With the international break over, we can now focus back to this interesting title race in the works called Serie A. While the Azzurri have had a relatively disappointing international break with their 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland, their match against Serbia cancelled, and the fact that they won’t be part of the 2012 olympics, the Serie A will hopefully lift any Italy fan’s spirit.

Right now there’s a surprise leader, with Lazio in first place with 13 points thanks to their impressive record of having just lost one match so far in the league. But Lazio’s good run can be stopped this weekend when they travel to Bari to face the Galletti. Bari are an extremely tough opponent which will be looking to grab a win at home, and end this stop/start beginning they’ve had to the Serie A season.

Behind Lazio we find Inter Milan, a perennial fighter which seems almost unstoppable in their ascent up the table. The nerazzurri are just two points behind Lazio, and they’re going to have to travel away to Cagliari this weekend, for a tough match.

It seems like Rafa Benitez will have to put out a bit of a weakened side due to so many injuries among his starting 11. Milito and Cambiasso are out for about 10-20 days, it’s doubtful whether Mariga can play, and it’ll be a push for Thiago Motta to play on the weekend, although the Brazilian/Italian will be fully fit for the midweek match against Tottenham in the Champions League.

So Benitez will probably have to start with Stankovic, and the rebellious Muntari, possibly giving Amantino Mancini a chance to start alongside Eto’o and Coutinho in the forward three. We’ll see how Inter do against Pierpaolo Bisoli’s side which has had four draws out of six matches this season.

AC Milan have a pretty simple match (or so it seems) against Chievo at the San Siro, and the rossoneri will really be looking for a big win to spur them into action. They’ve been slightly languid these past few weekends, and it was only thanks to a wondergoal by Pirlo which won their last game against Parma. There are so many stars in the offensive sector, but so much trouble scoring goals? And strangely enough, there’s been rumblings that maybe Kaka could make a wild return to AC Milan, although it’s beginning to seem less and less possible right now.

Chievo happen to be right behind AC Milan, just one point away from the rossoneri who are at 11 points. It’s been a great start to this season for Chievo under the new coach Stefano Pioli, and they’ll be looking to hold AC Milan to a draw, or maybe sneak a goal for an important away win.

Another team which has had a great start to the season is Brescia, who find themselves at 9 points, and they’ll play Udinese at home this weekend. It should be an easy game for Brescia, considering that Udinese are last in the table right now, with only four points! What an unexpected start for both of these teams which will play each other over the weekend.

Pazzini will be facing his former club Fiorentina this weekend, as Sampdoria host the Viola in an important match for both of them. Both sides have had a fairly bad start to the season, and they’re two points away from each other in the table, Sampdoria at seven, and Fiorentina at five. If they don’t begin to pick up some wins soon, it could be a dismal season for both sets of supporters who might  even see their clubs fight relegation. So it’ll be interesting if Pazzini can score against his former club to help Sampdoria gain some form before their midweek match in the Europa League, I guess we’ll just have to watch the match.

The most exciting game this weekend should be Roma – Genoa. A battle between two sides who haven’t really started well (Roma are second last in the table with five points…), but they’re both filled with plenty of talent. This season Roma have conceeded the most goals so far, 11 in six matches which is pretty impressive, so I certainly expect Genoa to score, but we’ll have to see if Roma can fight back at the Stadio Olimpico.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming matches? Do you expect Roma to win? Do you think that Lazio will stay top of the table? Share your thoughts below!

One Italian national team played a match yesterday, and the results were quite dispiriting.  With a seemingly safe 2-0 aggregate lead over Belarus, the Italian U-21 club found a way to lose 3-1 in the return match and be eliminated from the UEFA U-21 championship.  The practical result is that the club not only will not have a chance at another U-21 championship, but has been eliminated from the 2012 Olympics.  In a year when the senior club was embarrassed at the World Cup and fans looked to the youth system for hope, this was a very poor result.

