http://www.football-italia.net/feb07h.html not the best draw, as serbia and slovenia could cause some problems, especially serbia, but could have been worse.
Top 2 of the group through? Nevermind, found my answer. [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular] Tough group but we always perform better against top team. [/FONT]
Interesting group. There will be good challenges in there. Serbia and Slovenia are fairly strong teams, but overall the group is easier than that of 2008, which had France and Scotland. Speaking of France, thet will play Romania again, following Euro 2008 Finals and WC 2010 Qualifying. Hope we can do better against Faroe Islands. But fact is they've been playing a little better since then, with fewer big defeats. Serenissima will play Moldova. Maybe a chance to snatch some points?
Appoint CESARE PRANDELLI as coach!! He's a perfect coach for the "la Nazionale". He will represent Italy great because of he's amazing TACTIAN. I'm looking forward to this tournament so much because I'm excited as what young players will be included in our squad and the old players that are gonna finally be leaving. I expect players such as Marchisio, Criscito, Rossi, Poli, Santon, Balotelli, Paloschi, Bocchetti, De Silvestri, Rannochia, and maybe perhaps Forestieri..??.. with leadership of DDR & Chiellini would be among callups. WOW!! BUT we got the World Cup to deal with first. Let's give our best effort to support the AZZURRI when the battle down in Johannesburg. FORZA Calcio & AZZURRI!!
Euro 2012 Special: What Italy, England, Spain, France, Germany & Holland’s Teams Will Look Like At Euro 2012 The qualifying draw for Euro 2012 was made yesterday in Warsaw, and Goal.com’s experts get together to predict what the top nation’s starting XI’s could look like in Poland and Ukraine in two-and-a-half year’s time… http://goal.com/en/news/2898/euro-2...ecial-what-italy-england-spain-france-germany WHAT A BRIGHT, TALENTED, YOUNG SQUAD TO LOOK FORWARD TO!!!
candreva and motta look like big weak points, maybe santon on the right, criscito on the left and hopefully the emergence of a better midfield than candreva (or he shows massive improvement). he's a good, promising player no doubt, but we will see. Aquilani and montolivo have a good chance to be in the starting line-up, especially if they can finally prove they can show up in big matches. montolivo gets his chance with this year's cl ties as right now he has had a very good season for fiore, even i must admit.
EZEQUIEL SCHELOTTO and ANDREA POLI. According to the Goal.com EURO2012 squad, we'll still have Pirlo and Buffon. I don't think so. I think Andrea Poli have a huge amount of talent who has been playing alongside Palombo since he just turned 19. While Vincenzo Fiorillo, Mattia Perin, or Federico Marchetti would likely to replace Buffon. Ezequiel Schelotto is an Italian Argentine whom Lippi already labeled as the best RM prospect the world got. Although, S. El Shaarawi have something to say about that. Like I said before and I say it again, Euro 2006 will have a totally new look squad. A completely revamped from the one that we're having this year. Probably and most likely a new 'la Nazionale' head coach. It's gonna be fun. FORZA AZZURRI & CALCIO!
I agree with you in that Pirlo may not necessarily be around, or at least likely won't be starting. But Buffon? Perin gets no time in Serie A (isn't he in Genoa's primavera squad?) and Fiorillo is very talented yes, but very young (he's on loan in Serie B right now). I highly doubt that these two youngsters will be between the sticks in two years time over Buffon. I know you might be thinking that he'll be 34 by the time EURO 2012 comes around but goalkeepers can play at high levels until their late thirties (See Van Der Sar, Zoff, etc.). I understand he hasn't had a great season thus far, but jesh...
Salvatore Sirigu?? Fiorillo is being prepared to replace Castelazzi. On loan at Reggina to replace him. Don't you think?? Perin just got called up for the u21 team. I guess he can wait until FIFA 2014.
Marchetti, Sirigu, Mirante, Viviano...there are some good keepers blossoming....but I don't see why we should replace Buffon, unless he's crippled. De Sanctis, Storari, Sorrentino and Abbiati (if he finally starts playing for Milan) are also reliable 'veteran' options. Perin has yet to play a pro game, let him develop in peace. Fiorillo needs to improve massively if he wants to be a starter in Serie A...let alone feature in the national team.
Dates for Group C Qualification Matches: 8/11/10: Estonia - Isole Far Oer 9/3/10: Estonia – Italia Isole Far Oer – Serbia Slovenia – Irlanda del Nord 9/7/10: Italia – Isole Far Oer Serbia – Slovenia 10/8/10: Irlanda del Nord – Italia Serbia – Estonia Slovenia – Isole Far Oer 10/12/10: Italia – Serbia Isole Far Oer – Irlanda del Nord Estonia - Slovenia 3/25/11: Slovenia – Italia Serbia – Irlanda del Nord 3/29/11: Irlanda del Nord – Slovenia Estonia – Serbia 6/3/11: Italia – Estonia Isole Far Oer – Slovenia 6/7/11: Isole Far Oer - Estonia 8/10/11: Irlanda del Nord - Isole Far Oer 9/2/11: Isole Far Oer – Italia Slovenia – Estonia Irlanda del Nord - Serbia 9/6/11: Italia – Slovenia Serbia – Isole Far Oer Estonia – Irlanda del Nord 10/7/11: Serbia – Italia Irlanda del Nord – Estonia 10/11/11: Italia – Irlanda del Nord Slovenia - Serbia
I also saw the fixtures when they were released today. I was hoping someone on this board could let me know what the availability is like for Italy's games over here in the U.S. Does RAI show every single Italy game - home and away? If not, are there other networks who share the load? Are there some games that are simply not broadcast? Just trying to do some planning ahead of the Oct 8th game versus Northern Ireland. Thanks in advance.
Well, what can I say, being from Estonia, I couldn't be happier with the fixtures. To play Italy first thing after the World Cup - to my mind the only possibility for us to get something out of the game. Also, great timing for the reverse game, vacations and all. Will be a great trip. ... Good luck and see you soon!