Article 10 — An Italian Fan’s Overview
To conclude my series on my time as a fan of the Italian national team, I will write an overview of that time. I will delve into my favourites, not so favourites, the moments, teams, players, matches, the present, the future and a selection of my favourite XI.
In my time as an Italy fan, I have learnt that when nobody expects anything from Italy, odds are stacked against the team, they almost always deliver to upset the odds. To get Italy to play well, they need to face strong teams and the potential of a banana skin is high when they face less fancied teams. Italy is known to be slow starters to tournaments sometimes they have overcome it, sometimes not. They have a tendency to make things tough for themselves in the group stage.
There was a trend at the World Cup of reaching the final every 12 years, starting from the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. The trend was upheld with a final appearance at 1982, 1994 and 2006 World Cup. According to that trend, Italy should have qualified for the 2018 World Cup but Italy didn’t even qualify for the World Cup finals.
Now for my favourite Italy team. The 1994 World Cup team will always have a special place in my heart as it is the first-ever team I followed at any international tournament, the team had a great run to the final and it had my favourite player, Roberto Baggio playing in his prime and the main protagonist for the team in the road to the final.
The 1998 World Cup team still had my favourite player playing but it was a team that was in transition between upcoming, young talents and experienced players. The Euro 2000 team was the first team that taught me the joy and satisfaction of upsetting the odds as underdogs while the 2006 World Cup team gave me the greatest joy of all as an Italy fan, that of winning an international tournament and it couldn’t get any better than winning the biggest prize of all, the World Cup.
From the teams, let’s move on to the players. You would already know that Roberto Baggio is my all-time favourite player so I would break it down according to the position.
Gianluigi Buffon would get my vote marginally in the goalkeeping position thanks to his longevity and quality. Other favourites would include Gianluca Pagliuca and Francesco Toldo. Angelo Peruzzi didn’t too badly at Euro 96 too.
In defence, my favourite would be Paolo Maldini, elegant, gentleman, classy, a proper sportsman. He defended and attacked well. My other favourites would be Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta. Without getting into much detail, I would mention others that impressed me, Roberto Mussi, Antonio Benarrivo, Alessandro Costacurta, Mark Iuliano, Gianluca Pessotto, Gianluca Zambrotta, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini, Christian Maggio and Matteo Darmian.
My favourite midfielder would be another elegant and classy player in Andrea Pirlo. His control of the midfield, passing range, set pieces delivery, vision and longevity. Honorable mentions for Roberto Donadoni, Demetrio Albertini, Dino Baggio, Nicola Berti, Antonio Conte, Angelo Di Livio, Stefano Fiore, Luigi Di Biagio, Roberto Di Matteo, Daniele De Rossi, Simone Perrotta, Gennaro Gattuso, Emanuele Giaccherini, Thiago Motta, Antonio Candreva and Alessandro Florenzi.
In attack, if I exclude an obvious choice in my all-time favourite player, Roberto Baggio, I would choose Christian Vieri as my favourite striker. Vieri was prolific over various tournaments, good in the air, strong on the ground, a combination of pace and power. More of the latter and slightly less of the former. Now for the strikers that are in the honourable mention list: Daniele Massaro, Giuseppe Signori, Gianfranco Zola, Pierluigi Casiraghi, Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi, Vicenzo Montella, Marco Delvecchio, Antonio Cassano, Luca Toni, Alberto Gilardino, Mario Balotelli, Graziano Pelle and Eder.
There were some surprise players as well. I didn’t expect Stefano Fiore to have the impact that he had at Euro 2000, he was a revelation and kept Del Piero out. Fabio Grosso was probably the best left-back in 2006, came out of nowhere to be a World Cup winner with a valuable contribution in the semi-final and the penalty shootout. Marco Materazzi is a player you either love or hate and don’t get enough credit for his defending. I felt for large parts, he deputised very well for Nesta.
The unlikely players to make this section are Pelle and Eder, a typical big man-small man combination that worked so well at Euro 2016. Both players were not seen in a tournament before 2016 and after but had a great impact under Conte’s stewardship.
