150 Days Until Italy Defend their Title!

January 13, 2010

We are now just 150 days away from the first World Cup to be held on African soil! The groups have been drawn, the coaches have been thinking and the players are deciding whether a transfer in this January window would help their chances of making that final 23 man squad.

The Italian National Tem has been drawn against: Slovakia, Paraguay and New Zealand in the group stage of the 2010 World Cup. In my opinion I believe this to be a group which Italy fans can be very happy with indeed! We escaped the ‘group of death’ (Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast, North Korea) and were placed in a group which poses very little challenge. However Marcello Lippi claims that there are ‘No easy groups’ and that the first game will be the toughest of all. Italy will play there three games in: Cape Town, Nelspruit and Johannesburg and are widely expected to comfortably qualify for the last 16 top of their group.

So who should Marcello Lippi take to South Africa? Should he rely on the ‘Golden Oldies’ from 2006? Should he recall Nesta and Totti from retirement? Or should he leave it to the youngsters? However the big question that is on every Italy fan’s mind is, will he call up Antonio Cassano? During the past few matches against Holland and Sweden, Lippi has called up a number of youngsters such as: Salvatore Bocchetti of Genoa, Antonio Candreva of Livorno and Davide Biondini of Cagliari. They have all impressed but will it be enough to secure their ticket to South Africa?

The January transfer window is not usually the most exciting time of the year, but in the 5 months before a World Cup it becomes the most important month for players who want to get on that plane to South Africa. They must decide whether or not they need to transfer clubs to be in with a chance of playing more first team football or stick it out at the club they are currently at? Luca Toni is a prime example of this; he was getting very little playing time at Bayern Munich and had fallen out with the coach Louis Van Gaal, he was dropped from the past few Italy squads, and lost the spark he had in the 05/06 season for Fiorentina. However the 6ft 5 striker believes a loan spell at Roma is just what his career needs. He made his starting 11 debut on Saturday night against Chievo and was largely impressive, but it still remains to be seen whether or not Lippi will be impressed enough to recall him for South Africa.

One of the major talking points leading up to the World Cup is whether or not Lippi will pick Brazilian born Amauri for his squad, there is no doubting he has the talent but would it be fair on players such as Pazzini, Rossi or Palladino? In my opinion I do not believe we should let him play in this World Cup, because he will not get his Italian passport until a couple of months before the tournament and will therefore not be able to play with his team mates before the tournament. Besides I would rather reward players such as Rossi and Pazzini who consistently play well for club and country with a World Cup. I would also much prefer an out an out Italian to score the winning goal in the final, than see a Brazilian (Who is Italian through marriage) would you not?

Every Report I do from now on until the World Cup will consist of talking about one specific position in the team, and who should be on the plane for that position. This report will be on the position of the Goalkeeper. There is only one man on everyone’s lips, he practically comes printed on the team sheet whenever Lippi picks his squad’s and he is arguably the best keeper in the world, Gianluigi Buffon A.K.A. Superman! There is no doubting his ability and his extraordinary save from Zidane in the 2006 final was proof enough, but the problem lies with picking his two replacements. There are, in my opinion, just three names worth considering: Federico Marchetti, Marco Amelia and Morgan De Sanctis. All three prove worthy of a place in the squad but in my opinion I think the gloves should go to Marco Amelia and Federico Marchetti, purely for the fact that Amelia has a bit more experience than the others and that Marchetti is younger than De Sanctis and therefore promoting a more youthful approach.

So who will Lippi call up? Will we see Cassano and Totti? What about Amauri? Will we equal Brazil’s record of five World Cup wins? It’s only a matter of months until we find out! South Africa 2010, It’s around the corner!

Fabio Sarlo

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