Italy's World Cup Finals trip faces internal problem
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Stable defense is always Italy's traditional key to victory. But compare to the outstanding backfield partnership formed by Buffon, Cannavaro, Nesta, Materazzi, Zambrotta and Grosso in 2006, the new Azurri' s defense face a greater challenge from itself.
Besides the defense, which is Italian football's vital spirit, Lippi could not forget the forecourt. With respectively scoring 29 goals and 19 scores, Udinese's forward Di Natale and Sampdoria's striker Pazzini won the first and third place in the last serie A season scorers' ranking. But neither of them got many international appearances representing Italy before, especially in the World Cup Finals.
Iaquinta scored only 6 goals this season in Serie A, same as his teammate Del Piero if not counted the penalties. Cassano's super long shot which brought Sampdoria a 1-0 victory against Juventus was still not enough to change Lippi' s mind. In a word, now the Azzuri is calling for a new "flag character" in its forecourt, like Del Piero, Vieri or legendary Roberto Baggio.
After announcing retirement from national team in 2007, Totti said that he would like to play in the 2010 World Cup Finals if he got summoned. However, Lippi did not give him a chance. It may not be a wrong decision, as the 34-year-old Rome's captain plagued by injuries in the most of time during the last season. But now the question is who could be the right successor of Totti? Maybe we should expect the performance of Marchisio.
In fact the Azzuri had few impressive performances after winning 2006 World Cup. Italy was knocked of the 2008 European Championships at the quarter-final stage, which directly led to ex-coach Donadoni's leave. Lippi, who led Italy to win 2006 World Cup, was soon re-appointed as the head coach of Italian national team. However in 2009 Confederations Cup the Azzuri suffered a 0-3 torture by Brazil and then was eliminated as they finished third in the group on goals scored.
In 2010 World Cup Qualifying Italy qualified without a defeat in 10 matches, but it got only 2 draws against the group's most powerful opponent Ireland. In Finals Italy is Group F alongside Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia. Though qualifying as the group first would not be hard, Lippi and the Azzuri may need a greater fortune than that of last time if they want to win again.
