Glasgow, Here They Come

It’s 24 hours until the Azzurri face Scotland, and the quotes are flying thick and fast, from Captain Canna worrying the youngsters will crumble under the pressure of a hostile crowd, to talk of kicking and winning ugly. And, of course, no one is afraid, despite the fact that Saturday’s date is apparently terribly unlucky.* (It turns out that if Italy win, they’ll be overcoming not only the Scots and an angry stadium full of The Enemy, but also the worst day in the worst month at the worst time. Who knew?)

In practical terms, all that’s changed in the Italy camp is that someone stomped on Massimo Oddo’s foot in training yesterday. Nothing’s broken, but he’s nevertheless unlikely to be considered fully fit, and therefore will probably to lose the competition with Old Man Panucci for the wingback spot not being filled by Gianluca Zambrotta. (No word on who did the stomping, but I’ve got my money on a certain elderly Giallorossi defender.)

No matter who’s playing where, it’s going to be cold and it’s going to be ugly, and if Italy get a point, they’re going to the Big Show(ish), baring a disaster that causes the legs of everyone on the team to fall off in the middle of the Faroe Islands match. (I wonder how the Faroes feel about being totally ignored by the entire football world — half the previews you read don’t even mention the existence of a game on Wednesday.)

Just in case you need some reassurance that a point is probably in the cards, consider this: Scotland have one winning goal against Italy. EVER.

Bigass previews here and here (and here, if you want to read it twice).

*Thanks to tmc for the Guardian link.

Category: Azzurri, Serie A

Tags: Azzurri, Oddo, Scotland, Serie A

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