Saturday,
July 29, 2006
The Italian Triumph- Known for Catenaccio, Proved Proficient on Attack- Soccer
The ANNOTICO Report
The Azzurri, not only won the World Cup, but they did it
against almost insurmountable odds.
The uncertainty and distractions of the Penalties in the Soccer
Scandals, and what teams they might next be playing for on what level.
The suicide attempt of good friend Juventus
general manager Gianluca Pessotto.
The
"phantom' penalties invoked against
Incredibly
rude German fans whistled through the Italian national anthems.
Germans,
too busy chomping on their bratwurst, and didn't see Zidanes's
"butt", blamed Materazzi for
play-acting, and jeered the Italians. The Azzurri
endured more jeers when they walked on the Berlin Olympic Stadium stage to
accept the World Cup trophy.
All this
they endured..... with dignity!!!
THE
ITALIAN TRIUMPH
By
Mike Woitalla, in Berlin
Executive Editor, Soccer
August
Issue of Soccer
In the shadow
of scandal and amid jeers,
...The Italians
gave the world Catenaccio, a word meaning ''door
bolt'' and in soccer it denotes a system dedicated to preventing goals with a
packed defense while aiming for 1-0 wins.
But what did the
2006 World Cup champion Italians really offer in
In their
seven-game run to the title, the Italians gave up just two goals. One was an
own goal against the
That seems to
indicate defense won it for the Italians. But there was much more to the Azzurri's game.
The Italians
scored 12 goals, second only to host and third-place finisher
The Azzurri breezed past the Czechs, 2-0, in their final
first-round game. After they won their round-of-16 game against
The Italians took
83 shots, third behind
The Italians also
won 44 corner kicks, a tournament high along with
One of the most intriguing
Italian performances came against
The Germans were
suddenly facing a team with three forwards on the field, Coach Marcelo Lippi
having brought on Alessandro Del Piero and Vinzenzo Iaquinta for two
midfielders. The Italians eliminated the Germans, 2-0, on goals in the 119th
and 120th minutes by outside back Fabio Grosso and Del Piero...
The Italians outshot the Germans, 15-13, and had a 10-2 advantage on
shots on goal. The Italians had a 14-4 edge on corner kicks.
They also
committed the fewest fouls and suffered the most of the four teams that played
seven games.
Certainly the
statistics indicate that
CANNAVARO AND
CO. That Zinedine Zidane won the
tournament's Gold Ball MVP award was an obvious result of FIFA encouraging
media to cast their votes before the final.
Besides the
absurdity of bestowing the tournament's highest individual honor on a man
responsible for one of the most hideous acts in World Cup history, the obvious
choice for Golden Ball was Italian central defender and captain
Fabio Cannavaro.
Cannavaro, who settled for the
Silver Ball, patrolled the Italians' backline, yet he was never carded. He was
called for only 11 fouls, less than two per game.
He won 31
tackles, but was more often seen darting out and winning the ball before his
opponent could get to it. He was practically unbeatable in the air, but he
stands barely 5-foot-9.
The secret to his
success, says Cannavaro, who earned his 100th cap in
the final, is ''good food, lots of sleep, and regular sex.''
He paired up with
Marco Materazzi
after Alessandro Nesta went down injured. Materazzi, who will forever be known as the recipient of Zidane's head butt, was called for the penalty kick in the
final but redeemed himself with a headed goal off a corner kick.
It was his second of the tournament. He had never scored for
Cannavaro and Materazzi
were flanked by right back Gianluca Zambrotta and
left back Fabio Grosso.
Zambrotta is nicknamed ''The Lung''
for his ability to fly up and down the flank. In the win over
Grosso scored only two goals in
his last 90 games with
Bronze Ball
winner Andrea Pirlo, 27, is the most skillful of the
Italians, although he swept in front of the backline. Dutch great Johan Cruyff called him a Zico in front
of the defense.
''When I see what
Andrea can do with ball,'' midfield partner Gennaro Gattuso
said, ''I ask myself whether I'm really a soccer player.''
Lippi called Gattuso
''
Providing attacks
from the right flank was Mauro
Camoranesi. He would catch high
cross-field passes gently on his instep before spinning around to storm down
the wing.
Camoranesi was born and raised in
The Italians
started the tournament with two forwards but ended up playing with only Luca Toni up top. He scored
just twice, both against
THE
SCANDAL.
When
Investigations
had been launched into a scandal involving match-fixing, illegal betting,
manipulation of referee assignments and accounting fraud. At the center of the
scandal is Juventus, for
which Cannovaro and four other Azzurri
play....
During the
tournament, several of the players left camp to visit Juventus
general manager Gianluca Pessotto in a
Before the
Italy-Germany game,
Fueled by Bild, German fans, otherwise such gracious hosts, whistled
through the Italian national anthems. The Italians endured more jeers when they
walked on the Berlin Olympic Stadium stage to accept the World Cup trophy. The
fans in the stadium had not seen the replay of Zidane's
assault and blamed Materazzi for play-acting.
''We think that
after the phone taps, the accusations, the intrigue and the fraud,'' wrote Corriere della Sera columnist Gianni Riotta.
''Each one of the Azzurri returned for a month to
what they were when they were kids on the street - when soccer was a dream, not
a racket.''
(This article
originally appeared in the August 2006 issue of Soccer
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