After watching the Italian national team's disastrous exit from the World Cup, I could not help but think that such a flaccid performance was required not just once, but twice.  Why?  The myth of the 2006 champions has punished la Nazionale for far too long, and such a powerful story like being 'i campioni del mondo' needed to be really shaken out of everyone's minds.  

What is this myth?  It is the continued idea that the 2006 team was perfect and the same formula would produce similar, if not victorious results.

I am not saying the great players of the winning campaign four years ago were not great.  They were, and their lifting of the trophy was deserved.  However, the players of Germany 2006, and more importantly, the near identical tactics to go with them, were so apocalyptically bad in the following tournaments that they needed to be unequivocally humiliated.

But to shatter the  continued reliance on essentially the same team, this ridiculous humbling had to happen twice.  What are the twin catastrophes?

The first requisite effort was the 2008 European championship where gli Azzurri whimpered out of the penalty shoot out with Spain and scarcely made an impact on anybody's mind, and the second was the three winless games of South Africa 2010.

Why suffer the pain of two defeats?  Why not learn from 2008 and rebuild to be competitive in two years time?  They probably should and would have, but for one reason: In 2008, the exit was a tragic.  

Italy had a team of then world class players: Luca Toni couldn't stop scoring for Bayern, Pirlo could still dictate a game from the midfield like nobody else (except for Xavi), Buffon was superman, the creative attacker Cassano had been recalled, De Rossi could run and tackle his way through a small army, etc.

Italy had an excuse, and it wasn't their average players (as it was most recently).  It was a penalty shoot out that had them eliminated after all, a bit of luck -- tragedy.  Not that Spain didn't fully and overwhelmingly deserve their victory, but Italy weren't consistently outplayed by mediocre teams as in 2010.  

1 win, 2 draws and a loss against France, Spain, Romania and Holland in 2008 is surely better than 2 draws and a loss against Paraguay, New Zealand, and Slovakia in 2010.

But in 2010 the exit was tragicomic.  Why?  The same core that failed in 2008 was given the green light to fail again.  The starting XI of Thursday's match contained 5 non-2006 players, and had Buffon and Pirlo been healthy, that number would have been only 3.  

The result of the reliance on them was summed up midway through the first half when Lippi was seen giving instructions to a panting Gattuso.  This is the same player who ran away Cristiano Ronaldo's threat in the 2007 champions league, now huffing for breath a third of the way through a game -- tragicomic.

Pirlo was the only 2006 player who looked like he could still make a game his own, as Italy only came alive for the thirty minutes (in three games) he ran the show from the midfield.  

But let's not take Pirlo's inspiring play and lament, "Oh, if only Pirlo had been healthy, surely Italy would have reached the semis at least."  Absolutely not.  This is the exact same interpretation of 2008, and here one cannot view Italy's loss as a tragedy.

But far more importantly, the tactics of 2006 were used massively inappropriately, and hopeful the disastrous performances will prevent this from happening again with immediate effect.  While Grosso, Materazzi, Cannavaro, Zambrotta and Buffon in 2006 will go down as one of the best defense units in World Cup history, attempting to use the same "defense first" idea with a outrageously weaker back line leads to 5 goals in three games against average sides.

It is as if Lippi took the stereotype of Italy being defense-minded seriously, even when it clearly hurt their chances. Similarly, the continued traditional reliance on Juventus players, even in a year where they cannot even qualify for the Champions League, was similarly appalling.

While I do not wish to join the chorus of "Balotelli + Cassano in Nazionale" voices, I will say there were numerous teams with Italian players on them that produced better results all season than the Juve group, and they at least merited a chance with gli Azzurri.

This is not to say the entire 2006 class minus Pirlo must leave before Euro 2012.  De Rossi and Buffon especially will still be crucial players.

But this is a moment of catharsis for Italy.  The ridiculous tactical and defensive choices, the anti-creative attacking selection, the reliance on 2006 veterans, the belief that Juventus = Italy -- all of this can now end without dissent from the media, fans or the team itself.  

This is why the catastrophe had to happen twice.  Once was not enough to arouse the recognition of the problems in near everything from players to coaching.  Two times surely will awaken everyone to how the myths of 2006 preemptively ruined the two successive chances for major honors for La Nazionale.

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A number of players can stake a claim for being part of the best team in the world at this early period of the European domestic leagues. However, very few players standout the way those listed below have in terms of their contribution to their team, their role as leaders, and certainly their crucial involvement in their respective clubs.

