Everything about Italy National Football Team totally explained
Italian national football team (
Nazionale italiana di calcio) is controlled by the
Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) and represents
Italy in international
football competition. They are the current World Champions, having won the
2006 FIFA World Cup.
Italy is among the top teams in international football and the second most successful national team having won four
World Cups (
1934,
1938,
1982,
2006), just one fewer than
Brazil. To this tally they can add one
European championship (
1968), two
Central European International Cup and one
Olympic Gold Medal (
1936).
The traditional colour of the national team (as well as of all Italian teams and athletes except red used in motor sports) is
azure blue (
azzurro, in
Italian), due to the "Azzurro Savoia" (Savoy Blue), the colour traditionally linked to the dynasty which unified Italy in 1860. Therefore national team members are nicknamed
Azzurri.
History
Origins and first two World Cups (1910–1938)
The team's first match was held in
Milan on
15 May 1910; Italy defeated
France by a score of 6-2.. Some turmoil kept the players of
Pro Vercelli, the best team of the league, out of the game. At the end of the match, the players received as a prize some cigarette packets thrown by the 4,000 spectators. The Italian team (2-3-5): De Simoni; Varisco, Calì; Trerè, Fossati, Capello; Debernardi, Rizzi, Cevenini I, Lana, Boiocchi.
The first success in an official tournament came with the bronze medal in
1928 Summer Olympics, held in
Amsterdam. After losing the semi-final against
Uruguay, a victory for 11-3 against
Egypt secured third place in the competition.
After declining to participate in the first World Cup (
1930, in Uruguay), the Italian national team won two consecutive editions of the tournament in
1934 and
1938, under the lead of coach
Vittorio Pozzo and thanks to the genius of
Giuseppe Meazza, one of the best Italian players ever. Other stars of that era included
Luis Monti,
Giovanni Ferrari,
Silvio Piola and
Virginio Rosetta In the
1934 World Cup, the host
Azzurri defeated
Czechoslovakia 2–1 in
Rome, with goals by
Raimundo Orsi and
Angelo Schiavio.
Italy won the Gold medal in the
1936 Summer Olympics, held in
Berlin, thanks to a victory in the final match against
Austria. Italy's predominance on international football in the 1930s was confirmed by the victory in
1938 World Cup. The Italian team beat
Hungary 4–2 in
Paris, with two goals by
Silvio Piola (the all-time top scorer in Italian football) and two by
Gino Colaussi.
Post-World War II (1946–1966)
After
World War II, the Italian national team didn't perform at its pre-war levels.
The tragic loss in 1949 of the players of
Torino (the winners of the previous four
Serie A titles) in the
Superga air disaster saw the loss of ten out of the eleven constituting the initial line-up for the national team. The following year, Italy didn't advance further than the first round of the
1950 World Cup, partly due to the long and physically devastating boat trip to
Brazil (air travel was discarded due to fear of another accident).
In the World Cup finals of
1954 and the
1962 that followed, Italy again failed to progress past the first round, and didn't even qualify for the
1958 World Cup.
During the early 1960s, although Italian football clubs like
AC Milan and
Internazionale ruled the international scene, the National team was unable to replicate these results. Italy didn't take part in the first edition of the European Championship in
1960 (then known as the European Nations Cup), and was knocked out by the
USSR in the round of 16 (second round) of the
1964 European Championship.
Their participation in the
1966 World Cup is always remembered for their 0–1 defeat at the hands of
North Korea. Despite being the tournament favourites, the
Azzurri, whose 1966 squad was rich with talent including
Rivera and
Bulgarelli, were eliminated in the first round by the semi-professional North Koreans and bitterly condemned upon their return home, while North Korean scorer
Pak Doo-Ik was celebrated as the
David who killed
Goliath..
European champions and World Cup runners-up (1968–1976)
In 1968, the
Azzurri won their first major competition since the 1938 World Cup, defeating
Yugoslavia in Rome for the
European Championship title. The match holds the distinction of being the only major football tournament final to go to a replay. After extra time it ended in a 1-1 draw, and in the days before penalty shootouts, the rules required the match to be replayed a few days later. Italy won the replay 2-0 (with goals from
Riva and
Anastasi) to lift the trophy.
