Prandelli's Azzurri go down to the Ivory Coast

Italy's poor run of results in 2010 continued under the rain of East London on Tuesday night. Cesare Prandelli's appointment as successor to Marcello Lippi was received with widespread optimism and his squad selection represented a much welcomed revolution despite some questionable choices such as calling up Molinaro at left back.

The Italian media focused mainly on the new A-B-C attack of Amauri, Balotelli and Cassano, an attacking trio that Lippi chose to leave out of his squad for South Africa for various reasons. In the early stages of the game there were some promising signs in attack for Azzurri as Amauri got in some good positions, Balotelli came close with an explosive free kick, and Cassano showed some glimpses of the quality that he possesses.

However, as the game progressed , the Ivory Coasts' physical superiority and what seemed to be higher levels of fitness gave them the edge in midfield, especially in the second half of the game. It was 10 minutes into the second half that the Africans took the lead through Kolo Toure who escaped the marking of Chiellini to head past Sirigu. Chiellini may have been slightly blinded by his centre back and Juve partner Bonucci but they are still getting used to playing with eachother and their level of understanding will grow with their partnership both at club and international level.

It was in the centre of midfield that Italy seemed to suffer most against the physicality and athleticism of the Ivory Coast. De Rossi and Palombo were outnumbered on occasion as the 4 players playing in front of them can be considered to be mainly attacking players and at times tended to neglect their defensive duties especially in the cases of Balotelli, Cassano and Amauri. Based on this, Prandelli may need to look at a change in personnel when using the 4-2-3-1 system with the possibility of Marchisio coming into the team.

Italy's creativity in the centre of the park also left a lot to be desired and no doubt with the return of Pirlo this will improve. Too much is expected of De Rossi when Pirlo is not in the team and with the return of Italy's playmaker extraordinaire, De Rossi can concentrate on what he does best.

One also has to take into consideration the following factors when analyzing the result and performance :

• This was a pre-season friendly game played in a half empty Upton Park.
• This squad had 2 days training together to familiarize themselves with Prandelli's system and ideas.
• There were 5 debutants in the starting 11.
• Most of the team are nowhere near match fit.

Many people will look at this as yet another negative result for the Azzurri but there are definitely some positive signs to take from the game.This will have proven to be a useful exercise for the Azzurri and with the return of some key players, an improvement in fitness and familiarisation with eacother this squad can progress under Prandelli and bury the nightmare that was South Africa 2010. The rain may have continued to fall on the Azzurri in London but brighter days lie ahead. Roll on Estonia on September the 3rd!

The return of ‘Il Divin Codino’

Every football fan remembers their first childhood hero. The reason they fell in love with the beautiful game and quiet often the main factor that determined what football club they began to support. That player for yours truly, was Roberto Baggio and with the return to Calcio this week of ‘Il Divin Codino’ the feelings of both nostalgia and hope entered my mind.












On Wednesday 4th of August 2010 Roberto Baggio was confirmed as President of the FIGC’s technical committee along with Gianni Rivera and Arrigo Sacchi who were appointed president of the youth academy and coordinator of youth teams up to Under-21 level respectively. These appointments have completed a revolution of the Italian national team that began with the appointment of Cesare Prandelli as the man to replace Marcello Lippi.

Following the Azzurri’s disastrous World Cup campaign this is a much welcomed overhaul and for me the appointment of Baggio as technical director is a true sign that the federation wants to reinvigorate the national game and put an emphasis on nurturing the young talent in the country that has always been there but somehow in the past four years has not emerged. This was none more so evident than in the lack of creativity of Lippi’s team in South Africa (I wrote an article on this problem in June that was published in on the Guardian site).

As a player, Baggio will be remembered as one of the all time greats. Following his controversial transfer from Fiorentina to Juventus in 1990 the Viola fans rioted on the streets in Florence and anyone that witnessed his performances for the Azzurri in Italia 90 can see the reason why there was such an outcry in Florence. His solo effort against the Czechoslovakia was perhaps goal of the tournament and demonstrated to the entire world why Juve broke the world transfer record to sign him.

He almost single-handedly carried Italy to the World Cup Final 4 years later in the USA only to be the man whose tragic penalty miss led to Brazil’s triumph in a game that he was never fit to play in. In between these World Cups Baggio was also writing his name into the Juventus history books by captaining the Turin side to the UEFA cup title in 1993 and he was subsequently named both European and World Footballer of the year. He also went on to win the Scudetto with Juve in 1995 before moving onto pastures new and becoming an idol at Bologna and Brescia in between indifferent periods with both Inter and AC Milan.

Following confirmation of Baggio’s appointment as president of the technical sector, in an interview broadcast by Tg1, when questioned on his new role, he replied with typical humility: “Me president?. It’s very strange to be called President.” He went on to add "I dream of Italy being able to begin to cultivate great talent, but to achieve this we have to believe in the young players that are the future,"

During his new tenure Baggio will commence his UEFA B coaching course in September and within 2 years could have completed Master (UEFA PRO) qualification so his return to Calcio appears to be a long term one and he will eventually move into a managerial role. In the meantime, all Serie A and Azzurri fans will be hoping that in his role as President of the Technical Sector the campeone from Caldogno will be in some way responsible for nurturing players of the calibre of Baggio, Totti and Del Piero, players that Italy has so often produced in the past, players that Italian football deserves.