Italy dispatches the Belgians 3-1 in warm-up

Antonio DiNatale scored two goals in the first half with the third netted by Mauro Camoranesi after halftime. The Belgians gained a small measure of respect with a goal at the ninetieth minute.

3-1 Italy

Belgium "friendly" on May 30

On Friday, May 30, the Azzurri will take on the Belgian team in preparation for the Euro2008 tournament in June. The game will be played at Stadio Artemio Franchi (Stadio Comunale) in Florence and is their last game before the tournament begins. It should be noted that Belgium failed to qualify for Euro2008 finishing fourth in Group A with 14 points.

It appears that the duo of Alessandro DelPiero and Antonio Cassano will be paired together in support of Luca Toni along the front line. New partnership debuts on Friday

Azzurri part of ESPN ad campaign

The Italian team has one of several ads that is part of ESPN's lead-up to coverage of Euro2008. The ad captures the essence of the drama that is Italian soccer. Other commercials in include ones for Germany, Spain, Portugal and Greece. ESPN ad

Cassano and DelPiero in, Inzaghi out

Roberto Donadoni has begun the process of forming his squad for the upcoming Euro2008 tournament. There were several surprises including the inclusion of Alessandro DelPiero along with Antonio Cassano while leaving Pippo Inzaghi off of the squad much to his displeasure.

Inzaghi not happy with omission

Roster of 24 selected for Azzurri

The 24 man roster for Italy was named earlier today and is as follows.

Squadra Azzurri named







Goalies:
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Marco Amelia (Livorno)
Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)

Defenders:
Christian Panucci (AS Roma)
Fabio Grosso (Lyon)
Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)
Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan)
Gianluca Zambrotta (FC Barcelona)
Andrea Barzagli (Palermo)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus).

Midfielders:
Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan)
Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Massimo Ambrosini (AC Milan)
Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma)
Simone Perrotta (AS Roma)
Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus)
Alberto Aquilani (AS Roma)
Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)

Forwards:
Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese)
Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese)
Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)
Marco Borriello (Genoa)
Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria)

Azzurri go flat in Euro tune-up v. Spain; defeat Portugal in February

After a nearly six month absence from the scene, I thought it was time to check in on the Azzurri as they begin preparations for the Euro2008 which begins in a few weeks.

Back on March 26 the Italians lost a heart-breaker to Spain 1-0. David Villa scored the game's only goal at the 76 minute mark to extend Spain's unbeaten streak to 14 matches. Italy had several chances including a goal by Luca Toni that was called back for offsides.

Coach Roberto Donadoni downplayed the defeat by saying that Italy did not deserve to lose the match.

Match report: Spain 1 - Italy 0

On February 6, Italy soundly defeated Portugal, 3-1 in Zurich Switzerland, in another friendly. It was their first international game since securing a spot in Euro2008 in December. Luca Toni continued his excellent play as he secured the first Italian score just before the halftime whistle.

Match report: Italy 3 - Portugal 1