From match-fixing to injuries and poor preparation, crisis-laden Italy were carrying a long list of problems to their training base on Tuesday.
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has had his banking records examined on suspicion he made large bets, Leonardo Bonucci is reportedly under investigation for match-fixing, fellow centerback Andrea Barzagli may miss the tournament with a calf injury, while standout striker Mario Balotelli is also hurting.
The betting and match-fixing scandal has created a climate close to the one before Italy won the 1982 and 2006 World Cups, but Italy coach Cesare Prandelli was not interested in comparisons.
“I don’t like this game,” Prandelli said. “We would have liked to come here with a different mood, but we’ve got great spirit and we won’t be discouraged.”
Beyond all that, the Azzurri have lost their last three friendlies by a combined score of 5-0.
With fresh memories of their group-stage elimination from the 2010 World Cup, Italy have only a few days to restore order ahead of their opener against Spain on Sunday. They was eliminated from Euro 2008 by Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals.
“[Spain] play great football, but we shouldn’t be afraid of anyone,” Italy midfielder Claudio Marchisio said. “We’ve got to work hard in this final week, but we’re not worried.”
Reports surfaced last week over large payments from Buffon to the owner of a tobacco shop that is also a betting parlor. Buffon has not been placed under investigation and is not accused of any wrongdoing, but the revelations still shook the camp.
As for Bonucci, his inclusion on the squad has been in the spotlight since another defender, Domenico Criscito, was cut after police showed up at the Coverciano training complex last week to hand him a notification that he was under investigation for match-fixing.
However, the Italian soccer federation insists that Bonucci’s case is different and that he is not under investigation.
Marchisio teamed with Buffon and Bonucci to help Juventus win the Serie A title last season.
“Bonucci and Buffon are the first people to give us serenity,” Marchisio said. “They’ve always trained with tranquility.”
Another Juventus player, Barzagli, strained his left calf in a 3-0 friendly loss to Russia on Friday last week and he could be sidelined for 20 days. He is one of only four holdovers from the squad that won the 2006 World Cup, along with Buffon and midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi.
“We’re going to try and hold onto [Barzagli] up until last minute if we can,” Prandelli said. “We realize it won’t be easy, but he’s a key player.”
Meanwhile, Balotelli is still recuperating from a thigh-muscle problem and he worked out only mildly in the squad’s final training session on Tuesday before flying to Poland.
However, Prandelli said Balotelli “absolutely” has a chance of playing the opener.
While Italy have won four World Cup titles, the team has won the European Championship only once, back in 1968. If recent performances are any indication, the Azzurri do not look poised to end their 44-year winless streak.
Against Russia, all Italy could produce were a few chances from Balotelli and Prandelli has already indicated he will likely switch from a traditional four-man defense to a three-man backline against Spain, possibly featuring AS Roma midfielder De Rossi at centerback.
“I want a team that can change formations many times during a match,” Prandelli said.
The Azzurri’s other friendly against Luxembourg was canceled due to an earthquake. Italy lost their two previous friendlies at home, first falling 1-0 to Uruguay in November last year, then getting beat 1-0 by the US in February.
The Azzurri’s last victory came in Poland, a 2-0 win over the co-hosts in November last year.
Italy paid tribute to Holocaust victims by visiting the Auschwitz death camp on Wednesday.
“I’m convinced it should be mandatory to go, for many reasons,” Prandelli said. “First, to not forget what happened, secondly, to bear witness and make the new generations understand how little it takes at times to create a human disaster.”
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with