THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

GROUP A
ITALY
       Ah! The Azzurri,four-time world champions and perennial competiton favourites.Italy are heading into this tournament,aiming to win it for the first time.They will be hoping that the awful outting they had in the last two FIFA tournaments,were they left in the group stages.They are coached by casare prandelli,the former florentina coach struggled intially but has now forged a team worthy of winning any tournament,this they showed in Euro 2012,by getting to the final,beating a fantasic German side,only to be outplayed by probably the best team in footballing history:Spain.But since after the European championship they've played 7 matches winning 2.They can point to the fact that the 2 they won were competitive matches,while the others were friendlies.I watched them play last week against Czech Republic and they were outplayed on the night.As with Brazil on my previous article they have a formation problem.Whether to use a 4-2-3-1, a 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 formation.Prandelli has previously stated that his team were not suited to a 4-3-3 system.But he can play that with the juve backline of Chiellini,Barzagli and Bonucci,along with with either Christain Maggio or Ignazio Abate.Then a midfield trio of Pirlo,Marchisio and De Rossi.A trio of Balotelli,El shaarawy and 1 of Giovinco/Gilardinho/Diamanti as the forwards.Also a 4-2-3-1 system would work,with the same  backline,then Marchisio playing as the the number 10.With any of 2 strikers mentioned above playing on the wings then the another up top.A 3-5-2 system will go well,with the Juve backline replicating what they do for their club for their country then one of Maggio/Abate playing as a right wing back while De sciglio playing on the opposite flank.In midfield,its the same shape with Juve except its De Rossi instead of Vidal.But De Rossi can do what Vidal does,just think back to the 06/07 season when he showed us the stuff he is made off,and the stuff that made Marcelo Lippi  give him his 1st cap.With 2 strikers which i think should be Balotelli and El shaarawy.I personally would go with a 3-5-2 formation against "weaker" teams or teams that do not have strong wing play.Juventus and Napoli have used this formation to great effect over the pasr 2 years.But against stronger teams,i'll go for a 4-3-3 system to fend of the strong wing play,Bayern destroyed Juve with their wing play in last season's champions league when Juve stuck with their 3-5-2 formation.I don't think Italy have natural wingers to play a 4-2-3-1 formation.Prandelli hinted that he could call up francessco Totti or Antonio Di Natalie,after both players(both above 35) had fantastic seasons for their respective clubs, could be called up,but he didn't call them at the end,that was suprising to some, as many felt that at least 1 of the 2 should have been called up.Totti had previously retired,but he came out of retirement,because critics said he showed more passion for Roma than Italy.He scored 12 goals in 34 matches last season,while Di natalie scored 23 goals in 34 appearances.Also suprising is the fact that Giovinco who scored 7 goals in 31 league matches + no goals in15 matches for Italy,was called up.Prandelli can point out the fact that Giovinco is younger and has lightening pace and could bring more options since he can play on the wing and that Totti has just 9 goals in 54 appearances for Italy,while Di natalie has 11goals  in 42 matches .The truth be told the Italian strikers have a bad record for their the national team.El shaarawy has 1 goal in 7 appearances while Balotelli has the best record with 8 goals in 21 appearances. PLAYERS TO WATCH for the azzurri. First name that comes to my mind is SUPER MARIO.He is a fantastic talent and can produce on the big stage(*unlike 1 brazilian i know*) as seen with his performance against Germany in Euro 2012.But he has the tendency to go crazy and do stupid things that will get him sent off,this can be seen with their last match against Czech Republic.He together with El shaarawy will probably lead the line for Italy and Italians will be hoping that they won't just lead the line but lead the team to Confed cup glory.








One man who is probably more important for Italy than Balotelli,is Andrea Pirlo.He is the heart of the azzuri,the man who makes the team play,without him Italy's chances of winning the tournament are reduced drastically.As seen with juve against Bayern,when he was kept at bay,Juve looked dead and could not do anything.Casare Prandelli,will do well to prepare for that type of situation happening and find a solutiom to that problem.One thing is for certain though,Pirlo is a boss for days and has so much class that many players at the tournament will only dream of having.On his day he can win any match and make opposing midfielders feel like they're amatuers (just ask England what happened in the quater final of Euro 2012).Pirlo is the Choir master in the Italian Choir.








Other players will love to do there chances at the world cup no harm by performing well in Brazil.Players will Buffon,Chiellini,De Rossi will hopefully be at their best,for us all to have a fantastic tournament.But now,all has been said,let's go and see it happen on the pitch, FORZA ITALIA! ! !

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