising leading scorer for Italy, his six goals complemented by four assists while Rossi added one goal and two assists.

Then the Villarreal striker tore ligaments in his right knee and was told he faced six months out. News on AC Milan star Cassano was better than first thought, and he is scheduled to return within between four and six months after his own surgery last week. While their health is paramount, Prandelli must now search for an alternative solution, preparing to head to next summer's tournament without them given the timescale provided for their recovery. So who else is there to fire the Azzurri to glory?

Giampaolo Pazzini: Inter (21 caps, 3 goals)
Once an outcast under Prandelli at club level, the 27-year-old has thrived since moving to Milanese giants Inter in January 2010 for a cut-price €12 million (plus Jonathan Biabiany). He has scored 12 goals in 19 league games for the Nerazzurri since then, adding another two in just three Champions League appearances. His strike-rate for Italy is cause for concern, however, and his one-dimensional playing style is seemingly at odds with the coach's desire to create a flowing team based on possession, interchange of players and quick movement. He has become first choice off the bench and will certainly have a role to play.

Mario Balotelli: Manchester City (5 caps, 0 goals)
Hard to believe he is still only 21 and also that he has made so few appearances for Italy but, much like Rossi and Cassano, Balotelli was excluded from selection under Lippi. Super Mario is now starting to shine under Roberto Mancini in the Premiershit - as his recent goal-scoring prowess proves - and also made an impression on his Champions League debut for City last week, scoring once and creating another in a comfortable win. Prandelli said he planned to play the former Inter man between his two injury-hit stars and that would have been a lethal combination. Surely now Balotelli is going to have a major role to play?

Pablo Osvaldo: Roma (1 cap, 0 goals)
The Argentina-born striker is another of Prandelli's former players at Fiorentina and made his international debut in the final qualifier against Northern Ireland. He has yet to find the form he showed while in Spain with Espanyol but is steadily improving under the guidance of Luis Enrique at Roma.

Sebastian Giovinco: Parma (6 caps, 0 goals)
After struggling for playing time at Juventus, the diminutive striker has thrived since moving to Parma in a co-ownership deal. He has six goals and an assist this season already and made his first start last time out.

Alessandro Matri: Juventus (2 caps, 1 goal)
Alessandro Matri, 27, made his international debut in March
Truly an underrated player, the former Cagliari man has surprised many by continuing his goal-scoring prowess since moving to Turin. A Milan youth product, Matri has thrived in the famous black-and-white shirt, netting a hugely impressive 13 goals in 24 appearances. His international career has yet to really begin but his work-rate and off-the-ball ability - both of which are far superior to Pazzini's - are sure to make him a vital member of the squad.

Alberto Gilardino: Fiorentina (47 caps 17 goals)
A long-time Prandelli favourite, Gilardino is currently outside the squad but it would be a huge surprise if he did not return to the set-up between now and next summer. Still only 29, his return to form following a knee injury of his own could be timely for both player and acoach.

Antonio Di Natale: Udinese (36 caps, 10 goals)
Frankly, his omission from the latest squad is almost as astonishing as his goal-scoring form. With an unrivalled 77 goals in 92 league matches over the past three seasons, he has not been called up at all since the new coach took charge. Knocks about his ability at the highest level and, at 34, his age seemingly count against him, but Prandelli accepts that he will find it hard to ignore him: "If he maintains this form, I can't not take him into consideration for the Euros." An outside bet but one worthy of consideration.

[Lupa]

Balosmelli's goal yesterday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fArKmq4FdKc

[forzaitalia]

It was a good strike although Sczensny could have positioned himself better I think.

[Bagg10]

http://www.corrieredellosport.it/foto/c ... %27Europeo

The new jerseys are fucking sexy. They look retro, some features of the nike 96 jersey, and 2010 juve jersey numbers. and the keeper jersey looks like the 2000 kappa one.

[DCGweez]

I think they're ok. I don't like the tricolour on the collar.

But i love the GK. For me the Nazionale GK kit should always be Grey.

[RomaShield27]

They're nice enough I suppose. New vid showing them off:

[RomaShield27]

Posted by Paolo Bandini under Internationals, Italy on Nov 15, 2011
http://blogs.thescore.com/footyblog/201 ... more-18963

Of all the praise Italy received in the wake of a 2-0 win over Poland last Friday, one comment in particular resonated with the manager Cesare Prandelli. “[The former Poland international Zbigniew] Boniek told me: ‘yours is a national team that, unlike most others, isn’t really playing against anyone,’” explained Prandelli. “I had been thinking this for a while myself and was afraid to say it … but it is true. This Italy team plays for itself: to have fun, to challenge itself – to get better.”

His claim is borne out by recent performances. Italy qualified for Euro 2012 with two games to spare and yet with no pressure to get a result in either of their remaining group fixtures still battled hard for a draw in Serbia before routing Northern Ireland. Similarly, where past Italian teams have often sleepwalked through friendlies – the Azzurri won just once (scoring only five times) in nine non-competitive fixtures in 2010 – this year had already brought a 2-1 victory over the world champions Spain as well as a 2-0 win in Ukraine and an impressive draw in Germany.

