What happened?

Well isn’t life a drag these days. It is insane when you reflect on what has happened in the last  few months. This is a real life horror movie we are all living. As with most people, I am using all this isolation time to watch things on TV I never had time for. In 2006, I really thought my Azzurris had a chance to win the world cup. They had played some friendlies prior to the world cup against Germany and the Netherlands where they dominated the games and won easily. I  was optimistic enough about the azzurri chances to tape all their games. I finally had the time to rewatch them all after 14 long years.  The Azzurri had been controversially eliminated in many of the recent tournaments prior to 2006. In Euro 2000, Totti’s coming out party ended unceremoniously. The azzurri were leading in the final game against France until an extra time goal by France tied it and France  eventually won it on a golden goal in overtime. In World Cup 2002, the azzurri were el...

I am really unsure if the Azzurri will even get out of their group this year. England and Uruguay have beaten and tied the Azzurri in their last 2 meetings. England got off to a very good start in Euro 2012 and when they met the Azzurri in the quarterfinals were more or less exhausted. Meeting the Azzurri in the first game could be an advantage. Uruguay has some great strikers that could put an unbearable pressure on the Azzurri if they need to win or draw the final game in the group. Costa Rica could be a problem because the other countries will be concentrating on their key matchups. Once and if the Azzurri get out of the group stage they will be more prone to go far. By that time they will be more confident and the knock-out games will put pressure on the opposition as well. I was hoping that some key players would have been chosen. Totti I think was needed to add leadership and fantasista skills even at his age. If Cassano falters or gets tired there are few that can replace him. W...