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Italy’s Loss to Portugal Puts Azzurri in Uncomfortable Position for Russia 2018
Published: June 16, 2015
With Wales and Romania flying up the FIFA World Rankings thanks to successful Euro 2016 qualifying campaigns and their own ranking held down by a spate of draws and their poor showing in Brazil last summer, the Italians came into the game in serious danger of going into next month's draw for 2018 World Cup qualifying unseeded.
A spot in Pot 1 is usually taken for granted by fans of the Azzurri, but only a victory over a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal in Geneva would enable them to take their usual place amongst the seeds and avoid having to go into World Cup qualifying—a tournament with much less margin for error—having to worry about a heavyweight side like Germany, the Netherlands or Spain.
The game was certainly played at a friendly's pace, but it seemed Antonio Conte was well aware of the match's potential consequences. Some of Italy's top players were starters in the kind of game that they usually get to cool their heels. Andrea Pirlo, who hardly ever plays in friendlies, was given the captain's armband. Leonardo Bonucci and Matteo Darmian both started in the back four, and Antonio Candreva and Stephan El Shaarawy both flanked Ciro Immobile in the forward line.
History was on their side going in. Italy hadn't lost to Portugal in 39 years, and the national team had never lost a game at the Stade de Geneve. These little quirks have had a tendency for holding true for Italy in the present, but unfortunately this wasn't one of those nights.
The team came out looking the livelier. Portugal were penned into their own half for the first 30 minutes of the game. But the Italians, as they have in their last several international fixtures, lacked that last little cutting-edge that would have given ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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