Euro Cup 2012 Favourites:Italy

By rahulrawat, 7th Jun 2012 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/3a02to4m/
Posted in Wikinut>News>Sport

This article analysis the form of Italy and their chances of winning in the upcoming euro cup.

Euro Cup 2012 Favourites:Italy

Italy qualified for the tournament with ease beating out weak opponents.The Azzurri won 8 out of possible 10 to qualify for the tournament.At present they are ranked 12 in the FIFA rankings and are 11 in ELO rankings.

The performance by Italy at major international tournaments has been poor in the last few years.They were eliminated in EURO CUP 2008 in quarterfinals by eventual champions Spain in a penalty shootout. They did not proceed to the knockout phases in both the CONFIDERATIONS CUP 2009 and FIFA WORLD CUP 2010.

They are placed in Group C along with long time rivals Spain and contenders Croatia and Republic of Ireland and will surely try to finish the group stages on a high and reach the knockout stages.

The squad picked by Cesare Prandelli is good blend of experience and youth with goalkeeper and experienced Gianluigi Buffon leading the team. There are experienced campaigners like Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi,Antonio Di Natale, Antonio Cassano and Giorgio Chiellini.
Their are many young talented players also like Mario Balotelli and Andrea Ranocchia.

Though this team may seem no match on paper to teams like Spain or Germany they are more than capable of causing an upset. They faced a similar scenario before WORLD CUP 2006 when they were not regarded as capable of winning due to the crisis in Italy but came out as the eventual winners and they will surely try to repeat the magic again.

Cesare Prandelli has experimented which his lineup and formation over the past couple of years and his starting eleven is very unpredictable.Italy will likely play with their 4-3-1-2 formation Gianluigi Buffon is fit and will surely start in between the posts and will try to repeat the great performances he gave during the master defensive displays in the WORLD CUP 2006.At the back there are Giorgio Chiellini, Federico Balzaretti, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli. The midfield will consist of the experienced Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi alongside Claudio Marchiso and Riccado Montolivo.The attackers are likely to be Antonio Cassano and Antonio Di Natale/Mario Balotelli.

The Italians are likely to deploy the passing game strategy with many long ball forward and will try to catch the opponents on the break.With Giuseppe Rossi and Alberto Aquilani not in the team they will miss their talent and will find it difficult to replace.

They will certainly face stiff competition from tournament favourites Spain when they face them on 10th June for their first match. Crotia has always proved a tuff opposition to face and will be looking to advance from their group. Italy might face the same fate as in WORLD CUP 2010 with none of their strikers in great touch while G.G.Buffon well past his prime Itlay might just be battling to salvage some pride from this competition.