Italy
I was told to write about Italy...so I will. As a loyal AS Roma fan, I have been paying close attention to the recovery of il capitano, the one and only Francesco Totti. Although even if he does start in the World Cup, Italy may have more issues to worry about. With 19 days to go the Italian nation and Italian football is still rocked by the corruption controversy. What's more, certain players such as starting goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon could be implicated. The big question then remains: how will all this controversy affect the team and the players?
The Italians had a poor performance in Portugal 2004 and were famously knocked out by South Korea in very controversial circumstances. It seems that everything related to football in Italy is shrouded in controversy. However, I predict Italy to do very well in this summer's tounament. They will beat us and Ghana, draw with the Czech Republic and finish in the group. Their round of 16 game will likely be against Croatia or Australia leading to a quarterfinal, mouthwatering match up with host nation Germany. I do not see Italy lifting the famed Jules Rimet trophy this summer, but they will get close, to either the quarter or semifinal. I think a final place would be a bit too much for this squad.
Predicted 11-
Buffon
Zaccardo Nesta Cannavaro Zambrotta
Camoranesi Pirlo De Rossi
Totti
Toni Del Piero
2 comments:
Imagine how serious this scandal must be for the Italian police to be investigating it now. Given the national passion of soccer in Italy, there must be a lot of evidence of wrongdoing for the authorities to risk upsetting many of those who ultimately will be responsible for upholding Italian football honor. One has to wonder, as we get closer to the opening matches, whether the investigation will continue or take a short break for the WC and pick up before the start of the fall seasons.
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