Italy Take Six Points in 2010 Qualifiers
September 12, 2008
Marcello Lippi’s first two competitive games at the helm of the Azzurri left no surprises as Italy took victories in both of their World Cup 2010 qualification matches.
In the first match of Italy’s qualification campaign, a shocking draw seemed to be on the cards until Antonio di Natale’s strike found Italy their three points in the 90th minute. The Italian squad looked rather dull throughout the match, and two first-half injuries — one to Fabio Grosso, and one to Alessandro Gamberini — did not help the situation as Lippi was forced to make substitutions early.
Di Natale lead the charge for the Azzurri, scoring after only eight minutes, but Cyprus levelled just before the thirtieth minute through an effort by Efstathios Aloneftis. The game remained a general stalemate for much of the match thereafter, though at times Gianluigi Buffon had to once again prove his worth as one of the world’s highest rated keepers in order to keep a resilient Cyprus side from taking a lead. Despite being far from a convincing win, Lippi and his Azzurri squad were happy to come away with full points:
“We got more than we deserved. Cyprus had a few chances to score but luckily we have a keeper like Buffon.”
The second game of the week saw Lippi’s somewhat battered Italian squad, missing Grosso, Gamberini, and Gattuso, take on a Georgian side seeking redemption after a 2-1 loss to the Republic of Ireland.
The Italians came out with much more confidence and flair from the kick off, and were spurred forth throughout the game primarily by Daniele de Rossi, who opened the scoring of the game with a blistering 30-yard shot that cruised into the back of the net in the 17th minute. Much of the possession and pressure belonged to Italy throughout the clash, as the attack-minded 4-3-3 formation might have suggested was the aim, and Lippi’s substitutions (including Del Piero and Iaquinta) clearly showed that the Italian manager was feeling confident about his squad’s abilities. Italy sealed their victory with a last minute second goal from de Rossi, who slotted home a well-played ball from Del Piero.
While the Azzurri continue to lack their sparkling form seen through World Cup 2006, it is clear that Lippi is already well on his way to building the squad he feels that can repeat the feat of conquering the footballing world. Even though these two opponents were relatively weaker footballing nations, it should be noted that many of the Italian players have only played a couple of competitive matches with the Italian and Spanish seasons having only started at the tail-end of August. As well, Cyprus and Georgia should be given full credit for fine showings against the #2 ranked in the world, as they demonstrated strongly the growing quality of football throughout the world.
Italy now have a full six points in Group 8, a group which includes Ireland (4 points), Montenegro (2), Bulgaria (1), Cyprus (0), and Georgia (0). Their next game is October 11th in Bulgaria, followed up with a home clash against Montenegro four days later.
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