BRAZIL 2014 team profile: ITALY Italy is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world. It is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup behind Brazil (5), having won 4 titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), also appearing in two finals (1970, 1994), reaching a third place (1990) and a fourth place (1978) The national football team is known as Gli Azzurri from the traditional color of Italian national teams After declining to participate in the first World Cup (1930, in Uruguay) the Italian national team won two consecutive editions of the tournament in 1934 and 1938, under the direction of coach Vittorio Pozzo and thanks to the genius of Giuseppe Meazza, who is considered one of the best Italian football players of all time. Other stars of that era included Luis Monti, Giovanni Ferrari, Giuseppe Ruffino and Virginio Rosetta the host Azzurri defeated Czechoslovakia 2–1 in Rome, with goals by Raimundo Orsi and Angelo Schiavio. The tragic loss in 1949 of the players of Torino (the winners of the previous four Serie A titles) in the Superga air disaster saw the loss of ten out of the eleven constituting the initial line-up for the national team. The following year, Italy did not advance further than the first round of the 1950 World Cup, partly due to the long and physically demanding boat trip to Brazil (air travel was discarded due to fear of another accident). In the World Cup finals of 1954 and the 1962 that followed, Italy failed to progress past the first round, and did not qualify for the 1958 World Cup. During the early 1960s, while the Italian football clubs Milan and Internazionale dominated the international scene, the National team was not able to match these results. Italy did not take part in the first edition of the European Championship in 1960 (then known as the European Nations Cup), and was knocked out by the USSR in the round of 16 (second round) of the 1964 European Championship. Their participation in the 1966 World Cup is always remembered for their 0–1 defeat at the hands of North Korea. Despite being the tournament favourites, the Azzurri, whose 1966 squad included Rivera and Bulgarelli, were eliminated in the first round by the semi-professional North Koreans and bitterly condemned upon their return home, while North Korean scorer Pak Doo-Ik was celebrated as the David who killed goliath. The 1978 FIFA World Cup, held in Argentina, saw a new generation of Italian players, the most famous being Paolo Rossi, coming to the international stage. Italy played very well in the first round, being the only team in the tournament to beat the eventual champions and host team Argentina. Second round games against West Germany (0–0), Austria (1–0) and Netherlands (1–2) led Italy to the third place final, where it was defeated by Brazil 2–1. As in the match against the Netherlands, Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff was beaten by a long-distance shot and thus blamed as the main culprit for the defeat. the Azzurri arrived at the 1982 FIFA World Cup amidst general scepticism and discomfort. Italy qualified for the second round after three uninspiring draws against Poland, Peru and Cameroon. Having been loudly criticized, the Italian team decided on a press black-out from then on, with only coach Enzo Bearzot and captain Dino Zoff appointed to speak to the press. Italys strength finally showed in the second round group, a true Group of death with Argentina and Brazil – the defending champions and the team favoured to dethrone them. In the opener, Italy prevailed 2–1 over Diego Maradonas side after an ill-tempered battle in which Italys defenders and midfielders proved their mastery in the rougher side of the game. Italys goals, both left-footed strikes, were scored by Marco Tardelli and Antonio Cabrini. After Brazil defeated Argentina 3–1, Italy needed to win in order to advance to the semi-finals. Twice Italy went in the lead with Paolo Rossi goals, and twice Brazil came back. When Paulo Roberto Falcão scored to make it 2–2 Brazil would have been through on goal difference; but in the 74th minute Rossi scored the winning goal in a crowded penalty area to send Italy to the semifinals after one of the all-time greatest games in World Cup history.[5] In the wake of its second round performance, Italy easily dispatched Poland in the first semi-final with another two goals from Rossi. In the final match, Italy met West Germany, who had advanced thanks to a penalty shootout victory against France. The first half ended scoreless, after Cabrini missed a penalty awarded for a Hans-Peter Briegel foul on Bruno Conti. In the second half Paolo Rossi again scored the first goal, and while the Germans were pushing forward in search of an equaliser, Tardelli and substitute Alessandro Altobelli finalised two contropiede counterattacks to make it 3–0. Paul Breitner scored home West Germanys consolation goal seven minutes from the end, making him the second man after Pelé to score in two non-consecutives World Cup finals. Tardellis scream after his goal in the final is still remembered as the symbol of Italys 1982 World Cup triumph. Paolo Rossi won the