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#2 Flop: Italy's attack
One of Italy's more pressing concerns during the catastrophic World Cup qualifying campaign was the blunt attack. Scoring 21 times in 10 outings isn't bad, but 9 of them came against a Liechtenstein side that languishes at 180 in world rankings. So that's 12 goals in the other 8 games. Now the problem is conspicuous. And it doesn't seem to subside anytime soon.
Manager Roberto Mancini opted to deploy both Ciro Immobile and Simone Zaza upfront in a 4-4-2 shape after going with Mario Balotelli in the Poland game. But the decision didn't yield anything positive here too, as neither striker could muster anything of note in the match. Zaza was virtually nonexistent, while Immobile was clumsy and lacked confidence. And this time there was no penalty to come to their rescue.
Italy's midfield too failed to provide the creative support as Portugal weren't really tested. But the Azzurri strike force must click into gear soon enough else risk being relegated to League B.
