An Unsure Italy Defend Their FIFA World Cup Title
No World Cup champion has successfully defended its title since the Brazilians of 1962 - and experts are of the opinion that we will need to wait until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil to experience this feat matched again. Many considered Italy to only have an outside chance in the 2006 World Cup to progress through the knockout phase but to actually win the trophy was quite surprising. The problems back home in match-fixing controversies probably pushed the players to work even harder for restoring their lost honour. But are they any capable to defy the odds again this time around?
Italy started their title defence with a shaky performance against Cyprus in Group 8, followed by wins against Georgia, Montenegro and Bulgaria. Draws against the only strong opponent, the Republic of Ireland, meant that they had stretched it to the second last qualifying match until they could confirm the only automatic place for the World Cup from this group. If Alberto Gilardino had not scored the last-minute equalizer in that match it is doubted that football fans would have been reading on Italy's chances for this World Cup but rather on how they failed to qualify for it. Although they remained unbeaten through the qualifying stage but having just qualified from this very easy group was not what was expected of the defending champions.
During qualifiers, the coach, Marcello Lippi, made a record of most undefeated games in a row (31) for an Italian national team coach. This of course, includes his previous spell incharge of the Azzurri in which he won the 2006 World Cup. After that title, Lippi stepped down from his duties and was replaced by Roberto Donadoni. The disappointing performance by Italy in EURO 2008 lead Donadoni to be replaced by Lippi again for his second spell. Lippi is known to choose players who suit his game plan but it seems as though he’s not satisfied with the way his team played in the 2006 World Cup, as he has eight players in the preliminary 28-man squad, which are Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, Mauro Camoranesi, Alberto Gilardino and Vincenzo Iaquinta.
Italy is once again left without any flair players in their side; the ones who can change the games on their heads and win them singlehandedly. Game ethics will be more dependent on how well the midfield gel together and whether they can match frequency with the attacking players. As one would expect after watching the Italian domestic league, dependence will be high on the defensive line than it was ever before. Supporting this argument, Italy had the second worst goals scoring ratio in the qualifiers among the somewhat serious contenders for the upcoming World Cup, with only 18 goals in 10 matches, which includes 2 own goals from the opponents.
The defence line, however, is not only low in energy and freshness, but also low in confidence.
The trio of Buffon, Cannavaro and Chiellini play their club football for Juventus, which had a disastrous season, finishing seventh in the Serie A table. The once-famous partnership of Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso will be taking care of intercepting opponents and also pushing the team forward. Gilardino will be expected to take on the scoring responsibilities, as he was their top scorer with only four goals in the qualifiers.
Italy had developed a penalty jinx in the 1990s when they exited all three World Cups in that decade on penalty shootouts. This penalty jinx however, broken in the 2006 World Cup final, may haunt them again at any stage in their 18th World Cup appearance.
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