Italy will not be at the World Cup in Qatar in December but, as the comparison on FIFA testifies, they probably would have deserved more than that of 2014.
The Italian fans have had time to digest the fact that the Azzurri will not be ai World Cup in Qatar next December. The news itself is very bitter, but to make matters worse is the awareness that this squad could have done a lot of good in the competition, which they would have presented as reigning European champions. Just think of the very marked differences between the eleven at the disposal of the coach Roberto Mancini today and the one who played in the last match in a world championship with the colors of Italy.
How we were in Brazil in 2014 –
Evidence of this difference is the FIFA database, from which we drew on how we presented ourselves at the last match of the last World Cup in which we participated. The game was FIFA 14, the Italy-Uruguay match in Brazil 2014. The average age of some of the top players we had in the team was quite advanced, so it is not surprising that some evaluations not exactly in line with expectations: Buffon 82 and Pirlo 84 above all. Three-way defense with Chiellini 84, Bonucci 79, Barzagli 84. In midfield, Marchisio 84, Verratti 79, and on the flanks De Sciglio 77 and Darmian 70. In attack, Balotelli 83 and Immobile 80. With Uruguay, Parolo 77 took over from Natal , Cassano 81 (he had been a protagonist at the European Championships two years earlier) and Thiago Motta 83. De Rossi, 85, missed the decisive challenge due to injury, and had already missed Montolivo for the same reason one step away from the review. On the bench Insigne, technical leader of Euro 2020, was worth just 79 and Sirigu 84.
Italy today –
A national team that, from a technical point of view, appeared to be in difficulty with the generational change, between champions on the avenue of sunset and young people who – now as then – were elbowing but hardly found a place. Today the speech is significantly different: Donnarumma is worth 89, Verratti 87, Insigne and Immobile 86, Bonucchi, Chiellini, Jorginho and Barella 85, practically the strongest of that expedition (De Rossi). The less popular Berardi 82, Di Lorenzo 81 and Emerson 78 would have found space in that team anyway and would have even been among the best, not to mention the wonderkid tank who has already lined up to collect the pieces of the blue club. Nonetheless, Prandelli’s boys got there in Brazil, while Mancini’s boys will stay at home – or rather, they’ll fly to Turkey for a friendly inexplicable.
March 28, 2022 – 12:05
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