ოე ამ თემას ნუ უტYნავთ სახეს ბიჯო
Albertini stands by Donadoni Tuesday 5 September, 2006
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His former Milan teammate is under pressure already, but FIGC representative Demetrio Albertini has publicly backed Roberto Donadoni.
“Our faith in Donadoni is total, regardless of the result against France,” stated the vice-commissioner in a Press Conference this evening.
The Azzurri boss took over from Marcello Lippi in the summer, but so far his World Cup winning squad has managed just a 2-0 friendly defeat to Croatia and 1-1 Euro 2008 qualifier with Lithuania.
The Italian media has already suggested that tomorrow’s crunch match with France in Paris will be decisive for their hopes of reaching the tournament and for Donadoni’s future.
“It’s true that with the Nazionale you can never have too much time to wait, but to talk about this game as a last chance saloon is exaggerated,” added Albertini.
The two men were teammates at Milan and former Barcelona midfielder Albertini was instrumental in picking Donadoni as Lippi’s successor.
There are claims this week that this poor start to his Azzurri career will be helped by the return of Lippi in a consultant’s role.
“We have never contacted Lippi,” assured Albertini. “If we want to continue building things up just to knock them down again, then the Press is on the right track. It’s the same old story. Let’s just give Donadoni the space to work.”
It is a familiar scenario, as many members of the Italian media lobbied to have Lippi fired ahead of Germany 2006, citing his name in the early days of the Calciopoli investigation as incompatible with the job of representing the nation at a World Cup. He was cleared of all wrong-doing.
Don: France result not decisive Tuesday 5 September, 2006
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Roberto Donadoni insists tomorrow’s match with France won’t decide Italy’s Euro 2008 qualifying hopes, but could return to their World Cup tactics.
“This is an important match, but it’s not decisive,” insisted the Azzurri boss ahead of Wednesday’s showdown in Paris.
“This is only the second match in the Group. It’s a little early to say this result will make all the difference.”
The Coach is already under pressure after a 2-0 defeat to Croatia in his debut and the disappointing 1-1 qualifying draw with Lithuania.
He had insisted that the poor performance in Naples on Saturday was purely down to fitness levels, as the Serie A season hasn’t yet kicked off.
“I don’t have much time to work with the players. It’s the curse of the international Coach, my predecessors had to deal with this issue and now so do I. The lads are in good shape and I hope they’ll show more of what we had glimpses of against Lithuania.”
This has pushed many to suggest a radical change of tactics for this game, shelving the 4-3-3 system for a return to the 4-4-1-1 that helped Italy to the World Cup triumph this summer.
“I have an outline of the squad I’ll use, but I’m waiting until the last training session tomorrow morning before telling the players. There will be some changes from the Lithuania match. Antonio Cassano plus a striker? It’s a possible line-up,” he confessed.
It’s rumoured that the other adjustments will see Gianluca Zambrotta come in for Massimo Oddo at right-back, leaving Fabio Grosso in the left-back slot.
Franco Semioli of Chievo should replace Daniele De Rossi for a wider midfield set-up on the right, moving Simone Perrotta back to the left flank.
The final change is a more surprising one, with Pippo Inzaghi replaced despite scoring against Lithuania, so that Alberto Gilardino can take the role Luca Toni filled in the World Cup. Cassano, in this sense, operates behind the lone striker in a Francesco Totti-style position.
It’s all set to be a tense encounter in Paris, as the French are still smarting from their defeat on penalties in the Final on July 9 and the controversial incident between Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi.
“It’s clear that it’ll be a hostile environment, but that needn’t necessarily be a bad thing,” noted Donadoni. “The better we’re able to play with such a strong fan reaction against us, the more France’s team will get wound up. The important thing is to leave the pitch with our heads held high.”
Today’s training session ended with a 2-2 draw. On one side Donadoni fielded Oddo, Cannavaro, Dainelli, Grosso; Gattuso, Pirlo, Del Vecchio; Marchionni, Bonazzoli, Cassano.
The other team comprised of Barzagli, Zaccardo, Pasqual; Semioli, De Rossi, Palombo; Perrotta, Gilardino, Inzaghi.
Italy (probable): Buffon; Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Barzagli, Grosso; Semioli, Gattuso, Pirlo, Perrotta; Cassano; Gilardino
"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. They wake up in the morning and that's the best they're going to feel all day." -Frank Sinatra
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იტალიური ფეხბურთის ბრიგადა, CAMPIONI DEL MONDO 2006