As for managers, Marcello Lippi’s 1st stint as Italy manager from 2004–2006 was the best performance out of any manager Italy had in my time. The World Cup triumph of 2006 owed a lot to his squad selection, the bonding of the team to be a band of brothers and his tactical choices during the games. Cesare Prandelli did a great job at a time when morale was low, he did well to get the best out of what was available to him relying on the traditional defensive strength of Italy and marrying it with an attacking mindset. Antonio Conte did a similarly good job with greater intensity and passion. Dino Zoff had some talented players at his disposal but not everyone was available for selection and the team was not tipped to do well yet he got the best out of them.
Italy’s run from the 2nd Round to the final in the 1994 World Cup was memorable again as it was my first-ever experience of my favourite national team going all the way to the final. The 1997 World Cup qualifier against England where Italy produced a tactical masterclass to beat them at Wembley. The Euro 2000 semi-final against co-hosts Holland was memorable because of the 2 missed Dutch penalties in regulation time, the defensive discipline with 10 men and finally winning a penalty shootout. The semi-final of World Cup 2006 against Germany for the way the game was turned on its head in extra-time thanks to a tactical change.
The sweet victory of the 2006 World Cup final where Italy avenged the heartbreaking defeat against France from 6 years before. The Euro 2012 semi-final win against Germany, Euro 2016 win against Belgium in the group stage and Euro 2016 2nd Round win over Spain round up my most memorable matches as an Italy fan.
As far as rivals go, the first one I recognised would be Brazil as Italy is going head-to-head with them in the World Champions race. There is respect and admiration for the way they view and play the game but in head-to-head matches, I want to beat them but have not experienced that at all.
France emerged as another rival. They beat us in the quarter-final of World Cup 98 that they hosted and I put it off as an unlucky moment for us as it always is when we lose a penalty shootout. The hype they got after winning the World Cup in 1998 ate at me. The defeat to them in the final of Euro 2000 was heart-breaking and cemented their position as a rival in my eyes.
After France, Spain emerged. They beat us in the quarter-final of Euro 2008 and humiliated us in the final of Euro 2012. They had a great team from 2008–2012 and one cannot discredit them but the constant praise got to me. They became a thorn in my sight. England is a rival for me because of the constant hype that we have to endure in Singapore whenever we approach an international tournament.
As far as negative moments go, the first one would be from the final of World Cup 94, losing on a penalty shootout with my favourite player being the emblematic player of that defeat rather unfairly. I have had many negative moments as a fan of Italy so I will break it down.
The teams at Euro 96, World Cup 02 and Euro 04 entered the tournament as one of the favourites to win the tournament but in all 3 tournaments, they disappointed with their under-achievement. There might be some controversy in the 2002 and 2004 campaigns but that just papers over the fact that the team could have played better considering the talent available.
I thought the team in the 1994 World Cup was unlucky to lose on a penalty shootout in the final but you can hold your hand up and admit that Brazil was the most consistent team throughout the tournament so deserved their stroke of luck. The Euro 2000 team was terribly unlucky not to win Euro 2000 after playing so well in the final. That defeat would go down as the most heart-breaking one in my time as a fan.
The early exit from World Cup 2010 was embarrassing but not surprising considering the way the team played and the performances from the years before. I had the same sensation with the group stage exit at World Cup 2014 but there was a greater disappointment as the team was playing well in the years prior to that tournament. The final defeat at Euro 2012 was humiliating and not qualifying at all for World Cup 2018 was the lowest of low in my time as an Italian fan.
From moments and matches, we move on to managers. Arrigo Sacchi had a big reputation when he was hired but in 1994 he seemed confused about what his best team and best formation would be. His tinkering cost Italy a place in the knockout round in 1996. Giovanni Trapattoni like Saachi had a big reputation but disappointed me with his cautious approach in 2002 and 2004. Of course, Gian Piero Ventura’s time as manager was the most underwhelming of all.
