Azzurri Squad Announced; Limited Room for Bitching Available

By: Martha | September 3rd, 2007

Panucci in light blue. Roberto Donadoni, who has spent the last two weeks offering up sacrifices to a slew of gods in an effort to winpowers of miraculous recovery for his rickety crew of defenders, yesterday announced his squad for the upcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers.

For once, it’s hard to find too much to complain about with the team. Apart from Marco Materazzi, all the regulars are there (the semi-injured duo of Cannavaro and Luca Toni, even if they’re not fully fit for the France match, will certainly be healthy for the trip to Ukraine), including Daniele De Rossi, whose absence from the Hungary friendly was unsettling to say the least.

With Toni’s fitness still questionable, Donadoni has also called Cristiano Lucarelli back into his side, a move I can confidently say is the first time a player based in Ukraine has ever won a cap for the Azzurri. (Though since last time he was called up Lucarelli’s response was “It’s about damn time,” it’s unlikely he’s celebrating too wildly at the news.) The rest of the strike force consists of the usual suspects: Alex Del Piero, Antonio Di Natale, Pippo Inzaghi, and Fabio Quagliarella. People are still bitching about the inclusion of Del Piero, but it’s hard to deny he’s been playing well, no matter how old he is. (How long, though, before Fabrizio Miccoli get a call?)

The midfield is the strength of this team, and alongside the core group from Germany (Gattuso, Pirlo, De Rossi, etc) are the suddenly indispensable Alberto Aquilani and Pasquale Foggia, who played so well for Cagliari over the weekend that Donadoni saw fit to hand him his first cap. In the back, meanwhile, things are so thin that Christian Panucci has been called up for the first time in over three years; whether he’s there as wide player or as an emergency backup centerback (a role he’s been playing for Roma lately) is anyone’s guess, but the latter option — the one that seems most likely — is not a great sign of the Donadoni’s feelings about young Italian central defenders.

Full squad is after the jump; the team will convene tonight after the Milan-Fiorentina match.

Keepers: Abbiati (Atletico Madrid), Amelia (Livorno), Buffon (Juventus)
Defenders: Barzagli (Palermo), F Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Lyon), Oddo (Milan), Panucci (Roma), Zambrotta (Barcelona)
Midfielders: Ambrosini (Milan), Aquilani (Roma), Camoranesi (Juventus), De Rossi (Roma), Foggia (Cagliari), Gattuso (Milan), Perrotta (Roma), Pirlo (Milan)
Strikers: Del Piero (Juventus), Di Natale (Udinese), F Inzaghi (Milan), C Lucarelli (Shakhtar Donetsk), Quagliarella (Udinese), Toni (Bayern Munich)

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Category: Azzurri, Rumors & News, Serie A

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jd

I'm just happy Aquilani is up. he has been an absolute animal. ps. nesta is a fag... (just play)
Marco

Mele, I guess Diarra finally understood his role in the French team: sit his ass on the bench and poke at the opponents with a stick.
Marco R

Guys, Miccoli has had a call up in a friendly vs. portugal an age ago. He scored from a corner kick. Find it on youtube, I am lazy! I am so upset Matrix is not there, he was our psychological edge...and our headbutt-magnet.
mele419

HOHO! Diara called Italy cheats now!
"Everyone knows the reputation the Italians have is of cheats and provokers," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport, holding little back.

Oh man, this will be one HELL of a match, with stewards and riot police out in numbers, indefinately.
Paolo

I would love to see Aquilani start. I think he deserves it. I would like to see.

Buffon
Oddo (RB) - Barzagli - Cannavaro - Zambrotta
Aquilani - Gattuso - Pirlo - Perotta
Toni - Quagliarella

That Line up provides speed, power, itelligence and can strike from anywhere on the pitch and often. Good offensive skills mixed with good defensive skills. France may not know what hit them. Take yu r pick at subs to use if Italy goes up and needs to close out the match. Hopefully Donadoni pulls his head out his ass for this one. The Atmosphere in the Meazza should be incredible with a sold out crowd of over 85 000 people and the match should be awesome! This is the one they NEED to win. They need to come out attacking.
Marco420

Ambrosini and Di Natale?!?

i'm just happy T. Rocchi is not on the list
Marco

Martha regarding Foggia, no player ever gets called up following a single match. Donadoni had his eye on him for quite some time now, and the Cagliari game only further convinced he was ripe for the call (that's my opinion at least).