Golden Boot with six goals, and 40-year-old captain-goalkeeper Dino Zoff became the oldest-ever player to win the World Cup. they were knocked out in the Round of 16 of the 1986 World Cup by France 2–0. Italy hosted the World Cup for the second time in 1990. The Italian attack featured talented forwards Salvatore Schillaci and a young Roberto Baggio. Despite being favourites[6] to win and not conceding a goal in their first five matches, Italy lost in the semi-final to defending champion Argentina, losing 4–3 on penalty kicks following a 1–1 draw after extra time, Schillacis first half opener having been equalised in the second half by Claudio Caniggias header for Argentina. Aldo Serena missed the final penalty kick (with Roberto Donadoni also having his penalty saved by goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea). Italy went on to defeat England 2–1 in the third place match, with Schillaci scoring the winning goal on a penalty to become the tournaments top scorer with 6 goal In the 1994 World Cup, Italy started very slowly but reached the final. They lost the opening match against Ireland 0–1, this being the only match Italy would lose (not counting games lost after shootout) over the span of three World Cup finals from 1990 to 1998 and one only of five games they have lost in regular time since 1988 in either a Euro or World Cup (losing 2–1 to Czech Republic in the first round of Euro 1996 is the second one, losing 2–1 to Croatia in the first round of 2002 World Cup is the third one, losing 3–0 to the Netherlands in the Euro 2008 opener is the fourth, and the 3–2 to Slovakia in the last match of the first round of 2010 World Cup is now the fifth). After a gritty 1–0 win against Norway and a 1–1 draw with Mexico, Italy advanced from Group E based on goals scored among the four teams tied on points. In the Round of 16, Italy was down 0–1 late against Nigeria, but Roberto Baggio came to the rescue with a splended equaliser in the 88th minute and a penalty in extra time to snatch the win.[7] Baggio scored another late goal against Spain in the quarter-final to seal a 2–1 win and two beautifully taken goals against Bulgaria in the semi-final for another 2–1 win.[8][9] In the final, Italy and Brazil played 120 minutes of scoreless football, taking the match to a penalty shootout. Italy lost the subsequent shootout 3–2 after Baggio, who had been playing with the aid of a pain-killing injection and a heavily bandaged hamstring, missed the final penalty kick of the match, shooting over the crossbar. during the qualifying campaign for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the Azzurri beat England at Wembley for the second time with Zola scoring the only goal. In the final tournament, Italy found themselves in another critical shootout for the third World Cup in a row. The Italian side, where Del Piero and Baggio renewed the controversial staffetta (relay) between Mazzola and Rivera from 1970, held the eventual World Champions and host team France to a 0–0 draw after extra time in the quarterfinals, but lost 4–3 in the shootout. With two goals scored in this tournament, Roberto Baggio is still the only Italian player to have scored in three different FIFA World Cup editions. In the 2002 World Cup, Italy again had a difficult time. A comfortable 2–0 victory against Ecuador with two Christian Vieri goals was followed by a series of controversial matches. During the match against Croatia, two goals were disallowed resulting in a 2:1 defeat for Italy. Despite two goals being ruled for offside, a goal from Alessandro Del Piero help Italy to a 1–1 draw with Mexico proving enough to advance to the knockout stages. However, co-host country South Korea eliminated Italy in the Round of 16 by a score of 2–1. The game was highly controversial with a goal being ruled out for offside and Totti being sent off for an alleged dive, as well as a questionable penalty being given to Korea in the first half, which was saved by Buffon World champions for the fourth time (2006 World Cup) Italys campaign in the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany was accompanied by open pessimism[12] due to the controversy caused by the 2006 Serie A scandal. These negative predictions were then refuted, as the Azzurri eventually won their fourth World Cup. Italy won their opening game against Ghana 2–0, with goals from Andrea Pirlo (40) and substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta (83). The team performance was judged the best among the opening games by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.