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Archive for the category “Italy”

07 Jun 2012

Euro 2012 Preview – Group C

With Euro 2012 starting on Friday in Poland and Ukraine, we continue our look at the 16 teams today focusing on Group C, which features Croatia, Ireland, Italy (four-time World Cup winners) and the world’s best team, Spain.

The Teams
Croatia (currently at No. 8 in the FIFA rankings) failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, so this is the squad’s first tournament since reaching the quarterfinals of Euro 2008.
The team is led by striker Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar, Croatia’s top scorer in qualifying with four goals who is moving to Dynamo Kyiv after the tournament.
“(Luka) is a wonderful player,” Harry Redknapp, the pair’s manager at Tottenham Hotspur, told The Daily Mail. “He has that gift of creating space out of nothing. He is also a superb example to other players, never a moment’s trouble.”
Even with their high ranking, many seem down on Croatia, which could help motivate the team.
“I cannot remember a time when people were so negative about our chances,” captain Darijo Srna told ESPN. “Our belief is when the big games come, against the best opponents, these players move to a different level.”
Ireland (ranked No. 18) has to deal with expectation at home that the team can make it out of this group, which may be a bit unrealistic given the fact the team isn’t playing its best right now.
In addition, the players are complaining that manager Giovanni Trapattoni worked them too hard during their training camp in Tuscany, a charge the manager predictably disputes.
“It was a holiday in Montecatini,” Trapattoni told The Guardian. “It was beautiful. My first concert is never to push the players too hard.”
This is Ireland’s first major tournament since the 2002 World Cup and their first appearance in the Euros since 1988. It’s also one of the last chances for captain Robbie Keane to show his stuff on the international stage. Keane scored seven goals during qualifying.
“I think as a player, and as a nation, we know it’s not going to be easy,” Keane told ESPN. “But when you’re a professional athlete, you’ve got a winning mentality and you have to into every tournament, every game believing that you’re going to win it. Are we underdogs? Yes. Do people think we’re going to win it? Of course not. As players, we have to believe that we can. Anything can happen in football.”
Italy (ranked No. 12) is sort of the wildcard in the group. They were unbeaten in group play, giving up just two goals in 10 games, led by Antonio Cassano’s six goals.
Of course, Cassno underwent heart surgery in November (he returned to training in January), defender Andrea Barzagli is out of at least the group phase with a calf injury, strike Mario Balotelli left training early with a knee or thigh problem and striker Giuseppe Rossi is not with the squad.
Throw in the fact that the Azzurri haven’t won a tournament since 2006 and that Italian officials are dealing with match-fixing investigations that led police to raid the national team’s training camp it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where Italy crashes and burns in group play.
And the team never knows what they are going to get from Balotelli. Talented (13 goals in 23 Premier League games with Manchester City this year) and troubled, Balotelli is a powder keg always on the verge of exploding.
Spain (No. 1 in the world) ended a 44-year title drought by winning Euro 2008 and followed that up by winning the World Cup in 2010.
Can they become the first international squad to win three major tournaments in a row?
Spain cruised through qualification, winning all eight games with a goal-differential of +20. And even though injuries have knocked Carles Puyol and David Villa out of the tournament, the team is loaded.
From Andres Iniesta, who scored the winning goal in the World Cup final, to Iker Casillas, Xavi Hernandez, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas to David Silva, it’s easy to why Spain is the prohibitive favorite.
“We’re conscious of the fact that it was inevitable on paper we’d be favorites. The key to our success has been to always start from zero and respect our opponents,” Ramos told The Daily Mail. “Humility has been the base from which we have grown in these recent years.”
Another advantage for Spain is the fact that Real Madrid and Barcelona went out of the Champions League in the semifinals. As almost all of Spain’s starters come from those two club teams, the players should be more rested than usual.
Spain doesn’t have history on its side, however, as previous European champions have made a habit of going out in the group stage of the following tournament – Greece in 2008, Germany in 2000 and Denmark in 1996.
Did you Know?
Italy’s Mario Balotelli once accidentally set his mansion on fire after setting off fireworks in the bathroom?
Game to Watch
The June 14 match between Italy and Croatia could very well determine who makes it out of the group stage and who goes home early for the summer.
Who Will Advance?
Spain for sure; recent history aside they are just too talented not to make it out of the group stage. As for the second spot, Croatia seems to have the fewest question marks of the remaining three teams.
For additional coverage, be sure to check out The Daily Mail, The Guardian, EPL Talk and ESPN.
Posted in Croatia, Euro 2012, Ireland, Italy, Spain | Leave a comment
10 Jun 2010

World Cup Preview – Group F

Group F is, by far, the easiest group in South Africa, which means it’s a godsend for defending champion Italy, which always starts slowly. The fight for second will be between Paraguay and Slovakia; New Zealand is in the running to be the worst team ever to go to a World Cup tournament.

