Quote:
Originally Posted by GirlySports
|
Well, they are led by ex-Juve, Chelsea and Betty Ford star Adrian Mutu...
. Romania is going to be the beating boy of the big 3... however, they could play spoiler and force someone out on a draw.
Honestly, I would not be surprised if that article (or one like it) is translated into Italian and tacked on a bulletin board in the Azzurri dressing room.
Even without Cannavaro, the only team that can beat Italy is Italy. Depth is now a shaky situation though. Buffon will likely be the captain, and since he is the leader of the Juventus defense, he'll likely be called on to QB the Azzurri defense since there isn't really a defender left capable of keeping them all organized in the back. He's also far and away the best goalie in the Group. Second best being Van der Sar.
Donadoni made a mistake in my opinion calling up Gamberini and not trying to lure Nesta out of international retirement or gamble on Chiellini's partner at Juve, Nicola Legrottaglie. Juve had the second stingiest defense in Serie A (Inter was the most, but had no starting Italians). Reuniting Buffon, Chiellini and Legrottaglie might have resulted in the necessary cohesion in the middle needed, with world class wingbacks Zambrotta and Grosso at their sides, and top DMs like De Rossi and Gattuso backing them up. Barzagli and Materazzi are extremely suspect. Barzagli was garbage at Palermo, and was sent to Wolfsburg this summer. Cannavaro protected him at the international level, but now he's not there anymore. Materazzi is a good pest, but relies on having a rock as his partner which he won't have... as well, he's been hurt most of the year and is in bad form. This is probably the first time the Italians have submitted a team where the weakest part is the central defense.
France is in transition with much of the old guard retired, near retirement or past the point where they should retire. The rest, aside from Ribery, are not at the level the 94-06 France teams played at, or at least not yet. Their coach is also an idiot, and they barely snuck into the Euro ahead of Scotland.
Holland is a strong team on paper, but they lack a strong defense. Heitinga is probably the best of the bunch, but none of them inspire much confidence. I don't see these guys repelling Toni, Del Piero, Cassano, Henry or Benzema. They will live and die by their offense.
To be fair, the whole group has comparatively mediocre defenses. Italy losing Cannavaro only brought them back to comparative levels. France can't boast much, relying heavily on Gallas... and his likely partner, the 36 year old Thuram, and featuring the likes of Boumsong. Like Italy, their strength lies in the wings, with Evra, Sagnol, Abidal and Clerc. Unfortunately, they can only play two at a time... likely Abidal and Sagnol.