Italy’s Tactics Need Fixing
Swedes and Danes know how to fix a nice plate of pancakes, or meatballs, or a wall-to-wall bookcase out of a flat box of spare parts and one sheet of wordless instructions.
But fix a soccer match?
That was the Conspiracy Theory of the Week in Italy, where watching the national soccer team squander some of the world’s greatest offensive talent and concocting conspiracy theories are a way of life.
Unable to take care of business on the field against Sweden and Denmark in Euro 2004, Italy fell back to its default position, which was to accuse the Swedes and Danes of conspiring to play their final Group C match to a 2-2 draw, thereby eliminating Italy from the tournament. Why?
* Because it was possible.
* Because if the situation were reversed, the Italians, you had to presume, would be considering the idea.
Before Sweden and Denmark played their group finale Tuesday, the Italian team and media speculated about the possibility of a pre-arranged result. Italian television station RAI asked UEFA for permission to plant seven extra cameras inside Porto’s Bessa Stadium to better track potential Scandinavian skulduggery. UEFA limited RAI to one extra camera behind each goal.
According to English newspaper the Guardian, Italian journalists asked reporters from Sweden for the Swedish word for “fix.” The Italians were shocked to learn there wasn’t one.
The Italian language, they said, has nearly 20.
Then, Sweden and Denmark went out to play their match. Meanwhile, at the same time in Guimaraes, Italy played Bulgaria. To advance to the quarterfinals, Italy needed a victory over Bulgaria and the Sweden-Denmark match to produce a loser, a 1-1 draw or a 0-0 draw.
Anything less than a 2-2 draw would do. Final result from Bessa Stadium: Sweden 2, Denmark 2.
Italy scored in injury time to defeat Bulgaria, 2-1, but it didn’t matter. As soon as news of the final score from Porto filtered back to the Italian players, winning goal-scorer Antonio Cassano stopped celebrating and immediately burst into tears.
Predictably, Italy soccer federation President Franco Carraro told Italian television, “There is no doubt that the way the Denmark-Swede game developed shows that the two teams were aiming for a draw. Of course, proof of that is hard to find.”
Denmark Coach Morten Olsen dared the Italians to provide some.
“If [Italy Coach] Giovanni Trapattoni watches the video of this match, he will see that this was a very tough duel,” Olsen told reporters. “Italy only have themselves to blame for their elimination.”
On that last bit, Olsen is absolutely right. Resorting to their customary bunker mentality, the Italians failed to score against Denmark and managed a single goal in a 1-1 draw with Sweden. Along the way, Italy’s star player, forward Francesco Totti, was suspended for three games after spitting on a Danish player in his Euro opener.
Italy played only two games without Totti. For Italy in this tournament, there won’t be a third.
Sweden and Denmark advanced to the quarterfinals from Group C, Italy has gone home. That’s twice in as many major tournaments -- World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004 -- that Italy, despite its abundance of talent, has failed to reach the quarterfinals.
In 2002, the Italians blamed the referee who worked their round-of-16 match against South Korea.
In 2004, they ran the Scandinavian conspiracy theory up the flag.
Before 2006, they might want to consider: Could the problem possibly be Italy’s outmoded strategy?
Playing not to lose, Italy did just that in Portugal. And succeeded. And failed. Italy did not lose a match -- two draws, one victory -- and did not advance from its group.
Likewise, two other masters of negative tactics, Germany and Spain, did not qualify for the quarterfinals. Italy, Germany and Spain -- all out of the tournament at the group stage.
And, the tournament is much better for it.
Attacking soccer has been rewarded in Portugal. Last weekend, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands played a match that has been hailed as one of the best in the 44-year history of the European Championship -- a 3-2 Czech victory that featured a combined 34 shots and end-to-end action for 90 minutes.
It was a startling, thrilling display of all that is possible at a major tournament when two coaches decide to loosen the reins and let their players play. Fittingly, both teams advanced to the quarterfinals -- despite Czech Coach Karel Bruckner’s resting most of his starters in Wednesday’s Group D finale against Germany.
Bruckner could afford that luxury after clinching quarterfinal passage last weekend. Germany needed a victory to advance, but the Germans lost to the Czech B team, 2-1, while the Dutch kept on attacking and scoring in a 3-0 triumph over Latvia.
Tactics generally tighten at this stage, but all four quarterfinal matchups offer attractive offense-minded potential.
Today, England and Portugal serve up their youth. England’s 18-year-old Wayne Rooney leads the tournament with four goals, Portugal’s 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo has breathed life into the home team after a dismal opening loss to Greece.
Friday, it’s France versus Greece. Invisible through two matches, French forward Thierry Henry resurfaced with two goals against Switzerland.
Saturday, the Dutch, who scored one goal in their first game, two in their second and three in their third, face Sweden, which scored five against Bulgaria.
Sunday, the high-scoring Czechs meet Denmark and forward Jon Dahl Tomasson, who scored twice against Sweden.
If European soccer opened this tournament searching for a repair kit of new stars, new approaches and new excitement, say this much for Euro 2004 so far: The fix is in.
