Forza (exit) Italia

Italia … All but out from SA

Italy have been dumped out of the World Cup. People were always critical about them from the start of the tournament ,there were many issues –the aging squad being the prime reason people not tipping them as frontrunners. But Marcelo Lippi was more than confident about his squad like a good manager would always do .But the critics have been proven right with a dismal outing in Africa.

They were far from convincing in the three games that they played. The backline with illustrious name of Zambrotta, Cheinelli and Cannavarro looked a bit out of shape. But the two biggest problem were the forwards and the misfortune of losing Andréa Pirlo the midfield lynchpin for the first two matches. It’s true that Italians play a bit defensively securing their goal rather than scoring in others but its what works for them because they are known to be airtight at the back and are vicious on the counter.

This time round they came into the world cup as defending champs and had an easy group on the paper, but it didn’t turn out that way .This was perhaps the grittiest group in the whole tournament, each of the team could have qualified on the last day. Italy was still the bookmaker’s favorites to come out on top. But they were against a resolute and composed Slovakian team playing their first world cup ever since being separated from Czechoslovakia .Like every Czechoslovakian or perhaps Slovak teams this too was devoid of star players but had a great work rate and ethics on the field which made Italians fumble at the important moments and concede .

They were not any stronger on attacking front, last world cup saw forwards like Francesco Totti, Luca Toni and Alessandro del piero play for the last time on the biggest stage of them all. Italy were not able to fill the void, with a rising star like Giuseppe Rossi not even included in the squad and players like di Natalie and pazzini scarcely used despite being in top form domestically proved that coach was relying too much on MATURE players.

Iaquinta was the most favoured striker and was no where near being lethal. The onus of providing flair and creativity in the middle of park was like always on pirlo and with him not fit for the matches there was hardly any vision in the midfield. cannavaro hardly looked the leader he was, Buffon was weighed down by injury, Danielle de Rossi was the only one who seemed up for it.

Italy going out like this is perhaps justified and somewhat a question on the Italian game as a whole. They don’t play the best brand of football out there but still they are known for the concrete play tactical astuteness. But team lost and there are no culprits who can be put to swords because it was a simple fact that they were not the best team in the group, they never looked the defending champions. The team looked crestfallen at the end and quagliarella who scored an amazing goal with a chip looked more than just glum, he breaking down like that at the end of the match typified what it meant to him and the Azzuri fans.