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Italy Euro 2012 profile: Review of Italy’s team, coach and more
How Italy qualified for Euro 2012
The Azzurri went through the qualifiers under a lot of pressure following the country’s poor showing at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Prandelli took matters in his own hands and led Italy to Euro 2012 without experiencing defeat.
Remarkably, the Azzurri conceded only 2 goals in over 900 minutes of Euro 2012 qualification football. Their campaign was marked by ugly scenes when Italy hosted Serbia in Genoa on October 12. Crowd violence from a minor group of hooligans saw the match abandoned. The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body handed an automatic 3-0 win forfeit win to the Italians.
Italian 'bad boy' Mario Balotelli would only leave Manchester City to return home
Mario Balotelli admitted that if he were to leave Manchester City in the near future it would only be to return to his homeland Italy. The controversial former Inter Milan attacker arrived in England in 2010, but although he has adapted nicely to the style of the Premier League he confessed that he has yet to make any friends in England and this makes living away from home all the more difficult.
"I'm 21 and have lived far from home for nearly two years now," Balotelli affirmed to L'Uomo Vogue. "I have adapted fairly well despite the clear [cultural] differences.
Manchester United vs Manchester City and the 5 hottest pre-match quotes
Much has been said in the build up to this derby but talks have been rather respectful and we probably cannot talk about mind games. The confidence factor, however, is at a high level within both squads.
1) Nani sounding totally ready
“Every time we play a big game like this, we have a lot of motivation and the preparation is always different for derby games. All the players want to play in these games, especially me,” Nani told The Sun.
“My confidence for these games is high and I feel comfortable in this sort of games. I like the pressure these games bring and every year the games against City seem to get more important.”
Manchester City 2 Everton 0: City Display Depth and Title Credentials Against the Toffees
Temperamental striker Mario Balotelli opened the scoring for City in the 68th minute, before England midfielder James Milner wrapped up the points with his first Premier League goal for the club.It is a sign of City’s depth that both goal scorers entered the game off the bench. With City playing well but struggling to make the breakthrough, Roberto Mancini replaced Edn Dzeko with Balotelli.
The Italian striker opened the scoring less than 10 minutes after entering the fray. Arsentine striker Sergio Aguero dribbled across the top of the 18 yard box, and deftly back heeled against the grain to Balotelli who fired past Tim Howard to put City on front.
Italy vs Spain Preview
Cesare Prandelli’s Azzurri are still growing as a team following the end of the Marcello Lippi era. In the biggest news from the Italians’ camp, Manchester City’s troublesome Mario Balotelli was called up to the squad. After failing in the 2011 Community Shield under the influence of match hero Nani, the youngster might be offered the chance to show his worth against Vicente del Bosque’s World Cup champions. Spain have quickly improved the size of their name in world football since 2008 and they working towards maintaining their supremacy.
Mario Balotelli can become Manchester City’s No.1 man—Micah Richards
Mario Balotelli is widely portrayed as the bad kid in football. His hot tempered behavior on the pitch, his tendency to not celebrate goals and his offensive statements against other professionals in the sport have destroyed his young career.Balotelli has been warned by Italy coach Cesare Prandelli and Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini at several occasions. For team mate Micah Richards, the upcoming season could mark the beginning of much better things to come from Balotelli if Carlos Tevez quits the City of Manchester Stadium.
Football Transfer News: What Are Manchester City’s Transfer Market Plans?
With City’s owner converting the club’s £350M debts into shares earlier this year, the path seems clear for more action on the transfer market this summer. In an interview conducted by The Sun back in January, Manchester City chief financial officer Graham Wallace was quoted as saying:“The owner’s decision to convert debt to equity is in line with their previously-stated financial strategy. This is fantastic news for supporters of Manchester City—whose club is now on a secure financial foundation that gives a tremendous platform to build from in the future.”