On Friday, the Italians convincingly beat Belarus 2-0 on goals by AS Roma’s Chuka Stefano Okaka and Genoa’s Mattia Destro.  With a two goal lead and playing a country with little soccer tradition and two players currently playing top-flight football (including Cagliari’s Mikhail Sivakov), Italy was the heavy favorite.

But Belarus sent a message early on a goal that was as much brilliance by Vladimir Yurchenko as it was incompetence by keeper Vito Mannone.  Mannone tried to gather a shot in the third minute but lost the ball, which led to an empty net goal.  Not a good result for the keeper who last week became the latest Arsenal keeper to complain about playing time.

And Belarus did not waste any time putting more pressure on Italy, with Yurchenko scoring again two minutes later off a field-length pass.  However, even down 2-0 after five minutes, Italy could have advanced with a single goal (away goals being the second tiebreaker).  However, both teams played even for the rest of regulation.  In the overtime period, however, Oleg Veretio made the young Azzurri pay by slipping the third goal past Mannone, putting Belarus ahead for the 3-2 victory on aggregate.

Italy had their chances in this match – chip shots by Destro (30th minute), Okaka (77th minute, 100th minute) and Ranocchia (final minute) either hit the post or were right at the keeper, and scoring just one of those quality chances would have advanced Italy.  Their defense was not helped by the loss of captain De Silvestri to suspension, but better play should be expected from both the backline and especially the keeper.

Where does the U-21 program go from here?  I wouldn’t be surprised if this was Pierluigi Casiraghi’s last match as the team’s manager, and the club will have to lament the missed chance to play across the continent in the 2012 Olympics.  But all is not lost for the Italian youth.  The U-19 club has advanced in its tournament and is looking like a favorite to win.  Plus the U-21 has some definite talent that will be ready for the next World Cup.  Overall, this loss is a set back for Italy but not a definitive one.

I was getting very excited about the Italy – Serbia game which was supposed to be played today, but to my (and probably many other people’s) disappointment, the match was cancelled. The game was cancelled because of crowd trouble, mainly from the Serbian fans’s end. The match’s kick-off was delayed by about 35 minutes, and the game was stopped after just six minutes of play.

This is a huge disappointment for me, especially because Serbia is probably the toughest opponent that Italy has to compete with in these Euro 2012 qualifiers. In a group with the Faroe Islands, Estonia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, and Serbia, Italy was doing relatively well, and this match which was supposed to take place at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris was going to be an important game.

The main disruptions that the Serbian fans caused were basically throwing flares all over the place. Whether it be onto the playing field, towards Italian keeper Viviano, or in the Italian crowd it didn’t matter. The Serbian players even tried to calm down their fans, but they were unsuccessful, and therefore the Scottish referee Craig Thomson cancelled the match after about six minutes.

There were already some ideas of fan trouble when Serbia’s usual keeper Vladimir Stojkovic decided to not play because of abuse on the way to the stadium from his own fans. The cause of this abuse was domestic rivalry, and Stojkovic even went to the Italian dressing room to explain his withdrawal.

Prandelli was very disappointed with what happened, and he commented regarding the trouble.

“It’s a great disappointment, there’s great bitterness, the ground was full of children with so much enthusiasm. According to the Serbians we have spoken to, the aim of the Serbian fans was to stop the match,”

Now the big question arises, what will UEFA do about this cancelled match? Well, I read over UEFA’s rules regarding the European Championships and I found this regarding what to do in case of an abandoned match.

“If the match is abandoned before the end of normal time or during any extra time because the field is not fit for play or for other reasons, it must be replayed in full either the next day or on another date as agreed by the host association and the visiting association, subject to the approval of the UEFA administration. An agreement must be reached within two hours of the referee’s decision to cancel the match. In case of dispute, the UEFA administration fixes the date and kick-off time of the match. Its decision is final.”

So it seems like the match will be replayed on a certain date agreed by both associations along with UEFA’s approval, but there’s been rumblings that the match could be marked off as a 3-0 win to Italy. Here’s what the Italy soccer federation vice president Demetrio Albertini said regarding what will happen in the future.

