Italy vs Norway

[Lance Knight]

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Lippi omits star duo from Italy squad


MILAN, May 29 (Reuters) - Italy coach Marcello Lippi has surprisingly left Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero and AS Roma forward Francesco Totti out of his squad for Saturday's World Cup qualifier with Norway.
Del Piero has not featured for Italy since September but had been expected to make a return after his recent good form for champions Juventus.


Totti came back on Sunday from a five-match suspension in Serie A and his absence from the Italy squad is a surprise decision by Lippi whose team lead European Group Five by four points from the Norwegians.

Inter Milan striker Christian Vieri, who has made just one appearance under Lippi due to injury problems, is included in the 22-man squad along with Roma forward Antonio Cassano.

AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso is suspended.

Lippi's squad includes five players from Sicilian club Palermo, among them striker Luca Toni, but there is no debut call-up for Livorno forward Cristiano Lucarelli who finished the season as top scorer in Serie A with 24 goals.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Flavio Roma (Monaco)

Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Daniele Bonera (Parma), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Fiorentina), Fabio Grosso (Palermo), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan), Cristian Zaccardo (Palermo)

Midfielders: Simone Barone (Palermo), Manuele Blasi (Juventus), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Aimo Diana (Sampdoria), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus)

Forwards: Antonio Cassano (AS Roma), Mauro Esposito (Cagliari), Alberto Gilardino (Parma), Luca Toni (Palermo), Christian Vieri (Inter).

[cannuman]

Great team even if there is no Totti. Lucarell could get call I think...But i like Lippi. Gilardino on Toni :thumbsup:. Esposito coool...If we want 3 point we will get 3 point. If we want 1 pont, we will have hard game...

[Lance Knight]

Toni is that guy from Palermo who scored 20 goals, he is pretty great, i just hope he stays with them

[cannuman]

Gilardino injured, Iaguinta will be called up

[PrAvI HrVaT]

0-0 Bad game fro you guys, i was really disapointed :fed-up:

[Fener_05]

Whats happening to Italy lately.
No offence but playing like this and they won't even be a threat for the 2006 World Cup.

[cannuman]

Vieri injured? does someone know about that? how serious injuri or what happened?

[azzurri]

Ciao Tutti,

First message on these threads. I'm a Juve and Italy fan living in Canada.

Well, I'll begin by saying that I didn't see this game but from what I understand CT Lippi was pretty content in going for a draw even before the game started. Which is sort of disappointing but hardly suprising. Italian footballers are notorious for wanting the maximum result with minimum effort.

At the end of the day we took 4-out-of-6 points from Norway, which isn't too bad. Luckily Slovenia and Belarus also tied, so our lead remains at 4 points.

Still a lot of work to be done though. 4 more crucial games coming up this year, all of which are must-wins.

FORZA AZZURRI

[Lance Knight]

italy is gettting worst and worst

[ARBANITAI]

italy is gettting worst and worst

yes kind of... you see the game with norway was really bad playing by italy i execpted more from them but did nothing 0-0 so there is something going on try to fix it and start again..!!

[briancit]

Lippi forgot one man. He's Montella...
Why is guy not called up?

If he's on the field with Casanno I'm sure Italy will score one goal...

A very disappointed game...
One good chance for Vieri...but he shoot the ball over the bar...

[soccerates]

0-0 Bad game fro you guys, i was really disapointed :fed-up:


No surprise when pre-game comments from Lippi were to the effect that he was looking not to lose, and maybe to win. It basically sums the whole thing up in a nutshell. Italy was going to Norway for one point and got it basically.


WORLD CUP QUALIFICATIONS:
A GOOD TIE
FOR ITALY
AGAINST NORWAY (http://www.figc.it/english/primo_piano_03/primo_piano_03.htm)

http://www.azzurrifootball.blogspot.com/ - Azzurri News With Views

[soccerates]

Whats happening to Italy lately.
No offence but playing like this and they won't even be a threat for the 2006 World Cup.

They went out to play like this on purpose, not that I think you actually watched the game or anything. If you did, and have watched their last 3 games you wouldn't have said that. They completely dominated Russia and Scotland, as well as scored 4 on Belarus in an all out attacking game. It was fun to watch, even though I cringed at their lack of attention on defense. Finding a balance is key and this team has the talent to do it.

