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Buffon: Italy lacked experience

Distrokeeper — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:00:44 +0000

Gianluigi Buffon has pinpointed a lack of experience as one of the reasons for Italy’s World Cup failure, despite the fact that the side faced accusations throughout the tournament that they were too old to win.

Italy endured a dismal campaign when finishing bottom of Group F – below Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand – as their bid to retain the trophy won in 2006 ended in embarrassment.

Throughout the Azzurri’s short stay in South Africa, coach Marcello Lippi was forced to reject suggestions that, with an average age of 28 years and nine months, he was relying too heavily on the veterans who succeeded in Germany, most notably captain Fabio Cannvaro, who had a difficult tournament.

But Buffon believes Italy actually suffered from having too many players without World Cup experience – such as striker Giampaolo Pazzini and defender Domenico Criscito – and that inexperience undermined their efforts in South Africa.

“The problem was that the squad was formed of many young lads who had never faced competitions like this, so it’s normal they had a few psychological setbacks,” Buffon told Radio Due.

“After the Confederations Cup there was a media campaign claiming we could leave behind the players from 2006. In reality you always need experienced people.”

Buffon’s own World Cup was cut short by a herniated disc in his back and the goalkeeper has undergone surgery, meaning he will miss the start of the new season for his club Juventus. However, he hopes to replace the retiring Cannavaro as Azzurri captain when he returns to full fitness.

“I’ll be back on the field in three or four months,” Buffon said. “Then I will try to earn the captain’s armband that new Italy Coach Cesare Prandelli promised me.”

Prandelli looks for positives

Distrokeeper — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 08:00:59 +0000

New Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has pledged to turn the the embarrassment of an early World Cup exit into a positive after he was officially unveiled at a press conference.

Prandelli takes control of an Italian side smarting from a World Cup title defence that smouldered into obscurity as they finished bottom of a group they were hardly expected to be tested by.

Former Fiorentina boss Prandelli, who has signed a four-year deal, will now begin the task of picking up the pieces ahead of his first match in charge against Ivory Coast in London on August 10. He refused to blame Marcello Lippi for the state in which he finds the national team, and instead believes the veteran coach has left him with a solid base on which to build.

“What has happened has happened, I want to transform the negativity into something positive,” he said. “I hope to organise a team based on real human values. There are difficulties, but I want to start off right, with determination and the will to do well.

“I don’t have any recipes at the moment, just the will to start well. I want to salute Marcello Lippi, who is a World Cup-winning coach. He leaves a certain mentality behind, the players are attached to the shirt, and we have to restart from this.

“It’s a programme that involves everyone – players, staff and even the media. We want quality players, of course the players will be debatable. We have to give strength and will to plan something interesting. This is the highest point in my career. I don’t want to think about the difficulties. I start with optimism.

“I want a national team with players of quality. They exist. I am thinking about the first call-ups for the game. It would be nice to see good games, as well as the possibility to improve as we go on. I wanted to avoid naming names because it’s not fair. Those who will get called are those who deserve to be here.

“It will also be based on respect and roles. I hope to take quality players with me.”

Italy squad returns to frosty reception

Distrokeeper — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:00:39 +0000

Italy arrived in Rome on Saturday and unlike four years ago, after a triumphant World Cup in Germany, there were few fans waiting for them at Fiumicino airport.

Marcello Lippi’s side endured a shock early exit from the tournament after a 3-2 defeat to Slovakia ensured they finished bottom of Group F.

After their famous win over France in 2006, thousands of fans greeted the Italians in the Eternal City, but this time less than 100 supporters were on hand and many of them expressed their disappointment.

Shouts of “shame on you” were directed mainly at coach Marcello Lippi, Fiorentina striker Alberto Gilardino and Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro.

Italy left the World Cup without a win after disappointing draws against Paraguay and New Zealand before falling to a 3-2 defeat against Slovakia in their final group game.

“There is a lot of bitterness,” Italy forward Fabio Quagliarella said. “It’s understandable. We have said sorry to our fans. Now we must construct an Italy side that is always strong.”

Italy will unveil Cesare Prandelli as Lippi’s successor on July 1 and, judging by the Azzurri’s display in South Africa, he will have plenty to do if Italy are to qualify for Euro 2012.

“Next week we will present Prandelli as the new coach,” Italy Football Federation president Giancarlo Abete said. “There’s the need, the duty to start again, knowing how important this national team is for millions of fans.

“Prandelli has been chosen because of his technical quality, his capacity to work with youngsters. We want him to remain for a long time that will end after the next World Cup. He has signed a four-year contract.”

Abete does not believe announcing Prandelli as the new manager ahead of Italy’s trip to South Africa earlier this month had hindered the side.

“No, I don’t believe that was the case,” he said. “In any case, we had no alternative because Lippi’s wish was to leave the national team after the World Cup.

“We had to make a decision regarding the new coach in order for Prandelli to free himself from his contract with Fiorentina.”

Italy chief blames clubs for Euro woes

Distrokeeper — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 08:00:05 +0000

Italian football federation president Giancarlo Abete has said money is the reason European sides have so far failed to impress at the World Cup.

Europe’s traditional big six of Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, France and England have mustered only four wins between them in the first 11 days – and the Dutch provided two of them without hitting anything like top gear.