“We will not ask for anything. It’s up to the UEFA delegate to talk with UEFA to decide what to do,”

So things are still up in the air regarding what will happen, I think that the match will just simply be replayed with no away fans allowed to attend. But UEFA could decide to give Italy the win, especially because it doesn’t seem like the Azzurri supporters caused any problems. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, what are your thoughts regarding this cancelled match? Comment below!

Tomorrow Italy will be playing it’s final match of this international break, a qualifier for the European Championships of 2012 which will be taking place in Poland and Ukraine. The Azzurri will be facing Serbia at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris of Genoa, and the Sampdoria players like Cassano and Pazzini are looking forward to playing in front of their fans.

This match is important in many different ways, not only does Prandelli want to bounce back after the relatively disappointing draw against Northern Ireland, but he also needs to make sure he finds the right system with his players. With plenty of talented players to play as forwards, Prandelli needs to make sure everyone gets playing time, and that the forwards find a way to score some goals.

Right now the group is pretty tight, and although Italy are first right now, they could be overtaken if they don’t perform against Serbia. The group has Italy in first place with seven points, then Estonia just one point behind at six points, and then Slovenia, Serbia, and Northern Ireland all tied with four points while the Faroe Islands are at the bottom with zero points.

In the other matches taking place tomorrow of the group, you can expect Northern Ireland to win against the Faroe Islands, and it’s possible that Estonia will win at home when they face Slovenia. This forces the Azzurri to get a win, because if they don’t they could fall all they way down to third place in the group.

As for the team which Italy will be facing, Serbia have actually been going through a bit of a bad time recently. They first only managed a 1-1 draw against Slovenia, and then they were defeated at home 3-1 by Estonia. Serbia had gone a goal up in the second half against Estonia, and you’d expect them to hold onto the lead, but Estonia instantly fought back with three goals, disappointing the Serbian fans.

So Prandelli will have to take advantage of Serbia’s slump in form, but how will he do that? It seems possible that Pazzini will start along with Cassano, with Borriello also in the frontline. Prandelli experimented with a 4-3-3 in practice before the match starting Cassano on the left, drifting in inside to play as a “trequartista” behind Borriello and Pazzini.

This was accompanied by the midfield three which started in Ireland, Pirlo, De Rossi, and Mauri, and a defence composed of Zambrotta, Gastaldello (Bonucci received a knock against Northern Ireland, nothing serious though), Chiellini, and Criscito. And it seems like Prandelli would like to stick with Viviano in goal, but this entire formation could have a few changes by the time that the players begin to play Serbia.

To me the team looks good, Criscito is on the rise (as was Cassani, but Prandelli seems to have chosen Zambrotta instead), Cassano and Pazzini will be able to link up well, with Borriello wanting to make up for his missed chance in Ireland. My only disappointment is that yet again, Giuseppe Rossi probably won’t be part of the starting 11. He’ll most likely be used as a super-sub, which isn’t that great of a chance to prove himself.

What are your thoughts on the possible formation that Prandelli will put out? How do you think Italy will do against Serbia? Share your thoughts by commenting below!

With an international break approaching, we get a chance to analyze the new Italy team which Prandelli is building. While he didn’t decide to call up Totti, he has included a player from the Lippi-days. Here’s the list of 23 players which Cesare Prandelli has called up:

Goalkeepers: Mirante, Sirigu, Viviano

Defenders: Cassani, Zambrotta, Bonucci, Bovo, Chiellini, Gastaldello, Antonelli, Criscito

Midfielders: De Rossi, Lazzari, Marchisio, Mauri, Palombo, Pirlo, Pepe

Forwards: Cassano, Gilardino, Pazzini, Borriello, Rossi

The first inclusion that I’d like to talk about is Zambrotta’s. While I don’t think he’s as bad as some of the other players which participated in the World Cup for Lippi, I still don’t think that he should be called up. And with Santon’s re-emergence for Inter Milan against Juventus (where he did well to contain Juventus and push forward), you’d think that the decision for the future would be the Inter player. So please share your thoughts on the decision to include Zambrotta.

