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Italy national football team

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Italy
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Azzurri
AssociationItalian Football Federation
([Federazione Italiana
Giuoco Calcio] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
Head coachVacant
CaptainFabio Cannavaro
Most capsPaolo Maldini (126)
Top scorerGigi Riva (35)
FIFA codeITA
First colours
Second colours
First international
Template:Country data Italy old Italy 6 - 2 France France
(Milan, Italy; 15 May, 1910)
Biggest win
Italy Italy 9 - 0 USA Template:Country data United States 48
(Brentford, England; 2 August, 1948)
Biggest defeat
Template:Country data Hungary old Hungary 7 - 1 Italy Template:Country data Italy old
(Budapest, Hungary; 6 April, 1924)
World Cup
Appearances16 (first in 1934)
Best resultWinners, 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006
European Championship
Appearances6 (first in 1968)
Best resultWinners, 1968
Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Gold medal – first place 1936 Berlin Team
Bronze medal – third place 1928 Amsterdam Team
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Team

The Italian national football team is the national association football team of Italy and is governed by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC - Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio).

Italy is one of the most successful national teams in the world, having won four World Cups (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), one European championship (1968), and one Olympic Gold Medal (1936).

The traditional colour of the national team (as well as of all Italian teams and athletes, except in motor sports) is sky blue[1] ([azzurro] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), in Italian), and therefore national team members are nicknamed Azzurri.

History

Origins and first two World Cups (1910–1938)

The team's first match was held in Milan on 15 May 1910; Italy defeated France by a score of 6-2.[2]

The first success in an official tournament came with the bronze medal in 1928 Summer Olympics, held in Amsterdam. After losing the semi-final against Uruguay, a victory for 11-3 against Egypt secured third place in the competition.

After declining to participate in the first World Cup (1930, in Uruguay), the Italian national team won two consecutive editions of the tournament in 1934 and 1938.

In the 1934 World Cup, the host Azzurri defeated Czechoslovakia 2–1 in Rome, with goals by Raimundo Orsi and Angelo Schiavio.

Italy won the Gold medal in the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, thanks to a victory in the final match against Austria.

Italy's predominance on international football in the 1930s was confirmed by the victory in 1938 World Cup. The Italian team beat Hungary 4–2 in Paris, with two goals by Silvio Piola (the all-time top scorer in Italian football) and two by Gino Colaussi.

Post-World War II (1946–1966)

After World War II, the Italian national team did not perform at its pre-war levels.

In 1949, in the Superga air disaster, all of the players of Torino F.C., the winner of the previous four Serie A titles, died. The national football team lost ten out of eleven players of the initial line-up, and in the following year, did not advance further than the first round in the 1950 World Cup

Italy failed to go farther than the first round of the World Cup Finals in 1954, 1962 and 1966 editions, and did not even qualify for the 1958 World Cup.

The match that has more significance among those played in this period, is the 0–1 defeat against North Korea during the final stage of the 1966 World Cup: the Azzurri were defeated by the semi-professional North Koreans and bitterly condemned upon their return home, while North Korean scorer Pak Do Ik was celebrated as the David who killed Goliath.[5]

European champions to World Cup winners (1968–1982)

In 1968, the Azzurri won their first major competition since the 1938 World Cup, defeating Yugoslavia in Rome for the European Championship title. The match holds the distinction of being the only major football tournament final to go to a replay. After extra time it ended in a 1-1 draw, and in the days before penalty shootouts, the rules required the match to be re-played a few days later. Italy won the replay 2-0 (with goals from Riva and Anastasi) to lift the trophy.

Two years later, the team reached the final of the 1970 World Cup, held in Mexico, where they were defeated by Brazil 4-1. Italy's semi-final match, won 4-3 in extra time against West Germany, has been hailed as the Game of the Century and is the most noted game in Italian football history.

After a fourth place finish in 1978, Italy were crowned World Champions for a third time in 1982, defeating West Germany 3-1 in the final. Paolo Rossi, with six goals in the final three matches, took home the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer.

Recent years

Since their 1982 triumph, the Azzurri have figured prominently on the world stage, but did not win another tournament, up until the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

After failing to qualify for the 1984 European Championship, they were knocked out in the second round of the 1986 World Cup by France. 1988 saw them reach the semi-finals of the European Championship, where they were defeated 2-0 by USSR.

Italy hosted the World Cup for the second time in 1990. Despite being favourites to win and not conceding a goal during their first five matches of the tournament, they were eliminated in the semi-final by Argentina, losing 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw after extra time. They went on to defeat England 2-1 in the third place play-off. The team failed to qualify for the 1992 European Championship.

In the 1994 World Cup, Italy started slowly but reached the final against Brazil. After a 0–0 draw at the end of extra time, they lost the subsequent penalty shootout 3-2. Roberto Baggio, who had five goals in the tournament prior to the final, missed the final penalty kick of the match, shooting over the crossbar.

After failing to progress beyond the group stage during the finals of Euro 96, the Italian side found themselves in another critical shootout, for the third World Cup in a row, during the 1998 competition, holding France to a 0-0 draw after extra time in the quarter-finals, but losing 4-3 in the shootout.

