The much anticipated Euro 2012 draw which took place in Kiev this evening has placed Italy in Group C alongside Spain, Croatia and Ireland. At first glance this group appears to be extremely difficult for the Azzurri.
Spain
Many will point to Spain as being the team that Prandelli’s men will fear. Anyone who has followed Italy for the past 20 years or so knows this is not the case. As Opta Paolo has pointed out “in the three previous meetings between Italy and Spain in Euro finals a total of one goal has been scored.” Spain are currently regarded as the best team in the world (and rightly so) but last summers’ friendly defeat to Italy along with the defeats to Argentina, Portugal and England will have sowed some seeds of doubt in the minds of Del Bosque’s men.
In Euro 2008 when Italy and Spain met in the quarter finals many people forget that the Iberians required a penalty shootout to advance. This was against a below par Azzurri team managed by Roberto Donadoni who appeared out of his depth. Perhaps most importantly, Italy’s midfield dynamos Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo were missing for this game and with both those players on the pitch this game could have panned out differently.
Nevertheless, it was Spain that advanced and in doing so they exorcised a demon that had haunted them for so long. In fact, I would go so far as to say that advancing against the Azzurri provided the launch pad for La Furia Roja to become the European and World Champions they are today. Anyone that understands the inferiority complex that the Spanish had suffered historically with regard to the Azzurri will appreciate how much this result meant to the psyche of the team.
On June 10th 2012 these two European powerhouses will meet again and it will prove to be an intriguing tie between two teams who have had dramatically different fortunes over the four years since they will have last met competitively. My feeling is that Prandelli will see this as an opportunity to lay down the gauntlet in the group and possibly resurrect the ghosts of the past for their Mediterranean counterparts.
Croatia
The Croatia game will be a completely different animal for Italy. Opta Paolo provided this statistic earlier today: "Since Croatia independence in 1991, Italy have never won a game in five meetings. Two draws and three defeats. " Croatia are currently ahead of Italy in the FIFA world rankings and are the type of team that the Azzurri normally suffer against.
The game that sticks out most in the mind is the defeat to the Croats in 2002 where an Italy team managed by current Ireland coach Giovanni Trappatoni saw a one goal lead overhauled before losing 2-1. This defeat had a profound psychological effect on the Azzurri who went on to draw with Mexico and eventually lose to South Korea in the last 16, albeit in controversial circumstances. A negative result against Spain in the opening game would leave Italy in a very precarious situation and with players of the quality of Luca Modric in their side Prandelli will be hopeful that he will have a full strength midfield at his disposal.
Ireland
The final group game (as pointed out by Adam Digby) will see Prandelli come up against his former manager in Trappatoni. This is only a minor piece in the historical jigsaw between these two sides. The last time Italy defeated Ireland in a competitive match was during Italia 90. Since then the Azzurri have lost to Ireland in Giants Stadium at USA 94, a game that has gone down in Irish football history. The teams met again during the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup, where both games ended in stalemate.
More recently these teams came head to head in a friendly in Liege last June where Trapattoni’s men emerged victorious. The irony of an Italian team being defeated by one of the old masters of Catenaccio was a strange sight indeed. The fact that this tie is the final group game would indicate that it could well be a very tense affair and this is the type of match that Trap’s Ireland team have thrived on since he arrived as manager in 2008. Prandelli’s reaction on being drawn in the same group as Ireland was “We wanted to avoid Giovanni Trapattoni.”
The former Fiorentina manager knows that Trap’s men will provide a real test of the Italy's creativity as he has transformed the Ireland team into incredibly strong defensive unit over the past three years. This is exactly the type of game that Prandelli will hope to be able to call on the guile of Giusseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano.
It may be still more than six months away but following the draw today the anticipation is rapidly growing for what will undoubtedly be a memorable few weeks for football fans. Group C will prove a tense, tight group and it would not be surprising in the least if most of the games end in stalemate and the closing moments of the final round of group games decided which teams advance to the quarter finals. Historically, Italy and Ireland have advanced to the knockout stages of tournaments in such circumstances and I for one would have no complaints were the Azzurri and Trap’s men to fight out a bore 0-0 draw for both teams to qualify for Quarter Finals.
