Another match, another professinal performance, another win. Conte is loving proving his doubters wrong and his Italian team are forcing Europe to take notice. With the focus on defence, teamwork and smart attacking football; Italy have become serious outsiders to take the crown.
This was actually a more even-handed match than Belgium, and Sweden put Italy under more pressure than the Belgians did. The Italians though always had the measure of the game. They never lost control and were always biding their time. Even as Sweden banged on the Italian door with their axe, I knew they would never knock it down.
Then just as Sweden thought they could walk off the battlefield with a draw, albeit without another shot on target, that is when Italy pounced. As they have now shown in their two games, Italy are not just here to defend and bring out the breakdancers when they have achieved their goalless draw. They want to win and they have a tactic to do so. Eder was the one who found that little bit of space to go on a little run, and pop the ball in the bottom corner.
Another victory, another clean sheet, and safely into the next round.
Antonio Conte has achieved this by stripping away the far too open and entertaining football that Prandelli brought.He's taking it back to his era when it was about being robust, focused, hard-working, taking pride in defending and playing simple, effective attacking football.
Rather than going forward with every Italian, there is only need for a few smart Roman warriors. Those that can play the right passes and make the proper runs to create space.
The tactic has worked and people are now putting them as possible contenders to grab the trophy, when the same people (me included) lambasted Conte's decision and were expecting them to start booking those return tickets back to Italy to get eggs and tomatoes thrown at them upon their arrival by an angry mob.
A lack of a prime Totti and Del Piero I think is why I'm holding back from putting them on the same footing as Spain, as far as favourites go. They have definitely raised expectations since the tournament had when nobody, including Italians, gave them much hope. In this game of football, you don't need to be playing at a high level or with the best players. A lot of times, it's been tactics that have won games and tournaments. HH
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