Attacking midfielder Alessandro Diamanti provided the goods for Italy. His first free kick was tapped in by defender Davide Astori and his second in the 78th minute was a thing of beauty - curving the ball over the Uruguan wall and into the corner of the goal.
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| Buffon is congratulated after the penalty shootout (Source) |
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved three penalties, and had his best performance of the Confederations Cup after being below his best earlier on in the tournament. He currently has 133 caps for Italy, three short of former captain Fabio Cannavaro's record.
It brings an end to the highly entertaining two-week tournament in Brazil. Brazil thrashed world and European champions Spain 3-0 in the final, courtesy of a brilliant double by Fred and a Neymar goal just before half time. It was only the second time Spain have lost in their last 29 matches at international tournaments (the other being a loss to the USA at the 2009 Confederations Cup), their first defeat in 29 competitive matches spanning three years, and first defeat of any kind since losing a friendly 1-0 to England in November 2011.
As a lover of Italian football, it is my duty to review Italy's performance.
The Azzurri started with a solid but less than spectacular 2-1 over Mexico, courtesy of a vintage free kick from play-maker Pirlo and a 78th minute goal to Balotelli. It reminded me of how Italy played against Spain in the opener of the European Championships last year, not just because of the creative intent that Prandelli has installed in this young team, but also due to the fact Italy's form has been far from convincing in the build up - a 0-0 draw in a world cup qualifier against the Czech Republic and a shock 2-2 draw with Haiti in a friendly.
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| Giovinco celebrates his goal vs Japan (Source) |
Arguably one of the most entertaining and flowing matches I have witnessed. An unfair result for Japan.
Italy then had to face the red hot Brazil, who they had not beaten since their semi-final victory at the 1982 world cup. The match finished 4-2 in Brazil's favour. However Italy were without Pirlo for the whole match and lost Abate to a dislocated shoulder. If wing defender Christian Maggio's header found the back of the net instead of the crossbar, it would have been 3-3 with 10 minutes to go. Italy's ever-reliable goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon probably had one of his worst nights between the sticks. He was slow to react to Neymar's free kick and twice conceded goals after fumbling the ball.
Italy finished second in the group and were now up against the world's best team, Spain, in the semi-finals. To make things worse, Balotelli was sent home from the tournament with an injury.
The major disappointment from the group matches was that Italy conceded way too many goals - eight in three matches, seven in the last two. Italian teams of old with the likes of Nesta, Cannavaro, Maldini and Zambrotta would never let that happen.
Prandelli had to change tactics against Spain in the semi-final in order to improve the defense and compete with the classy Spanish midfield. Three at the back was the way to go, with a heavy midfield and a lone striker in Alberto Gilardino. The Gilardino experiment did not work, but Italy dominated large parts of the game and went close several times. The good news was they erased the memories of their 4-0 capitulation to Spain in the Euro 2012 final a year ago, bad news was the match finished 0-0 and Spain won a penalty shootout after defender Leonardo Bonucci's spot-kick went high over the crossbar. Still, Italy kept Spain scoreless for 120 minutes and took a lot of confidence from that match.
For me, the most impressive player during the tournament for Italy was Emanuele Giaccherini. The short, wing-midfielder who plies his trade for Juventus in the Serie A is not the most technically gifted player and has many critics back home in Italy. Despite this, he worked hard and produced moments of brilliance in this tournament.
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| Giaccherini surprised a lot of people with his performances (Source) |
Prandelli will be concerned about the defensive frailties mentioned above, but 20-year-old Mattia De Sciglio had a great couple of weeks in defence considering this was his first major international tournament. But apart from a few sloppy penalties conceded and fumbles from Buffon in the group stages, it was not all bad.
The Azzurri are still missing the killer blow up front. Injury prevented in form striker Giampaolo Pazzini being considered for selection and Giuseppe Rossi is not quite match fit after recovering from serious knee problems over the last two years. Antonio Cassano has fallen out of favour with Prandelli and it will be interesting to see if he can regain his best form in time for the world cup next year. Juventus' Fabio Quagliarella has always been a favourite of mine but Prandelli has not paid much attention to him. If Pablo Osvaldo can sort out his discipline issues then he has a strong chance of making future squads.
Under-21 stars Lorenzo Insigne and Ciro Immobile both put in strong performances to help Italy take second place at the UEFA Euro Under-21s a few weeks ago. Also, it is only a matter of time before midfielder Marco Veratti, only 20, is a frequent starter for the national team.
Overall, I predicted Italy as losing semi-finalists, but they competed more than I expected against Spain in their semi-final clash. Although not scoring in that match, Italy proved that Spain are beatable and their defense can be broken down. If only they had converted their chances in front of goal.
The focus now turns towards the remaining four world cup qualifiers against Bulgaria (home), Czech Republic (home), Denmark (away) and Armenia (home). Italy lead the group by four points over Bulgaria and their September clash will be decisive. If Italy can win that match then they will almost certainly top the group and qualify for the world cup.
There is also a mouth-watering friendly with Argentina in Rome in August to look forward too.
