The Official Azzurri thread

[Zoff82]

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[juventino_italiano]

[red]

[Messinterista]

[Zoff82]

[Bagg10]

[RomaShield27]

[Bagg10]

[RomaShield27]

Herpes > Warm shit on your shoe > Monkey testicle > A brick > Bagg10

[RomaShield27]

Miccoli was very impressive in Palermo's win in the San Siro all the same, if he can continue in that form then perhaps Lippi will have to consider him. Oh wait, no he won't.

[RomaShield27]

Matri for the Azzurri? With his goal on Saturday he's set a record by scoring in a seventh consecutive top-flight game, a feat only achieved once before by a certain Gigi Riva. "Tall enough at 6ft and solidly built, Matri claims to model his game on that of Didier Drogba and in broad terms fits the job description for a classic No 9."

Alessandro Matri: from playboy to serious player?
Cagliari's Alessandro Matri is best known for dating dancers from a satirical TV show, but his current scoring record is no joke

www.guardian.co.uk – Monday 14 December 2009 12.26 GMT – By Paolo Bandini

Marcello Lippi might as well get used to it. "I will decide when the appropriate moment is to talk about this, and it isn't right now," grumped the Italy manager when asked whether Mario Balotelli had a shot of making the national side. With Antonio Cassano struggling for form and Francesco Totti still undecided on an international return it was only a matter of time before someone else's name came up. The World Cup is just six months away, and the consensus in Italy is that Lippi's attack still needs strengthening.

Balotelli was the name on people's tongues after his savagely brilliant free-kick and tidy assist against Rubin Kazan on Wednesday, but it's doubtful he will be this week after an underwhelming showing during Inter's 1-1 draw with Atalanta. Instead, Lippi might just find himself fielding questions about Cagliari's Alessandro Matri.

Matri got his name on the scoresheet in the Rossoblu's eventful and highly enjoyable 3-3 draw with Napoli at Stadio Sant'Elia on Saturday, and in the process also got his name in the record books. By scoring in a seventh consecutive top-flight game, Matri achieved a feat that only Gigi Riva, back in 1971-72, had previously managed in the club's colours. That would be the same Riva who remains top of the national side's all-time scoring charts, with 35 goals in 42 appearances.

"Let's not make comparisons," said Matri after the game, modestly but with good reason. Riva scored more than 150 goals with Cagliari and in his 13 seasons with the club had a strike rate better than a goal every other game. Matri has scored eight in 16 Serie A fixtures this season, but in his first two with the club he managed just 12 in 65. Before the present campaign, in fact, he was arguably better-known for going out with both the main dancers from the much-loved satirical TV nonsense-fest Striscia La Notizia than for his achievements on the pitch.

But if it is too soon to start anointing Matri as the second coming then his present form deserves to be recognised. He was certainly the one who galvanised Cagliari on Saturday. The team were trailing 2-0 with 15 minutes to play and had barely registered a shot on target when Matri set up Joaquín Larrivey for their first. Five minutes later he rose to head in the equaliser, before Jeda gave Cagliari an unlikely lead in the 90th minute only for Napoli to grab an even less likely equaliser in the sixth minute of injury time.

Tall enough at 6ft and solidly built, Matri claims to model his game on that of Didier Drogba and in broad terms fits the job description for a "classic No9". He has sufficient pace to trouble defenders but excels in the air and at holding the ball up. The Cagliari manager, Massimiliano Allegri, has tended to prefer a two-striker formation this year, but it is not hard to imagine how Matri could equally lead the line in a 4-5-1 or attacking trident.

Not that anyone is questioning Allegri's judgment. The manager continues to insist that his team, 12th in the league, are focused on securing enough points to avoid relegation, but in a division where parity reigns this season, Cagliari are also just two points off fifth and five points away from a Champions League spot. Before losing to Palermo last week, they had won five out of six in Serie A.

Matri is just one of a number of players to have flourished under Allegri. The manager got off to a slow start after taking over in May last year, losing his first five league games in charge, but since then he has kick-started a number of players' careers. The goalkeeper Federico Marchetti and midfielder Davide Biondini both made their international debuts in the past year.

But Allegri has not only helped Cagliari's up-and-coming players. Andrea Cossu, a 29-year-old attacking midfielder who has spent much of his career in Serie B and below, has developed into such an accomplished trequartista under Allegri that Gazzetta dello Sport's Maurizio Nicita felt moved to declare that the player would be wanted by the best teams in Europe if only his name were more exotic. The captain, Daniele Conti, absent on Saturday through suspension, has been at Cagliari since 1999 but never looked so composed as he has this year in a holding role in front of the defence.

Cagliari, to be fair, were not at their best on Saturday, outplayed by Napoli for most of the game, but Allegri's substitutions helped turn the tide – with both Lavirrey and Jeda coming off the bench to score. The team's capacity to create goals from nothing – only three teams have scored more this season – and above all to do so at decisive moments – nobody has scored more in the last 15 minutes of games – owes much to the manager's astute decision making.

Napoli, too, know something about late goals, having scored late winners against Juventus and Bari in the past six weeks, as well as staging an incredible comeback to draw with Milan having trailed 2-0 with less than a minute remaining. Mariano Bogliacino's equaliser on Sunday came from the very last touch of the game, and preserved a run of nine league games unbeaten for the Partenopei since Walter Mazzarri replaced Roberto Donadoni as manager (though cynics might point out that Napoli have also won only one of their past five in Serie A).

Some have suggested they might not even have had time to score that equaliser were it not for Ezequiel Lavezzi getting himself sent off in injury time, after kicking a ball at Allegri, who had just attempted to waste time by kicking the ball away himself. Both parties apologised afterwards, while also seeking to downplay the incident.

"If I made a mistake then I apologise," said Allegri, though he was quick to insist Cagliari were normally one of the better-behaved sides. "We are an educated and respectful club, the Cagliari crowd should be happy to have a team like this."

With Matri and the rest on this sort of form, you can be sure that they are.

[Bagg10]

[Sciacca]

Cassano < Balotelli < Marchisio < Santon < Giovinco < Totti < Micolli < Motta

[stefano]

I'm not sure what that means.

[Bagg10]

it means Totti is garbage.

[stefano]

It doesn't quite appear to mean that. In fact, it doesn't quite appear to mean anything.

[juventino_italiano]

[marco]

since when is santon an attacker? also, why all the marchisio nut-hugging? has he won a world cup or something?

[stefano]

Those are not all attackers. It is a random list of players. Further, according to that list, Cassano is the worst of the bunch and either Thiago or Marco Motta is the best - which is quite simply retarded.