tha That sounds like a disaster for Italy considering they have to play Uruguay in the final game of the group. I say Italy just come out roaring against England and hopefully take away all three points. Why are we worried about settling with another team and their status in the group when Italy should be worried only about themselves and taking maximum points in each and every game? With that mentality of "settling" or trying to plan out a group ahead of time is how you end up getting screwed.
Win the group QF. I would say in terms of talent and ability there is tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 and then also rans. Tier 1 Brazil Spain Germany Argentina Tier 2 France Italy Portugal Belgium Colombia Italy can beat any of those tier one teams IMO but the overall talent is lacking to win it all. I say QF.
I would add Uruguay to Tier 2, as I think they will do very well in the South American environment. I would remove Belgium, who I think is overrated and will wilt in South America. I will say quarterfinals for Italy, then unfortunately they have a tough draw and will probably play Brazil or Spain. A winnable game, but I put it at 35% chance against Spain and 20% against Brazil.
“From the quarter-finals on wards we can say it has been a good World Cup and a positive tournament,” Buffon commented. “But naturally you are never fully satisfied. I don’t feel as if I can say today with certainty that we can reach the final. “I think that our national team has become one that is reliable and that manages to win the matches it should win. Sometimes we manage to cause surprises in the games in which we don’t start as favorites, giving the opposition some headaches. “I’m thinking about Spain, with whom we have drawn twice recently and Brazil, against whom we lost but played a great match. “At this moment, Italy are the team who can think about going the furthest compared with England and Uruguay – at least at the start of the tournament. “The favorites are Brazil, Spain, Germany and Argentina. We are slightly further back.”
Buffon is a BOSS so eloquent and very accurate on nearly all of his points. Italy is In tier 2 of contenders but anything can happen.
i dont think uruguay is gonna be that great. other than the fact that its s. america....other than suarez (who prob wont even play) and cavani, they have no one else that is good. forlan and lugano are old, caceres and the keeper (forgot his name) are average
If you look at history and trend since 1970, Italy will finish 3rd to 6th place. S. American team to win the WC, most likely Brazil.
What I don't really understand is, if FIFA only allows 23, how can Prandelli say he may bring 24 or 25 players? Prandelli "allarga" la lista. "Forse 24 o 25 in Brasile"
You can only change the roster after June 3rd if there is a significant injury to one of the 23 players. So, he'd carry an extra guy or two to Brazil in case one of the 23 gets injured...I'm not sure if other nations are playing to do the same.
I admit: I'm worried. From 2012-2014 Prandelli has found better players and upgraded Italy at every position (consider: Perin, Paletta, Candreva, Verratti, De Sciglio, Darmian, Insigne, Cerci, vs. Marchetti, Ogbonna, Giacherrini, Balzaretti, Maggio, Osvaldo, etc.) yet something is still missing for the Azzurri. This is a team that should win more, dominate more, and inspire more fear, yet I can't remember the last time we strung together a series of convincing victories. Perhaps we suffer for the imbalances in the squad. We are missing at least one great full-back, a trequartista, and a clinical finisher--the exclusion of Rossi is particularly devastating from that point of view--and Prandelli has left it rather late to solve these issues. If we get out of our very tough group, it's hard for me to hope for more than a dignified loss in the quarterfinals. To imagine this team beating Brazil or Spain is a stretch--they're a talented bunch, with an intriguing blend of youth and age, but perhaps lacking that extra something.
I think he is bringing Ranocchia because Barzagli is questionable. He hardly played at the end of the year and he probably is not 100% fit.
I recall how everyone complained about Lippi before the tournament in 2006 and his selections , especially in his leaving off Panucci and 3-4 weeks later, everyone called him a hero wanting to kiss his feet. How fickle we are......
i understand what you're saying but when has italy ever been like that? from what i remember all my life, the best has been a good italy squad but it has never been a team that people felt confident enough to put their money like they would do to brazil, germany, holland and now spain. and today under prandelli, he experiments in the friendlies so italy loses majority of them, its not an indication of how italy will do in the tournament. if you recall italy lost to russia 3-0 few days before euro 2012 and they went on to the final. just leave everything up to the pitch. its all about that day and how the team is focused. if they dont lose focus, they can beat brazil too. to beat spain, prandelli must go with 3-5-2
Even if Brazil is under pressure and doesn't play well, they are still at home and I don't see them getting worse as the tournament progresses , whether Hulk is injured or not. After Italy beat England however, winning the group isn't all that far out of reach. By looking at the brackets, if Italy wins their group and avoids facing Brazil, they may very well go far.
Assuming we don't "complica la vita" (and Italy love to do that), we can probably win Group D by beating CRC decisively. That would set Italy up for Ivory Coast in the Round of 16, and Holland (or Chile?) after. Those are both tough games, but you never know, Prandelli has shown he can pull those epic performances out of Italy. Beyond that there would be only huge games to come, doubtlessly involving the likes of Argentina, Germany, or Brazil. I'm not sure we're up to that yet, but perhaps we can grow from game to game. The thing to fix is the defense. I really want to see how the team looks with De Sciglio on the left, Darmian on the right, and Chiellini and Barzagli in the center. Get that sorted and then figure out how to better supply Mario--perhaps Cassano in the false nine role. I think Prandelli needs to keep his midfield intact. Pirlo, De Rossi, and Verratti can control most any game.
Was it my imagination or was the Brazilian crowd behind Italy yesterday? I could have sworn I heard "Olé" (or whatever the Portuguese equivalent is) each time Italy & Pirlo completed a pass.....
Hope I'm wrong but I think we'll be cooked with all the heat in these group games. Every other game I've watched has been at a good tempo and running into Ivory Coast could be it for us. They just overpowered Japan with ease. Hopefully Uru-Eng is a draw so if we win against CR, we can rest all players in the 3rd.
I think Hogsdon (sp?) pre-tournament comments about not wanting to play in Manaus had the locals cheering for us. I can't imagine that will always be the case. I would guess that the neutrals support Costa Rica in the next match-even though I have read that the Brazilians love Balotelli and admire Pirlo.
Prandelli has the right idea in playing possession football in these conditions. Italy looked fresher than England in that match, especially late in the match. One of the most important and positive signs from the match was the way the Azzurri players held up in the uncomfortable climate. And we are Italian. "Rispetto per tutti. Paura di nessuno."
What kind of Italian are you??? There is no chance we lose to Ivory Coast…..zero. And if we beat Costa Rica, there is a possibility that we could rest key players against Uruguay also. As worthless as the Confederations Cup may be, it will help us in this tournament. We know what to expect weather wise, and Prandelli has been preparing us to face that adversity. Yeah Hodgson pissed off the locals when he found out the game was taking pace in Manaus and made certain derogatory comments. The Mayor of the city was promising that neutrals were going to root for Italy hard... and they did.
The funny thing was that the comments the English CT made were not really derogatory. It seems like the locals just took them out of context. Good for us lol