Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Italy National Football Team History and Their Magical Playing Style-


Italy
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Gli Azzurri (The Blues)
La Squadra Azzurra (The Blue Team)
Association Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Cesare Prandelli
Captain Gianluigi Buffon
Most caps Fabio Cannavaro (136)
Top scorer Luigi Riva (35)
FIFA code ITA
FIFA ranking 14
Highest FIFA ranking 1 (November 1993
February 2007
April 2007-June 2007)
Lowest FIFA ranking 16 (April 1998
October 2010)
Elo ranking 12
Highest Elo ranking 1 (June 1934-March 1940
December 1940-November 1945
July 2006-August 2006)
Lowest Elo ranking 21 (November 1959)

Home colours
Away colours
First international
 Italy 6–2 France 
(Milan, Italy; 15 May 1910)
Biggest win
 Italy 9–0 United States 
(Brentford, England; 2 August 1948)
Biggest defeat
 Hungary 7–1 Italy 
(Budapest, Hungary; 6 April 1924)
World Cup
Appearances 17 (First in 1934)
Best result Winners, 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006
European Championship
Appearances 7 (First in 1968)
Best result Winners, 1968
Confederations Cup
Appearances 1 (First in 2009)
Best result Round 1, 2009

The Italy national football team (Italian: Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for football in Italy. Their head coach is Cesare Prandelli. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil. To this tally they can add one European championship (1968), one Olympic football tournament (1936) and two Central European International Cups.

The traditional colour of the national team (as well as all Italian national teams and athletes officially representing Italy) is azure blue (azzurro, in Italian), due to the "Azzurro Savoia" (Savoy Blue), the colour traditionally linked to the royal dynasty which unified Italy in 1861, and maintained in the official standard of the Italian President.

World Cup winners for the third time (1978–2004):


Italy's line up, with eight Juventus players, before the match against France in a group stage game at the 1978 FIFA World Cup at Estadio José María MinellaMar del Plata, Argentina - 2 June, 1978). (
The 1978 FIFA World Cup, held in Argentina, saw a new generation of Italian players, the most famous being Paolo Rossi, coming to the international stage. Italy played very well in the first round, being the only team in the tournament to beat the eventual champions and host team Argentina. Second round games against West Germany, Austria and Netherlands led Italy to the third place final, where it was defeated by Brazil 2–1. As in the match against the Netherlands, Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff was beaten by a long-distance shot and thus blamed as the main culprit for the defeat. Italy then hosted the 1980 UEFA European Football Championship, the first edition to be held between eight teams instead of four, and with the host team automatically qualified for the finals.

Italy was beaten by Czechoslovakia in the third place match on penalties.
After a scandal in Serie A where some National Team players such as Paolo Rossi were prosecuted and suspended for match fixing and illegal betting, the Azzurri arrived at the 1982 FIFA World Cup amidst general scepticism and discomfort. Italy qualified for the second round after three uninspiring draws against Poland, Peru and Cameroon. Having been loudly criticized, the Italian team decided on a press black-out from then on, with only coach Enzo Bearzot and captain Dino Zoff appointed to speak to the press.

Italy did not progress beyond the group stage at the finals of Euro 96. Gianfranco Zola failed to convert a decisive penalty against Germany, who eventually won the tournament. Then, during the qualifying campaign for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the Azzurri beat England at Wembley for the second time with Zola scoring the only goal. In the final tournament, Italy found themselves in another critical shootout for the third World Cup in a row. The Italian side, where Del Piero and Baggio renewed the controversial staffetta (relay) between Mazzola and Rivera from 1970, held the eventual World Champions and host team France to a 0–0 draw after extra time in the quarterfinals, but lost 4–3 in the shootout. With two goals scored in this tournament, Roberto Baggio is still the only Italian player to have scored in three different FIFA World Cup editions.


Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti in Euro 2000.
In the Euro 2000, another shootout was this time to favour Italy, in the semifinal against the co-hosts the Netherlands. Italian goalkeeper Francesco Toldo saved one penalty during the match and two in the shootout, while the Dutch players missed one other penalty during the match and one during the shootout with a rate of one penalty scored out of six attempts. Emerging star Francesco Totti scored his penalty with a cucchiaiogolden goal in extra time) after conceding les Bleus' equalizing goal just 30 seconds before the expected end of injury time (94'). After the defeat, coach Dino Zoff resigned in protest after being criticized by MilanSilvio Berlusconi. (spoon) chip. Italy finished the tournament as runners-up, unluckily losing the final 2–1 against France (to a president and politician

In the 2002 World Cup, Italy again had a difficult time. A comfortable 2–0 victory against Ecuador with two Christian Vieri goals was followed by a 2–1 defeat to Croatia. A 1–1 draw with Mexico thanks to a goal from Alessandro Del Piero proved enough to advance to the knockout stages. However, co-host country South Korea knocked out Italy in the Round of 16.

