Reaction: Italy World Cup squad announced
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by Bobo
This year's entire Italian team is merely based upon members of their own country, being one of the only two clubs to do so (the other team is the minnows of Saudi Arabia). This is mainly surprising given the quantity and commitment of talent (though not in recent years) of Italian players in England and other European countries.
The three time winners are running out against the Czechs, the Ghanaians and the Americans, though they will be keen to avoid Brazil in the next round.
Gianluigi Buffon first learned his football having previously idolized former Cameroonian shot-stopper Thomas N'Kono, who played in the World Cup in 1982 and 1990.
Cristian Zacardo has risen into the Italian team after playing for teams like Bologna, Spezia, who were most recently promoted from Serie C1/A to the lofty heights of Serie B, Bologna, and most recently Palermo.
What Fabio Grosso lacks in speed he makes up for in phenomenal positioning power. Having started as a defender, he now plays as a midfielder out of necessity. Having made his debut in 2003, he became a regular in the squad in 2005.
Daniele de Rossi graduated from the youth team of Roma during 2001, but gradually became one of the key midfielders for the club. A strong player with excellent vision, he was one of the key players for Italy in winning the bronze medal at the Athens Summer Olympics.
Fabio Cannavaro started his career with now defunct (though they came back with a different name later on) Napoli, before claiming his big break by transferring to Parma in 1995. Winning silverware with the team, he has also played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, before moving to Internazionale for two years. He has since joined Juventus and never looked back, having won the Serie A title.
Andrea Barzagli started his career in Serie C with Rondinella and Pistoiese before getting his break with Serie B side Ascoli and later Serie A side Chievo. While he played in 2004 in the Olympics, he soon moved to Palermo, also becoming a part of the UEFA European U-21 championships.
It was initially assumed that when Juve’s coach bought Alessandro Del Piero from more-or-less unknown team Padova, he would be a gigantic flop. However, this was to overwhelmingly prove not the case. During his first season with Juventus, he made his Serie A debut in the same year as they won the championship in his first year. He was later the player that Marcello Lippi would build his team around. After a serious knee injury in 1998 set him back, he looked like he would never play again, but his lack of form was to stop, and despite nowadays starting more games from the bench than on the pitch, his scoring rate is now greater than it was in his naissance.
Gennaro Gattuso had an stint in Scotland before rejoining Salernitana, and since then, he has been a mainstay at AC Milan, with whom he won the 2003 UEFA Champions League and the 2004 Serie A title. Nicknamed “Ringhio” (which in Italian means “growl”) he became the biggest attribute to the right wing that the Milanese team had seen for many years.
Luca Toni became the centre of attention when he moved from Brescia to Palermo in the ninth year of his professional career. Nowadays he is Italy’s top Serie A striker, and scored 20 goals in his first year in the top division. The following season, he set out to prove people wrong as they told him he was just another flash in the pan by scoring 31 goals and winning the European Golden Shoe.
Francesco Totti is a true one club man, having stayed with Roma since the age of 16, in 1992. Despite having uneasy relationships with two of his coaches around the peak of his career, he became not just one of Italian football’s greatest faces, but Italy’s most famous faces as a whole. In most recent times, during 2006 he suffered an ankle injury which nearly rendered him incapable of playing at these championships, but which cleared up for him in the end. With his favoured position in “the hole” behind two top-end strikers, his shooting skill and trickery work to his great advantage.
Alberto Gilardino moved to AC Milan in 2005, but most importantly, was born on the same day as the 3-2 victory against Brazil in the 1982 World Cup. Although rather inexperienced, he leads a good defensive line, and though he doesn’t have a single standout talent, such as Vieri’s left foot or Toni’s head, but his ability to work on every single level is invaluable for the team.
Two years ago, Angelo Peruzzi came back into international reckoning having been absent from the squad for five years. He spent his most famous years with Juventus, during which they won the Champions League, three league titles and the UEFA Cup, along with an array of smaller trophies.
Alessandro Nesta possesses a great mix of speed, of timing, of strength and of agility. He has previously been a part of a winning UEFA European U-21 Championship team, and the Euro ‘96 team, though in the latter he failed to make an appearance.
Third goalkeeper Marco Amelia plays for Livorno, but with coaches out there looking at his form, he could easily be looking at greater teams accruing his signature in the future, having previously played with Roma and Parma before cementing his place in the side.
Forward Vincenzo Iaquinta first made an appearance for Italy in March 2005, where he played against Iceland. Though he enjoyed a great season with Udinese in 2004/05, he found himself in a contract dispute, and despite suffering a foot injury in the latter half of 2005, he worked his way back to action by February, sealing a place in the Italian squad.
Argentine-born Mauro Camoranesi caused outrage when he decided to play for Italy instead of Argentina, but he moved to Italy in 2002 when he started playing for Verona and later moved to Juventus, where he was to find title success.
Simone Barone spent two years outside top-league Italian football from 1998 to 2000 playing for Alzano in Serie C1. He later helped Palermo achieve a place in Europe in his first season at the club. Though he is not a regular first-team player he has made his way into the squad through hard work and dedication.
Vincenzo Iaquinta had the best season of his career with Udinese. He had previously spent his time with two Serie C teams, before making it in the big time.
Argentine-born Mauro Cameronese has spent six seasons in Italy with Verona and Juventus, and caused something of a stir in the ranks of his homeland, when he instead decided to play for his adopted country in the World Cup instead of Argentina. Despite his volatile behaviour, he adds liveliness to the field.
Simone Barone still plays in Italy for Palermo, having played in Italy for all his career, including spells at Serie C teams Padova and Alzano. During his first season with Palermo, the central midfielder aided them to European competition. He played several times in Lippi’s 2005 Italian side to clinch a place in this year’s squad.
Filippo Inzaghi has the ultimate goalbound instinct and is starting in his third World Cup. He won the Young Player of the Year award in 1997 before starring in the 1998 finals, in the same year as he helped Juventus win the league title, despite finishing only as runners up in the Champions League. Later on, he made up for this by winning the Champions League with AC Milan in 2003. Despite suffering an ankle injury which kept him out of the 2004 European Championships, he recovered his form in 2005/06.
Gianluca Zambrotta moved to Juventus in 1999 and since then has become one of the finest defenders in Europe. He played for Italy during the 2000 Olympics and at Euro 2000, where he was sent off in Italy’s penalty shoot-out victory.
Simone Perrotta had an outstanding run of form in the recent season, and thus it is no wonder that he gained this place in his squad on merit. Despite starting his senior career at Juventus (having spent his youth at Reggina) and playing only 26 minutes in the qualifying stage, he is an important part of the Italian side. Under the former coach, Trapattoni, he was a regular in the squad.
Andrea Pirlo is a creative passer of the ball, who can play in either defensive midfield or a more complicated position. He helped AC Milan win the Champions League and the league title despite having a torrid time at their rivals, Internazionale earlier in the year.
Massimo Oddo started his career in the realms of Serie C with Fiorenzuola, before moving to the likes of Napoli (a good team prior to their dissolution) and later, Lazio. He won the Coppa Italia in 2004, before featuring in Euro 2004.
Marco Materazzi made his club debut in 1990 with then-lowly Messina, before moving to Serie C1’s Tor di Quinto, a sprinklin of Serie D teams, including Marsala, Trapani and Carpi, before having an unsuccessful season at Everton.
This young squad are more unknown than ever, and yet they are still extremely strong and powerful. Playing their first team will enable them to go far in the competition.
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