The Italian participation in the 2000 European Championship was followed with some skepticism, but the [Azzurri] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) won an incredible semi-final against host nation the Netherlands — Italian goalkeeper Francesco Toldo saved one penalty during the match and two during the shootout, while the Dutch players missed one penalty during the match and one during the shootout — a success rate of one penalty scored in six attempts. Italy finished the tournament as runners-up, losing the final 2–1 against France (to a golden goal in extra time), after conceding les Bleus' equalizing goal just 30 seconds before the end of normal time.

In the 2002 World Cup, Italy was eliminated by co-host country South Korea in the round of sixteen. The match was marked by controversy, as referee Byron Moreno gave Francesco Totti a second yellow card in extra time for an alleged dive, and disallowed an Italian goal. Replays seemed to indicate both that the card was unfounded and the goal was legal, but the decisions stood and South Korea won 2-1, again with a golden goal in extra time.[3]

A three-way tie in the group stage of the 2004 European Championship left Italy as the "odd man out", and they failed to qualify for the quarter-finals, finishing behind Denmark and Sweden on the basis of number of goals scored in matches among the tied teams.[4]

2006 World Cup: World Champions again

Italy won their opening game of 2006 World Cup against Ghana. The final score was 2-0, with goals coming from Andrea Pirlo (40') and Vincenzo Iaquinta (83').

The second match was a 1-1 draw with USA, with the opening goal by Alberto Gilardino equalized by a Cristian Zaccardo own goal. Three players — Daniele De Rossi of Italy; Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope of USA — were sent off, so nearly all of the second half was played with only nineteen players on the field. De Rossi was suspended for four matches.

Italy finished Group E with a 2-0 win against the Czech Republic on Thursday, June 22. Goals were scored by Marco Materazzi (26') and Filippo Inzaghi (87'). This win allowed the Italians to advance to the Round of 16 in the knockout stages.

In the Round of 16, Italy vs Australia finished 1-0, after the Italians had Marco Materazzi controversially being sent off at the beginning of the second half. The [Azzurri] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) won the match with a controversial penalty kick converted in the 95th minute by Francesco Totti.

The quarter-final match was a 3-0 victory against Ukraine, with Gianluca Zambrotta opening the scoring (6') and Luca Toni scoring twice (59' and 69').

In the semi-final they beat host nation team, Germany, 2-0 in an epic match where two goals were scored in the last two minutes of extra-time. Fabio Grosso scored the first goal in the 119th minute from a disguised pass by Andrea Pirlo. Substitute Alessandro Del Piero then sealed the win — and booked Italy's place in the final — a minute later by completing an Italian counter-attack, which finished with a pass from Alberto Gilardino.

The Azzurri won their fourth World Cup, defeating France in Berlin, on July 9, 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time. In a controversial decision, Marco Materazzi was called for a penalty which allowed Zinedine Zidane to open the scoring in the 7th minute from a penalty spot kick. Twelve minutes later, a header by Marco Materazzi (19'), who was called on the penalty, scored the equalizer for Italy. During the goalless extra-time period the French captain Zinedine Zidane was sent off after a head butt, provoked by an insult directed at him by Marco Materazzi. Italy then won the penalty shoot-out 5-3, Fabio Grosso scoring the winning penalty.

Gianluigi Buffon also performed incredibly. He yielded only two goals during the tournament; the first being an own goal by Zaccardo and one from Zidane's penalty kick.

A few days after the Italian triumph in the World Cup, coach Marcello Lippi announced his resignations. According to the Italian press, the main front-runner for succeeding Lippi seems to be Roberto Donadoni.

World Cup record

Year Finish Wins Losses Draws Goals Scored Goals Against
1930 Did not enter
1934 Champions 4 0 1 12 3
1938 Champions 4 0 0 9 4
1950 Round 1 1 1 0 4 3
1954 Round 1 1 2 0 6 7
1958 Did not qualify
1962 Round 1 1 1 1 3 2
1966 Round 1 1 2 0 2 2
1970 Runners-up 3 1 2 10 8
1974 Round 1 1 1 1 5 4
1978 Semifinal (Fourth place) 4 2 1 9 6
1982 Champions 4 0 3 12 6
1986 Round 2 1 1 2 5 6
1990 Semifinal (Third place) 6 1 0 10 2
1994 Runners-up 4 2 1 8 5
1998 Quarterfinals 3 1 1 8 3
2002 Round 2 1 2 1 5 5
2006 Champions 6 0 1 12 2
Total 16/18 45 18 15 119 68

European Championship record

  • 1960 — Did not enter
  • 1964 — Did not qualify
  • 1968 — Champions
  • 1972 — Did not qualify
  • 1976 — Did not qualify
  • 1980 — Fourth place
  • 1984 — Did not qualify
  • 1988 — Semifinals
  • 1992 — Did not qualify
  • 1996 — Round 1
  • 2000 — Runners-up
  • 2004 — Round 1
  • 2008 — (Qualifying Round due to start)

Coaches

During the earliest days of Italian nation football, it wasn't uncommon for a Technical Commission to be appointed. The Commission took the role that a standard coach would currently play. Since 1967, the national team has been controlled only by coaches.