Two years later, the defending European Champions reached the final of the
1970 World Cup, held in Mexico. First, Italy won its first round group scoring only one goal, after a series of dull, uninspired games against
Sweden,
Uruguay, and
Israel. The quarter-finals saw a transformed Italy prevail 4-1 over host
Mexico after trailing 0-1. Then came the semifinal between Italy and
West Germany which is remembered as one of the greatest games ever played. This match, won by Italy 4-3 after extra time, is known as the
Game of the Century, and a marker at the
Estadio Azteca in Mexico City still commemorates it. Italy took a 1-0 lead through
Boninsegna in the 8th minute, leaving Germany to press forward for the rest of the game. The score remained unchanged until the very end when sweeper
Schnellinger, then with Italy's
AC Milan, popped up unmarked in the penalty area to score in
injury time. In extra time,
Müller gave Germany the lead on 94' before defender
Burgnich levelled the score with a rare international goal. On 104',
Riva made it 3-2, only for
Müller to equalize six minutes later with a glancing header. The TV cameras were still replaying this goal when
Rivera met a Boninsegna cross with a first-time shot past
Sepp Maier for the winning goal in the 111th minute. For the very first time, people gathered in the streets of Italy in the late night to cheer for the victory, and after many years this game still remains the best remembered in Italian football history.
In the two games against Mexico and West Germany, coach
Ferruccio Valcareggi had Rivera replace
Mazzola in a planned second half substitution, which was called
staffetta (meaning relay as in
athletics). This tactic wasn't repeated in the final, where Italy was defeated by
Brazil. In the first half, Boninsegna answered
Pelé's 18th minute goal to level the scores. In the second half, Brazil's firepower was simply too much for a tired Italian side, with
Jairzinho, Gerson and
Carlos Alberto each scoring. The final 4-1 result consecrated Brazil as
tri-campeão (three-time champion).
This generation of great Italian players, like Riva, Rivera, Mazzola and
Facchetti, didn't keep up the same level of performance at the next
1972 European Championship where they didn't reach the playoffs. In 1973 they achieved prestigious victories in friendly matches, beating Brazil once and England twice. In particular, Italy stormed
Wembley Stadium, winning 1-0 with a goal by
Fabio Capello. Despite these encouraging results, coach Valcareggi resigned after the Italian team's elimination in the first round of the
1974 World Cup. Italy was also eliminated at an early stage in
1976 European Championship.
World Cup winners for the third time (1978–1982)
The
1978 FIFA World Cup, held in Argentina, saw a new generation of Italian players, the most famous being
Paolo Rossi, coming to the international stage. Italy played very well in the first round, being the only team in the tournament to beat the eventual champions and host team
Argentina. Second round games against
West Germany,
Austria and
Netherlands led Italy to the third place final, where it was defeated by
Brazil 2-1. As in the match against the Netherlands, Italian goalkeeper
Dino Zoff was beaten by a long-distance shot and thus blamed as the main culprit for the defeat. Italy then hosted the
1980 UEFA European Football Championship, the first edition to be held between eight teams instead of four, and with the host team automatically qualified for the finals. Italy was beaten by
Czechoslovakia in the third place match on penalties.
After a scandal in
Serie A where some National Team players such as Paolo Rossi were prosecuted and suspended for match fixing and illegal betting, the
Azzurri arrived at the
1982 FIFA World Cup amidst general scepticism and discomfort. Italy qualified for the second round after three uninspiring draws against
Poland,
Peru and
Cameroon. Having been loudly criticized, the Italian team decided on a press black-out from then on, with only coach
Enzo Bearzot and captain
Dino Zoff appointed to speak to the press.
Italy's strength finally showed in the second round group, a true
Group of Death with
Argentina and
Brazil - the defending champions and the team favoured to dethrone them. In the opener, Italy prevailed 2-1 over
Diego Maradona's side after an ill-tempered battle in which Italy's defenders and midfielders proved their mastery in the rougher side of the game. Italy's goals, both excellent left-footed strikes, were scored by
Marco Tardelli and
Antonio Cabrini. After Brazil defeated Argentina 3-1, Italy needed to win in order to advance to the semifinals. Twice Italy went in the lead with Paolo Rossi goals, and twice Brazil came back. When
Paulo Roberto Falcão scored to make it 2-2 Brazil would have been through on goal difference; but in the 74th minute Rossi poked home the winning goal in a crowded penalty area to send Italy to the semifinals after one of the all-time greatest games in World Cup history. In the wake of its brilliant second round performance, Italy easily dispatched Poland in the first semi-final with another two goals from Rossi.
