With Italy out of the 2010 World Cup, we have plenty of time to plan for the future and avoid any mistakes we made in this tournament. So it's important to know what Italy did wrong, the mistakes that cost us dearly in the World Cup, making us end up last in the group, behind […]

The Azzurri performed poorly throughout the World Cup and waited till the 80th minute of the match against Slovakia to start playing when it was too late to make a reaction to compensate for the failures in the previous 260 minutes of football. What is most troubling is the fact the Italian reaction was not […]

What should be considered a fair result; Slovakia were better, and Italy were poor, it's just as simple as that. In the end Italy ends up right where they deserve to end up, the bottom of the table, behind New Zealand, Slovakia, and Paraguay. Italy has not played well throughout their three games, only turning […]

Lippi has a strange team of players for this 2010 World Cup, while he's decided to stick with some of the old guard, we've also seen him pick a couple of youngsters. But one thing is constant throughout Lippi's selections, Marcello Lippi's omnipresent affection towards picking and relying on Juventus players. This has led to […]

Italy managed to draw 1-1 against both Paraguay and New Zealand while failing to impress despite having seen a lot in terms of ball possession, in particular against the Kiwis when the Italians had just over 70% in terms of ball possession. Pundits and fans alike are debating what has gone wrong for the Azzurri […]

Yet another disappointing result for the Azzurri, while they drew with Paraguay last round of matches, that result seemed acceptable because New Zealand and Slovakia drew as well. But a draw against New Zealand, knowing that Paraguay had beaten Slovakia 2-0 is definitely a bad result. Lippi decided to start with a standard 4-4-2 formation, […]

Italy have just concluded their final friendly before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and it seems like the Azzurri have been asleep for these friendlies. While a 1-1 draw is certainly better than the 2-1 loss they suffered to Mexico, the current World Cup champions seem pretty ordinary before the tournament kicks off. […]

Lippi has announced his final squad of 23 he will be taking to South Africa, while there aren't too many major surprises, there were two exclusions in the attacking department which seem a bit strange. Here's the final 23-man squad: Goal-keepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari) Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci […]

La Gazzetta dello Sport has confirmed that the coach that will follow in Marcello Lippi's footsteps will be Cesare Prandelli. The ex-Fiorentina coach seems to have reached an agreement with the FIGC chief Giancarlo Abete and will take over as soon as Lippi's contract expires on July 30th. Prandelli's contract is four years long until […]

Italy coach Marcello Lippi has picked 29 players for training this week but did not include any players from Roma or Inter who will be contesting the Coppa Italia final. Serie A leaders Inter will probably not have any member in the Azzurri squad headed to South Africa 2010 considering Davide Santon is injured while […]

Giampaolo Pazzini scored a double against Roma to lift Sampdoria to a precious 2-1 win and more significantly the Azzurri hopeful handed the title advantage to Inter while confirming his club's European credentials ahead of Palermo and Juventus. With Inter now in the lead, the only match which could see them potentially drop points will […]

Roma were able to fight back and beat their city rivals Lazio after trailing 1-0 at half-time. There were major events during the match starting with the missed penalty by Lazio and then the two surprising yet key substitutions made by Claudio Ranieri. The former Juventus boss removed both of his stars Francesco Totti and […]

The Azzurri will be in Group C along with Serbia, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Estonia and Faroe Islands. While the last three teams should not pose a threat to the Italians, the main threat will be coming from both Serbia and Slovenia. Italy tends to struggle against weaker opposition so it would be wrong to dismiss […]

Juventus suffered another defeat which perhaps came as no surprise despite the fact Roma were rather not impressive until the penalty-kick which was converted by Francesco Totti. The Bianconeri did not deserve to lose the match but the players have certainly been struggling despite putting in a better effort against the Giallorossi. Without discussing the […]

There you have it, Italy in Group F, drawn with New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia. A relatively simple group and one Marcelo Lippi should take the Azzurri through with comfort. Group F Italy New Zealand Paraguay Slovakia They begin the defence of their crown in Capetown at the Greenpoint soccer stadium on June 14th 2010 […]