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon- the Juventus and Azzurri custodian is back to his best and his outstanding saves have ensured the Bianconeri remain on course to qualify from their group in the Champions League as well as continue to challenge Internazionale for the Serie A title. Buffon has conceded only one dubious goal in Europe against Bordeaux. He saved the Old Lady on numerous occasions both in the domestic league and Europe. A poll in a previous segment of the website revealed that 65% of our readers voted for Buffon as the goalkeeper expected to be the best in South Africa (Please refer to The Best Goalkeepers in South Africa article written on November 5, 2009). Buffon has also been instrumental in Italy's qualification to South Africa 2010.

Defense: John Terry, Carles Puyol, Maicon Douglas and Giorgio Chiellini- (Please refer to The Best Defenders Headed To South Africa piece written on November 11, 2009)

- Terry is quite influential and anchors the Chelsea defense which has conceded a mere eight goals in 12 Premiership matches. He is one of the players Fabio Capello will be relying on to help England safely navigate through the group stage. Terry is one of the most respected and acclaimed defenders in the world. His name and that of Chelsea have been linked together since the Premier League titles began to arrive at Stamford Bridge during the Jose Mourinho era.

- Puyol is the captain of a Barcelona side which won the treble last season and has conceded only seven goals in 10 la Liga matches up to this point.

- Maicon is the flying right-back who not only retrieves the ball for Internazionale but often starts attacking moves from his flank. He is one of the Nerazzurri's most prized assets. The Brazilian has more votes than Terry, Puyol and Manchester United's Vidic put together in our poll in the article mentioned above.

- Chiellini is the player who adds steel to both Italy's and Juve's defensive line. He can score the occasional goal but is renowned for his solid tackling and tough approach to the game. He is expected to lead the line once Fabio Cannavaro retires. Almost half of our readers who voted in a poll chose Chiellini as the best defender heading to South Africa.

Midfield: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Marek Hamsik and Xabi Alonso

- Lionel Messi is one of the main catalysts behind Barcelona's treble last season and has continued his devastating form for his club having notched seven goals in la Liga this season. His performances with Argentina are not as impressive but then perhaps that is down to Diego Maradona's ill management of the players at his disposal as well as his debatable choice of players and tactics. When firing on all cylinders, Lio is a nightmare for defenders.

- Cristiano Ronaldo could perhaps be the only player from the current best 11 to miss out on South Africa 2010. Despite injury, Ronaldo has already found the back of the net on five occasions in la Liga not to mention his four goals in the Champions League. He will be hoping that his country will overcome his absence to beat Bosnia to qualify to the World Cup. The Portuguese hold a 1-0 edge after the weekend home win against the Bosnians.

- Marek Hamsik is perhaps a surprise inclusion to many but he has been one of the rising stars in Serie A the past couple of years and has helped Slovakia qualify to next summer's World Cup. Hamsik is a wanted man and elite clubs in Italy and Europe have shown interest in his capture. It will only be time before he is snapped up by a bigger club than Napoli. He has already scored seven goals in Serie A this season including his brace in the stunning come-from-behind victory against Juventus in Turin.

- Xabi Alonso has been severely missed by Liverpool which lost much of its midfield structure when it sold the player to Real Madrid. The negative results suffered by Liverpool cannot be attributed to the loss of Alonso alone but it is still a testament to his importance and value to any team he plays for. Alonso recently stamped his authority in the friendly match against Argentina and led his country to a win by scoring both of Spain's goals.

Attack: Didier Drogba and David Villa

-Didier Drogba has already scored nine goals in 12 Premiership matches not to mention the assists for a Chelsea team on top of the Premier League. Drogba has the speed and physical strength to out-muscle most defenders in England and Europe. He is a scoring threat in any match and can pop up to score a goal at any moment. He also led his country Ivory Coast to next summer's World Cup.

- David Villa has been in demand for the past couple of years yet he remained with Valencia and his goals have helped his club to fourth place in la Liga's standings. Villa has already scored eight times in nine games played in the Spanish league. He is one of the most dangerous attackers in Europe and the world. He will partner Fernando Torres in a lethal attack as they attempt to add World Cup 2010 to Spain's trophy cabinet after securing Euro 2008 for their country.

There are clearly other qualified players who can make the list yet all those mentioned above have played a key role for their club and/or country. All the players, except for Cristiano Ronaldo at this stage, will be participating in South Africa 2010.

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Azzurri coach Marcello Lippi has come under heavy criticism in recent months despite Italy's success in qualifying to the World Cup in South Africa. La Nazionale went through an alarming goal drought and was only able to overcome it after two unfortunate own goals from returning Georgia captain Kakha Kaladze.