A three-way tie in the group stage of the 2004 European Championship left Italy as the "odd man out", and they failed to qualify for the quarterfinals after finishing behind Denmark and Sweden on the basis of number of goals scored in matches among the tied teams. The winning goal scored during stoppage time against Bulgaria by Antonio Cassano resulted useless, leaving the Italian striker in tears at the end of the game.

 World champions for the fourth time (2006 World Cup):

Italy's campaign in the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany was accompanied by open pessimism due to the controversy caused by the 2006 Serie A scandal. These negative predictions were then refuted, as the Azzurri eventually won their fourth World Cup.

Italy won their opening game against Ghana 2-0, with goals from Andrea Pirlo (40') and substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta (83'). The team performance was judged the best among the opening games by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.


The second match was a less convincing 1–1 draw with USA, with Alberto Gilardino's diving header equalized by a Cristian Zaccardo own goal. After the equalizer, midfielder Daniele De Rossi and the USA's Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope were sent off, leaving only nine men on the field for nearly the entirety of the second half, but the score remained unchanged despite a controversial decision when Gennaro Gattuso's shot was deflected in but disallowed because of an offside ruling. The same happened at the other end when U.S. winger DaMarcus Beasley's goal was not given due to teammate Brian McBride being ruled offside. De Rossi was suspended for four matches for elbowing McBride in the face and could only return for the final match.

Italy finished first in Group E with a 2–0 win against the Czech Republic, with goals from defender Marco Materazzi (26') and striker Filippo Inzaghi (87'), advancing to the Round of 16 in the knockout stages, where they faced Australia. In this match, Materazzi was controversially sent off early in the second half (53') after an attempted two-footed tackle on Australian midfielder Marco Bresciano. In stoppage time a penalty kick was awarded to the Azzurri when referee Cantalejo ruled that Lucas Neill fouled Fabio Grosso. Francesco Totti converted into an upper corner of the goal past Mark Schwarzer for a 1–0 win.
 
In the quarterfinals Italy beat Ukraine 3–0. Gianluca Zambrotta opened the scoring early (6') with a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area after a quick exchange with Totti created enough space. Luca Toni added two more goals in the second half (59' and 69'), as Ukraine pressed forward but were not able to score, hitting the crossbar and requiring several saves from Buffon and a goal-line clearance from Zambrotta. Afterwards, manager Marcello Lippi dedicated the victory to former Italian international Gianluca Pessotto, who was in the hospital recovering from an apparent suicide attempt.

In the semi-final, Italy beat host country Germany 2–0 with the two goals coming in the last two minutes of extra time. After an exciting, back-and-forth half hour of extra time during which Gilardino and ZambrottaGrosso scored in the 119th minute after a disguised Pirlo pass found him open in the penalty area for a bending left-footed shot into the far corner past German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's dive. Substitute striker Alessandro Del Piero then sealed the victory by scoring with the last kick of the game at the end of a swift counterattack by Cannavaro, Totti and Gilardino. struck the post and the crossbar respectively,


Within the crowd in the Circus Maximus in Rome, after the Italian team scored against France.
The Azzurri won their fourth World Cup, defeating their long-time rivals France in Berlin, on 9 July, 5–3 on penalty kicks after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time. French captain Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a chipped penalty kick, controversially awarded for a foul by Materazzi. Twelve minutes later, a powerful header by Materazzi from a corner kick by Pirlo brought Italy even. In the second half, a goal by Toni was disallowed for a very close offside call, called by linesman Luc La Rossa. At 110', Zidane was sent off after a head butt, after a verbal exchange with Materazzi; the two players were eventually fined by FIFA for this incident. Italy then won the penalty shootout 5–3, the crucial penalty being David Trézéguet's powerful attempt that hit the crossbar and stayed out. Italy scored all five attempts in a shootout for the first time ever (Pirlo, Materazzi, De Rossi, Del Piero and Grosso). Italy remain the only side to have played in the two World Cup finals that have ended in shootouts; in 1994 and 2006.

