Ras' Football World

There’s a lot more you can learn about a team when they lose a game or turn in a below-par performance. Italy’s navigated their group stage with a 100% win record for the first time since Euro 2000, scoring seven goals and conceding none. Their performances attracted a lot of positive attention as they broke away from the usual defensive, counter-attacking Italian style. Progressively, I feel Italy’s challengers have got stronger after the first game against Turkey. Against Switzerland, Italy scored at the right time to kill off any hope of the Swiss mounting a comeback.   Then against the Welsh, the team was rotated heavily and that match became comfortable after a harsh red card for Ethan Ampadu. Italy Rattled This morning against Austria, I felt Italy dallied too long with their final ball and shot. That allowed the Austrians who were sitting back in numbers to close down quickly. The one quick, incisive move Italy created ended with a shot by Nicolo Barella saved by Danie...

We are on the eve of Euro 2020 and Italy will kick off the tournament for the first time in my time as a fan. In the days leading up to the tournament, there has been a lot of positive attention on the team. Some are tipping them to be the dark horses of the tournament, some are tipping them to go all the way to the final and even winning it. If you have followed the Italian national team as long as I have, you will know that this spells trouble. Whenever Italy has entered a tournament as one of the favourites, they have disappointed for example 1996, 2002 and 2004. The only exception would be 1994 where they went all the way to the final after a slow start. When no one has given them a chance, they have done well as we have seen in 2000, 2006, 2012 and to an extent, 2016. If I apply this logic, it doesn’t bode well for Italy in this tournament. I have not watched Italy play since that unfateful World Cup qualifier playoff elimination by Sweden in 2017 because I have not had any ac...

The naming of the Italian squad for international tournaments brings back many memories, good and bad. The names that were in the squad are all gone. This is a new generation now though, less star-studded but with a lot of potentials. It is now up to the players to make it count on the pitch. This is my dissection of Italy’s Euro 2021 squad. Goalkeepers Selected: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alex Meret, Salvatore Sirigu I felt Alessio Cragno should have been selected over Sirigu because he had a better season and really impressed me. Sirigu was selected probably due to the experience he brings to that department. Defenders Selected: Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Emerson Palmieri, Alessandro Florenzi, Leonardo Spinazzola, Rafael Toloi Roberto Mancini had a tough choice for the two right-back spots. Alessandro Florenzi is certain to start at right-back. The remaining spot was between Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Manuel Laz...