Milano, 29 June 2013
Marchisio joins those who will not be picked against Uruguay. The
coach: "I'm proud we were able to force the Spaniards into playing a
defensive game: with the World Cup in mind, we'll have to be
well-prepared physically, too." Referring to The Pharaoh: "He needs to
show more character .
The time has come for Cesare Prandelli to weigh up the Confederations Cup
experience, this appetizer for the upcoming World Cup finals here in
Brazil. The Italy coach is pleased with the recent past and optimistic
about the future, as he tries to patch together a team for tomorrow's
third-place play-off against Uruguay. Players are still suffering from
fatigue after the semi-final defeat to Spain, as they wait to see who
will be fit enough to play. “We have shown that we are good enough to
take anybody on. We forced Spain into playing a defensive game. Now we
have to make the most of what we have learned from this tournament and
show we can be up to it from an athletic point of view.” As regards the
immediate future: “Uruguay have three excellent strikers and this will
be the most difficult match to prepare for as regards tactics.”
LINE-UP —
“We are in trouble because we haven't had enough time to recover our
strength after the Spain match. We'll have to try the players out in
training, to see if they are fit to play, before naming the team.”
Marchisio has been withdrawn, while Chiellini, De Rossi and Gilardino
have question marks hanging over them, because they haven't fully
recovered from the effort they put into the semi-final.
THIRD PLACE —
“What significance can a game like this have? It can add experience and
continuity on our road to improvement. I'm banking on the motivation of
players who haven't had much of a chance to show what they can do up to
now. Maybe there's some re-thinking to be done about the format of this
competition, with a third-place play-off in a tournament involving only
eight teams.”
THE OPPOSITION —
“Uruguay have the right temperament and are a quality side, with their
three extraordinary strikers (Cavani, Suarez and Forlan, Ed). This will
be the most difficult match to prepare for from a tactical point of
view.”
CONF CUP EVALUATION —
“Taking stock of the tournament? We can be proud of what we achieved
here. We played extremely well in this Confederations Cup. It might be
the first time we have managed to force Spain into playing a defensive
game. We should be more confident in our ability. We must believe in our
project. As far as football goes, we have shown we can cause problems
for anyone. We need to play well and show we can do it all the time, not
only when we have our backs against the wall. The various changes in
formation? I'd love to change formation for each game in the World Cup
but they'd have me arrested in Italy (he joked, concerning criticism of
his lack of consistency regarding tactics, Ed)… In actual fact keeping
your footballing philosophy is what counts. Pirlo's 100th cap for Italy
at the Maracanà was golden.”
COACHING SESSIONS —
“Looking ahead to the World Cup and considering we should arrive in
good physical shape for the finals, it would be good to make use of
coaching sessions or at least a few days to evaluate the athletic
condition of the Italy players.”
WORLD CUP LOGISTICS —
“We'll be trying to make some suggestions, as coaches, to FIFA to solve
the problem of long-distance transfers. It's important that all of the
teams are in the same condition.”
THE PHARAOH —
“El Shaarawy on the bench? I had a long chat with him in Coverciano. He
wasn't in bad shape physically speaking, but the season had taken a lot
out of him. He needs to call up even more resources and show more
character. It isn't easy to recharge your batteries in such a short
time. Will he be playing tomorrow? He needs to be ready to play.”
DE SCIGLIO —
AC Milan's 20-year-old defender also had something to say. “El Shaarawy?
He looks fine to me. If he's picked, he'll be ready. I was really
thrilled to play in the Confederations Cup; you don't play games at this
level every day of the week. I have gained a lot in experience.”
Riccardo Pratesi - La gazzetta dello sport