Ten different players scored for Italy and five goals out of twelve were scored by substitutes, while four goals were scored by defenders. Seven players — Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Francesco Totti and Luca Toni — were named to the 23-man tournament All Star Team. Buffon also won the Lev Yashin Award, given to the best goalkeeper of the tournament; he conceded only two goals in the tournament, the first an own goal by Zaccardo and the second from Zidane's penalty kick in the final, and remained unbeaten for 460 consecutive minutes. In honour of Italy winning the FIFA World Cup for a fourth time, all of the World Cup Squad were awarded the Italian Order of Merit of Cavaliere Ufficiale.


In Euro 2008, the Azzurri got off to a poor start, losing 0–3 to the Netherlands. The following game against Romania ended with 1–1, with a goal by Christian Panucci that came only a minute after Romania's Adrian Mutu capitalized on a mistake by Gianluca Zambrotta to give Romania the lead. The result was preserved by Gianluigi Buffon who saved a penalty kick from Mutu in the 80th minute.


The final game against France, a rematch of the 2006 World Cup Final, was won with a 2–0 victory. Andrea Pirlo scored from the penalty spot and a free kick by Daniele De Rossi took a wild deflection resulting Italy's second goal. Romania, entering the day a point ahead of the Italians in Group C, lost to the Netherlands 2–0, allowing Italy to pass into the quarterfinals against eventual champion Spain, where they lost 2–4 on penalties. Within a week after the game, Roberto Donadoni's contract was terminated and Marcello Lippi was rehired as coach.

By virtue of winning the World Cup, Italy qualified for the Confederations Cup, held in South Africa in June 2009. They won their opening match, against United States, 3–1, but defeats to Egypt (0–1) and Brazil (0–3) meant that they finished third in the group on goals scored, and were eliminated. In October 2009, Italy qualified for the 2010 World Cup South Africa after drawing with Republic of Ireland 2-2. On 4th December 2009, the draw for the World Cup was made, Italy was in Group F alongside Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia.

At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Italy were eliminated in the first round, finishing last place in their group. After being held to 1-1 draws by Paraguay and football minnows New Zealand, they lost 3-2 to Slovakia.The results from the group stage sent shock waves across the world. It was the first time Italy failed to win a single game at World Cup finals, and in doing so became the first nation to be eliminated in the first round while holding the World Cup crown twice.

Competitive record:

 World Cup record-

Year Result Position GP W D* L GS GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter
Italy 1934 Champions 1st 5 4 1 0 12 3
France 1938 Champions 1st 4 4 0 0 11 5
Brazil 1950 First round 7th 2 1 0 1 4 3
Switzerland 1954 First round 10th 3 1 0 2 6 7
Sweden 1958 Did not qualify
Chile 1962 First round 9th 3 1 1 1 3 2
England 1966 First round 9th 3 1 0 2 2 2
Mexico 1970 Runners-up 2nd 6 3 2 1 10 8
West Germany 1974 First round 10th 3 1 1 1 5 4
Argentina 1978 Fourth place 4th 7 4 1 2 9 6
Spain 1982 Champions 1st 7 4 3 0 12 6
Mexico 1986 Round of 16 12th 4 1 2 1 5 6
Italy 1990 Third place 3rd 7 6 1 0 10 2
United States 1994 Runners-up 2nd 7 4 2 1 8 5
France 1998 Quarter-finals 5th 5 3 2 0 8 3
South KoreaJapan 2002 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 5 5
Germany 2006 Champions 1st 7 5 2 0 12 2
South Africa 2010 First round 26th 3 0 2 1 4 5
Total 17/19 4 Titles 80 44 21 15 126 74

 European Championship record-

Year Result Position GP W D* L GS GA
France 1960 Did not enter - - - - - - -
Spain 1964 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Italy 1968 Champions 1st 3 1 2 0 3 1
Belgium 1972 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Italy 1980 Fourth place 4th 4 1 3 0 2 1
France 1984 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
West Germany 1988 Semi-finals 4th 4 2 1 1 4 3
Sweden 1992 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
England 1996 First round 10th 3 1 1 1 3 3
BelgiumNetherlands 2000 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 1 1 9 4
Portugal 2004 First round 9th 3 1 2 0 3 2
AustriaSwitzerland 2008 Quarter-finals 5th 4 1 2 1 3 4
Total 7/13 1 Title 27 11 12 4 27 18
*Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.
**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