WORLD CUP QUALIFICATIONS:
A GOOD TIE
FOR ITALY
AGAINST NORWAY (http://www.figc.it/english/primo_piano_03/primo_piano_03.htm)

http://www.azzurrifootball.blogspot.com/ - Azzurri News With Views

[soccerates]

italy is gettting worst and worst

Wrong. It's a matter of tactics. You obviously did not watch Italy vs Russia or Scotland, because you would have seen complete midfield possession and all out attack on those goals. Vs Russia Italy stopped going forward after their second goal, but up to that point they constantly pressurized the Russians. They did not stop vs Scotland, and forced their keeper(s) to make some outstanding saves...as well as hitting a few crossbars to keep the Scots in it

Here's a game review for Russia:
http://www.forzaazzurri.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Game;action=display;num=1108409545

Here's a game review for Scotland:
http://www.forzaazzurri.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Game;action=display;num=1113523187

I suggest actually watching games before drawing conclusions like that. You'd be the same person who would think that Argentina was outplayed and going downhill because they lost to Ecuador over the weekend. Without knowing the facts it would be hard to have an accurate understanding that Argentina rested their top players for tommorrows matchup against Brazil & were playing in Ecuador at a high elevation which always favors the home team.

More than one variable...

Lippi employed those tactics as a matter of design against Norway...In other words Italy did not play team defense because they were forced too. Lippi went out to do so....

Italy And Norway Draw in Oslo

http://www.figc.it/english/primo_piano_02/img/foto_primo_piano_01.jpg

6/5/2005

Italy and Norway ended their WCQ match in Oslo in a 0-0 draw. Italy maintain their 4pt lead over Norway in this match, in a contest that Lippi declared they would play "cautiously".

Lippi had this to say about the game:

"I saw a very determined Italy that created some scoring occasions but risked very little on defense". The scoreline was very much to Lippi's content: "There are ties and ties, this is a tie that I like because it was obtained by what I call a 'team"' Norway tried to do all it could, but our team was determined to record a positive result. A 'workers' national team? Only from a mental point of view and I consider this as a compliment, but technically we tried to keep the ball on the ground using speed in spite of the difficult field and rain conditions. I saw a lot of attention on defense and I could not have asked for more from any of my players. In spite of this positive result, however, we are still not qualified. We can say that we are halfway there".

This match produced very few excitable moments, in a down-pour of rain. After a plain first half, Norway came close to penetrating when Carew made two attempts on goal at the 46th minute and then again at the 50th.

Vieri came closest to ending the draw with a nice half-volley attempt at the 50th minute, but saw his shot drop onto the top netting after having the Norweigan keeper beat.

Both Vieri and Materrazi went out due to injuries, making way for Toni and Diana. Toni had another opportunity blocked by the Norweigan keeper late in the game.

The rain did not help the conditions, and Italy were happy to keep Norway at bay, only forward only when safe. Italy maintains a 4pt lead and are one step closer to Germany in 2006.

World Cup Tie: GOOD For Italy (http://www.figc.it/english/primo_piano_03/primo_piano_03.htm)

Italy (4-4-2): Buffon, Bonera, Materazzi (34' st Diana), Cannavaro, Grosso; Camoranesi, Pirlo, De Rossi, Zambrotta; Vieri (12' st Toni), Cassano (23' st Iaquinta).

http://www.azzurrifootball.blogspot.com/ - Azzurri news with views

[soccerates]

Lippi forgot one man. He's Montella...
Why is guy not called up?

If he's on the field with Casanno I'm sure Italy will score one goal...

A very disappointed game...
One good chance for Vieri...but he shoot the ball over the bar...

It was good not to call Montella because Montella is the beneficiary of having Cassano and Totti constantly feed him the ball. Italy have better strikers in Luca Toni (the new Vieri) who actually has NO service at Palermo but managed to score close to 20 goals this season. He is a menace when he gets the ball and it is impossible to get it back from him. He shields it very well. Also Lucarelli scored 20 goals with Livorno, also with no Cassano and Totti feeding him.

These are experimental games. For those who believe that Italy can only play tight games like they did vs Norway, you will likely see another different style...like the ones they employed vs Russia and Scotland in recent games.


Italy vs Russia Game Review (http://www.forzaazzurri.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Game;action=display;num=1108409545)

Italy vs Scotland Game Review (http://www.forzaazzurri.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Game;action=display;num=1113523187)



http://www.azzurrifootball.blogspot.com/ - Azzurri news with views