Despite spending around £200M on players only since the beginning of the Sheik Mansour era, Manchester City are not finished yet in terms of signings, according to Tottenham Hotspur’s embarrassed Harry Redknapp. The English man voiced out his concerns to The Sun:
Ukraine vs Italy: Gilardino Gets Captaincy Honour As Balotelli Remains Ashamed
After doing just enough to defeat Slovenia in the Euro 2012 qualifiers last weekend, Cesare Prandelli has allowed himself to make quite a number of changes ahead of the friendly match against Ukraine. The Italy coach will have Maggio, Viviano, Gastaldello, Criscito, Chiellini, Montolivo, Marchisio, Aquilani, Rossi and Gilardino lined up as starters on Tuesday. Among these 11 players, Gilardino has been chosen to as the skipper and this decision from the manager has apparently moved him.“To carry the captain’s armband against Ukraine tomorrow will be great. It’s a great gift from the national team,” Gilardino told reporters.
Italy-Excluded Balotelli: Drop Your Arrogance Or Self-Destruct!
Mario Balotelli’s Career vs Character: Self-Destruction Prevails
What big achievements has Mario Balotelli clinched in his career so far? What individual moments can he look back to in great pride?
A Look At Mario Balotelli’s Club Football Career So Far
Mario Balotelli joined Internazionale in 2007 after an unsuccessful trial at Barcelona. He experienced a big fail with his disciplinary record after Roberto Mancini’s departure as the Nerazzurri’s coach and endured a sour relationship with Jose Mourinho.
Balotelli and De Rossi Axed As Cesar Prandelli Names Italy Squad For Upcoming International Fixtures
Italy are preparing for a Euro 2012 qualifier in Slovenia on Friday and then have a friendly against Ukraine on March 29. However, Cesar Prandelli has stressed on the importance of discipline after he dropped the duo as a result of some unacceptable behaviors by both of them at club level.Balotelli has been much of the talk at Manchester City last week after reportedly clashing with Roberto Mancini due to his sending off against Dynamo Kyiv. Meanwhile Rossi was suspended for three matches after appearing to elbow Darijo Srna in Roma's Champions League defeat to Shakhtar.
Who Said Manchester City’s “Super Mario” [Balotelli] Was Heading For A Transfer?
Following his rather poor display against Everton last Monday – a game which Manchester City lost – rumours that Mario Balotelli had enough of life in England intensified. The Italian international of Ghanaian origins was eventually dropped by Coach Roberto Mancini for the Sky Blues’ next match which they won 3-1 against Newcastle thanks to a Carlos Tevez-inspired performance.It’s actually been rumoured that the 20-year-old wants to quit Eastlands to join Internazionale’s local rivals AC Milan anytime soon. So when asked about Mario Balotelli’s unwanted behaviour at Manchester City, former Inter Milan boss Mancini told The Sun last Friday:
Newcastle vs Manchester City: Arrogant Mario Balotelli To Be Axed By Man City Coach
According to the manager, Mario Balotelli’s terrible performance in Man City’s home defeat against Everton isn’t worthy of being replicated. For this reason, the Italian boss is strongly considering dropping the ex-Inter Milan star whose behaviour appears to be unacceptable.“If Mario deserves to play, he will play. If he doesn’t deserve to play, then he won’t play. If Mario doesn’t work, he doesn’t play,” Manchester City’s Roberto Mancini told The Sun as he explained the logic of his decision.
“It is not important for Mario to have good technique and to be a good player. If we want to improve, we need everybody to give 200 per cent.
Inter Fans Turn On Mario Balotelli As Exit Rumours Intensify
Inter’s Mario Balotelli has been in the news for all of the wrong of late, after being snubbed by coach Jose Mourinho recently following a reported bust-up between the pair, and also for being criticised for putting himself ahead of the team and his team mates.
The loyal supporters of the Nerazzurri seem to be the latest group to have had enough of the 19-year-old’s antics, after publicly expressing their discontent with the striker during the club’s 3-0 victory against Livorno overnight.
"A united dressing room, as strong as ever, has nothing better to do but to remove those who bring trouble to it. Forza Inter," were the cries from the tifosi.