 Confederations Cup record-

FIFA Confederations Cup
Year Results GP W D L GS GA
Saudi Arabia 1997 Did not qualify - - - - - -
Mexico 1999 Did not qualify - - - - - -
South KoreaJapan 2001 Did not qualify - - - - - -
France 2003 Did not qualify - - - - - -
Germany 2005 Did not qualify - - - - - -
South Africa 2009 Round 1 3 1 0 2 3 5
Total 1/6 3 1 0 2 3 5

 

 

Cesare Prandelli Era (2010-Present):

Marcello Lippi stepped down after Italy's World Cup campaign and was replaced by Cesare Prandelli, although Lippi's successor had already been announced before the tournament. Italy began their campaign with Prandelli with a disappointing 0-1 loss to Côte d'Ivoire in a friendly match. Then, during the 2012 Euro Qualifier, Italy came back from behind to defeat Estonia 2-1. In the next UEFA Qualifier, Italy dominated the Faroe Islands 5-0. Italy then tied 0-0 with Northern Ireland. Five days later, Italy played Serbia. However, Serbian fans in Stadio Luigi Ferraris, began to riot, throwing flares, and shooting fireworks onto the pitch, subsequently, ending the game. Upon UEFA Disciplinary Review, Italy was awarded a 3-0 Victory. Putting them in pole position of their group.

Honours-

This is a list of honours for the senior Italian national team
  • FIFA World Cup
  • Winner (4): 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006
  • Runner-up (2): 1970, 1994
  • Third place (1): 1990
  • Fourth place (1): 1978
  • UEFA European Championship
  • Winner (1): 1968
  • Runner-up (1): 2000
  • Fourth place (1): 1980
  • Semi-finals (1): 1988
  • Olympic football tournament
  • Gold Medal (1): 1936
  • Bronze Medal (2): 1928, 2004
  • Central European International Cup
  • Winner (2): 1927-30, 1933-35
  • Runner-up (1): 1931-32
  • Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year: 2007

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures-

Date Location Opponent Score* Competition
3 March 2010 Fontvielle, Monaco  Cameroon 0 – 0 Friendly
3 June 2010 Brussels, Belgium  Mexico 1 – 2 Friendly
5 June 2010 Geneva, Switzerland  Switzerland 1 – 1 Friendly
14 June 2010 Cape Town, South Africa  Paraguay 1 – 1 2010 World Cup
20 June 2010 Nelspruit, South Africa  New Zealand 1 – 1 2010 World Cup
24 June 2010 Johannesbourg, South Africa  Slovakia 2 – 3 2010 World Cup
10 August 2010 London, England  Côte d'Ivoire 0 – 1 Friendly
3 September 2010 Tallinn, Estonia  Estonia 2 – 1 Euro 2012 qualifier
7 September 2010 Florence, Italy  Faroe Islands 5 – 0 Euro 2012 qualifier
8 October 2010 Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 0 – 0 Euro 2012 qualifier
12 October 2010 Genoa, Italy  Serbia 3 – 0 (awarded) Euro 2012 qualifier
17 November 2010 Klagenfurt, Austria  Romania 1 – 1 Friendly
9 February 2011 Dortmund, Germany  Germany
Friendly
25 March 2011 Ljubljana, Slovenia  Slovenia
Euro 2012 qualifier
29 March 2011 Ukraine  Ukraine
Friendly
3 June 2011 TBA, Italy  Estonia
Euro 2012 qualifier
8 June 2011 Buenos Aires, Argentina  Argentina
Friendly
11 August 2011 TBA, Italy  Spain
Friendly

* Italy's scores listed first


Players:

