I dont know because he has shown his age. They'll just pair Ramos with Pique now but Spain are beatable no doubt and we'll see how good they are now when they have to face an Italy team with Pirlo on top of his game.
Italia can defeat Spain, the tough matches will be Holland and or Germany. The Germans are very very good, regardless of Italia historic success against Germany.
Realistically speaking, I think our chances aren't that great considering how weak our backline is. I honestly have very little confidence in our CB options, meanwhile I think we got a pretty potent attack and our midfield doesn't look too shabby. Best case scenario is a semi-final appearance in my opinion.
I agree that on paper our defence is not that great, and it's certainly no where near our previous backlines. However, Chiellini, Buffon, Bonucci and Barzagli formed the main part of Juve's defence and were unbeaten throughout the season. Plus i don't see any other teams out there with particularly strong defences.
Those of you doubting our central defensive options haven't been paying attention. Chiellini and Barzagli have been outstanding all season, and a key to Juve's successful, unbeaten season. Bonucci is, and always has been, the shaky option. I'm not saying we are the favorites, but this squad is solid all-around-no reason we can't win it all.
Exactly I don't get how Italy's defence is weak. Maybe we don't have all time greats like Nesta, Cannavaro, Maldini or Baresi back there, but as a group these guys are air tight. Juve conceded 19 goals this season that's nearly 1 goal every 2 games. What other team has that kind of cohesion in defense? A backline consisting of one team who happened to have arguably the best defense in Europe. The only teams to come close are Bayern conceding 22 in 34 games, Barca 27 in 37 games. Would you rather have Pique-Aberloa-Albiol-Ramos or Badstuber-Boateng-Hummels-Lahm or Cole-Cahill-Jones-Smalling or Evra-Mexes-Koscielny-Rami or Pepe-Contreao-Alves-Perreira or the Dutch backline?
I liked our chances from the start. I do miss Rossi though. Not sure why a lot of people are down on Italy.
I wouldn't want those defences. Is Coentrao really going to be a CB? He is a great LB! I reckon with Maggio --- Barza --- Bonucci --- Chiellini, our defence will be better than what most people give it credit for. We don't have lots of genuine stars like the other nations and in the past, neutrals would get greater exposure of the Serie A stars. Most people only really know Buffon, Pirlo and Balotelli. There are a lot less Serie A fans now, the league gets less coverage and if you don't follow the Serie A, guys like Giovinco, Nocerino, Montolivo and De Sanctis are the unknown quantity.
The only thing I take reassurance in concerning our backline is that there's already a lot of established chemistry, mainly due to the Juve players. Aside from that though, we don't have any players that come anwyhere near "world class" quality like we previously did. People make light of the fact that we no longer have guys like Cannavaro, Nesta, Zambrotta, MAterazzi, etc defending for us, but I really don't see how you can. Those guys were legitimate HEROES for us defensively on numerous occasions and literally stole games for us as a result. I think we have some solid players on our backline at the moment, but none of them strike me as being the kind of players that can come up in the clutch and steal games for us if need be.
Italy is in a group with tough match-ups, so we may not get to the knock-out rounds, but I agree with those who have pointed out how curiously undervalued the Azzurri are at the moment. A few things to bear in mind: 1. Despite the injury to Rossi, the Azzurri are pretty healthy. Cassano is back (and probably well-rested), and De Rossi, Montolivo, and Chiellini are expected to recover from their late-season knocks. 2. We should be less exhausted than the English, Spanish, and some Dutch and German players. Juventus didn't have the CL games this year; Milan and Napoli didn't stay in through the grueling late stages. Some of our key players played only half seasons, or weren't in Europe, and got decent rest (Balotelli, Cassano, etc.) 3. We do not have a superstar player like Ronaldo or Rooney. But we do have a good coach, good morale, and an attractive mix of talented young players and core veterans. Pirlo, Chiellii, Buffon, De Rossi, Balotelli and Cassano are all excellent. Some new faces like Borini, Giaccherini, and Ogbonna could give a boost. Our biggest weaknesses are probably in the backline and the lack of width (why didn't Prandelli call Cerci?). But I expect Italy to be far, far better at Euro 2012 than we were at the World Cup two years ago.