But if Prandelli was making the point that his team no longer required external sources of motivation then he had also provided them with one just a day before. After weeks of political turmoil and bleak warnings over both the national and European debt crises, the manager told reporters before the game against Poland that his team’s biggest hope was that they could “give Italy a smile”.

That, indeed, has been Prandelli’s aim ever since he stepped into the role. When he took up his position last year, relations between the Azzurri and the Italian public were at a low ebb – with supporters angry at the miserable World Cup showing but even more disillusioned by Marcello Lippi’s dictatorial leadership. In sticking by the players who had succeeded in 2006, and in refusing to even countenance a call-up for Antonio Cassano, he had shown disregard for the prevailing public sentiment.

Prandelli never spoke ill of his predecessor, yet the words he chose at his unveiling were poignant. “The Italian shirt is not mine and nor is it yours,” Prandelli told journalists as he vowed to pursue a strictly meritocratic selection policy. “It belongs to everyone.”

Such words were backed with actions, as Prandelli set about making his team accountable to their public. Challenging his players to be role models as well as footballers, he introduced a code of conduct that they must adhere to even when representing their club sides. Having handed Mario Balotelli his first cap, Prandelli showed no hesitation in dropping the striker after his kung fu kick on Dynamo Kiev’s Goran Popov. Daniele De Rossi was similarly excluded for introducing his elbow to Darijo Srna’s face.

Cassano was recalled but he too would lose his place for a time after a row with the Sampdoria owner Riccardo Garrone led to his being frozen out by the team. While Prandelli expressed regret over each decision he was clear that no exceptions could be made. At a time when so much else in Italy was mired in scandal – be it football and the ongoing fall-out from Calciopoli or politics with its corruption allegations and vested interests – the manager was intent on creating something positive for a nation to hang onto.

That is no mean feat in a country which – despite celebrating the 150th anniversary of unification this year – remains divided by fierce regional loyalties. A sense of campanilismo– literally ‘faith to the local bell-tower’, but more broadly used these days to convey the notion of belonging to a particular province or town, rather than the country as a whole – still prevails across large parts of the peninsula. This is only compounded in footballing terms by historic grievances held by certain clubs’ fans over perceived slights from the national team.

Perhaps for these reasons, too, Prandelli sought to make his an inclusive Italy team. Balotelli’s call-up against Ivory Coast made him just the third black player ever to represent Italy, and on Friday against Poland Torino’s Angelo Ogbonna became the fourth. The Manchester City striker’s outrageous chipped opener was also the first goal ever scored for Italy by a black player.

Born in Sicily to Ghanaian parents, then raised by an Italian family, Balotelli has only ever dreamed of representing the Azzurri, and made made a point of kissing the flag on his shirt after his goal. While lingering racist elements remain, the vast majority had long ago embraced his inclusion. Rather more observers have voiced concerns over Prandelli’s policy of calling up Oriundi – players such as Thiago Motta and Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, who have arrived in Italy from abroad boasting dual nationality only to subsequently take up Italian citizenship.

Here too, however, Prandelli sees only a reflection of the realities of modern Italy. “Oriundi have never been a problem for me, but only an opportunity,” he insisted in the wake of his decision to call up Thiago Motta. “You only need to look at Italy’s youth academies – 60% of kids there either have foreign origins or were born abroad. It is, quite simply, the future.”

Indeed, Italy’s players might have heard echoes of Prandelli’s stance in the speech delivered this morning by the president of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano. The Azzurri had been invited for an audience with Napolitano at the Quirinale palace in Rome ahead of tonight’s game and were present as he addressed the nation, calling on Italians to recognise the role immigrants played in the country and arguing that they provided a “vital energy which Italy needs”.

For now, the Azzurri will continue to make what contribution it can as a rallying point and a source of national esteem. After returning from Poland, the team’s first appointment back in the country was a public training session on Sunday on a Calabrian pitch recently reclaimed from the ‘Ndrangheta (a criminal organisation often lumped together with the Sicilian mafia, although they operate independently of one another).

“This is the most significant test since I took charge of Italy,” reflected Prandelli as he looked ahead to tonight’s game against Uruguay. He was referring to the task of making his team click in the absences of the injured Cassano and Giuseppe Rossi. But perhaps also to the challenge of bringing back that smile.

[Bagg10]

Not a horrible game although our defense made a huge mistake on the goal, and looked a little shaky throughout the game. I'd like to see Prandelli try a 4-3-3 with Cassano, Balotelli and Rossi (or Giovinco).

[Messinterista]

[RomaShield27]

[Bagg10]

I personally love it. They're my favorites since the first Puma jersey back in 03.

[Zoff82]

What idiot fielded this squad of Corradi, Miccoli, Perrotta and Toldo? Were they showcasing the B team?? Italy must've lost.

Any thoughts on Italy's group?? It is a very tough one but by far not the group of death.

[RomaShield27]

[forzaitalia]

Bernardo Corradi, wow. He got into the Euro 2004 squad, somehow. So it would have been Trapattoni that fielded that squad.