 Current squad-

Players called up for friendly match against Romania on 17 November 2010.
Caps and goals as of 17 November 2010.
# Name Date of Birth (Age) Club Caps (Goals) Debut
Goalkeepers
1 Emiliano Viviano 1 December 1985 (age 25)(1985-12-01) Italy Bologna 4 (0) v. Faroe Islands, 7 September 2010
12 Salvatore Sirigu 12 January 1987 (age 23)(1987-01-12) Italy Palermo 2 (0) v. Côte d'Ivoire, 10 August 2010
15 Antonio Mirante 8 July 1983 (age 27)(1983-07-08) Italy Parma 0 (0) N/A
Defenders
2 Davide Santon 2 January 1991 (age 20)(1991-01-02) Italy Internazionale 6 (0) v. Northern Ireland, 6 June 2009
3 Domenico Criscito 30 December 1986 (age 24)(1986-12-30) Italy Genoa 12 (0) v. Switzerland, 12 August 2009
7 Federico Balzaretti 6 December 1981 (age 29)(1981-12-06) Italy Palermo 1 (0) v. Romania, 17 November 2010
13 Daniele Gastaldello 25 June 1983 (age 27)(1983-06-25) Italy Sampdoria 0 (0) N/A
16 Mattia Cassani 26 August 1983 (age 27)(1983-08-26) Italy Palermo 6 (0) v. Sweden, 18 November 2009
17 Andrea Ranocchia 16 February 1988 (age 22)(1988-02-16) Italy Internazionale 1 (0) v. Romania, 17 November 2010
19 Leonardo Bonucci 1 May 1987 (age 23)(1987-05-01) Italy Juventus 8 (2) v. Cameroon, 3 March 2010
20 Davide Astori 7 January 1987 (age 24)(1987-01-07) Italy Cagliari 0 (0) N/A
Midfielders
4 Cristian Ledesma 24 September 1982 (age 28)(1982-09-24) Italy Lazio 1 (0) v. Romania, 17 November 2010
5 Daniele De Rossi 24 July 1983 (age 27)(1983-07-24) Italy Roma 62 (10) v. Norway, 4 September 2004
6 Stefano Mauri 20 June 1980 (age 30)(1980-06-20) Italy Lazio 9 (0) v. Finland, 17 November 2004
8 Alessandro Diamanti 2 May 1983 (age 27)(1983-05-02) Italy Brescia 1 (0) v. Romania, 17 November 2010
14 Alberto Aquilani 7 July 1984 (age 26)(1984-07-07) Italy Juventus 12 (2) v. Turkey, 15 November 2006
21 Andrea Pirlocaptain) ( 19 May 1979 (age 31)(1979-05-19) Italy Milan 72 (9) v. Azerbaijan, 7 September 2002
Strikers
9 Giampaolo Pazzini 2 August 1984 (age 26)(1984-08-02) Italy Sampdoria 14 (1) v. Montenegro, 28 March 2009
10 Mario Balotelli 12 August 1990 (age 20)(1990-08-12) England Manchester City 2 (0) v. Côte d'Ivoire, 10 August 2010
11 Alberto Gilardino 5 July 1982 (age 28)(1982-07-05) Italy Fiorentina 45 (17) v. Norway, 4 September 2004
18 Fabio Quagliarella 31 January 1983 (age 27)(1983-01-31) Italy Juventus 25 (6) v. Scotland, 29 March 2007
22 Giuseppe Rossi 1 February 1987 (age 23)(1987-02-01) Spain Villarreal 18 (3) v. Bulgaria, 11 October 2008

Most capped players-

As of 17 November 2010, the players with the most caps for Italy are:
# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Fabio Cannavaro 1997–2010 136 2
2 Paolo Maldini 1988–2002 126 7
3 Dino Zoff 1968–1983 112 0
4 Gianluigi Buffon 1997– 102 0
5 Gianluca Zambrotta 1999– 98 2
6 Giacinto Facchetti 1963–1977 94 3
7 Alessandro Del Piero 1995–2008 91 27
8 Franco Baresi 1982–1994 81 1
Giuseppe Bergomi 1982–1998 81 6
Marco Tardelli 1976–1985 81 6

Bold denotes still active players.

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying-

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Italy 4 3 1 0 10 1 +9 10
 Slovenia 4 2 1 1 7 3 +4 7
 Estonia 4 2 0 2 6 5 +1 6
 Northern Ireland 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 5
 Serbia 4 1 1 2 5 7 −2 4
 Faroe Islands 5 0 1 4 3 16 −13 1

 

Top goalscorers-

As of 17 November 2010, the players with the most goals for Italy are:
# Name Career Goals Caps Goals per match
1 Luigi Riva 1965–1974 35 42 0.83
2 Giuseppe Meazza 1930–1939 33 53 0.62
3 Silvio Piola 1935–1952 30 34 0.88
4 Roberto Baggio 1988–2004 27 56 0.48
Alessandro Del Piero 1995–2008 27 91 0.29
6 Adolfo Baloncieri 1920–1930 25 47 0.53
Filippo Inzaghi 1997–2007 25 57 0.44
Alessandro Altobelli 1980–1988 25 61 0.41
9 Christian Vieri 1997–2005 23 49 0.47
Francesco Graziani 1975–1983 23 64 0.36

Bold denotes still active players.




From Wikipedia-

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