Prandelli's Trek and Superstitions

I came across this article a few days ago and thought it be an interesting one to share. I'm always surprised by the amount of superstition there is in football. Heck, I often find myself not bathing and growing a tremendous beard during tournaments. In fact, in 2006 I refused to cut my hair for an entire year before the WORLD CUP. Could the Azzurri's success be attributed to my luscious locks? Probably.

Here's the article by Mark Gilbert @ THE SUN (Yes a British news outlet)

The Azzurri chief and his entire staff set out on a 13-mile trek from the team hotel to a Camaldolese monastery yesterday.
Upon arriving in Poland on June 5, Prandelli and Italian delegation chief Demetrio Albertini promised the monks they would visit them by foot if Italy advanced from the group stage of Euro 2012.
After they beat Republic of Ireland 2-0 in Poznan, the squad flew back to their base in Wieliczka, outside Krakow. 

And following an early-morning dinner, players began joking with the staff that they needed to keep up their part of the deal.
So, as the 23-man squad went to bed, the 14-member coaching and technical staff set off on the 3½-hour journey. 

The younger members of the staff gained a half-hour lead on the older ones, and applauded ironically when the second group reached the monastery.
They returned by car to the hotel at 7.15am. 

Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon — whose side face England in the quarter-finals on Sunday — said: “If, by chance, we win the Euros, I’ll also do the 21-kilometer return trip."
Italy’s coaches are often religious or revert to superstition. Former manager and current Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni used to pour holy water on the pitch before matches. 

And Marcello Lippi asked his friends back in his hometown of Viareggio to get his boat ready before each match at the 2006 World Cup, so he could make a quick getaway if Italy were eliminated. 

But he never had to, though, as Italy won their fourth crown at the tournament in Germany. 

However, Lippi was seen on his boat soon after the Italians were eliminated in the group stage of the competition in South Africa four years later. 

The Camaldolese monks and nuns are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities. Their name is derived from the holy site of Camaldoli in central Italy, near Arezzo. 

Before the tournament began, Italy’s entire squad visited the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps that Nazi Germany operated during World War II.

Paolo will have a preview to the Azzurri's Quarterfinal match against the English. Living in Canada (a British Colony) I for one am excited for this match. I often go to Toronto FC matches - if you don't know who Toronto FC is; they are currently the worst team in the WORLD! - to hear the ignorant comments from the British fans correlating Toronto's abysmal play to the Azzurri - Here's a taste.

• "Ack. Don't dive like the Italians"
• "Look at him rolling around like an Italian"
• "Your flopping like an Italian"
• "This game is worse than watching the dreadful Italian league"
• "There's nothing worse than those bloody Italians"
• And the pièce de résistance during a Canada v Honduras World Cup Qualifier "These South American National Anthems are so bloody long; they're as awful as the Italian one"

That's just a taste... I hope our boys do us proud on Sunday! 

FORZA ITALIA - FORZA AZZURRI

EURO 2012: ITALY v IRELAND

Venue: Municipal Stadium, Poznan Date: Monday, 18 June  Kick-off:19:45 BST or 2:45 PM EST

Once more onto the brink dear friends... The Azzurri face off against the Irish tomorrow in Poznan in what is hoped to be our great statement of EURO 2012. How often has it been that we have seen our squadra Azzurro reach the breaking point. Historically, when faced with a do or die situation; we have prevailed. However there is every reason to believe that tomorrow could hold the ultimate irony. Like EURO 04; our fate is held in the hands the formidable GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI. 

In 2004; Giovanni Trapattoni managed the Azzurri into his second major tournament. After infamously crashing out of WORLD CUP 2002 in the round of 16 at the hands of an Ecuadorian referee and his supporting cast of Koreans dressed in Red; Trapattoni was given the unanimous opportunity to redeem himself at EURO 04. After tying our first match against Denmark; ironically, the Azzurri put in what the "ENGLISH" media dubbed the greatest half of football at EURO 04. They were serene and brilliant, scoring a goal and taking the lead in the game. In the second half of that match; the Azzurri's composure was dramatically changed. In what I still find the oddest coaching decision of all time; Trapattoni removed all of the Azzurri's strikers - resulting in an über display of defensive football and ultimately a Swedish goal - courtesy of non-other than Ibrahimovic. 

Our third and final match was against Bulgaria. Trapattoni's seamless display of lunacy had put our fate into the hands of Sweden and Denmark. All we could do was win against Bulgaria to even give us a slight shot at advancing into the Quarter Finals.  Ironically, Denmark and Sweden only needed to draw 2-2 to seal the fate of an early expulsion for the Azzurri from EURO 04.

