No Giovinco. No Pirlo. A weak squad. No hope.
I was right at the head of the pitchfork mob, ready to hang Conte. Before their match against the "favorites" Belgium, it looked to me as if Italy would struggle and eventually get overwhelmed by the talented Belgian attack. With no real stars in their team, many were expecting Italy and Conte's selection to get exposed.
How wrong we were again to underestimate the Italians.
Not only did they show up, and showed Belgium who the real men and veterans were. They put up the best defensive display seen in the tournament thus far. It was so good and assured for most of the game that I struggle to see any team scoring more than one goal against them. With the combination of the Juventus backline, there is too much experience and hardened defensive skill to score several times against this great wall of Rome.
As long as he has a group of players willing to leave it all on the pitch and then some, as well as fight together as a team, then they can beat anybody. It was truly a professional pefromance that harkened back to the old days.
None of this fancy possession based, false nine approach but more of a throwback to building from the back and playing economically when attacking.
Giacherrini was really a standout, apart from the incredible defence. For a player who many have forgotten about and doesn't have the same allure as Giovinco or Pirlo, he made a great run to latch onto the pass of the tournament for his goal. But his overall play and how well he used the ball when Italy found their chances on the break was impressive. He played it smart, and always seemed to make the right decisions even when he may have lost the ball.
Italy are now the dark horses. If they can keep that defensive line intact and take their chances by playing smart football, these are the perfect ingredients for winning a tournament. If you don't concede, only you really need is the one or two goals, which this Italian team can produce. So we really have to put their name into the hat and others must take notice of another player in the ring in this very open and so far, exciting Euros. HH
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