Abete blamed Europe’s big clubs, awash with money from lucrative broadcast contracts, for failing to develop young players good enough for international football.

“If you look at this World Cup you’ll realize that all the big European teams are having problems,” he said. “Between Spain, France, England, Germany and Italy, we’ve only managed one win. Apart from the Netherlands, only Central and South American teams are smiling. The clubs have more power than the federations.”

UEFA president Michel Platini is attempting to swing the balance back in favour of national associations and young players by enforcing minimum quotas on so-called home-grown players. But Abete is unconvinced.

“Real Madrid has a budget eight times that of the Spanish federation,” he said. “All we can do is try to encourage coaches to put more faith in younger players. That’s it.”

The concerns are greater in England where more than half the players in the Premier League are from abroad. The Football Association’s head of development, Trevor Brooking, said that the national team faces greater problems still once the current generation of players fade.

“Every place in the league is worth £750,000 ($1.1 million), so even at the end of season you don’t get a chance to try out youngsters because you might lose three places and cost yourself £2 million ($3 million) in the transfer budget.”

In contrast, South American countries may be benefiting from the relative financial weakness of their clubs. Even big clubs such as Boca Juniors, Santos and River Plate struggle to hold onto their best players once European clubs show interest. That forces them to invest heavily in young players, with the game a traditional route out of poverty for many.

Cannavaro: Italy must rediscover defence

Distrokeeper — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 08:00:45 +0000

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro says that the reigning world champions need to rediscover their traditional defensive strengths if they are to compete for honours at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

Italy begin their Group F campaign against Paraguay in Cape Town on Monday amidst much uncertainty about their recent form, particularly defensively. Cannavaro, 36, has just come off a poor season with Juventus for whom fellow Italy back-five starters Giorgio Chiellini and Gianluigi Buffon also play.

It has left many people in Italy feeling worried that the country’s football team has lost its ability to keep things tight at the back, as past teams always did, employing the famous catenaccio tactic. And the captain knows that he and his team-mates will need to rediscover their roots if they are to go far here. “Defence is vital but that doesn’t mean we’ll stay in our own half of the pitch,” he said from Italy’s base just south of Pretoria.

“It means being compact. We’ll never play an attacking game like Brazil, Portugal or Spain but they’ll never be able to defend like us. In 2006 we had played for two years with practically the same players. This year it’s different, there are new ones, there’s been changes. That’s normal because there’s a new generation.

“The men are different but as for defensive organisation we’ve seen that if teams are compact they can go a long way. That’s something we’ve lost these last few years and we’ll try to get it back.

“The coach (Marcello Lippi) is trying to work things out and he’ll decide on Sunday (how we’ll play). He needs to try things, that’s normal. I don’t yet know how we’ll play but he’ll find the solution.”

Cannavaro not only admitted that Italy’s defence isn’t what it once was but also accepted that as a side they no longer have any superstars. Italy once had players of the quality of Roberto Baggio, Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero in their team, but no more.

Even so, the captain believes they do have those who can make a difference. “Unfortunately Italian football doesn’t have a player of this high profile and hence the coach has had to go for other options,” he added.

“But a superstar is not just about technique, it’s also about how a player can get his team out of certain situations in a match. And we’ve got players who can do that like (Antonio) Di Natale, (Vincenzo) Iaquinta or (Alberto) Gilardino.

“Of course we don’t have a (Lionel) Messi, (Wayne) Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo. But in 2006 we had great players who weren’t on the top of their game, it was the group as a whole that won.”

Quagliarella ready for title defence

Distrokeeper — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:00:20 +0000

Fabio Quagliarella believes Italy will arrive in South Africa “in the best possible condition” for their World Cup defence.

The Azzurri’s underwhelming preparations for the World Cup were concluded with a 1-1 draw against fellow finalists Switzerland on Saturday, with a 2-1 loss to Mexico the only other warm-up match played by Marcello Lippi’s side.

Lippi has elected to focus the squad’s efforts on altitude training rather than match sharpness in the build-up to the tournament and Napoli striker Quagliarella, who netted the equaliser against the Swiss, believes little should be read into recent results.

“The coach asked us to put in a good performance in the final game before we travel to South Africa and I think we did that,” Quagliarella told RaiSport.

“It is normal that against Mexico we suffered a little from fatigue given it was our first test since the end of the season.”

“The bottom line is that we arrive at the tournament in the best possible condition and who knows where we can go from there. Let’s not forget we are still the current world champions.”

Italians confident on Camoranesi

Distrokeeper — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 08:00:49 +0000

Italy team doctor Enrico Castellacci is confident Juventus winger Mauro Camoranesi will be fit for the Squadra Azzurri’s FIFA World Cup™ opener against Paraguay on 14 June.

Camoranesi sustained a knock to his left knee during yesterday’s training session in Sestriere. The 33-year-old underwent tests which ruled out meniscus damage, but he will have to rest for several days to recover from the mild sprain and will miss the friendlies against Mexico tomorrow and Switzerland three days later.

However, Castellacci is upbeat over Camoranesi’s prospects.

“There is no meniscus damage. He can recover. We aim to have him available for selection before the first game against Paraguay,” he said.