Italy are out and didn't even get past the first round, in a group that included Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia. Gigi Buffon was right, if they couldn't even get past them. they didn't deserve to go any further. The way they played was pitiful not something you would link World Champions to. Yes there were brief moments of class and for a while Cannavaro brought composer and a sense of order to the game but that all disappeared after the draw with the kiwis. You started to see the tired legs and lack of creativity and adventure going forward. What continues to baffle me is.. why take Vicenza Iaquinta who has had a cameo appearance at his club due to injury and leave Marco Borriello, a player on fire, at home? I guess Lippi's love for the Juve player has come back and kicked him up the ass!!!! But it's not as simple as this the whole team were below par, it was embarrassing!! It was schoolyard tactics- just kick the ball upfield and hope that the forward does something, there was no passing, no keeping of the ball and no pressing or sustained pressure, that was until the last 15 minutes of the game against Slovakia when Andrea Pirlo came on!! By then it was too little too late. I have a question... why didn't Lippi put Fabio Quagliarella on earlier in the tournament? He wasn't injured and he brought in pace and had a great understanding with former team mate Antonio Di Natale, the way they worked the ball and played off each other was exactly what this group of players needed earlier in the tournament. Lippi should've been done doing all his experiments, these group of players looked out of sync with each other and lacked familiarity. My only hope is that Cesare Prandelli can bring some cohesion back to this group of individuals.
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