The Official Azzurri thread 2

[Bagg10]

Anyone know when Prandelli is announcing his preliminary or final squad?

[RomaShield27]

9 mesmerising minutes of a dribbling comp on Baggio:



How many times was he flat out lifted out of it in that?! Makes u think how much harder it was for sublimely skillful players like that in those days. Imagine Messi back then.

[forzaitalia]

His first touch at 2:11 was pure class. Amongst others. Great vid.

[tonykart]

I don't know if Ogbonna can hang after playing vs. S2 opponents. His time will come.

[Bagg10]

Monday May 7 2012

Diamanti has Italy fever
By Football Italia staff

Alessandro Diamanti of Bologna is still keeping his fingers crossed for a call-up to the 2012 European Championship.

“It’s clear that I’m hoping to be included,” noted the 28-year-old after scoring in the 2-0 win over Napoli on Sunday.

“When I made my debut for my country I had a fever, but I couldn’t say no to Italy boss Cesare Prandelli at the time.

“Some say that you play your best games when you’re under the weather, but that wasn’t the case that time,” he smiled.

Diamanti was given his one and only cap at international level in the 1-1 draw with Romania back in November 2010.

The former West Ham and Brescia player has been one of his side’s most consistent performers throughout the campaign.

http://www.football-italia.net/18550/di ... taly-fever

[Bagg10]

Wednesday May 9 2012

Prandelli to name 30-man squad
By Football Italia staff

Italy boss Cesare Prandelli is expected to name a preliminary 30-man squad on Sunday before selecting his final party for Euro 2012.

The tactician will unveil his picks at some stage on the last day of the Serie A season. He’ll then have to confirm his 23-man squad between May 12 and 29.

Prandelli has already stated that he won’t include any surprise names, while he seemed to confirm today that Antonio Di Natale would be selected.

The 34-year-old Udinese striker looks good for a spot despite the fact that he hasn’t played for Italy since World Cup 2010 and he’s never been selected before by Prandelli.

The called-up Azzurri will meet up at the Coverciano training base in Florence on Monday for tests before a week off as proper training begins on May 21.

Players from Juventus and Napoli, due to play in the May 20 Coppa Italia Final, won’t join the group until May 26.

Italy, who leave for Poland on June 5, have two friendlies lined up against Luxembourg on May 29 and June 1 against Russia.

http://www.football-italia.net/18619/pr ... -man-squad

[Bagg10]

Wednesday May 9 2012

Loyal Prandelli cools expectations
By Football Italia staff

Italy boss Cesare Prandelli has committed his future to the national side, but played down the Azzurri’s chances of Euro 2012 glory.

Prandelli still has another two years to run on his contract, but his admission that he misses the day-to-day life of club football has seen him linked with a summer exit.

“I have a contract with the Federation up until June 2014 and I intend to respect it,” he told the Corriere della Sera.

“I want to continue even if I am aware that the future of Coaches is dependant on results.”

The Azzurri breezed through qualification, but they won’t start as favourites for glory in Poland and Ukraine.

Especially after they lost Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi to injury and Antonio Cassano of Milan has just returned to action following heart surgery.

“Our potential has been decreased by 50 per cent, but I’m not worried and I’ll have to improvise,” he added.

“Our desire to surprise has to be stronger than our difficulties. We shouldn’t forget that you can find some nice surprises in the most difficult moments.

“We have the time to prepare for our first game against Spain. Even if the fact that Barcelona and Real Madrid didn’t make the Champions League Final makes Spain more dangerous.

“Croatia are a tough team too, with a very competitive midfield and attack. They’ll be a hard obstacle to get over. Then there is Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland.”

Prandelli will name a preliminary 30-man squad on Sunday before having to select his final 23-man party.

“There won’t be any surprises in the call-ups, just a logical continuity. It’s better to look for players like Roma’s Fabio Borini, youngsters with quality and a future.”

The former Fiorentina tactician has intimated that Cassano, veteran Antonio Di Natale of Udinese and Manchester City enigma Mario Balotelli will be included.

“Cassano has proved that he loves the national shirt and he did all that he could to recover full fitness as soon as possible. He put pressure on the medics so that he could return to give us a helping hand.

“I’ll challenge anyone to argue that Toto Di Natale doesn’t deserve the national side. He’s scored almost 100 goals in three years and he can help us.

“Balotelli? We have to give players with talent an extra chance and he isn’t lacking talent. He can’t make any more mistakes and I’m sure he won’t.”

Prandelli was also asked about the prospect of using Juventus players as the base for his Italian national side given their success this term.

