When the Italian national team flops at a major tournament (and as any Italy fan will tell you, “flop” means anything less than a semi-final appearance) there are at least some mitigating circumstances. Take for instance the 2002 World Cup loss to South Korea. Italy started the second round clash with Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero, and Christian Vieri up front, a trident that, at the time, was considered peerless on the international stage. Italy lost 2-1 to a golden goal, but the acrimony surrounding the admittedly scandalous refereeing detracted from Italian shortcomings in general. Italian failure was accommodated by an almost unanimous appeal to the conspiratorial: Italy were ousted not necessarily by an inability to finish their chances, but by a corrupt Ecuadorian referee—Byron Moreno, for those who recall or are interested—who would be better off plying his trade in a remote village.
The most depressing fact of Italy’s miserable exit at this World Cup is that there is almost no solace. Italy were simply abject. From the Paraguay draw to the 3-2 loss against Slovakia, they were hopeless. Even their traditional virtues deserted them. Their defence was confused, their confidence shattered. Alberto Gilardino, who was coming off a brilliant season for Fiorentina, looked paralyzed. Gianluigi Buffon’s substitute Federico Marchetti looked perpetually stunned to be in goal. Fabio Cannavaro made errors routinely, while Daniele De Rossi seemed to have made wayward passing into an art form. Coach Marcello Lippi’s selections bordered on the absurd: quite how the shocking Simone Pepe got consistent starts defies logic. All in all, it was a spectacular collapse that only compares favourably to the French one.
Gennaro Gattuso summarized things succinctly by saying that “Italy had scraped the bottom of the barrel.” Never before had an Italian side exited a World Cup without a win. And never before had an Italian side played with such miserable fear, a fear that Cannavaro observed in the “faces of his teammates.” When the tournament started the skeptics were relishing the prospect to savage Lippi’s choices. After the 3-2 loss to Slovakia, even they must feel a bit ashamed to pick on this poor Italy side.
Looking to the future offers some hope. Cesare Prandelli is set to take over the hotsteat, and the first thing he must do is somehow reintegrate the talents of players like Antonio Cassano and Fabrizio Miccoli into the team. Lippi omitted both for reasons best known to him. If Prandelli wants to take Italy forward, and not pay eternal homage to the veterans of the 2006 World Cup triumph, then he must look to youth and only youth. Frankly, Gianluca Zambrotta, Gennaro Gattuso, and Vincenzo Iaquinta should be nowhere near this team.
For now Italian fans are bewildered. A part of them must be thinking that even with this current side at least New Zealand should have been beaten. They must think, ‘can this Italy be really that bad?’ The answer, unfortunately, is yes.
To view all the Italy World Cup Video Highlights visit the Italy World Cup 2010 Page.
