Switzerland v Italy: TWENTY TWO-year-old Genoa defender Domenico Criscito and 23-year-old Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio are likely to be the new faces in an otherwise familiar Italy team which meets Switzerland in a friendly in Basel tonight.
As he looked forward to this game, Italian coach Marcello Lippi very much had the Republic of Ireland on his mind.
For one thing, of course, Lippi’s Italy, and Ireland currently dominate qualifying Group Eight with Italy on 14 points, followed by Ireland on 13 and Bulgaria third on just eight points. All of which means the Ireland v Italy qualifier at Croke Park in October has taken on the look of an all-decisive clash.
In the wake of a miserably ineffective showing at the Confederations Cup in South Africa in June, Italy badly need to get back on to a winning foot tonight in view of qualifiers with Georgia and Bulgaria next month prior to their trip to Dublin. The Italian coach, however, also compared tonight’s game to the one played in Dublin in August 2005 when his side beat Ireland 2-1 in a friendly which he firmly believes indicated the possibility of great things to come the year after in Germany where Italy, of course, won the World Cup.
In the immediate aftermath of that painful 3-0 drubbing by Brazil in South Africa in June, Lippi indicated he would ring the changes. Speaking this week, however, Lippi seemed keen to underline while he might well make further changes to his squad, there would be no bloody palace revolution.
“The forthcoming months are going to be the most important of my time as national coach. We have no time to lose. We have got to qualify and then form a group of 25-30 players from whom we will pick the 23 for South Africa. The squad I have called up this time is significant. There will be no revolution, we are merely on the way back from a minor mishap.
“In three years of my handling the team, during which we’ve had great moments, that can happen. To effect a complete overhaul requires a lengthy reconstruction and we simply don’t have the time.”
In other words, the two new boys, Criscito and Marchisio, will be making their debuts in the company of some seriously experienced campaigners. Despite that poor showing at the Confederations Cup, Lippi believes Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Pirlo, Camoranesi, Gilardino and Buffon still have a big role to play. Equally, it would seem, for the time being at least, players like Toni, Montolivo, Legrottaigle and Amelia no longer form part of Lippi’s plans.
A significant aspect of tonight’s game concerns World Cup winning captain, 35-year-old Fabio Cannavaro, now back at Juventus and set to earn his 127th cap, thus becoming the most capped Italian footballer of all time ahead of Paolo Maldini.
Cannavaro will lead a solid Italian defence, flanked by Giorgio Chiellini with Gianluca Zambrotta and Criscito at full-back and Gigi Buffon in goal.
Marchisio joins Mauro Camoranesi, Andrea Pirlo and Angelo Palombo in midfield while the attack will be led by Alberto Gilardino and Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi, one of the few Azzurri to do well at the Confederations Cup.
For Switzerland, currently joint top of their qualifying group with Greece, this is also a very important friendly since it comes just before their head-to-head clash with Greece in a home qualifier next month. For that reason Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, the former Bayern Munich coach, will field his strongest side led by Basel striker Alexander Frei.
PROBABLE TEAMS
SWITZERLAND(4-4-2): Benaglio; Lichtsteiner, Magnin, Senderos, Grichting; Barnetta, Huggel, Inler, Padalino; N'Kufo, Frei.
ITALY(4-4-2): Buffon; Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Criscito; Camoranesi, Pirlo, Palombo, Marchisio; Gilardino, Rossi.
