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Having left out notable attacking figures such as Alessandro Del Piero, Mario Balotelli, Francesco Totti and Luca Toni, it seems Italy will once again stay true to a defensive structure largely responsible for garnering the Azurri its fourth World Cup in Germany 2006.
After a solid start during the group stages, Italy’s defensive chemistry improved rapidly when it mattered the most, laying the platform for their World Cup triumph four years ago.
A tight victory over Australia in the round of 16 was followed by clinical wins over Ukraine and hosts Germany en route to their final coronation against France.
Whilst Marcello Lippi’s men will enter South Africa as the reigning world champions, lean results against quality opposition since their 2006 victory have raised doubts about Italy’s ability to defend their World Cup crown.
They were hardly convincing during the 2008 Euro Championships, while their performance against Brazil in the latest edition of the Confederations Cup also left a lot to be desired.
Regardless of the lack of international success these past four years, Italy have never characterised themselves as a team that change the way they play football.
Their structure is heavily based around their world-class defence, which has served as the foundation for each of the Azzurri’s four World Cup victories, and will no doubt serve as the platform for this year’s assault.
To be led once again by Ballon D’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro, World Cup heroes Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta and Fabio Grossi will again form an Italy defensive wall that has become accustomed to producing its best form on the world stage.
Midfielders Gennaro Gattuso, Daniele De Rossi, Mauro Camoranesi, Andrea Pirlo and Vincenzo Iaquinta will also do their best to assume control in the middle of the park against the more fancied attacking nations in the competition.
Although the above players have experienced lean seasons at club level, the Italian midfield is still more than capable of shutting down the best opposition, as evidenced by their stalemate against Spain during the Euro 2008 championships.
Despite losing to the Spaniards on penalties, there were enough signs in that match to suggest the Italians, at their best, can still repel some of the world’s most gifted attacking players.
While their defense and midfield base appears covered, their forward depth is somewhat limited despite possessing leading Serie A strikers Alberto Gilardino and Antonio Di Natalie.
Di Natalie finished as the Serie A’s top scorer this season with 29 goals for club side Udinese, and Gilardino is a proven performer at international level.
But without the likes of Totti, Balotelli, Toni and Del Piero to orchestrate Italy‘s attacking raids, both Gilardino and Di Natalie could find the going tough upfront, especially during the knockout stages.
Although the Azzurri may not feature players who possess the explosive velocity of Cristiano Ronaldo or the dribbling skills of Lionel Messi, they do possess figures who have become more than accustomed to stopping the world’s best players in their tracks. And this will undoubtedly play into Italy’s hands come World Cup time.
Not even the great Zinedine Zidane could get on top of a disciplined Italy four years ago, and it remains to be seen whether or not the present crop of attacking superstars will shoot a hole through the Azurri defence in South Africa.
Despite facing constant criticism for the repetitive nature in which his team play the world game, Lippi knows he controls a side that can be rotated, yet still perform to the level required to achieve a result.
The reigning World Cup holders should top a group consisting of New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia, although the South Americans could pose some problems for Italy.
From there, the Azurri have a proven record during the knockout stages, losing at the semi-final stage only twice in their history, and winning four finals out of six.
Whilst their defensive style of play can frustrate both fans and players, it is a style that proved invaluable to their success four years ago, and could prove likewise again for Italy when their World Cup defence begins on the 14th of June.
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