As for players, the players that disappointed me the most were Alessandro Del Piero and to a lesser extent, Francesco Totti. Del Piero emerged at a time when Baggio was still considered to be in his prime, he inherited Baggio’s number 10 at Juventus when Baggio left and was the new star playmaker, fantasista in Italian and world football. However, the form and performances at club level very rarely translated to anything close to that at the international tournaments that he played in. His standout moments would be the equaliser against Mexico at World Cup 2002 and the winner against Germany in the semi-final at World Cup 2006. Missing two gilt-edged chances against France in the final of Euro 2000 just adds to the frustration of his time with Italy at international tournaments.
Francesco Totti emerged slightly later than Del Piero. He had a great impact for Italy at Euro 2000, the highlight of which was a cheeky chip in the penalty shootout against Holland and a Man Of The Match display in the final of the same tournament. On the back of those performances, expectations were heightened that Italy has found their new star number 10 after Baggio. What followed was a below-par performance at World Cup 2002 and a retrospective ban for ill-discipline at Euro 2004. By the time, World Cup 2006 came around, he was not at his fittest and had just recovered from a bad injury. His last most meaningful contribution was a penalty winner in the 2nd Round. For all the wonderful performances he displayed at club level and the promise of a great future after Euro 2000, he under-delivered in subsequent tournaments.
While Del Piero and Totti went on to have a great career at Juventus and Roma respectively, Antonio Cassano was a wasted talent. He was another contender for the starting number 10 spot for the Italian national team and was Italy’s best player in his first tournament at Euro 2004. His career then went on a downward spiral thanks to his volatile temperament and lack of professionalism. He had somewhat mended his ways to return to the team for Euro 2012 where he had a good tournament again before disappearing into the abyss with a poor showing at World Cup 2014. Mario Balotelli is another volatile character that is well on his way to spoiling his career like Cassano.
Ironically, he had his best tournament playing alongside Cassano at Euro 2012 and an equally bad one at World Cup 2014 outside of the first game against England. He was ignored for World Cup 2010 and Euro 2016 by Lippi and Conte thanks to his attitude and poor form. He is still actively playing but at this rate, he is going, I feel it is highly unlikely that he will mend his ways to show his true value and make good of what is left of his career.
Luca Toni was a player that could have been mentioned in the surprise section because when I saw him play in his youth for Brescia alongside Baggio, I would never have thought that he would one day be a World Champion. He was always gangly and uncomfortable on the ball but he then developed to be a prolific scorer. I had expected more of him at World Cup 2006 but he had only 2 goals to show for it not that it mattered too much. He went on to have a great career at Bayern Munich where he peaked but he could never bring that form for the national team at Euro 2008.
For the present, the disappointment and dismay at not qualifying for World Cup 2018 remains. Roberto Mancini, the new Italy manager has done well so far to transform the team. He has introduced younger players and got them playing more offensively than previous. Besides watching highlights, I have not watched the team play yet so I would reserve my judgement when I actually see them play in Euro 2021. As for the players, at the moment, Italy is blessed with some technically gifted midfielders. Young Italian players are finding space now in Serie A but more players need to play for big clubs either in Italy or one of the big European leagues. They need the exposure of playing regularly in high-pressure matches against top-quality opponents.
Finally now to round it off. My all-time Italy XI with 5 substitutes.
Formation: 3–5–2
GK: Gianluigi Buffon
RCB: Fabio Cannavaro
CB: Alessandro Nesta
LCB: Giorgio Chiellini
RWB: Gianluca Zambrotta
LWB: Paolo Maldini
RCM: Daniele De Rossi
CM: Andrea Pirlo
LCM: Demetrio Albertini
CF: Roberto Baggio
CF: Christian Vieri
Subs: Gianluca Pagliuca, Alessandro Florenzi, Gennaro Gattuso, Francesco Totti, Filippo Inzaghi
Manager: Cesare Prandelli (surprise choice because Lippi and Baggio can’t get along and for his willingness to attack as well as his tactical flexibility)