An interesting choice which Prandelli will have to make is the one about the keepers. Which one do you start with? All three haven’t been truly outstanding recently, but none of them have had any bad games either. We’ll just have to wait and see who Prandelli decides to start with against Northern Ireland.

And the final question for me are the forwards, who will Prandelli start with here? While it seems obvious that all five will have some playing time, it’ll be interesting whether he’ll try the Cassano-Pazzini partnership, or maybe a front three with Giuseppe Rossi and Antionio Cassano behind Gilardino. I certainly hope that Rossi can find a way to shine, and force his way into the starting 11 for the second match against Serbia, but it looks like he’ll have some tough competition.

What are your thoughts on the Azzurri which Prandelli has called up? Share your thoughts below!

Finally Italy has clicked. While the comeback win against Estonia was a good result, this 5-0 win shows that Prandelli has found harmony within the team. Prandelli’s home debut as the coach of the Italian National team is certainly positive, Cassano inspired the team, and he looks ready to face any opposition. And with this win, Italy take command of the qualifying group at first place with six points, two points ahead of Serbia who are second.

The match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi marks a step forward, Prandelli decided to start with Gilardino center-forward, with Cassano and Giuseppe Rossi supporting him. The midfield three were Pirlo, De Rossi, and Montolivo, and the defense was made up of Antonelli, Bonucci, Chiellini, and De Silvestri in front of Viviano in goal. A good selection from Prandelli, with Pirlo and Cassano acting as the architects which pass and penetrate the Faroe Islands’s defence.

As the match kicked off, the usual Italia fan invaded the pitch, the same one who back in the Lippi days wore a shirt which said, “Cassano in Nazionale”, which means “Cassano in the national team”. This time he went over to Cassano, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and ran off peacefully saying good-bye to Prandelli.

After that interesting incident, Italy began well, they attacked and created attacking opportunities right away. Italy constantly kept possession in the opponent’s half, causing plenty of trouble with Cassano and Pirlo’s passing masterclass. Bonucci rose up from the defence in a similar way to Lucio, expertly weaving his way around defenders hoping to get a chance to score, and the rest of the team made sure to accommodate the Juventus player’s runs.

It was in the 11th minute that Italy scored, Gilardino flicking with his head a corner swung in by Pirlo. It was 11 months that Gilardino didn’t score, and this goal is very welcome by the Fiorentina striker, especially after the disappointment in South Africa.

The second goal came from Daniele De Rossi in the 22nd minute, unmarked in the area, first hits his first shot against the defender, and the lucky rebound comes right to him which he smashes into the net. The Roma midfielder’s shot deflects off of Gregersen’s heel, but the ball would’ve most likely finished up in the net anyway.

At 2-0, Italy continued to play with an attacking style, a defensive wall stopped everything the Faroe Islands tried to do, and the ball circulated around the Azzurri’s feet. Then, about five minutes later Cassano shows why Lippi should’ve picked him for the World Cup: the Sampdoria forward cuts in from the left side and lashes a shot across the keeper into the goal which makes the Artemio Franchi Stadium explode with joy.

The Italy players were relaxed and calm as they filtered the ball through the Faroe Islands defence over and over, eventually scoring a fourth and a fifth goal. Quagliarella found the back of the net somehow as everybody scrambled for the ball, and Pirlo beautifully curled a close-range free kick under the bar.

A perfect performance from the Azzurri which helps forget the disappointment of the World Cup in South Africa, and hopefully move on towards a positive campaign in the European Championships. How do you think Italy played? Comment below!