“The truth is that Juventus are the only club to have invested in Italian players. Juve have won thanks to hard work and the Bianconeri are a great advert for Italian football.”

http://www.football-italia.net/18618/lo ... pectations

[RomaShield27]

http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresour ... wnload.pdf


COMUNICATO STAMPA
Roma 13 maggio 2012

Sono trentadue i calciatori convocati dal Commissario tecnico Cesare Prandelli che prenderanno parte al periodo di preparazione dei Campionati Europei 2012 Polonia e Ucraina. L’elenco ufficiale, come da regolamento Uefa, con i nominativi dei 23 calciatori selezionati per la fase finale sarà comunicato dalla FIGC entro le ore 12.00 del prossimo 29 maggio. Tra agli Azzurri convocati ci sono Di Natale e Bocchetti alla prima convocazione con l’attuale commissario tecnico (entrambi assenti in Nazionale dal Mondiale sudafricano) e Destro, Giaccherini, Schelotto e Verratti all’esordio assoluto in maglia azzurra.

Sempre domani a Coverciano alle ore 12.00 il Commissario tecnico Prandelli, alla presenza del presidente Federale Abete, del presidente del Club Italia Albertini e del direttore Generale della FIGC Valentini, terrà una conferenza stampa che aprirà ufficialmente il viaggio degli Azzurri verso gli Europei. I calciatori convocati si sottoporranno a partire dal pomeriggio di domani ad una serie di test atletici che si concluderanno nella serata di martedì. Da questa prima fase di test sono esonerati i calciatori ancora impegnati in attività agonistica ufficiale con i rispettivi club; svolgeranno i test una volta aggregati al resto dei compagni a partire dal 26 maggio.

Questo l’elenco completo dei Calciatori convocati:

Portieri: Buffon (Juventus), De Sanctis (Napoli), Sirigu (Paris St. Germain), Viviano (Palermo);

Difensori: Abate (Milan), Astori (Cagliari), Balzaretti (Palermo), Barzagli (Juventus), Bocchetti (Rubin Kazan), Bonucci (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Criscito (Zenit San Pietroburgo), Maggio (Napoli), Ogbonna (Torino), Ranocchia (Inter);

Centrocampisti: Cigarini (Atalanta), De Rossi (Roma), Diamanti (Bologna), Giaccherini (Juventus), Marchisio (Juventus), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Thiago Motta (Paris St. Germain), Nocerino (Milan), Pirlo (Juventus),Schelotto (Atalanta), Verratti (Pescara);

Attaccanti: Balotelli (Manchester City), Borini (Roma), Cassano (Milan), Destro (Siena), Di Natale (Udinese), Giovinco (Parma).

---------------

32 man provionsal list to be cut down to 23. Big surprises are Destro, Schelotto and Verratti. And Di Natale, of course. He deserves it.

And no Osvaldo or Pazzini? Picking Destro ahead of them is mad.

[Bagg10]

Yeah, no Matri, Pazzini or Osvaldo. No real conventional CF.
Good to see Giaccherini there, I thought Pepe and De Ceglie might have deserved to be in the 32 man-list as well.

[RomaShield27]

Yeh, Matri hasn't been great lately but his absence is a bit of a surprise as well. There's a big lack of prima punta's, no? Balotelli is not reliable, and Destro very inexperienced. Di Natale to lead the line? Curious choices.

[p_maldini_3]

it's a shame that bonucci and ranocchia are in the list, i hope they don't go to the euros.

[Bagg10]

I think he's putting his full faith in the 2 small forward tactic that he had going when Rossi and Cassano were both healthy.

Bonucci has been excellent this season, at least in the second half of the season.

Chiellini was subbed off injured today, they're saying hes out for the Coppa final for sure maybe even Euros... :/

[DCGweez]

I really hope Chiellini is fit for the Euros. Be a big blow for us if not.

I had a feeling we will go with a 3 man Backline for some games and he's important for that.

[p_maldini_3]

it's a travesty when chiellini is italy's 'best' defender.

i remember reading somewhere that it's not that italy historically had a defensive philosophy, but they just had the greatest defenders of the times. it is definitely no longer the case anymore. nesta was the last of that generation.

[red]

Think Chiellini will probably be okay, by the sounds of it.

Would have had Pepe in ahead of Schelotto, I think.

I'd agree that it's strange not to have a single real CF in the squad, even if Balotelli can play that role. As unimpressive as they've been this season, I'd still have taken Matri, Pazzini or Osvaldo.

Would also consider Balzaretti somewhat fortunate to have held onto his place in the squad given how little he seems to have played this season.

[RomaShield27]

Good article on Verratti by Paolo Bandini:

Prandelli puts faith in uncapped, Serie B midfielder Marco Verratti
/ Posted by Paolo Bandini under Italy on May 15, 2012



Not everybody was caught off guard by Cesare Prandelli’s decision to include an uncapped 20-year-old Serie B midfielder in his provisional Italy squad for Euro 2012. “I’m not surprised: [Marco] Verratti knows how to play football,” declared Zdenek Zeman, the player’s club manager at Pescara. “He has natural talents and significant room for improvement. He must watch and learn from the greats, but he is on the right path.”

