Soccer: Italy bid to bury 2010 hoodoo
Azzurri visit Estonia Friday in opening Euro 2012 qualifier
02 September, 14:45
(ANSA) - Florence, September 2 - Coach Cesare Prandelli said
Italy must bury their 2010 hoodoo in Friday's opening Euro 2012
qualifier in Estonia, their first competitive match since the
World Cup fiasco.Italy have not won a game this year after their poor form at the end of Marcello Lippi's second stint culminated in June's shock World Cup exit with a 3-2 defeat to Slovakia and they also lost 1-0 to Ivory Coast in Prandelli's first match last month.
''We must crush the negative thoughts,'' Prandelli told reporters Thursday. ''The thought that we have not won this year could start to weigh the side down''. The new coach is expected to drop the 4-2-3-1 formation used against the Ivory Coast in favour of a 4-3-3 he has used in training this week, which provides more cover in midfield.
This could be due to his men's fitness levels being well below maximum, given the Italian top flight only kicked off after the summer break last weekend. The resort to a sensible precaution should not necessarily be seen as a sign that the former world champions have few attacking ambitions though.
On the contrary, they say they are keen to show a new era has begun after their sorry showing in South Africa.
''We're breathing new air in the national team,'' AC Milan playmaker Andrea Pirlo, who will captain the Azzurri in Tallinn, told reporters.
''Now we have a new coach, new players and a new mentality.
We'll be able to bring the good times back,'' added Pirlo, one of only three of Lippi's 2006 World Cup winners in the squad for Estonia and Tuesday's clash with the Faroe Islands in Florence.
''The World Cup showed that teams who play good football, quick passes with the ball on the ground, win in the end. We have to do that''. Pirlo will return to the starting lineup after missing the Ivory Coast match and playing just a few minutes at the World Cup because of injury.
Prandelli confirmed that Antonio Cassano will start in an attacking trident along with Simone Pepe and Giampaolo Pazzini after recovering from a back injury.
The forward missed the first two days of the Azzurri's training camp after taking a knock in Sampdoria's 2-0 Serie A win over Lazio on Sunday, when he scored a penalty.
Parma's Emiliano Viviano may have overtaken Palermo's Salvatore Sirigu in the contest to stand in for injured Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
World Cup keeper Federico Marchetti is not in the squad after falling out of favour at his club Cagliari.
photo: Italy coach Cesare Prandelli.