For this reason, the coach of the Italian national team is still called Technical Commissioner (Commissario tecnico o CT).

Player history

Noted past players

   

Most capped Italian players

As of July 10, 2006, the players with the most caps for Italy are:

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Paolo Maldini 1988–2002 126 7
2 Dino Zoff 1968–1982 112 0
3 Fabio Cannavaro 1997— 100 1
4 Giacinto Facchetti 1963–1974 94 3
5 Franco Baresi 1982–1994 81 1
Giuseppe Bergomi 1982–1999 81 0
Marco Tardelli 1976–1985 81 6
8 Demetrio Albertini 1991–2002 79 2
Alessandro Del Piero 1995— 79 28
10 Gaetano Scirea 1975–1986 78 2

Top Italian goalscorers

# Player Career Goals (Caps) Goals per game
1 Luigi Riva 1965–1973 35 (42) 0.83
2 Giuseppe Meazza 1930–1939 33 (53) 0.62
3 Silvio Piola 1935–1952 30 (34) 0.88
4 Alessandro Del Piero 1995— 28 (79) 0.35
5 Roberto Baggio 1990–2004 27 (56) 0.48
6 Alessandro Altobelli 1981–1989 25 (61) 0.41
Adolfo Baloncieri 1920–1933 25 (47) 0.53
8 Francesco Graziani 1975–1982 23 (64) 0.53
Christian Vieri 1997— 23 (49) 0.47
10 Filippo Inzaghi 1997— 22 (50) 0.44
Alessandro Mazzola 1963–1974 22 (70) 0.31

2006 World Cup squad

2006 FIFA World Cup head coach: Marcello Lippi.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 1GK Gianluigi Buffon 28 January 1978 66 Italy Juventus F.C.
2 2DF Cristian Zaccardo 21 December 1981 15 Italy Palermo
3 2DF Fabio Grosso 28 November 1977 22 Italy Internazionale
4 3MF Daniele De Rossi 24 July 1983 19 Italy A.S. Roma
5 2DF Fabio Cannavaro captain 13 September 1973 100 Italy Juventus F.C.
6 2DF Andrea Barzagli 8 May 1981 10 Italy Palermo
7 4FW Alessandro Del Piero 9 November 1974 79 Italy Juventus F.C.
8 3MF Gennaro Gattuso 9 January 1978 46 Italy A.C. Milan
9 4FW Luca Toni 26 May 1977 23 Italy ACF Fiorentina
10 3MF Francesco Totti 27 September 1976 57 Italy A.S. Roma
11 4FW Alberto Gilardino 5 July 1982 20 Italy A.C. Milan
12 1GK Angelo Peruzzi 16 February 1970 31 Italy S.S. Lazio
13 2DF Alessandro Nesta 19 March 1976 77 Italy A.C. Milan
14 1GK Marco Amelia 2 April 1982 1 Italy Livorno
15 4FW Vincenzo Iaquinta 29 November 1979 16 Italy Udinese
16 3MF Mauro Camoranesi 4 October 1976 25 Italy Juventus F.C.
17 3MF Simone Barone 30 April 1978 15 Italy Palermo
18 4FW Filippo Inzaghi 9 August 1973 50 Italy A.C. Milan
19 2DF Gianluca Zambrotta 19 February 1977 57 Italy Juventus F.C.
20 3MF Simone Perrotta 17 September 1977 30 Italy A.S. Roma
21 3MF Andrea Pirlo 19 May 1979 30 Italy A.C. Milan
22 2DF Massimo Oddo 14 June 1976 21 Italy S.S. Lazio
23 2DF Marco Materazzi 19 August 1973 31 Italy Internazionale

Saudi Arabia and Italy were the only countries to submit squad lists for the 2006 World Cup comprised entirely of players contracted to clubs in their own country.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Sky blue was the color of the Royal House of the Kingdom of Italy. In its first match, the Italian national team wore white shirts with shorts from the club of each player; the sky blue shirts were introduced in the following match.
  2. ^ [1]. Some turmoil kept the players of Pro Vercelli, the best team of the league, out of the game. At the end of the match, the players received as a prize some cigarette packets thrown by the 4,000 spectators.[2]
  3. ^ See 2002 FIFA World Cup (match reports). Subsequent comments by Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni and some other public figures in Italy [3], coupled with more unusual refereeing decisions in South Korea's subsequent Quarter-final against Spain led to a conspiracy theory that South Korea were being unfairly favoured by officials. These reports were quickly dismissed by FIFA [4].
  4. ^ There was some controversy as both Sweden and Denmark knew before their final match that a 2-2 draw between them would qualify both Scandanavian sides, leaving the Italians out, and that is exactly what transpired. Totti again found himself at the center of controversy for the Italian side after being suspended for three games for a spitting incident in the match against Denmark.


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