The Italians were expected to qualify from their group with only the Republic of Ireland posing any genuine threat to Lippi's squad in terms of automatic qualification to South Africa. While it is true the Italians did not suffer any defeat in the group stage, the attack has been showing ill signs and regularly stuttering until a rejuvenated Alberto Gilardino began firing goals for the Azzurri. The Fiorentina striker scored towards the ends against the Irish before completing a late hat-trick in a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Cyprus. The Italian national team has players capable of finding the net yet appears to be lacking when it comes to imaginative players who are capable of not just scoring but creating chances as well.

There have been calls around the peninsula for the recall of bad-boy Antonio Cassano who plays in Genoa for Sampdoria. Cassano has been impressive and has played a major role in the Blucerchiati's third ranking in Serie A so far. He is also key to the resurgence of partner Giampaolo Pazzini who actually earned three caps for the Azzurri during 2009. Cassano might not be a regular goal scorer yet his assists are often the reason behind the goals scored by his teammates with Pazzini scoring seven times so far this season.

Another forward who has been considered as a possible choice for South Africa is Roma talisman Francesco Totti who has had a positive start to the season scoring six times in the league before missing out due to injury. The main points of concern with Totti are his frequent niggling injuries and the potential for displeasure amongst certain Azzurri players, in particular in attack, since the star player opted to quit international football following the triumph in Berlin in 2006 and has yet to feature for Italy since that glorious night. On the other hand, Cassano has pledged on more than one occasion his desire to play again for his country despite Lippi's reluctance to pick him.

Finally, Italy has the option of calling upon Alessandro Del Piero, the Juventus legend and all-time leading Bianconeri scorer. Del Piero is perhaps the least likely to feature at this point due to injuries and the fact that Lippi has also ignored him during his second tenure with la Nazionale. However, the positive factors playing in favour of the Old Lady's captain include the fact that he is likely to have fresh legs after missing all of Juve's matches up to this point and his decent participation with the Azzurri during World Cup 2006 when he was used effectively as a substitute. Del Piero's desire to play in South Africa and his willingness to start on the bench without causing any fuss will also help his cause. Lastly, Lippi is quite familiar with the forward having trained him both with Juventus and with the national team.

It is quite possible that Lippi will ignore all three players for various reasons- some too obvious such as in the case of Antonio Cassano. As fans, who would you like to see featuring for Italy during next summer's World Cup: Cassano, Del Piero or Totti?

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It is quite difficult to compare the career path of Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi. Both have been successful coaches and both hail from the Italian peninsula. They both coached Juventus of Turin during their glittering managerial career, yet the similarities end there.

While Capello's playing career far surpasses that of Lippi's, the gap in accolades between the two greatly diminishes once we begin to analyze their coaching resumes. Don Fabio played for Roma, Juventus, and Milan (and SPAL prior to those three teams) while his counterpart Lippi’s playing days were confined to Sampdoria and Pistoiese. Capello wore the Italian national team's shirt for over 30 games, but Lippi only made it as far as the U-23 team on a couple of occasions. Certainly Capello's record as a player is much more impressive and includes Serie A titles as well as Coppa Italia trophies in contrast with Lippi's empty cabinet as a player.

Moving on to coaching, Lippi's World Cup title must certainly give him an edge over Capello in the coaching department since the World Cup is the crowning achievement of any coach and/or player. A player's (and for that matter a manager's) greatness is often associated with World Cup titles won. Leo Messi might currently be the best player in the world yet for him to be considered amongst the best ever he certainly needs to win the World Cup. Players like Maradona, Pele and Zidane have all done it and that is precisely why they are often mentioned in midst of the debate over the world's best ever player. Perhaps a very comprehensive comparison between Zidane and Platini might emphasize even further the significance of winning the World Cup. Both Platini and Zidane won the European Championship with France as well as the Champions Cup (with Juventus and Real Madrid respectively), yet Zidane stands out for carrying France to the World Cup Final twice and winning it back in 1998. Consequently, it would be fair to say that at the moment Lippi ought to be considered as the more successful of the two coaches having won the World Cup in 2006.

