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FIFA Confederations Cup: What to Expect from Italy
Published: June 4, 2013
The tournament is now played on a four-year cycle that lands the year before the World Cup. It is considered a warm-up for the World Cup host, who also presides over this tournament, but it's far more than a bunch of warmup games.
The tournament is contested by the champions of the six FIFA confederations, the reigning World Cup champions and the host. The quality of the teams is high, and the competition fierce. Entrance into the tournament is now prized, both for the silverware that comes along with qualification and as a chance to test themselves against some of the world's best teams.
Italy's last spin in the Confederations Cup came in its last edition four years ago, in South Africa. The defending world champions didn't have a very good campaign. They needed three second-half goals to come from behind and beat the United States 3-1 in their group stage opener. They then suffered a surprising 1-0 loss to CAF champions Egypt and were thrashed by Brazil in the group-stage finale.
The Azzurri crashed out, foreshadowing the terrible performance the team would put in in South Africa the next summer.
But this Italy isn't the Italy of four years ago. Gone is the stagnation and the older players whose best international days are past them. Cesare Prandelli has changed the way Italy plays, and this team is well-positioned to make a deep run into this tournament.
First and foremost in Italy's favor is their engine, Andrea Pirlo. The ageless midfielder didn't have quite the season he had a year ago—but to match a season like his 2011-12 year is hard to do. He was still the lynchpin in the midfield that led Juventus to their second straight scudetto and the Champions League quarterfin...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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