In the final match, Italy met their traditional opponent
West Germany, who had advanced thanks to a penalty shootout victory against France. The first half ended scoreless, after
Cabrini missed a penalty awarded for a
Hans-Peter Briegel foul on
Bruno Conti. In the second half Paolo Rossi again scored the first goal, and while the Germans were pushing forward in search of an equaliser,
Tardelli and substitute
Alessandro Altobelli finalised two perfect
contropiede counterattacks to make it 3-0.
Paul Breitner smashed home West Germany's consolation goal seven minutes from the end, making him the second man after
Pelé to score in two different World Cup finals.
Tardelli's scream after his goal in the final is still remembered as the symbol of Italy's 1982 World Cup triumph. Paolo Rossi won the
Golden Boot with six goals, and 40-year-old captain-goalkeeper
Dino Zoff became the oldest-ever player to win the World Cup.
World Cup and European Championship runners-up (1984–2004)
For twenty-four years following the 1982 triumph, the
Azzurri figured prominently on the world stage but didn't win another tournament. Italy failed to qualify for the
1984 European Championship and were knocked out in the Round of 16 of the
1986 World Cup by
France. 1988 saw them reach the semifinals of the
European Championship, where they were defeated 2-0 by the
USSR.
Italy hosted the World Cup for the second time in
1990. The Italian attack featured talented forwards
Salvatore Schillaci and a young
Roberto Baggio. Despite being favourites to win and not conceding a goal in their first five matches, Italy lost in the semifinal to defending champion
Argentina, losing 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
Schillaci's first half opener having been equalised in the second half by
Claudio Caniggia's header for Argentina.
Aldo Serena missed the final penalty kick (with
Roberto Donadoni also having his penalty saved by goalkeeper
Sergio Goycochea). Italy went on to defeat
England 2-1 in the third place match, with
Schillaci scoring the winning goal on a penalty to become the tournament's top scorer with 6 goals. Italy then failed to qualify for the
1992 European Championship.
In the
1994 World Cup, Italy started very slowly but reached the final. They lost the opening match against
Ireland 0-1, this being the only match Italy would lose (not counting games lost after shootout) over the span of three World Cup finals from 1990 to 1998 and one only of two games they've lost in regualar time since 1988 in either a Euro or World Cup (losing 2-1 to
Czech Republic in the first round of Euro 1996 is the second one). After a gritty 1-0 win against
Norway and a 1-1 draw with
Mexico, Italy advanced from
Group E based on goals scored among the four teams tied on points. In the Round of 16, Italy was down 0-1 late against
Nigeria, but Roberto Baggio came to the rescue with a splended equaliser in the 88th minute and a penalty in extra time to snatch the win. Baggio scored another late goal against
Spain in the quarter-final to seal a 2-1 win and two beautifully taken goals against
Bulgaria in the semi-final for another 2-1 win. In the final, Italy and
Brazil played 120 minutes of scoreless football, taking the match to
penalty shootout. Italy lost the subsequent shootout 3-2 after Baggio missed the final penalty kick of the match, shooting over the crossbar.
Italy didn't progress beyond the group stage at the finals of
Euro 96.
Gianfranco Zola failed to convert a decisive penalty against Germany, who eventually won the tournament. Then, during the qualifying campaign for the
1998 FIFA World Cup, the
Azzurri beat
England at
Wembley for the second time with Zola scoring the only goal. In the
final tournament, Italy found themselves in another critical shootout for the third World Cup in a row. The Italian side, where
Del Piero and Baggio renewed the controversial
staffetta (relay) between Mazzola and Rivera from 1970, held the eventual World Champions and host team
France to a 0-0 draw after extra time in the quarterfinals, but lost 4-3 in the shootout. With two goals scored in this tournament,
Roberto Baggio is still the only Italian player to have scored in three different
FIFA World Cup editions.
In the
Euro 2000, another shootout was this time to favour Italy, in the semifinal against the co-hosts the
Netherlands. Italian goalkeeper
Francesco Toldo saved one penalty during the match and two in the shootout, while the Dutch players missed one other penalty during the match and one during the shootout with a rate of one penalty scored out of six attempts. Emerging star
Francesco Totti scored his penalty with a very brave
cucchiaio (spoon) chip. Italy finished the tournament as runners-up, unluckily losing the final 2–1 against France (to a
golden goal in extra time) after conceding les Bleus' equalizing goal just 30 seconds before the expected end of injury time (94'). After the defeat, coach
Dino Zoff resigned in protest after being criticized by
A.C. Milan president and politician
Silvio Berlusconi.