If that much is true, then Verratti has Zeman to thank. Although the player’s progress had been sufficient to draw the attention of Italy’s leading clubs long before his manager’s arrival in the summer of 2011, this season has nevertheless represented a turning point. At this time last year Prandelli would not even have considered Verratti as an option in midfield, because up to that point he had typically played in the hole behind the attack.

That changed during Zeman’s very first training session with the club. “Zeman’s 4-3-3 is as tolerant of trequartistas as Mormons are of pre-marital sex,” noted Gazzetta dello Sport’s Jacopo Gerna as he reflected on the immediate decision to convert the player into a deep-lying regista. The manager is famous for his commitment to open, attacking football but he recognised in Verratti a vision which could be best exploited by giving him the space to dictate play.

The move was a resounding success. From his new position just in front of the defence, Verratti has pulled the strings for a Pescara side which has dazzled Serie B. Top after 39 games, they have already scored 86 goals, 24 more than anybody else in the division. If that is in great part a tribute to the prolific form of Lorenzo Insigne and Ciro Immobile, then their achievements would not have been possible without Verratti creating the openings from which they have profited.

Comparisons have been made with Andrea Pirlo, and not only because Juventus have been attempting to line Verratti up as the former’s long-term successor. Pirlo too had started out as a trequartista, showing significant promise at the position before being moved into a deeper role, first as a temporary measure at Brescia under Carlo Mazzone and then more permanently by Carlo Ancelotti following his 2001 switch to Milan.

Like Pirlo, Verratti is blessed with a rare vision, capable of not only seeing but delivering passes which the vast majority of top-flight footballers would never dare attempt. Such precision has long been a hallmark of his game, as has the superlative close control which prompted another Gazzetta writer, Giulio Di Feo, to declare in 2009 that “it is as though the ball is a part of his body”.

Those qualities had been observed in the player by Milan’s scouts as early as 2008, during the player’s first year on the books of Pescara’s youth team. After a one-day trial, the Rossoneri offered Verratti a contract, only for it to be turned down by the then 15-year-old, who did not yet feel ready to leave his hometown club.

Milan never abandoned their interest, while others such as Inter, Roma and Udinese have since joined the chase, but Verratti’s preference this summer is for Juventus, the team he supported as a boy. The Bianconeri were reported to have agreed personal terms with the player as long ago as March, but have thus far failed to reach agreement with Pescara, who are said to be value the player as high as €8m and would prefer a co-ownership arrangement to any immediate sale.

Pescara’s sporting director Daniele Delli Carri confirmed today that negotiations are ongoing, though Juventus may be quietly cursing a call-up which strengthens the selling club’s bargaining position, even though it is highly unlikely that Veratti will make Prandelli’s final 23-man squad for the tournament itself. With the Serie B season still ongoing, the player will only be able to join up with the national team immediately after Pescara’s last game on 26 May—three days before Prandelli must name his final 23-man squad for the tournament.

With players as established as Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, Claudio Marchisio and Riccardo Montolivo to choose from in central midfield it is hard to envisage Verratti finding space, but that is not to say his is a token call-up. He was many observers’ Man of the Match when he made his Italy Under-21 debut in a 1-1 draw with France this February.

Verratti remains physically unimposing—he stands just 5ft 5ins—but in every other sense he has grown up a great deal over the past 12 months. Under Zeman he has added range to his game, covering far more ground than he ever did as a trequartista, as well as becoming more tactically astute when not in possession. Despite his size he has become a capable ball-winner for his team, as well as learning to handle opponents’ attempts to harry him in possession.

The one dark moment of his season was not a footballing one. Verratti was part of the Pescara team facing Livorno on 14 April when Piermario Morosini collapsed to the ground and subsequently passed away. It was Verratti who first ran to grab the stretcher from medics after seeing that their ambulance was unable to reach the pitch as a result of an illegally parked car.

If Morosini’s passing provided a stark and painful reminder that there are more important things in life than football then it might also have been a reminder to enjoy whatever time we do have. And Verratti’s is an undeniably joyful brand of football to watch, a brilliant collage of energy, technique and arcing long passes that brings you out of your seat. “If this a dream then I only hope that I don’t wake up,” Verratti told Pescara’s website following the announcement of Prandelli’s squad. The rest of a nation is right there with him.

[DCGweez]

I'm not surprised at a "true" prima punta exclusion. Who would you remove?

Cassano must stay for the fantasy.

Di Natale is the most reliable goal scorer and is great if we decide to play on the counter.

Balo can score against the run of play and will take some spot kicks.

Borini and Gio will run their socks off and Destro is the "raggazo" pick.

[red]

Destro would be the obvious one to drop.

The best thing you can say about Giovinco is that he works hard?

[Bagg10]

[DCGweez]

I just said Gio and Borini will run. Meaning they have pace and skill wide.

I don't personally rate Matri at all and I totally disagree on his versatility. I think Casanno and Gio are both more versatile in skill and formation/role.