The final result as we're all aware of a victory for the Azzurri; courtesy of Antonio Cassano's memorable goal that began in euphoria and ended in tears as he and the Azzurri quickly realized Sweden and Denmark had played to a 2-2 result. Thus eliminating the Azzurri from EURO 04; sending Trapattoni into exile and beginning the reign of Marcello Lippi which would invariably lead to a WORLD CUP triumph in 2006.

Emperor Trapattoni Returns for the Battle of Poznan

Fast forward to 2012 and Trapattoni's resurrection as the saviour of another nation - Ireland. In charge of the Irish troops Trapattoni will be looking to mend the wounds of his team's early trip home of Poland and Ukraine with a defeat of the Azzurri. Surely he will be relishing this moment to add a victory to his personal vendetta of a team he once held the reigns to. 

Ironically enough; the original Battle of Waterloo was fought on 18 June 1815. Although our troops will not be aligning in Belgium; we will be making our stand in Poznan, Poland on 18 June 2012.

The Azzurri

Speculation has been rempant as to the changes Prandelli will be making to the squad following our dismal second half performance against Croatia. As the eternal realist; I am fully expecting the return of Montolivo to the fray. However, we should also see the reassignments of Balzaretti and Di Natale to the Azzurri's starting lineup as Prandelli tries to rejig the squad and hope he can ignite a spark that could propel the Azzurri to Kiev on July 1st. 

Mario Balotelli in the meantime, will likely be sitting this one out. Based on incredible pressure from the media and tweaking his knee there is a chance Super Mario will likely not be starting in tomorrow's match. Instead, we're likely to rely on the micro-striker trio of Giovinco, Di Natale, and Cassano to try and muster some creativity and goals up front. 

Prandelli has been tight lipped about strategies for tomorrow's match; but I fully expect to see a continued 3-5-2 formation employed. We could also be in for the return of Barzagli to the fray as he has been deemed match fit. 

Here's what Fabio Capello's been saying of the 3-5-2 formation:
"The 3-5-2 formation is, as I have always said, a more defensive system to play because normally if you defend, then you defend with five defenders in one line,"

"In the past you played with a sweeper and two players whose job it is to mark; [they are] the two so-called stoppers. Now this sweeper plays on the same line as his teammates. So you've always got one player behind you to cover and you play with five men behind the ball which is a very defensive system.

"But at the same time you have the two wing-backs who can create a lot of danger down the flanks. I have to say that when I won the domestic title with Roma we played with this system, too. I had Cafu on the right and Vincent Candela on the left."

- if Capello is right; which I think he is; it seems to be the perfect formation for attaining a minimal result (a draw) - we likely need more from the Azzurri tomorrow.

Buffon on the general mentality going into tomorrow's match

"For two days people have exclusively been talking about a biscotto," Buffon said on his personal Facebook page, using the colloquial term which roughly translates to 'stitch-up'.

"A biscotto here, a biscotto there, a biscotto up, a biscotto down ... it’s as if we’d already beaten Ireland," he continued.

“As if we owned the culture of suspicion and were the only ones who could use it ... As if drawing a match is the same as getting a 2-2 result ... As if settling for a result (that satisfies both teams) in the last 20 minutes is the same as fixing a game ... As if the others were always the guilty parties ... As if in order to hide our insecurity and fragility we always need an alibi."

“Let us focus on ourselves and try to win the match. The rest is hot air, bar talk, the conjecture of mediocrity and thinking like losers.”

Italy v Ireland tomorrow will be a match unlike any other at Euro 2012. We will likely be focused intently on the match; while maintaining a watchful eye on Spain v Croatia. Here are some scenario's for tomorrow's matches:

1. "IF" Croatia wins or Spain wins and the Azzurri win against Ireland: ITALY will go to the Quarter Finals
2. "IF" Croatia and Spain Draw 1-1 and ITALY wins: ITALY will go through to the Quarter Finals
3. "IF" Croatia and Spain Draw 2-2 or 3-3 or more and ITALY wins: ITALY will be eliminated from EURO 2012
4. "IF" ITALY draws Ireland: ITALY will be eliminated from EURO 2012
5. "IF" ITALY loses to Ireland: ITALY will be eliminated from EURO 2012

*As a reminder we are currently on a 5 game winless streak. Which for a team like the Azzurri is horrible.

The Last Three ITALY v IRELAND Results:

• 2009-04-01: ITALY 1 - IRELAND 1 World Cup Qualification match
• 2009-10-10: ITALY 2 - IRELAND 2 World Cup Qualification match
• 2011-06-07: ITALY 0 - IRELAND 2 International Friendly Match

"Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlinings."