Confederations Cup Preview: USA - Italy

Kick-off: Monday 15 June 2009, 20:30 CET, Loftus Versfeld Stadion, Pretoria

Italy Make Confederations Cup Debut

After winning the World Cup in 2006, Italy will be making their first-ever appearence at the Confederations Cup, as the international tournament in Germany was the first they had managed to win since the 1982 World Cup, when the Confederations Cup didn’t exist yet. Their first match will be against the United States, a team they also met in the group stages of the last World Cup, when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Bruce Arena’s side.

Following their World Cup victory, Italy haven’t really managed to live up to their billing, unlike European champions Spain (also participating in the Confederations Cup, of course), who have won all of their matches since winning Euro 2008. After lifting the World Cup in Berlin the Azzurri, who were then led by Roberto Donadoni following coach Marcello Lippi’s initial departure, struggled to get a win in their first few games, but eventually qualified for the European championship in style, pipping World Cup finalists France to first place in their group.

At Euro 2008, the World Champions were left shellshocked in the group match against Holland, which they lost 3-0. But they did manage to get past the group stages, thanks largely to a 2-0 victory in the last match against the dismal France. In the quarter-finals, they faced eventual champions Spain, who triumphed on a penalty shoot-out after a scoreless draw. Even though Italy ended up being the only team not to lose in normal time to Spain during the tournament, it was still considered a disappointing overall performance, especially for the muddled tactical approach employed by coach Donadoni. He was inevitably sacked, and World Cup winner Lippi made his return soon afterwards.

In terms of the way they’ve played lately, it can’t be said Lippi has brought much improvement to the team. They are on top of their qualifying group for the World Cup, but only just, and that in a group which is surely one of the easiest of the European qualification zone, with the biggest threats being Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria. A recent friendly defeat to Brazil showed that there is currently a bit of a gulf in class between the Azzurri and the Selecao. Particularly going forward, Italy have shown a lack of creativity, which is why Lippi’s decision to exclude Antonio Cassano has infuriated many fans.

Still, the Azzurri will always be one of the toughest sides to beat in international tournaments, which is why they should always be included among the favorites. No team in the world can match their record of having no defeats in normal time in knockout games over the last twenty years. They rarely look the finished article, particularly in qualification matches, but they always seem to get the job done.

Their performance in this tournament will probably also give an indication of whether Lippi is going in the right direction with this team, or whether he needs to make some adjustments. They will be facing some World Cup-level teams in the group stages (they face Egypt, a team on the rise, and Brazil after this game), which means we could get a good idea of where Italy stand at the moment. Much could depend on how seriously the Azzurri take the tournament.

USA Confident Ahead Of Third Appearence At Confederations Cup

After winning their fourth CONCACAF (the Confederation of North and Central America and the Caribbean) Gold Cup on home soil in 2007, Team USA have earned the right to participate to the Confederations Cup for the third time, after 1999 and 2003.

Bob Bradley’s team have been looking solid lately and are in a good position to make their sixth consecutive appearence at the World Cup, so they will be in confident mood going into this tournament.

The last World Cup under coach Bruce Arena turned out to be a disappointment, as aside from an encouraging 1-1 draw against eventual champions Italy, they lost two key group games against the Czech Republic and Ghana, which saw them finish last in the group.

However, now that they will be facing the Azzurri in their first match of this tournament, they will fancy their chances of springing another surprise on the strength of that performance in their second group game at the World Cup.

During that game, Italy took an early lead thanks to an Alberto Gilardino header in the 22nd minute, but it lasted only five minutes because of Cristian Zaccardo’s clumsy 27th minute own goal. A minute after that, Daniele De Rossi was sent off for elbowing an opponent, leaving Italy down to ten men.

However, Team USA were also reduced to ten men just before the break, when midfielder Pablo Mastroeni was handed a straight red card for a terrible foul. It got worse for the Yankees early in the second half, when defender Eddie Pope saw red and left them with nine men after he received a second yellow card. Nevertheless, there were no more goals in the remainder of a chaotic match, in which the US managed to disrupt their opponents with some seriously heavy tackling and hold on  for a prestigious draw.

On paper, it looks difficult for the Americans to qualify from this tough group, which also includes Egypt and an always dangerous Brazilian team. Realistically, they will need at least a draw from their opening game against the World Champions, because avoiding defeat to Brazil will be very difficult, so just an eventual victory against Egypt in their last group game would probably not be enough to see them through.

 

FORM GUIDE

USA

06/06 (World Cup Qualifier): USA-Honduras 2-1
03/06 (World Cup Qualifier): Costa Rica-USA 3-1
01/04 (World Cup Qualifier): USA-Trinidad & Tobago 3-0
28/03 (World Cup Qualifier): El Salvador-USA 2-2
11/02 (World Cup Qualifier): USA-Mexico 2-0

Italy

10/06 (Friendly): Italy-New Zealand 4-3
06/06 (Friendly): Italy-Northern Ireland 3-0
01/04 (World Cup Qualifier): Italy-Republic of Ireland 1-1
28/03 (World Cup Qualifier): Montenegro-Italy 0-2
10/02 (Friendly): Brazil-Italy 2-0



TEAM NEWS

USA

No injury worries for Team USA.

Possible formation (4-4-2): Howard; Spector, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Bornstein; Dempsey, Clark, Bradley, Donovan; Altidore, Casey.

Italy

Captain Fabio Cannavaro has been ruled out for this one due to a calf injury. He may also miss the Azzurri’s second match against Egypt.

Possible formation (4-3-3): Buffon; Zambrotta, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Grosso; Gattuso, Pirlo, De Rossi; Quagliarella, Gilardino, Rossi.



PLAYERS TO WATCH

Landon Donovan (USA)

Having already played in two World Cups, the 27-year-old winger is one of the more experienced member of USA’s squad. Long considered one of the most talented US football players, earlier this year he moved to Bayern Munich on loan from LA Galaxy, in a move similar to the one David Beckham made when he joined Milan. However, Donovan wasn’t quite as successful as the English superstar, making only rare substitute appearences, and only scoring in a friendly.

Alberto Gilardino (Italy)

Last season was one of his most prolific ever, with 19 goals scored in Serie A in his first season with Fiorentina. While his big-game temperament is questionable, as that was one of the main reasons he didn’t last at Milan, he’s still scored more goals than any other player in Italy’s Confederations Cup squad last season. He also scored the opening goal in Italy’s last meeting against USA in the 2006 World Cup, so the Americans will certainly keep an eye on him.



PREDICTION

Italy to get a hard-fought victory, but don’t be too shocked if the USA spring a surprise.

USA-Italy 1-2

Danilo Pochini, Goal.com