Grande Italia

People are guilty of being rather disrespectful to the Azzurri, claiming that they're all corrupt and cannot compete anymore with the big leagues.... And you know what I say to theses people??? We made it to the Euro finals, and where were you?! People who claim that Italy were slaughtered in the final and simply don't have the " super stars" anymore are half right. It's true that they were against a more superior team, but people tend to forget is that a fully fit Italy team with a dose of luck held Spain to a draw in the first game. I'm not saying that the men in blue would have beaten Spain, but it would have been a close fight. People tend to forget that this Spain team have been with each other for a fair amount of time and have won alot with the same team, whereas this Azzurri team is fairly new and have not been tested at the very top with the exception of: Buffon, Pirlo, Bazargli, Rossi and Di Natale, you should not underestimate the power of familiarity, it is needed for any team to be successful.
Anyway my rant today is not about that, it's about the departure of some big names from Serie A which has made some people question the pull of the Italian league. The departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic was not too mush of a shock, as he is 30 and as we know, a footballers career is rather short, so you cannot blame him too much for going for a far paycheque, yet the saleof Thiago Silva has been met with confusion and anger, as some of the fans have even started legal action against the club for false advertising. Silva is regarded as one of the best centre backs in Europe and he's Brazilian, not normally a nation you would associate with great defenders. And how did he become so highly regarded? He was mentored by an Italian great.. Mr Maldini!! And then Nesta, both Italia and taught him everything he knows. Yes, I know they have both also left the scene but that in no way means that Italian football has lost it's edge, they are evolving into a new way of playing as was evident in the Euro's, and least you forget Italy is a beautiful country.. who wouldn't want to go there, I certainly can't wait to go back!
Serie A may lose a few stars, but we have many in the making and the prestige of Italian football is far from over!

FORZA AZZURRI!