Actually the circumstances and conditions during 2006 make Lippi's coaching achievement all the more remarkable. Lippi's own connections with Juventus as well as his son's involvement in the football scandal in Serie A must have all loomed large in his thought process. To make things worse, most of the Italian national team's players came from Juventus and Milan, two teams that were penalized as a result of the scandal. The Paul Newman lookalike did an admirable job both sheltering his players and channeling their focus in a positive way towards one objective which is winning the games on hand. In fact, players like G. Buffon, F. Cannavaro, G. Zambrotta and A. Pirlo all seemed to be enjoying their football and playing at their very best during the tournament in Germany. Lippi must also be credited with trusting Fabio Grosso who should be considered amongst the tournament's best finds. The current Juve left-back scored the Azzurri’s first goal in the semi-final match against Germany and followed that up with the crucial penalty in the Final versus France in Berlin.

On the other hand, none of Capello's achievements as a coach ought to be underestimated. Capello is a born winner and has shown that both as a player and as a manager. Capello has won everywhere he has coached from Milan to Roma and Juventus as well as Real Madrid. Currently Capello manages England's national team and if he succeeds in carrying them all the way to the Winners' podium in South Africa then very few can argue that he is not even better than the great Lippi. Marcello's time with Inter was a failure while his CV prior to Juventus includes managing clubs such as Siena, Cesena and Atlanta. It could be argued that Capello has been fortunate to always coach clubs with financial muscle, but history shows that there are numerous cases of coaches failing at big clubs.

For the moment, Lippi's 2006 victory gives him the edge over Capello yet no one should ignore Capello's legitimate claims for ascendency in the coaching department. However, without a World Cup Winner's Medal, Capello will not be able to surpass Marcello's greatness. It could be argued that Lippi is also more 'liked' amongst Italian fans since Capello left both Roma and Juventus under clouds of controversy while his second stint with Milan was not a pleasant one.

Maybe the upcoming World Cup will serve as the crucial decider between Lippi and Capello. It would certainly be fascinating if the Final in South Africa pitted Capello's England versus Lippi's Italy with each coach calling the shots from their respective dugout!

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Marcelo Lippi finalized his Azzurri squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the big news is that Inter's teenage sensation Davide Santon. The youngster played mostly left back for Inter but is seen as a player who can play on both sides.

Three red-hot attacking players with breakout seasons in the 08-09 Serie A campaign were left off the list in favor of more veteran Azzurri players. Sampdoria forward Giampaolo Pazzini, Udinese midfielder Gaetano D'Agostino, and Bologna's Marco Di Vaio were left off in favor of Milan's Andrea Pirlo, Udinese's Fabio Quagliarella, and Bayern's Luca Toni.

No surprise that all but 5 players called by Lippi make their dough playing in the Serie A, the World Champs open the FIFA Confederations Cup against the United States on June 15, then the Azzurri take on Egypt three days later and finish group play against Brazil on June 21.

Here is the complete Italian squad:

Goalkeepers:
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Palermo), Morgan De Sanctis (Galatasaray).

Defenders:
Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan), Andrea Dossena (Liverpool), Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina), Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus), Davide Santon (Inter Milan).

Midfielders:
Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria)

Forwards:
Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Luca Toni (Bayern Monaco), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal).

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The midweek FIFA matches began with a massive clash between the two most successful clubs in World Cup history.  5-time champions Brazil & 4-time and current champions Italy. 

The match was a showcase of skill as the Brazilians defeated the Italians 2-0 in London's Emirates Stadium.  The play of the match had to be Robinho's goal in the 27th minute when he samba danced Gianluca Zambrotta and Andrea Pirlo out of their shoes and tucked a well placed shot past Gigi Buffon into the far post side net. 

Brazil v Italy wasn't the only match on Tuesday so here are the results from the friendly matches on February 10th. 

 Brazil 2 - 0 Italy
BRA: Elano (13') & Robinho (27')

Cyprus Friendly Tournament
 Cyprus 0 - 2 Serbia
SER: Jovanovic (25') & Lazovic (42')

 Slovakia 2 - 3 Ukraine
SLO: Vittek (42') & Hamsik (69')
UKR: Valyayev (9'), Seleznov (46'), Milevskyi pen (83')

Cyprus Friendly Tournament
3rd Place Match = Cyprus vs. Slovakia
Final = Ukraine vs. Serbia

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It is well known that Italy is a center of high fashion and style. The Azzurri jersey is naturally an extension of that fashion sense. The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup will see a new Italian shirt that promises to be a hot seller. Check it out:

The new shirt will be worn by the 4-time World Champions who are drawn in Group B, the "Group of Death." Group B features Copa America champion - Brazil, African Cup of Nations champion - Egypt, and CONCACAF Gold Cup champion - USA. The Confederations Cup begins on June 14th.

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