Page 53 - Soccer360 Issue 105

IMPORTANT
DATES
GROUP STAGE
June 14 - June 26
ROUND OF 16
June 29 - July 2
QUARTER FINALS
July 5 - July 6
SEMI FINALS
July 9 - July 10
FINALS
July 14
AN EVENT TO FORGET
Ciro Di Brita looks back on the last time Italy came into a major tournament as defending champions, at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The Azzurri headed into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as holders with an ageing and ailing squad that featured eight of the champions from 2006. The man who masterminded their fourth World Cup triumph Marcello Lippi returned to take charge and he selected an experienced squad with nine players over the age of 30, the oldest being captain Fabio Cannavaro at 36.
Having been drawn with Paraguay, outsiders New Zealand, and World
Cup rookies Slovakia, hopes were
high that the Azzurri could mount a decent attempt at retaining their title. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed in the first match when a creaking and cumbersome Italy were lucky to rescue a 1-1 draw with the South Americans
in Cape Town thanks to a goalkeeping error that handed Daniele De Rossi an equaliser.
The Italians then needed a Vincenzo Iaquinta penalty to avert what would have been a disastrous and embarrassing defeat for the holders against New Zealand. This meant a win or draw against Slovakia in their final Group F match would see them advance into
the knockout rounds. A Roberto Vittek brace gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead before Antonio Di Natale pulled one back with 10 minutes to go. Kamil Kopunek made
it 3-1 at the end of normal time. Fabio Quagliarella fired in what turned out
to be a stunning consolation goal as Simone Pepe’s last-gasp close-range miss sent the holders crashing out of the tournament.
A beaten and bedraggled side,
Italy became the second defending champions in three World Cups to finish bottom of their group. Lippi’s decision
to select several unfit players who
were long past their best spectacularly backfired, while midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo was only fit enough to come off the bench in the last game and the Azzurri sorely missed his presence.
Halaand with the Gerd Muller Trophy
made Mancini’s side look tired and jaded and a pale shadow of the team that had played so carefree and confident between 2018 and 2021.
The Euro 2020 win left enough credit in the bank and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) were unwilling to sack a coach who had led the nation to triumph and Mancini refused to step down, creating a frayed and sometimes tetchy relationship between
the coach and FIGC. The federation even attempted to appease their head coach by appointing Gianluigi Buffon to the backroom staff as a replacement for Mancini’s long- time friend Gianluca Vialli who had sadly passed in January 2023.
Surprisingly, Mancini did decide to resign in August 2023 and two weeks later was announced as the new manager of Saudi Arabia, leaving behind an Azzurri team going through a major transitional phase and with its chances of qualifying for Euro 2024 still hanging in the balance.
The FIGC responded swiftly by appointing Luciano Spalletti as his replacement, and
the 65-year-old was a very popular choice across Italy in the wake of his achievement of leading Napoli to the Serie A title in 2022- 23. He had completely reinvented the squad at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, letting some big names go in the summer of 2022 and recruiting a bunch of unheralded players who became stars almost overnight. His task now with the national team is perhaps to do something similar - to help
a new generation of Italian talent realise its potential. Following his historic achievement with Napoli, leading them to their first Scudetto since 1990, Spalletti parted ways with the Partenopei in the summer, citing
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