Confederations Cup 2009 – Italian National Team

The Italian national football team is the current world cup champions and will be featuring in the Confederations Cup of 2009. It is currently ranked 4th in the world by Fifa. They beat France at the 2006 world cup which ended with the dramatic head butt by the veteran footballer, Zinedine Zidane, on Materrazi. Personally, I believe France would have lifted the trophy but penalties can make the game go either way. They were also quite impressive in the Euro cup. They are a force to reckon with in this confederations cup and would definitely be a team worth checking out as they defend their title in the Fifa world cup in South Africa. There style of mostly based on the experience. The average age of the national team players is about 30 so you can imagine all that experience. But skill and speed is, in my opinion, what they lack.

From the current form of its players, the ideal starting 11 for Italy would be: Buffon (in goal), Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Gamberini and Dossena in defence, De Rossi, Aquilani, Del Piero, Pirlo in midfield and Luca Toni and Gilardino in striking. Since the whole team carries with it experience, the strength of the team is well balanced throughout the positions. Other names that could make headlines are Perotta, Di Natale, Camoranesi and others (add a comment at the end of this post to who or what you think will work). As observed in the world cup of 2009, Italy can do wonders. They may not have the speed and creativity that comes with many current sides, but they definately have the heart to win and the experience is an added advantage. One player I really like is the man Gatuzzo. He is a mean looking beast and meeting him on the pitch, I would guess, would be worse. I remember during the 2006-2007 UEFA champions league where he…read the complete article and others here.