For all their glory, this will be the reigning world champions, Italy’s, first participation in the Confederations Cup.
Facts
Country: Italy
Nickname: Azzurri
Coach: Marcelo Lippi
Captain: Fabio Cannavaro
Ranking: 5
World Cup wins: 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006
European Championship wins: 1968
Olympic medals: Gold in 1936, bronze in 1928 and 2004
The Azzurri, as the national team are known to their adoring fans because of their predominantly blue strip, have a colourful football history. They have played in 16 World Cups and won four of them —in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006. In fact, only Brazil, with their five victories, can boast a better history in the World Cup. Although they have played in seven European Championships, 1968 was the Azzurri’s only triumph.
Add the Olympic gold medal of 1936 as well as the bronze in 1928 and 2004, it may boggle the mind why they are yet to feature in the tournament dubbed the Festival of Champions.
There is a reasonable explanation. The Confederations Cup was only launched in 1992, a long time after Italy had won three of their four World Cup titles, which would have seen them qualify. Their uncharacteristically single European Championship would have been another ticket to the World Cup warm-up. Winning the 2006 World Cup in Germany has at last ensured that this great footballing nation make their long-awaited debut in the competition.
That it should coincide with Africa hosting its first World Cup is a prospect worth relishing. They will be here as world champions, thanks to that dramatic 5-3 victory over France in Germany after penalty shootouts. The 2006 final between Italy and France will always be remembered for the infamous head-butt incident, which saw the legendary Zinedine Zidane being sent off in his final international appearance. France opened the scoring through Zidane but then Marco Materazzi pulled one back for the Italians. The match remained deadlocked at 1-1 and went into the dreaded lottery.
Today the Italians are ranked at number five and the Marcelo Lippi-coached Europeans are the frontrunners to challenge Brazil for the Confederations Cup. The cat was thrown among the pigeons when the two protagonists were drawn into the same tough Group B, which also includes African champions Egypt and the United States. It is no wonder that the ”Rumble in the Jungle”, pitting Brazil against Italy, scheduled for Loftus Stadium on June 21, was sold out three months ago, even though organisers are experiencing difficulty in finding takers for the 350 000 tickets left. This match is the final before the final.
But the safe money is on the Samba Kings. Brazil brushed aside the world champions 2-0 in a friendly match at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in February. Even without Kaka the South Americans effortlessly found the back of the net through Robinho and Elano.
Despite being irritating at times with the ease in which they go to the ground, the quality in the Italian side cannot be easily written off. In Luca Toni, Azzurri have one of the finest strikers in world football. Gianluigi Buffon has been rated as the most prized goalkeeper and players such as captain Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro del Piero and Gennaro Gattuso are also world class. They are battle-hardened professionals who have the daunting task of protecting the proud history of their country in easily the tournament’s group of death.
Italy are fiercely competitive and have left a few lasting impressions in past tournaments of this stature. The 4-3 semifinal victory over West Germany in the 1970 World Cup, held in Mexico, has roundly been acknowledged as the match of the century. In 1982 Italy won the World Cup after being thrown into the group of death with Argentina and Brazil — the defending champions and the team tipped to send them packing.
Azzurri first dispatched Diego Maradona’s side 2-1 after another ill-tempered battle in which Italy’s defenders and midfielders proved their superiority in the art of executing rough tactics.
When Brazil thumped Argentina 3-1, Italy needed a win to advance to the semis. Paolo Rossi fired a brace to give the Europeans the lead twice, and twice Brazil came back — Paulo Roberto Falcão scored to make it 2-2. The South Americans would have advanced on goal difference but Rossi was not finished. He scrambled in the winner in the 74th minute to send Italy to the semifinals after one of the greatest games in World Cup history. The Italians had prevailed against all odds at the expense of their more illustrious opponents.
They went on to thump West Germany 3-1 to lift the 1982 World Cup in Spain. The moral of the story is: write off the Italians at your own peril.