In the
2002 World Cup, Italy again had a difficult time. A comfortable 2-0 victory against
Ecuador with two
Christian Vieri goals was followed by a 2-1 defeat to
Croatia, a match in which Italy had two goals bizarrely disallowed. A 1-1 draw with
Mexico thanks to a goal from
Alessandro Del Piero proved enough to advance to the knockout stages. However, co-host country
South Korea knocked out Italy in the Round of 16, reviving the 1966 nightmare. The match was marked by controversy, as Ecuadorean referee
Byron Moreno gave
Francesco Totti a second yellow card in extra time for an alleged dive, and disallowed a goal in extra time by
Damiano Tommasi. Replays seemed to indicate both that the card was unfounded and the goal was good, but the decisions stood and South Korea won 2-1, again with a golden goal in extra time. Subsequent comments by Italian coach
Giovanni Trapattoni and some other public figures in Italy, coupled with more bad refereeing decisions in South Korea's subsequent quarterfinal against
Spain (in which two Spanish goals were mysteriously disallowed) led to a conspiracy theory that South Korea were being unfairly favoured by officials. Even
Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, recognized that several wrong or controversial decisions against the
Azzurri had taken place during the course of the tournament, including Totti's yellow card, even though he rejected any conspiracy against the Italian team and indicated that inadequate refereeing standards were to blame.. Referee Byron Moreno was suspended and removed by his federation a few years later, due to similar unfair decisions in other local matches..
A three-way tie in the group stage of the
2004 European Championship left Italy as the "odd man out", and they failed to qualify for the quarterfinals after finishing behind
Denmark and
Sweden on the basis of number of goals scored in matches among the tied teams. The winning goal scored during
stoppage time against
Bulgaria by
Antonio Cassano resulted useless, leaving the Italian striker in tears at the end of the game.
2006 World Cup: Champions for the fourth time
Italy's campaign in the
2006 World Cup hosted by Germany was accompanied by open pessimism due to the controversy caused by the
2006 Serie A scandal. These negative predictions were then refuted, as
Azzurri eventually won their fourth
World Cup.
Italy won their opening game against
Ghana 2-0, with goals from
Andrea Pirlo (40') and substitute
Vincenzo Iaquinta (83'). The team performance was judged the best among the opening games by FIFA president
Sepp Blatter.
The second match was a less convincing 1-1 draw with
USA, with
Alberto Gilardino's diving header equalized by a
Cristian Zaccardo own goal. After the equalizer, midfielder
Daniele De Rossi and the USA's Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope were sent off, leaving only nineteen men on the field for nearly the entirety of the second half, but the score remained unchanged despite a controversial decision when
Gennaro Gattuso's shot was deflected in but disallowed because of an offside. The same happened for the U.S. when Demarcus Beasley's goal was called offside. De Rossi was suspended for four matches for elbowing American player
Brian McBride and could only return for the final match.
Italy finished first in Group E with a 2-0 win against the
Czech Republic, with goals from defender
Marco Materazzi (26') and striker
Filippo Inzaghi (87'), advancing to the
Round of 16 in the
knockout stages, where they faced
Australia. In this match, Materazzi was
controversially sent off early in the second half (53') after a two footed tackle on Australian midfielder
Marco Bresciano. In stoppage time a penalty kick was awarded to the Italians after
Fabio Grosso went to ground after making contact with Australian defender
Lucas Neill who was laying on the ground. Francesco Totti converted it for a 1-0 win.
In the quarterfinals Italy beat
Ukraine 3-0.
Gianluca Zambrotta opened the scoring early (6') with a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area and
Luca Toni added two more goals (59' and 69'). Manager
Marcello Lippi dedicated the victory to former Italian international
Gianluca Pessotto, who was in the hospital recovering from an apparent suicide attempt.
In the semi-final, Italy beat host country
Germany 2-0 with the two goals coming in the last two minutes of extra time. After an exciting half hour of extra time during which
Gilardino and
Zambrotta struck the post and the crossbar respectively,
Grosso scored in the 119th minute after a disguised
Pirlo pass found him open in the penalty area for a bending left-footed shot into the far corner past German goalkeeper
Jens Lehmann's dive. Substitute striker
Alessandro Del Piero then sealed the victory by scoring with the last kick of the game at the end of a swift counterattack.
The
Azzurri won their fourth World Cup, defeating
France in
Berlin, on
July 9, 5-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time. French captain
Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a chipped penalty kick, controversially awarded for a foul by Materazzi. Twelve minutes later, a powerful header by Materazzi from a corner kick by Pirlo brought Italy even. In the second half, a goal by Toni was disallowed for a very close offside call. At 110', Zidane was sent off after a head butt, after a verbal exchange with Materazzi; the two players were eventually fined by FIFA for this incident. Italy then won the penalty shoot-out 5-3, the crucial penalty being
David Trézéguet's attempt that hit the crossbar and stayed out. Italy scored all five attempts in a shootout for the first time ever (Pirlo, Materazzi, De Rossi, Del Piero and Grosso).
