Who are these guys? Shock draw leaves Italian press pack stumped
DAN SILKSTONE
June 22, 2010
THE headlines said it all and none mentioned New Zealand. ''Italy extinguished'' read La Repubblica. ''Flop Italia'' screamed Gazzeta dello Sport.
The mood among the heaving Italian media pack hovered between disbelief and confusion after the 1-1 ''loss'' to New Zealand. This had not been contemplated. Not once. By anybody.
''It is completely a disaster,'' said Marco Mensurati, football writer for La Repubblica. ''Now they must win their last match and even then may not go through. We are, the whole country, very scared and in the maximum of pain at this moment. This was a total surprise. Yesterday we and all of Italy were thinking only of how much they can win by. We expected the answer would be a lot.''
Italy in so many ways are the World Cup opposite of England, but mention 1966 to an English fan and you will get a rare smile. It is the single moment of World Cup triumph in a sea of tragicomic despair. For Italy, though, it is code for the unthinkable - a loss to North Korea that put them out of the tournament early. For decades it has been the lowest point of their football history. Now it has a companion.
''It is just the same as then,'' Mensurati said. ''The only difference is that this embarrassment did not yet put us out of the tournament. It is just as unbelievable.''
Instead they try to think of 1982, when a stuttering Italy scraped through to the knockout stage with unconvincing draws against Poland, Cameroon and Peru before Paolo Rossi hit form and Italy won the Cup. This draw, though, was far worse than those. This draw was a loss in all but name.
A massive Italian press pack was scrambling on Sunday night to find the information most had not bothered to uncover before the match. Brandishing team-sheets and wearing perplexed frowns of defeat, they frantically asked Kiwi and Australian journalists: ''Who are these guys?''
The questions they wanted answering showed where New Zealand sit in the pecking order. ''Are they all amateurs?'' ''Can you tell me, please, which jobs they are working in?'' ''Are these rugby players who have changed over to football?'' ''This guy, is he a farmer?'' Mensurati said he hadn't heard of a single New Zealand player, even though Italy struggled to beat the physical and feisty Kiwis 4-3 in a friendly last year. ''They were very rugged and very strong,'' he said. ''For Italy now there will be big trouble, calls for many changes. This is just not acceptable.''
Riccardo Pratesi from Gazzeto dello Sport was more confused than angry. How had this happened?
''We are in shock,'' he said. ''It's a big surprise, I mean nobody expected this. But after watching the game you could see that they deserved to draw. Italy attacked the whole time but at the end they couldn't score. Against New Zealand, I mean …''
Italy's forwards Alberto Gilardino and Vincenzo Iaquinta had been under serious pressure after poor lead-in form and a toothless performance against Slovakia. Now they have failed against a nation with four million people, no professional league and in which football plays fifth fiddle to rugby union, rugby league, cricket and netball. ''What is rugby league,'' one journalist asked. ''What is this netball?''
Milan star Gilardino could not muster a single shot at goal in a first half where Italy had more than 70 per cent possession. Now he may be in line for one. ''Someone will be shot after this,'' Pratesi said.
The Italian media were already taking aim, convinced that coach Marcello Lippi, a national hero four years ago when they won this tournament, had erred badly in team selection. ''You can be sure there will be changes,'' Pratesi said. ''This can't be tolerated.''
http://www.smh.com.au/world-cup-2010/world-cup-news/who-are-these-guys-shock-draw-leaves-italian-press-pack-stumped-20100621-yscx.html