Only Brazil have a better World Cup record than Italy. The Azzuri have won the tournament four times – in 1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006 – and, yes, they’re the current holders, thanks to some great penalties, and an astonishing headbutt from Zidane. Qualification was a relative breeze, as Italy went unbeaten and outscored opponents 18-7. But critics will point to the Azzurri’s performances in last summer’s Confederations Cup, when a lethargic and uninspired Italian team underperformed, suffering a 3-0 rout by Brazil and then losing to Egypt to drop out in the first round. The 2008 European Championship was another disappointment, when the club fell out in the quarterfinals to eventual champions Spain (on penalty kicks, to be fair).

It is no secret, nor is it exaggeration, to make the claim that Italy flops (or dives). A lot. Even the Urban Dictionary defines “Italian soccer” as “A special kind of soccer in which the most important skill is the ability to writhe on the field in fake agony until the ref yellow/red cards an opposing player.”

In the land of South American giants, Paraguay is often overlooked. The Paraguay national side, nicknamed La Albirroja or white and red, after the colors of the national flag, is often overshadowed by the heavyweights of CONMEBOL, particularly Argentina and Brazil. Yet with the signing of Gerardo Martino as head coach in 2007, La Albirroja will be showing the world a different form of Paraguayan football.

In making its fourth straight appearance in the World Cup, Paraguay travels to South Africa without its leading goal scorer from qualifying. The absence of striker Salvador Cabanas — who was shot in the head outside a Mexico bar in January (Ahh!!) yet plans to return to action someday soon — might have initially dampened the team’s spirit, but it has also given some other talented forwards the chance to shine on the world’s stage this month.

Expect front men Oscar Cardozo and Nelson Haedo Valdez to be given opportunities on goal for Paraguay, which posted 10 wins during South American qualifying (tied with Chile and more than Argentina and Brazil). The Albirroja started strongly before faltering a bit in the later games of the region’s campaign, but a victory over Argentina last September sealed a World Cup berth with two games to spare.

Is bad karma stalking the team? Paraguayan fans remember that last time, keeper Justo Villar (Real Valladolid), played all of seven minutes of the first match before going off with an injury. The team needs him to stay a little healthier this time and it needs a little better luck all around too.

Slovakia, a World Cup newcomer (at least in its present form), is probably the least expected team in South Africa and it got here with a powerful offense that carried it to the top of a group that included arch-rival the Czech Republic, as well as Poland and Slovenia. So, if we’re talking surprises, put the whole squad on the list since even soccer aficionados don’t know most of the players on this team, much less the local squads for whom they play. They do have Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel, who gives the Slovaks a top-flight central defender to marshal the back line. The 6-foot-3 defender was also a promising ice hockey player, and has made 74 appearances for Liverpool in three seasons.

New Zealand made its only previous appearance at the World Cup in Spain 28 years ago. Over the course of three heavy defeats to Brazil, the USSR and Scotland, they scored twice and conceded 12 goals. Football has moved on in New Zealand since, but the All Whites’ path to the World Cup finals (assured by beating the likes of Fiji and Bahrain) doesn’t seem adequate preparation for the tests ahead.

There are three things to remember about this New Zealand side. Its best result in a major competition is a 0-0 draw with Iraq. Its top professional club side (Wellington Phoenix) plays in the Australian league. Its squad contains two veterans (Simon Elliott and David Mulligan) who are currently unattached to clubs. Take these facts together and it’s clear that a modest improvement on New Zealand’s 1982 results will represent a huge step forward.

Also, over the course of the past 18 months, the team has lost matches to Tanzania, Fiji and Thailand. New Zealand doesn’t simply have the worst team in this group. It’s very likely the worst team at the tournament and maybe, even, in the history of the World Cup.

Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here, here and here.

Posted in Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia, World Cup | Leave a comment

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