Chiellini one of few Euro success stories, Tuesday 24 June 2008

The Italian national team got a calm, reserved applause when they landed in the peninsula at Malpensa airport, Milan, on the back of a European campaign that was a huge anti-climax. They failed to get out of the lower gears throughout, culminating in a penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of in-form Spain. Indeed, the home-coming "party" organised for the Azzurri team may well have differed greatly had one or two of Spains good chances been taken in normal time. So what was it that managed to pacify the usually ultra-critical Italian media and fans?

The answer may simply be done to the few good performances that will have gievn the fans faith in the future, and the knowledge that they will probably be both better prepared and motivated for the World Cup, something which takes a place ahead of the European Championships in the peninsula. The individual successes are few and far between, but should be highlighted so as not to be associated with an under-performing side.

In times of adversity, it is said, you find out who the big players are, those who will not go missing during the big games, and that can be relied upon. Roberto Donadoni, faced with the injuries to captain Fabio Cannavaro and Andrea Barzagli, had first tried Marco Materazzi in the defence, but after his poor performance against Holland, was dropped. The resulting partnership of Cristian Panucci and Giorgio Chiellini however, produced some much needed stability. The latter in fact may well go down as Italy's player of the tournament. Having helped Juventus return to Serie A after their Calciopoli relegation, Chiellini has now surely cemented a place for himself in the Azzurri squad.

His best moments came in the last game versus Spain, where he was tasked with marking Fernando Torres out of the game. While Panucci had his own problems with David Villa, Torres was largely frustrated at being well marked, especially aerially. His physical presence is not unlike that of "Matrix", but his composure is the key, knowing when to make that tackle, and when to release the ball. His understanding of the game marks him out for future international recognition, at a time when the once myriad choices in centre defence has changed, and will do so further after the next World Cup when Cannavaro may say 'Arrivaderci'.

Daniele De Rossi has shown that he should be the 3rd man in an Azzurri midfield that already comprises of Andrea Pirlo and Rino Gattuso. Donadoni's decision to confine the Roma midfielder to the bench for the opener against the Netherlands was strange, and a midfield with Massimo Ambrosini was easily avoided and manipulated by the Oranje. The 4-1 defeat was not down to Ambrosini, he was no worse than some of the others, but with De Rossi the style of football would surely have differed, and possibly been more fruitful.

The last player to highlight is Gigi Buffon. Gigi doesn't need to prove anything to anyone; in fact he has probably improved his reputation if possible in this tounament. Iker Casillas, Spains number one, may well have grabbed the headlines, and rightly so for his penalty shoot-out heroics. But the Italy team may not have even been in the Quarter Finals had Buffon not saved a penalty from Adrina Mutu in the Group C game with Romania. He made one uncharachteristic mistake against Spain, fumbling a long-range effort onto the post, but that will be a collectors item due to it's rarity, in a tournament where he led from the back as usual and gave the defence confidence to concentrate on their game.

Only small articles can be written about the success stories of Italy's Euro 2008 campaign; There can be a thesis on the underachievers.

Tim D