As the new Serie A season pauses this weekend for national teams to begin their qualifying for Euro 2012, Italian soccer fans may feel lost not being able to watch their favorite club.  To be honest, the Italy-Estonia qualifier looks less than tantalizing only two months after the exciting World Cup match-ups and high-level play.  But this match (which you can see on ESPN3 on Friday) does have some compelling story lines that makes it worthwhile to watch:

1. The New Azzurri Team Members: As Niccolo wrote, injuries and disappointing play have led to a number of new players being called up by Cesare Prandelli for tomorrow’s match (in addition to those called up for the Ivory Coast friendly in August).  Five players received their first call-up for the Italian national team – Luca Antonelli, Cesare Bovo, Lorenzo De Silvestri, Daniele Gastaldello, and Luca Cigarini.  With injuries to big names like Balotelli and Marchisio, this is a chance for some fringe players or less well-known players to make a case for their inclusion on the Euro 2012 squad going forward.
2. Removing the Bad Taste of the World Cup: Leading up to the World Cup, prognosticators saw the warning signs for the Italian team and expressed trepidation about their chances – too few goals, too slow pace, too little enthusiasm.  The failure to advance past group stage left a bad taste in the mouth of many Azzurri fans and tainted the Italian system.  While Estonia is not a top-flight contender like Spain or France, it is a chance for the new Prandelli era to put the previous team behind them and begin the trek to the 2014 World Cup in style.  A dominant or convincing win would boost morale, but a poor win, draw or loss could resurrect doubts about Italian football.
3. Redemption for World Cup Players: Andrea Pirlo has the opportunity to show he is still a world class player, despite a knee injury that reduced his effectiveness in the World Cup.  Giampaolo Pazzini was a major disappointment for the Azzurri in South Africa – after being put on the Italian squad because of a phenomenal ’09-’10 Serie A season, Pazzini was a dud in his World Cup appearance.  Both, and other members of Lippi’s squad, can show they can still play internationally.
4. The Race for #2 (or maybe #1) Keeper: With Buffon recovering, three keepers will have the chance to establish themselves as the solid backup or even the starter depending on Gigi’s health.  While Marchetti already has experience playing for the Azzurri, his performance in South Africa left many fans looking for better.  This could be a good chance for Sirgu or Viviano to show they are world class keepers, or Marchetti to show he is better than his World Cup performance.
5. The Chance to See Estonia’s Cool Football Culture:  While only in existence as an independent nation since 1991, Estonia has created for itself a pretty cool football culture.  Its stadium, A. Le Coq Arena, is named after a national beer and only holds about 10,000 people for soccer matches.  Their supporters are known as “the football hospital” in English and upon joining, members are given a “diagnosis” for joining the hospital.  The players aren’t well known outside the country, with two (keeper Mihkel Aksalu and striker Tarmo Kink) playing in the EPL.  American soccer fans will recognize New York Red Bull midfielder Joel Lindpere.

Prandelli has announced the squad of 23 which will face Estonia and the Faroe Islands this International break for the Euro 2012 qualifiers. The azzurri will face Estonia in Tallin September 3rd, and then the Faroe Islands in Florence September 7th. While they aren’t the toughest of opposition, Italy will also have to eventually face Serbia, Slovenia, and Northern Ireland as they attempt to qualify for the European Championships being held in Ukraine and Poland.

Here’s the 23-man squad:

Goalkeepers:

Marchetti, Sirigu, Viviano

Defenders:

Chiellini, Bonucci, Cassani, Bovo, Antonelli, De Silvestri, Gastaldello, Molinaro

Midfielders:

Pirlo, De Rossi, Pepe, Palombo, Montolivo, Cigarini, Lazzari

Forwards:

Cassano, Pazzini, Gilardino, Quagliarella, Rossi

There’s quite a list of injured players who could’ve been useful for Prandelli: Buffon, Iaquinta, Balotelli, Amauri, and Marchisio are all unable to play for Italy due to injuries. But it’s important to think about the players that Prandelli called up, I’m looking forward to possibly seeing a 4-3-3, with Cassano on the right wing, Pazzini in the middle, and Giuseppe Rossi on the left, but that isn’t Lippi’s only option. He could go with a 4-2-3-1, using De Rossi and Pirlo in front of the defence, and Pepe on the right, Rossi on the left, and Cassano supporting Pazini. There are plenty of attacking opportunities, but it’s important also to look at the rest of the team.

The squad looks solid in midfield and attack, but if there’s an area that worries me it’s the defence. The only well-known names among the defenders are Chiellini, Bonucci, and maybe Molinaro, the rest are relatively new to the Italian national team. While it’s positive thing that there are new faces, and not the same old players which Lippi used, I still worry whether the new players will be able to play well wearing the azzurri jersey. It’s good that there are some quality keepers though: Marchetti has already played for Italy, Sirigu is unproven at international level but is strong for Palermo, and Viviano personally held Inter to a 0-0 draw this weekend playing in goal for Bologna.

What are your thoughts on the Italian players which Prandelli has called? Can they do the job? What formation will the coach use? There are plenty of questions which will hopefully be answered on September 3rd and 7th when Italy plays Estonia and the Faroe Islands.

In 2005-2006, Napoli was looking to escape dire finances and Serie C1.  In 2010-2011, Napoli can credibly claim that it is competing for a Champions League berth.  The Partenopei led by their president Aurelio De Laurentiis have been slowly built up and well managed to the point where last season they qualified for their their second Europa League in three seasons.  Their big off-season signing of Edinson Cavani gives the team’s supporters hope that they can finish in the top four this year, and their expectations are not outrageous.

Management: De Laurentiis has spent and will continue to spend money to get the right players for his club.  His hiring of former Sampdoria manager Walter Mazzarri last season to replace Roberto Donadoni was a good one, as he resurrected the listless club and guided them to sixth place in the standings.  He has said the right things this offseason, including making it his goal for the club to continue improving in Italy and in Europe.

The Transfer Market: Napoli’s offseason can be judged a success for two reasons – they signed Edinson Cavani and they did not lose a key contributor to their rivals.  Cavani made his name in this year’s World Cup scoring for Uruguay against Germany, but maybe more importantly he can no longer help the team ahead of Napoli in the standings, Palermo.  He has scored 34 goals since 2007 and is only 23 years old, so he could blossom further in Marrazzi’s style.

Not leaving on transfer this year were Italian national Fabio Quagliarella or Marek Hamsik.  Luca Cigarini was sent to Sevilla and Erwin Hoffer was sent to Bundesliga, but both players can be easily replaced.  And to good news is that De Laurentiis has said he is not done on the transfer market and he will wait until after Napoli’s Europa League match against Elfsborg to sign another player, depending on the outcome.

Key Players and the Formation: With the depth in midfield, expect Napoli to field a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-3 formation this season.  This will allow some attacking midfielders to move up and support a shallow core of strikers (although they are deep on talent).

Defensively Napoli is an experienced group.  Morgan De Sanctis is the starter currently for both Azzurri teams and while not spectacular, the keeper’s spot is solid.  In front of De Sanctis will certainly be Paolo Cannavaro but next to him is a bit in flux.  Gianluca Grava and Salvatore Aronica are both on the wrong side of thirty, and Hugo Campagnaro and Fabiano Santacroce will likely push to start on defense.  Regardless, don’t be surprised if Napoli makes a move to strengthen its defense in the next week.

The star of the midfield is Hamsik.  Although he failed to score against Italy in the World Cup, Hamsik captained his team out of group stage and, at 23, is set to have a huge year.  He will likely flow between a traditional midfield spot and further up, acting at times as a forward, depending on who else is starting with him in midfield.  If Napoli does goes with four midfielders, there will be a log jam for all four spots.  Talented players like Juan Carlos Zuniga may come off the bench because there is not a space for him to play.

Pairing with Cavani will be a combination of Lavezzi and/or Quagiarella.  Quagliarella needs to carry over his strong World Cup performance into the club season and continue to be strong in the box to add a different scoring dimension.  If any of these three struggle, Hamsik could be moved forward in the formation to assist in scoring or Napoli could scour the market for a new body.

