Italy’s World Cup Prospects

Winning the World Cup twice on the trot is one of the hardest feats in sports – and that’s exactly what Italy are aiming to do next summer in South Africa. Yesterday, we gave you the first two keys if Italy are going to pull off the historic double. Today, we present the final two.

Midfield Mastery

Buffon’s health and the defensive situation notwithstanding, Italy’s midfield is critical to its success. The team’s arguably best two players are midfielders who are currently in their prime: Roma’s Daniele De Rossi and Milan’s Andrea Pirlo. Boasting two distinct and complementary sets of skills – namely the strength and tenacity of De Rossi and the grace and creativity of Pirlo – these two stars provide Italy with one of the best midfield cores in the world. (Spain and England should be included in the discussion too, but let’s save that debate for another time). Throw in the locomotive engine that is Mauro Camoranesi of Juve and you have quite a superb triumvirate if you are going 4-3-3.  For a 4-4-2, Liverpool’s Aquilani, a talismanic though likely past-his-prime Gattuso, or any of several other up-and-coming midfielders would work.  The bottom line: The midfield is Italy’s most reliable asset and the Azzurri will go as their midfielders go.

Offensive Overture

The loudest debate in the Italy press revolves around the inclusion of Antonio Cassano – and to a lesser extent, Francesco Totti - in the squad.  Coach Marcelo Lippi has thus far resisted calling up the Sampdoria (and former Roma and Real Madrid) starlet, relying instead on his favourites Alberto Gilardino and Vincenzo Iaquinta. Lippi has also used Antonio DiNatale and Fabio Quagliarella, as well as Giuseppe Rossi, to varying degrees of success. In the end, none of these strikers has proven consistent enough to guarantee a starting spot, so Lippi might be well-advised to play together Totti, Cassano, and Rossi, thus combining the veteran leadership and skill of Totti (who continues to perform as one of Europe’s leading scorers), the current form of the man in his prime of Cassano, and the new blood of the capable youngster Rossi. Doing so would allow the coach to inject a bit of new energy into an offense that surely needs it – but without destroying the team’s foundation that won the World Cup 4 years back.

In the end, I expect Italy to offer the right blend of the old guard and new blood and provide a respectable showing next year, advancing past the group stage but succumbing 1-0 on a penalty or freak goal before the semi-finals. Who will make the semi-finals in Italy’s place? As of today, I see Ghana, Germany, Brazil, and England, the last of whom I predict will win their first World Cup in 44 years by utilizing the same veteran-based approach used by Italy in 2006.

Will De Rossi and Totti be kissing again in South Africa?

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Check out the first installment of this post: Italy’s World Cup Hopes Begin At The Back

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We at Footy Factor would like to thank Jerry Russo from NYC for submitting this article.