Gli Azzurri: A Roman Renaissance

The maiden African FIFA World Cup 2010 saw Italian football slump to an all-time low. They were knocked out in the group stage losing to debutants Slovakia 3-2 in a must-win game, after successive 1-1 draws against Paraguay and minnows New Zealand respectively.

The Italians failed to register a victory in a World Cup for the first time in their illustrious history and suffered ignominy, finishing bottom of a negotiable group.

It sounded the death knell for Marcello Lippi, who had led them to glory in the previous edition, and also for the old Italy which had sometimes unnecessarily been negative despite having creative talents. It was a time for retrospection. The time for change had come and the Azzurri needed to rebuild.

The reins of the national team was handed over to Cesare Prandelli, a master tactician who came into prominence with Fiorentina. However, he did not get off to the best of starts as Italy lost to Ivory Coast by a solitary goal in his first game in-charge. Prandelli remained upbeat and his vision of a progressive Italy gradually started to take shape.

The slump in Italian football also reflected in the domestic circuit as Serie A lost a Champions League spot to Germany as Bundesliga took the lead in the UEFA’s league coefficient ranking in 2011. This meant Italy would have only three teams in the Europe’s elite club competition. Evidently the performances of the country’s best had been paltry in the past few seasons.

Inter Milan lost to an unfancied Schalke 5-2 at home in the 2010-2011 Champions League quarters. AC Milan were beaten at San Siro by Manchester United before suffering a record 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford in the 2009-2010 season round of 16 tie. Juventus were knocked out by Bayern Munich beaten 4-1 at home in the group stages of the same season.

The seeds of transformation took effect eventually. Napoli showed lot of flair, resolve and battling qualities in their Champions league games against Bayern, Manchester City and Chelsea. Juventus went unbeaten on their way to championship glory in the last league season. They played some pure possession football along the way, emphasizing on the value of keeping the ball which the national side would go on to reflect in Euro 2012. It was evident that the Italians were evolving towards positive football.

The national side put a strong qualification campaign for the European championship as the Azzurri remained unbeaten and topped their group ahead of Serbia. The pre-tournament friendlies did not go well as the Azzurri suffered defeats against the USA and Russia. Clouds of match-fixing hung in the air as the Italians arrived in Poland. The question remained whether the team would be embarrassed again or undo their World Cup debacle.

The opening game against Spain kicked-off Italy’s redemption. They were superb, putting pressure on the Spanish whenever they had the ball and manipulated the ball very well whenever in possession. This new-look Italy looked comfortable on the ball and tactically flexible, playing a 3-5-2 formation matching the Spanish toe for toe. They deservedly took the lead through a Di Natalie goal who was released by a sumptuous through ball from Pirlo. Italy drew the game but the renaissance had begun.

The game against Croatia was a game of two-halves. The Italians were dominant in the first once again exhibiting their flair and creating some very good chances but had only a goal to show for in the first half. Croatians pegged them back equalizing in the second-half. The game against the Irish showed glimpses of the Catenaccio even though Italy got the desired result and made it into the quarters.

It was in the knock-out stages where Italy showed the scale of their evolution under Prandelli. They outplayed England throughout the 120 minutes and eventually overcame them on penalties which used to be a curse for Italy themselves until the World Cup 2006 final .Pirlo gave a master-class to the English on using the ball. In the semis, the highly-rated Germans were put to the sword as the Italians balanced their attacking game and defensive solidity impeccably to maintain their impressive record over the Diemannschaft in major championships.

Although, the final turned out to be an anti-climax as Italy lost 4-0 to Spain, there were positives as Italy tried to play their possession game throughout the match and had it not been for poor finishing, they could have got back into the game. They even edged out Spain in possession in the first half, but again, their lack of killer-instinct hurt them.

The vibrant performance in the Euros won the hearts of the people as Cesare Prandelli’s side were applauded back home for a wonderful display of positive football. The Azzurri had risen from the ashes and Rome had seen another renaissance.