World Cup 2010: An assessment of Italy’s preparation for WC
For Marcello Lippi the upcoming friendly; Italy versus Mexico is deemed very important to the Azzurri coach when told he had a couple of new strategies planned for the encounter in Brussels.
The Italian squad have trained for nearly two weeks now and are lined up with two friendlies before the start of the FIFA World Cup this summer in South Africa.
The World Cup defenders will go against the Mexican team on Friday and four days from that they are facing the Switzerland squad in Geneva. They have prepared heavily for the task; already being under criticism of having an averagely old team and omitting many important players from the squad of the final 23 men.
To say their coach is rightly justified in comparison to the team. To put it politely Old Mr. Marcello Lippi has failed to notice that he has placed too many veterans in the team. The defence sector is allotted to Fabio Cannavaro who is 36 years old, Andrea Pirlo who turned 31, Gianluca Zambrotta 33 and Gennaro Gattuso is 32. Now the age factor is certainly not against them but the veterans are usually balanced with youngsters not only to help the youngsters mature but to cover up the veterans where they falter.
Then there is another blunder which in no way the critics could have missed even if Lippi tried to hide behind the Pisa tower, it simply would have gave away. For reasons only he could fathom he has omitted the attack of the Italians. There is no Francesco Totti, no Alessandro Del Piero, neither Mario Balotelli and nor Antonio Cassano. He probably believes that he will get assistance from elsewhere in the department. He should start praying to God for that.
Lippi has in fact a new idea of an attack; he states that he is revolutionizing it. That would be another great reason not to miss the match against the Mexicans. He said, “One of the two tests will be crucial to clarify my ideas," and then added, "And tomorrow’s one will be the one”.
Further explaining he said, “We will try the tactical line-up (4-2-3-1) that we have tested in the past few days, using a variety of players”. That certainly is new but not unheard of. On previous encounters it was though rather met by disasters but time at his side he probably knows that.
Lippi has just confirmed his 23-men squad Wednesday night for the tournament in South Africa. In the statement he has also made clear that he hasn’t forgotten the Cagliari midfielder Andrea Cossu and will require his services if needed.
Though Cossu was remained unwanted in the list of final 23, Juventus winger Mauro Camoranesi injury is making suspicions about his comeback in the World Cup.
Camoranesi has a sprained left knee which happened in last Wednesday’s training session. The reports indicate that the star will be ready for their first match against Paraguay on 14th of June.
Lippi clarified his intentions saying, “I could take 24 players to South Africa. In the next few days we will evaluate the condition of Camoranesi.”
He further added, “It could be an option, at least until or before our first game. Could Cossu be the 24th player? He could be”.
Lippi himself is quite satisfied with his selection of team. He stated, “Everyone said, and I still hear it today, that I am more in favour of taking the champions I had in 2006, however, I changed that team 50%”. He thinks that he has tipped the scale by combining a team old and young but the old will be in the starting line-up.
However he said, “I couldn't leave home 23 players just because they were in Berlin in 2006. We have so many young players and others that have experience. The youngsters are the future of the national team but have to be also present”.
The performance of the Azzuri cannot be judged on the Group stages having teams like Paraguay, Slovakia, and New Zealand in theirs. But what will be interesting to observe will be their tactics because Lippi will definitely take advantage of this and groom his players better for the upcoming stages.
Tags: