<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>So, the inevitable happened. The only thing slightly unexpected was that it happened earlier than predicted. Not even the most die-hard Azzurri fan gave the team of 2010 any hope of progressing beyond the last eight stages. But even the most pessimistic wouldn’t have predicted the tame first round exit, after finishing last in, arguably, the easiest groups of all.</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thehardtackle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Italy.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-6716 aligncenter" title="Italy" src="http://www.thehardtackle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Italy.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a><em>Will those glorious days return for the Azzurri?</em></p> <strong> </strong> <strong><span style="color: #000000;">Magnitude of the humiliation..</span></strong> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;">Italy finished dead last in a group consisting of <em>Slovakia, New Zealand</em> and <em>Paraguay</em>. Of which one team (<em>New Zealand</em>) doesn't even have enough professional footballers to make a 23 member squad.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Of the 69 players in the three other teams in this group, only <em>Skrtel </em>and <em>Hamsik</em> would have a chance of getting into the <em>Azzurri</em> squad, such is the talent gap.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">This is the first time since 1974, Italy failed to clear the first round hurdle. And <strong>THE FIRST TIME EVER in the history of their World Cup performances,</strong> they finished <strong>DEAD LAST</strong> in group stages.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Any neutral observer of the game would have expected <em>Team Italia</em> to sleepwalk to top of the heap. In almost four hours of play, the team scored just thrice – two of which are largely unconvincing - one from a goalkeeper rebound and the second from a very debatable penalty.</li> </ul> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/sports-news-june-2010/image/9203687?term=marcello+lippi" target="_blank"><img title="Sports News - June 24, 2010" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9203687/sports-news-june-2010/sports-news-june-2010.jpg?size=380&imageId=9203687" border="0" alt="June 24, 2010 - 06082831 date 24 06 2010 Copyright imago Gribaudi ImagePhoto DB Johannesburg Sud Africa 24 06 2010 mondiali Sud Africa 2010 Slovacchia Italia Photo Daniele Buffa Image Sports Nella Photo Marcello Lippi PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxITA Football men World Cup National team international match Johannesburg Action shot Single Vdig xkg 2010 vertical Highlight premiumd." width="380" height="570" /></a> <em>Marcello Lippi: a disastrous second innings</em></div> <p style="text-align: left;"><script src="http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js" type="text/javascript"></script><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"> </span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="color: #000000;">How it was in 2006..</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Before 2006, <em>Lippi</em> was a divisive figure in Italy - despised by <em>Inter </em>and <em>Fiorentina</em> fans while loved by <em>Juventus </em>followers. He took over the <em>La Nazionale</em> after the 2004 Euro fiasco. Against the worst kind of adversity, he performed what can only be termed as a miracle. With many clubs, including some big names, like <em>Juventus</em>, facing an uncertain future, he turned the talented group into World Cup winners. Even those who previously hated him had developed a grudging respect for the man by this time. <strong> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;"></p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Post-2006 slide..</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Lippi </em>decided to take time off and his successor <em>Roberto Donadoni</em> had an ageing yet talented squad at his disposal. Faced with the challenge of blending in talented youngsters, <em>Donadoni</em> failed miserably and Italy went out of <em>Euro 2008</em> in last eight, humiliated by <em>Netherlands </em>in group stage. <strong> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Not all comebacks are successful..</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Lippi</em> took over for his second innings with <em>La Nazionale</em>, promising to do his best. His second stint began with a disastrous 2-2 draw against the <em>mighty</em> Austria. In two years, since the <em>Euro 2008</em> debacle, he steadfastly refused to shed his faith in the same group of players who had won him the last World Cup. The result - the same group of aging and inconsistent performers were persisted with at the cost of long term continuity. Even a layman could have observed that many of the 2006 stars were way off the hill physically and were not even consistently performing at the club level. <strong> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Early warnings ignored..</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The <em>2009 Confederations Cup</em> proved to be a good testing ground to see where the players stood. Not only were the <em>Azzurris</em> humiliated by a strong <em>Brazilian</em> team, they were outplayed and outclassed by a physically superior <em>Egyptian </em>side. The physical frailties of the squad was brutally exposed by other teams. By then it was apparent that the squad lacked freshness and age was showing up for many players. <em>Lippi</em> had a year to set things right, which he nonchalantly ignored. <strong> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Arrogance at the cost of 'The Azzuri'..</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The biggest problem <em>Lippi </em>had - apart from his steadfast refusal to learn from the past mistakes - was that he brought in personal agendas much to the detriment of the <em>Azzurri</em>. <em>Antonio Cassano</em> was by miles the standout Italian performer in the last two years. However, due to some mysterious reasons he was never given a chance by <em>Lippi</em>. In fact, the most shameful of all his actions was his treatment of <em>Fabrizio Miccoli</em>. The pint-sized support striker was undoubtedly the best Italian performer in his position in <em>Serie-A</em>. In the past, <em>Miccoli</em> had the temerity to annoy <em>Lipp</em>i's friend <em>Luciano Moggi</em>. This meant that as long as <em>Lippi</em> was the boss, <em>Miccoli</em> would never make it into the national squad. He could have easily made a big difference to <em>Azzurri</em>’s 2010 campaign. <strong> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;"></p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Muddled team selections and formations..</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Continuing his policy of selecting over-the-hill players, <em>Lippi </em>filled up the squad with seven <em>Juventus </em>players who had the worst season in over a generation. The likes of <em>Cannavaro, Camonaresi, Iaquinta</em> were all either injured or hopelessly out of shape. Add to this list the likes of <em>Gattuso </em>and <em>Zambrotta</em>, who last played a good game well over a year ago. The core of the team was decayed and would have been exposed by any good side. Now in the main tournament itself, <em>Lippi </em>used multiple formations, causing the likes of <em>Marchiso</em> and <em>Pepe</em> to come out and question his tactics. From the straight <em>4-4-2</em> against <em>Paraguay</em> to a modified <em>4-3-1-2</em> to a <em>4-3-3</em> - all possible formations were deployed without any continuity. The result? The attack was incoherent and couldn't put up anything decent for almost four hours. Only the introduction of <em>Quagliarella</em> and <em>Pirlo</em> brought some semblance of sanity into the attack. The question remains unanswered - why were<em> Quagliarella</em> and <em>Pazzini</em> kept on the bench, when the likes of <em>Iaquinta</em> and <em>Gilardino</em> were clearly struggling? <strong> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #000000;">The legacy of Lippi's disastrous tenure..</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Today’s Italian team has a bunch of players, who are 'past it' and need to be escorted to the exit door, and another bunch of talented, but completely inexperienced youngsters – the need of the hour is a man of wisdom, who has the vision to find out the optimal blend of experience and youth in the <em>Azzurri</em> squad.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/fiorentina-internazionale/image/8477151?term=Cesare+Prandelli" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 0px;" title="AC Fiorentina vs Internazionale FC Milano" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8477151/fiorentina-internazionale/fiorentina-internazionale.jpg?size=380&imageId=8477151" border="0" alt="Apr. 10, 2010 - Florence, Italy - epa02111630 Head coach of AC Fiorentina Cesare Prandelli during the Italian Serie A soccer match against Internazionale FC Milano in Florence's Artemio Franchi stadium late 10 April 2010. The match ended with a draw 2-2." width="380" height="298" /></a><span style="color: #000000;"><em>Rough road ahead for <em>Cesare Prandelli</em></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"> </span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Looking ahead..</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>FIGC </em></strong>has announced <em>Cesare Prandelli</em> as <em>Lippi</em>'s successor. His success in nurturing youth in <em>Fiorentina </em>would very much be needed by <em>Azzurri </em>at this hour of crisis. Thankfully the draw for <em>Euro 2012 Qualifying</em> has been kind to Italy, so <em>Prandelli</em>'s kids can afford to make a few mistakes along the way and learn.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The following might possibly be the <em>Azzurri</em> squad for the <em>Euro 2012 Qualifying</em>, since <em>Prandelli</em> loves the <em>4-2-3-1</em> formation.</p> <strong><span style="color: #000000;">First XI:</span></strong> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Buffon Santon - Bonucci - Chellini - Criscito De Rossi - Montolivo Maggio --- Cassano --- Balotelli Pazzini</em></p> <strong><span style="color: #000000;">Second XI:</span></strong> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Marchetti Santacroce--- Gamberini/Santacroce- Ranochchia - Marco Motta Palombo--- Cigarini Marchionni -- Fabrizio Miccoli / Guiseppe Rossi -- Seba Giovinco Boriello/Quagliarella/Gilardino</em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">It is obvious that apart from <em>Buffon</em>, not even a single player from the existing starting XI is good enough for the <em>Euro 2012</em> campaign. Although enormous amount of talent is available at the disposal of <em>Prandelli</em>, the bigger question is will he be able to blend the right mix of experience with this talented young bunch? Only time will reveal the answer.<em> </em></p>