[13] The second match was a less convincing 1–1 draw with USA, with Alberto Gilardinos diving header equalized by a Cristian Zaccardo own goal. After the equalizer, midfielder Daniele De Rossi and the USAs Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope were sent off, leaving only nine men on the field for nearly the entirety of the second half, but the score remained unchanged despite a controversial decision when Gennaro Gattusos shot was deflected in but disallowed because of an offside ruling. The same happened at the other end when U.S. winger DaMarcus Beasleys goal was not given due to teammate Brian McBride being ruled offside. De Rossi was suspended for four matches for elbowing McBride in the face and could only return for the final match. Italy finished first in Group E with a 2–0 win against the Czech Republic, with goals from defender Marco Materazzi (26) and striker Filippo Inzaghi (87), advancing to the Round of 16 in the knockout stages, where they faced Australia. In this match, Materazzi was controversially sent off early in the second half (53) after an attempted two-footed tackle on Australian midfielder Marco Bresciano. In stoppage time a penalty kick was awarded to the Azzurri when referee Cantalejo ruled that Lucas Neill fouled Fabio Grosso. Francesco Totti converted into an upper corner of the goal past Mark Schwarzer for a 1–0 win.[14] In the quarterfinals Italy beat Ukraine 3–0. Gianluca Zambrotta opened the scoring early (6) with a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area after a quick exchange with Totti created enough space. Luca Toni added two more goals in the second half (59 and 69), as Ukraine pressed forward but were not able to score, hitting the crossbar and requiring several saves from Buffon and a goal-line clearance from Zambrotta. Afterwards, manager Marcello Lippi dedicated the victory to former Italian international Gianluca Pessotto, who was in the hospital recovering from an apparent suicide attempt.[15] In the semi-final, Italy beat host country Germany 2–0 with the two goals coming in the last two minutes of extra time. After an exciting, back-and-forth half hour of extra time during which Gilardino and Zambrotta struck the post and the crossbar respectively, Grosso scored in the 119th minute after a disguised Pirlo pass found him open in the penalty area for a bending left-footed shot into the far corner past German goalkeeper Jens Lehmanns dive. Substitute striker Alessandro Del Piero then sealed the victory by scoring with the last kick of the game at the end of a swift counterattack by Cannavaro, Totti and Gilardino.[16] The Azzurri won their fourth World Cup, defeating their long-time rivals France in Berlin, on 9 July, 5–3 on penalty kicks after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time. French captain Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a chipped penalty kick, controversially awarded for a foul by Materazzi. Twelve minutes later, a powerful header by Materazzi from a corner kick by Pirlo brought Italy even. In the second half, a goal by Toni was disallowed for a very close offside call, called by linesman Luc La Rossa. At 110, Zidane was sent off after a head butt, after a verbal exchange with Materazzi; the two players were eventually fined by FIFA for this incident. Italy then won the penalty shootout 5–3, the crucial penalty being David Trézéguets powerful attempt that hit the crossbar and stayed out.[17] Italy scored all five attempts in a shootout for the first time ever (Pirlo, Materazzi, De Rossi, Del Piero and Grosso). Italy remain the only side to have played in the two World Cup finals that have ended in shootouts; in 1994 and 2006. Ten different players scored for Italy and five goals out of twelve were scored by substitutes, while four goals were scored by defenders. Seven players — Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Francesco Totti and Luca Toni — were named to the 23-man tournament All Star Team.[18] Buffon also won the Lev Yashin Award, given to the best goalkeeper of the tournament; he conceded only two goals in the tournament, the first an own goal by Zaccardo and the second from Zidanes penalty kick in the final, and remained unbeaten for 460 consecutive minutes.[19] In honour of Italy winning the FIFA World Cup for a fourth time, all of the World Cup Squad were awarded the Italian Order of Merit of Cavaliere Ufficiale At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Italy were eliminated in the first round, finishing last place in their group. After being held to 1–1 draws by Paraguay and New Zealand, they lost 3–2 to Slovakia. The results from the group stage sent shock waves across the world. It was the first time Italy failed to win a single game at World Cup finals, and in doing so became the third nation to be eliminated in the first round while holding the World Cup crown, the first one being Brazil in 1966 and the second France in 2002. Incidentally, the French national team, losing finalist in the 2006 World Cup, was also eliminated without winning a game in the first round in South Africa, making it the first time ever that no finalists of the previous edition were able to reach the second round Italy was drawn in UEFA Group B for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. They were able to easily win the group without losing any match. Despite of this they were not able to be seeded in pot 1 for the final seeding due to poor results (2 draws) in the last two matches of the group, giving them a low ranking in October 2013 FIFA World Ranking. In December 2013, Italy was drawn in Group D against Costa Rica, England, and Uruguay.
Posted on: Sat, 31 May 2014 13:44:48 +0000
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