I like the selection Prandelli made, lets see the final squad. An attack of Cassano/Balotelli/Di Natale or Giovinco sounds exciting, if they gel they could carry us far. Also I think Veratti will be a major suprise if given the time on the field.
Searching for some sense of comfort or reassurance? Just think about our 2010 performance and tell yourself that there's no way we could possibly do any WORSE.
Del Bosque has announced his 23-man squad for Euro 2012. Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas Real Madrid Pepe Reina Liverpool Victor Valdes Barcelona Defenders: Raul Albiol Real Madrid Jordi Alba Valencia Alvaro Arbeloa Real Madrid Sergio Ramos Real Madrid Juanfran Torres Atletico Madrid Gerard Pique Barcelona Javi Martinez Athletic Bilbao Midfielders: Sergio Busquets Barcelona Xavi Barcelona Andres Iniesta Barcelona Xabi Alonso Real Madrid Santi Cazorla Malaga Cesc Fabregas Barcelona David Silva Manchester City Jesus Navas Sevilla Juan Mata Chelsea Attackers Pedro Barcelona Alvaro Negredo Sevilla Fernando Torres Chelsea Fernando Llorente Athletic Bilbao Only 4 strikers were officially called but we must consider that there are many attacking midfielders. Silva can play as SS also.. that being said, we shouldn't be scared to play against 3/4 of Barcelona: if it happens, we'll be severely beaten...
I have a feeling that this will be a high scoring tournament.. I look at Germany, Holland, France and even Spain and think that they all look vulnerable at the back.. this has also been highlighted in recent friendlies. Maybe Italy and England can do well in this tournament through disciplined defending and good counter attacking, which is a style that suits both our teams..
A strong Juve = a strong Italy 2006 - Juventus champions of Italy .... 2006 - Italy World Cup Champions..2012 - Juventus champions of Italy .... 2012 - Italy is preparing for Euro 2012...1964 Spain won the Euro followed by Italy in 1968 2008 Spain won the Euro I haven't been this excited about a tournament since 2006, I believe Italy can win
The police showed up at Coverciano and arrested Criscito over the betting scandal. Not sure where that falls under Prandelli's code of conduct...
No, Criscito hasn't been arrrested....hes' "only" investigated so far....but prosecutors can change their decisions in every moment...and later today Prandelli is announcing his EURO 2012 squad.
Spains lack of defenders surprises me, as Alba, Juanfran and Martinez are all natural midfielders...they look dodgy at the back for sure, especially without Puyol
yes but they are not supposed to be first-starters....regular backline consists of Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Piquè, Albiol...IMHO.
Alba could start, still a backline of Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Piquè, Albiol does not look great, but i suppose Spain's best defence is their offence
Now, Italy players are involved in match fixing scandals. It reminds me of year 2006 when we won the world cup. Is this a sign? Anyway, hope that we could win!
Not to be mean (and I see you were repped a couple times for this...) but that's one of the more misguided things I've ever read.
History does repeat itself and is important for understanding the world, but it's not a sure way to predict the future. See 06 final where we actually won on penalty kicks for a change.
There is no sure way to predict the future but to say that history doesn't mean shizz... Way off base, in my opinion. Italy beat Holland (if I recall) on PKs in the semifinals of Euro 2000. Anyway, PKs are a coin toss.
what are you talking about?? u just answered yourself, you CANNOT predict the future so how is my statement WAY OFF BASE? u guys need to get off your supersticious bs...every tournament, every year is different with new players and coaches...i dont give a damn how many times one team lost to another in what month and where the moons and stars were lined up.
History is never antiquated, because humanity is always fundamentally the same. ~Walter Rauschenbusch
i agree, history doesnt determine the futer, but its a good inidicator, italy do poorly in this comp compared to the wc, theres obviously a reason and history has always indicated that us fans shouldnt expect a win in a euros comp, like i said though its not a guarentee but to say it doesnt mean shit is not 100% coreect the only problem with this is that those teams that won the wc's during scandels had alreadly played together for a years and acheived important results either with italy and/or italy-u21, i think we have decent talnt in the team though to have a good tooney at least,
"it doesnt mean shit" is just a figure of speech. Meaning it should not affect the players, coaches, fans not one bit because what happened in past has nothing to do with whats coming up. If thats the case then everyone goes into a match assuming they will lose, tie or win....when in reallity u should go into every game to win it. Give your hardest, etc.....u should not even think about oh we lost 5 times to this team. At least a world power house team like italy should always go into things with a winning mentallity.
I think Spain are in trouble. Too many injuries (Villa, Puyol), players out of form (Pique, Silva, Pedro, Torres, etc.), or players just plain exhausted (Xavi, Barca block). Some of the Spanish players have played 50-60 games this year, between NT, friendlies, Champions League, cup, and league. If Italy can scrape a point vs. Spain, or even manage a surprise win, I expect them to survive the group. Once in the knock-out round, anything can happen. A striker gets hot, you get a couple of lucky breaks, and hey, you're in the final. The Euro is just six games in the middle of summer. Have much more confidence in Italy now than I did in 2010 and 2009 (before both those tournaments DDR and I predicted three-and-out performances, correctly ...).
i predict italy will beat spain and croatia...then lose to ireland to let them thru while spain beats the shit out of croatia last game hoping to make it passed the group but they wont, it'll be italy ireland
I have a tough time putting my finger on this Euro. I was confident going into the 2006 WC, and confident in the coming disasters in the two tournaments that follow. Here I just have so many mixed feelings. I've been taking comfort in the scandal, because history shows we do better when there is a good scandal. At the same time saying it I feel like cheap gypsy fortune teller saying that. That's the kind of crap that's true until it's not true. Italy does well and you can blame it on the scandal. If not you say well the only time we one the Euro there was no scandal so there you go. I'm really disappointed the game yesterday got called off. I really wanted to see the team play together and see what the attacking movements look like. It's a huge loss for us going into this tournament. I feel like my hopes rest with Balotelli, if he can rise to the occasion then he can be that little extra that takes us to the next stage. I think he wants it to, I want to believe he realizes his occasion and wants to prove himself to Italy. At the same time nothing is worse than a bad reputation. I pray to god Prandelli tells him to just worry about attack and not defend, I easily see him being punished for the slightest of touches. I also see his opponents milking it as much as possible. When is the next friendly? Will the missed friendly be made up?
I pray to God that Prandelli plays Balotelli up top. Let him be the central striker he was born to be. When he plays out on the wing it is a waste of his talent, and he tends to get too involved in defensive duties and bad tackles.
I think Balo will get the central role, but if he isn't firing on all cylinders Di Natale will be drafted in, it's a pity the friendly got called off as we would've been able to see an idea of how the team will play