I'm wondering what you think of my predicted line-up though, as I'm still scratching my head on who the coach will play in midfield with Gattuso and Pirlo, and what the tactical line-up will be like.

If we assume a 4-4-2 formation, with no Totti it's hard to guess if the Azzurri will have 2 central mids and 2 wingers (Perrotta and Camoranesi?), or 3 central mids and 1 offensive mid behind the strikers (in the latter case, who would play the 'would-be-Totti' role? I picked Camoranesi on a hunch even though that's not his usual role).

And no, I haven't forgotten Aquilani but I'm still wondering on what his chances are of starting over Ambrosini.
Martha

Don't worry, mele, I can take it. With Matrix out and Grosso gone, Inter's Italian continent consists basically of a 16-year-old Ghanaian, which isn't very impressive.

Kevin, Miccoli's energy is insane, I would love to see what he could do for the Azzurri, even if it's only in a friendly. Someone who's not Pippo or Gila or Di Natale certainly deserves a shot.
kevin

Miccoli would be a spark plug for the Azzuri.. He plays brilliantly off the ball, a dynamic playmaker, and can create space for himself due to his small stature..
I know its only my opinion, but it seems like the Azzurri frontline gets a little stagnant sometimes and needs more than a poacher.
kirby

poor poor marco... i wish he could be there, he's been so monumental for both club and country... hopefully he'll be back for in action soon... and mele inter is just living up to their name. thats why we luv em. INTERNAZIONALE di milano!!!
mele419

I don't see any Inter players being called up... OH! That's right, they don't field Italians!

I'm worried about our fragile back line... Hopefully it can stand up to a tough france side...

( Sorry Martha, love you, hate your team =P )
Ethan

Where's Totti? (and yes, sarcasm...)
foggy

Does anyone know if the italy france game will be scrambled or not on rai this saturday?
chris

Scratch that theory, Abbiati pulled out and Curci was just called up.
Sofia

looks strong on paper...i agree miccoli does deserve a call up
chris

Joe, Curci was called up for the Hungary friendly, presumably just to get him used to the surroundings when his time comes. I wouldn't be surprised to see the 3rd keeper spot rotated between Abbiati and De Sanctis for the remaining qualifiers.

And as much as I dislike Chiellini and his schnozaroo, he does deserve to at least get a look. He'll be with the Azzurri eventually - even if he is overrated by the majority of casual fans.
Joe

Maurizio Domizzi deserves a cap more than Chiellini. All Napoli bias aside, I've seen Chiellini and he's a fine player but he's not as tough, experienced or as good at distributing the ball from the back as the red-assed Roman.

Little to bitch about I know. But let me add something else. Can we give any other keepers a shot? It's the same three time after time. Gigi is the man, I wouldn't take his place away for anyone right now (or for probably the next few years). Christ almighty, Amelia isn't even freaking playing for the socialist republic of Livorno.
Paolo

Whatever room was left for bitching should be used to bitch about Miccoli (or Lack of Miccoli). What a game he had on Sunday for Palermo. He scored 2 and set up the other 2. He should have been included. On current form he is better than Del Piero, Inzaghi and Di Natale who were all called up.

I guess I am happy with the rest of the call ups. Even though our defense is a bit banged up, they should have enough back there to get the job done. FORZA AZZURRI!!
Louise

Luckily, Cannavaro seems fully recovered and had a great match with Real Madrid this weekend, showing lots of speed, although his leaping ability wasn't tested, in a shut out. With some help from Barzagli, I think the defense should look much better than the Hungary match (which wouldn't be hard, really).