2010 was a bad year for Italian football. I tried to think of the positives, but very few came to mind. A disastrous World Cup in South Africa, a bad showing in the Europa League, and only a Champions League victory (guided by a Portuguese mastermind) which retains some dignity for Italian football. While […]

Italy boss Cesare Prandelli announced his 23 man squad for the friendly against the Ivory Coast which will take place on Tuesday in England. Many of the names chosen by Marcello Lippi were dropped. Prandelli made some expected changes following the World Cup disappointment with Fabio Quagliarella the only striker remaining from the team selected […]

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 […]

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 […]

Despite Italy's lackluster performance in their first two group stage matches, the Azzurri have the chance to advance into the next round of the World Cup with a win or a tie plus help. Some excellent analyses of the Italian team's weaknesses have been published over the last few days, and the negatives about this Italian […]

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 […]

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, […]

By now you have undoubtedly heard about the injury to Gigi Buffon and his questionable status for the remainder of the World Cup. Reading between the lines of the statements coming out of the Italian camp it looks like possibly the best keeper in the world could actually miss the entire World Cup. And in […]

The biggest "win" in New Zealand soccer history was also a major victory for the Italian national team. Slovakia was the better club for ninety minutes today, taking a 1-0 lead over New Zealand early in the second half on a goal by Robert Vittek. The All Whites, who looked like a club playing in […]

The Azzurri have played their first match, and while some will view the 1-1 draw result as a bad thing, the match was actually filled with positives for Italy. Although we've seen Germany demolish Australia 4-0, I think that the Azzurri match was unique, it finally felt like I was watching a World Cup match. […]

An ESPN interview with some of the Italian national team players shows that not even the squad seems to know who will be on the pitch on Sunday when they kick off versus Paraguay. Marcello Lippi has been tight-lipped about who will start and what formation the Azzurri will play, even noting that the 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. […]

The 2010 World Cup is coming fast, and the time has come where provisional squads are being announced from countries in the tournament. The FIGC (Federazione Italiana Giouco Calcio) or the Italian FA has revealed the 30-man provisional squad chosen by Marcello Lippi. Here are all 30 players in their positions and the clubs they play […]

If he were an opera star, he would be il divo. If he were an American sports star, he would be called a prima dona (yes, Americans don’t speak other languages well) and be compared to Terrell Owens or various NBA figures. If he was a politician, he would rise to stratospheric heights only to […]

With Brazilian striker Amauri close to becoming an Italian citizen, it looks like Bayern Munich's Luca Toni will find it quite hard to represent Italy in South Africa. Azzurri Boss Marcello Lippi has hinted on more than one occasion that Amauri will be very useful for the national team. The raging debate is whether more foreign born players […]