Italy

Italy has had a turbulent couple of years. Rioting fans, match fixing scandals, a dismal exit from the 2010 World Cup and the emergence of the enigmatic Mario Balotelli have all added to the sarga. Yet, the Azzurri remained undefeated during qualifying and despite their shaky start, topped Group C comfortably. A 0-0 draw at Windsor Park against Northern Ireland was a worrying sign, but when 4 days later Serbian fans instigated a riot inside Genoa’s stadium, Italy were handed three points from their main rivals. After 6 minutes the game was abandoned as Serbian fans threw flares onto the pitch, the match was ruled as forfeited giving Italy a 3-0 win. From then on the Italian’s looked comfortable. They conceded just two goals in the entire qualification period. Yet goals scored were not exactly easy to come by and despite topping the group their last three friendlies have resulted in a 0-0 draw away at Poland, and two 1-0 losses at home to Uruguay and the USA. This lack of stringent testing could hamper Italy in what is a tough draw in Poland. Their opening match is against Spain in Gdansk. The last meeting between these two teams was in August the previous year with Italy winning 2-1 against the World Champions. However, the confidence gained from that result is offset by the other friendly that summer, a 2-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland, who provide the opposition for the final game in Group C that could potentially decide who progresses to the quarter finals. Omnipresent Italian captain Gianluigi Buffon will be the man between the sticks. 113 caps, Serie A goalkeeper of the year award a record eight times and a World Cup Winners medal all clearly demonstrates the calibre of this distinguished player. Sitting in front of Buffon is fellow Juventus player Giorgio Chiellini. The hard tackling central defender put ex-captain Fabio Cannavaro out of Euro 2008, injuring him in training, which in turn has turned out fortunate for Chiellini. It provided him with the chance to represent Italy in the tournament, performing well which allowed him to cement his place in the national side. Having now reached 50 caps he is one of the more experienced players in the Italian squad. Another of those is Daniele De Rossi. The tenacious midfield player is loved by Italian fans for his high work rate and strong commitment to the game. He has been the driving force in the centre of the park for six years now and is looked upon to break up opposition play. Alongside De Rossi sits Andrea Pirlo and Thiago Motta. Brazilian born Motta comes from Italian descendent and in 2011 played his first game for the Azzurri. In only his second game Motta scored the goal that beat Slovenia in the qualifying stages for Euro 2012. His presence in the Italian midfield could be invaluable, provided he does not get injured. Head coach Cesare Prandelli likes to play with two frontmen with another sitting just behind in a playmaker role. With no natural wingers on the pitch, this could make Italy very narrow. However, with players such as Pirlo, craving paths through the middle of the park should not be an issue. One of the two strikers will be Milan’s controversial forward Antonio Cassano. Cassano’s talent has never been in doubt, he was the Azzurri’s top scorer in qualifying with 6 but his short temper and bad attitude has been his Achilles heel. I dread to think what would happen if things were not going right and his partner upfront was Mario Balotelli. Other options could be former Manchester United player Giuseppe Rossi or Inter Milan forward Giampaolo Pazzini, nicknamed ‘The Madman’. So, Italy may well be in for another bumpy summer. Their group is difficult and without a solid unity it may be hard to perform to the high standard required to progress in the tournament. If the campaign does not start strongly then we could see another internal explosion from some hot-headed players. Despite their talent, this could be another disappointing tournament for the Italians.