When have our current backline been given an opportunity to play and to "steal games for us?" You are comparing a group of players who haven't been given the spotlight to a group of players that played for a decade together. Really though, your opinion is baseless and your comparison is flawed. We have the most pessimistic fans it's ridiculous. Also, I doubt before WC 06 you thought Materazzi was a clutch player that could steal a game for us.
Not being pessimistic. I'm being realistic. If anything we have a fanbase that tends to overrate and overhype our NT squads till no end, only to be left going "wtf happened??" whenever we get bounced from a tourny early. Modest is one thing that Azzurri fans often are not. As for Materazzi a major reason as to why he looked so solid for us was because he had a spectacular Fabio Cannavaro playing alongside him. Cannavaro was so good that, in all fairness to guys like Barzagli and Matrix, he made his partners look BETTER. This became painfully apparent in that first match against Holland at Euro 08 when Barzagli and Matrix were paired together. Never had it been so apparent how badly we missed Cannavaro than in that match. Panucci being inserted as CB definitely helped tremendously though, and Chiellini thankfully had a solid tournament. I will however always be appreciative for MAtrix's two huge headers in 06, as well as being enough of a tw@t to get Zizou booted
As far as Euros go...get out of the group stage and any one of the 8 left have a legitimate chance of winning it all ...AKA Greece.
i will say it here...italy CAN win it all. If the players stay focused and no injuries...Italy can beat any of the top teams.
Not a chance, I'm afraid. Looking at the various squads, the likes of Bonucci, Marchisio, Di Natale, Giaccherini and Destro/Borini would never be selected by any other contender (bar maybe England, whose team truly sucks....no wonder Capello fled). 3 of them will probably be part of Italy's starting 11 (!!). 3rd place in the group stage and I'm being optimistic. I expect 2 points at most...draws against Spain and Ireland (unless we're already out and Trapattoni needs the win)...sure loss against Croatia, our only true bogey team.
LOL...we already saw that 'chemistry' in action against the USA. Look at Dempsey's goal...pure Laurel & Hardy-style comedy by the Giuve combo.
what have you been smoking? which teams besides germany, holland and spain have players way above di natale and marchisio? u guys make big deal out of other teams when they dont really have players either...marchisio is a solid midfielder who can score...di natale still plays like hes in mid 20s and as far as age, germany still uses klose who is the same age grass is always greener on the other side eh?
I can understand the Bonucci and Giaccherini criticism, but Marchisio? What are you watching? Bonucci may not even start. Di Natale is a decent option to have off the bench. Destro and/or Borini may not even make the squad-they are younger guys in for experience. Interesting that we don't even have a chance based on these essentially marginal players, barring Marchisio and possibly Di Natale and Bonucci.
Marchisio is the most overrated player in the history of Italian football. My doubts about Bonucci, Di Natale and the 2 youngsters mostly concern intangibles or tactical issues (Bonucci is mentally retarded, Di Natale needs the entire team to play for him and is mentally soft, Borini and Destro might improve in the future but, as of now, are unknown quantities), but with Marchisio it's all about his quality as a footballer. I just think he sucks. Juve's flukey victory won't make me change my mind (unlike most Giuve fans, who last year were calling for his head and today brand him as the new Leo Junior...). Juve's improvement in midfield is due to Pirlo and Vidal (Juve's best 2 men besides Romagnoli), not to him. Marchisio is the same player he was last year or 2 years ago.
When I read these two comments alone, it pretty much confirmed that you really have no sound basis for what you're saying-but the I realized that you were right. Clearly, Marchisio, who started almost every match in Juve's championship run, scoring almost ten goals from the MF, some critical, is the most overrated player in Italian history-and it was clearly a coincidence that he just so happened to play on Juve's flukey, unbeaten run to the scudetto; because basically every team that wins a title by fluke, playing every side twice, home and away, goes undefeated.
He also started for a Juve team that was the laughing stock of Italian football and for the worst Italian national team of the last 40 years. One season and a couple of goals (scoring goals is Marchisio's best feature....if he couldn't even score he'd be the epitome of uselessness) don't really change much in my view. Especially since Juve's midfield centered around Pirlo and Vidal, not around him. PS: Juve only went undefeated because of a scandalous call by the overtly corrupted linesman. Nothing to really brag about.