The Official Azzurri thread

[RomaShield27]

Italy's Cannavaro has successful ankle surgery
http://uk.reuters.com – Wed Jun 4, 2008 10:45am

MOEDLING, Austria, June 4 (Reuters) - Fabio Cannavaro had a successful operation on Wednesday to mend ankle ligaments he tore in Italy's first Euro 2008 training session. The defender was ruled out of the tournament after being injured on Monday when he was tackled by team mate Giorgio Chiellini in a training session.

"The surgery lasted little more than half an hour and was perfectly successful," the Italian soccer federation said in a statement after the Real Madrid player went under the knife at a clinic in Vienna.

Cannavaro, who said he expected to be out for a few months, will stay with the squad in Austria to offer support during the tournament. The federation said UEFA had given the 34-year-old a special accreditation for the finals.

He was replaced in the squad by Alessandro Gamberini although a decision on who will take over as captain has yet to be made. Italy start their campaign against Netherlands in Berne on Monday before facing Romania and France in a tough Group C.

[Bagg10]

i think the sooner the players go on the field and focus their frustration anger towards beating the other team everything will calm down.

[Bagg10]

[RomaShield27]

Gamberini sorry for Fabio
www.skysports.com – 4th June 2008

Fiorentina man has mixed emotions after squad link-up.

Alessandro Gamberini is thrilled to have linked up with Italy's Euro 2008 squad , but is sorry it came at the expense of Fabio Cannavaro.

Head coach Roberto Donadoni turned to the Fiorentina defender after World Cup 2006 captain Cannavaro suffered an ankle injury in training on Monday.

Gamberini has now joined the Azzurri squad in Maria Enzersdorf near Vienna, although he wishes it could have been in happier circumstances.

"I'm happy to be here, but at the same time I'm really sorry for what happened to Fabio, who is a fundamental element of this side and our leader," said Gamberini.

"I'm pleased he's staying with us: he will give us the right charge. I've not come here expecting to play, but I'll do my best in training to give Donadoni something else to think about."

[juventino_italiano]

Great that UEFA has given special permission for Canna to be on the bench, in the dressing room and so on....
Somewhat of a coach/mentor.

He'll help in keeping the calm and motivating the team.

Don, i'm sure has done his all to stop the shitstorm.....we shouldnt doubt the guy....not yet at least.
Keep the faith, he's made some good calls so far and has led us to one of ur greatest qualifying results.

[RomaShield27]

Sneijder: Italy fear the Dutch
www.itv-football.co.uk – June 04 2008

Holland midfielder Wesley Sneijder believes Italy are "terrified" of facing the Oranje in their opening Group C game at Euro 2008 on Monday. The 23-year-old insists his side are feeling no fear ahead of the European Championships, and have no reason to be scared of world champions Italy or the other much-fancied team in Group C, France.

"We can have them," he told Sportweek magazine. "We must not make the opponent too big. That is a Dutch thing. Look at the Italians, they are also afraid of us, be sure of that. They are terrified.

"The same goes for the French. I know for sure that they need to be prepared."

The Real Madrid man also believes that the tournament's games are likely to be very close and may even be decided by luck.

"The differences are really small," he said. "Many duels are decided on minor details, sometimes even only with a lot of luck. "You see that in the Champions League too. I think the top countries are very close. Everyone is tactical, technical and physically strong. We are one of the better teams, so we do have a chance."

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Do hear this clown. What exactly have the Dutch done recently to make the world champions fear them, I would like to know...?!? Feckin idiot.

[RomaShield27]

[marco]

i hope the last pic is AFTER the training altrecation.

[p_maldini_3]

nobody has named one dutch defender yet.

the dutch are overrated, i see them finishing last.

[marco]

all i can think of is their lethal forward options. rvn, huntelaar, robben, van persie....pretty damn impressive.

[stefano]

...vdv, sneijder, afellay...

[RomaShield27]

They have impressive attacking options but a lot of people, namely the Dutch themselves, are still not sure about the system the play with Ruud the lone forward. Huntelaar has to settle for a place on the bench, which is just dumb. And they do have a suspect defence. Bouma gets his game for feck sake. I would be more worried about the Romanians then the Dutch, to be perfectly honest.

[marco]

[p_maldini_3]

[marco]

[Bagg10]

[p_maldini_3]

[Italiamia]

[Bagg10]

[p_maldini_3]