Outlook: This team is good, and should do well in the Europa League if it continues to get draws like Elfsborg.  Whether it has the depth to compete in the Europa League and Serie A is another question, but the club has enough combinations of players to make it work.  Does this team have enough talent to make a run at the top four?  Yes if the big name strikers live up to their billing, the backline doesn’t show its age, and the team’s World Cup players play as well as they did in South Africa.  Will all these things happen?  On that I am slightly more pessimistic.

Italy boss Cesare Prandelli announced his 23 man squad for the friendly against the Ivory Coast which will take place on Tuesday in England. Many of the names chosen by Marcello Lippi were dropped.

Prandelli made some expected changes following the World Cup disappointment with Fabio Quagliarella the only striker remaining from the team selected by Lippi for South Africa 2010. Prandelli selected five strikers who were not part of the disappointing experience in the World Cup: Mario Balotelli, Antonio Cassano, Marco Borriello, Amauri and Giuseppe Rossi.

Lippi was urged and asked on more than one occasion why he would not pick Balotelli and Cassano yet the veteran coach never budged from his decision to exclude the talented duo. Critics felt their omission from the Italian squad led to the disastrous campaign which yielded two draws, including an embarrassing one against New Zealand, and a defeat against Slovakia.

While he was expected to select both Balotelli and Cassano, the former Fiorentina tactician sprung two major surprises by picking striker Amauri who had a dismal season with Juventus and former teammate Cristian Molinaro who is not exactly popular in Turin. Molinaro plays as a left-back and the tifosi were glad to see him move to the Bundesliga to join VfB Stuttgart. While no one can doubt Molinaro’s work ethic and speed, his defensive abilities leave a lot to be desired and his crossing is mediocre at best. Molinaro’s comical defending almost became part of football folklore due to some mind-boggling mistakes and miscalculated moves such as using a back-heel to give away the ball on the flank and frequently being tricked by wingers and attackers on their way to assisting on a goal or scoring themselves.

Aside from the debatable choices of Amauri and Molinaro, the Italian coach seems to have named the best set of players available for selection. The Azzurri fans must be delighted to see the return of certain players such as Rossi and the selection of new faces such as full-back Marco Motta who played for Italy at all levels, including the U-21 side which he represented on 39 occasions. Motta has never played for the senior team despite being called up in 2009 but he was an unused substitute.

The main concern will probably be on the defensive end as Gianluigi Buffon will be out for a few more months after surgery and those named include Federico Marchetti, Salvatore Sirigu and Emiliano Viviano. Marchetti did not impress during the World Cup when he had to replace the injured Buffon while the latter two lack the necessary experience to become regular starters. It might be worth giving Sirigu the start against the Ivory Coast to see how he can handle the spotlight as Italy’s goalkeeper while the legendary Buffon remains sidelined.

The defenders chosen lack the experience associated with the legendary Azzurri back-lines of the 1990s and even the 2000s with Giorgio Chiellini the most experienced having played 32 times for the national team. In the absence of the recovering Buffon and the unfit Andrea Pirlo, Roma’s Daniele De Rossi will most likely captain the side having represented the Azzurri on 57 occasions.

Below is the full squad selected by Prandelli:

Goalkeepers: Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo), Emiliano Viviano (Bologna)

Defenders: Cristian Molinaro (VfB Stuttgart), Marco Motta (Juventus), Luca Antonini (AC Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Stefano Lucchini (Sampdoria),
Davide Astori (Cagliari), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Mattia Cassani (Palermo)

Midfielders: Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Ricardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Juventus)
Andrea Lazzari (Cagliari)

Forwards: Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Mario Balotelli (Inter Milan), Marco Borriello (AC Milan), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria), Amauri (Juventus).

Feel free to comment below or contact me on Twitter @RamiSoufi for further discussions.