Ten different players scored for Italy and five goals out of twelve were scored by substitutes, while four goals were scored by defenders. Seven players -
Gianluigi Buffon,
Fabio Cannavaro,
Zambrotta,
Pirlo,
Gennaro Gattuso,
Totti and
Toni - were named to the 23-man tournament
All Star Team. Buffon also won the
Lev Yashin Award, given to the best goalkeeper of the tournament; he conceded only two goals in the tournament, the first an own goal by Zaccardo and the second from Zidane's penalty kick, and remained unbeaten for 460 consecutive minutes.
After the World Cup
Days after the Italian triumph in the World Cup, Lippi announced his resignation.1994 World Cup star
Roberto Donadoni was announced the new coach of the
Azzurri on
July 13. Italy played in the
2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying Group B, along with
France. Italy won the group, with France being the runner-up. On
February 14,
2007,
FIFA ranked Italy 1st in the
FIFA World Rankings, with a total of 1488 points, 37 points ahead of second ranked Argentina. This moved them up one from their previous rank, 2nd. The
Azzurri hadn't received such an honour since 1993.
Tournament records
World Cup record
| Year |
Round |
Position |
GP |
W |
D* |
L |
GS |
GA |
| 1930 |
Did Not Enter |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1934 |
Champions |
1 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
3 |
| 1938 |
Champions |
1 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
5 |
| 1950 |
Round 1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
| 1954 |
Round 1 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
7 |
| 1958 |
Did Not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1962 |
Round 1 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
| 1966 |
Round 1 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| 1970 |
Runners-Up |
2 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
8 |
| 1974 |
Round 1 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
| 1978 |
Fourth Place |
4 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
6 |
| 1982 |
Champions |
1 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
12 |
6 |
| 1986 |
Round 2 |
12 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
| 1990 |
Third Place |
3 |
7 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
2 |
| 1994 |
Runners-Up |
2 |
7 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
| 1998 |
Quarter-Finals |
5 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
| 2002 |
Round 2 |
15 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
| 2006 |
Champions |
1 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
12 |
2 |
| Total |
16/18 |
4 Titles |
77 |
44 |
19 |
14 |
122 |
69 |
**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
European Championship record
| Year |
Round |
GP |
W |
D* |
L |
GS |
GA |
| 1960 |
Did not Enter |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1964 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1968 |
Champions |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
| 1972 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1976 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1980 |
Fourth place |
4 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
| 1984 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1988 |
Semi-final |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
| 1992 |
Did not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1996 |
Round 1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
| 2000 |
Runners-up |
6 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
4 |
| 2004 |
Round 1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
| 2008 |
Qualified |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7/13 |
23 |
10 |
10 |
3 |
24 |
14 |
**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Honours
» This is a list of honours for all of the senior Italian national teams, including Olympic and Military teams
UEFA European Championship » * Winner (1): 1968
* Runner-up (1): 2000
Football at the Summer Olympics » * Gold medal (1): 1936
* Bronze Medal (2): 1928, 2004
Central European Champions » * Winner (2): 1927-30; 1933-35
* Runner-up (1): 1931 - 1932
World Military Cup » * Winner (8): 1950, 1951, 1956, 1959, 1973, 1987, 1989, 1991
* Runner-up (4): 1955, 1972, 1979, 1997 » * Third Place (3): 2003, 1977, 1957
Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year: 2007
Coaches
During the earliest days of Italian nation football, it was common for a Technical Commission to be appointed. The Commission took the role that a standard coach would currently play. Since 1967, the national team has been controlled only by coaches.
For this reason, the coach of the Italian national team is still called Technical Commissioner (Commissario tecnico o CT).
Technical Commission (1910–1912)
Vittorio Pozzo (1912)
Technical Commission (1912–1924)
Vittorio Pozzo (1924)
Technical Commission (1924–1925)
Augusto Rangone (1925–1928)
Carlo Carcano (1928–1929)
Vittorio Pozzo (1929–1948) — World Champions 1934, World Champions 1938
Ferruccio Novo (1949–1950) — as Technical Commission Chairman
Technical Commission (1951)
Carlino Beretta (1952–1953)
Technical Commission (1953–1959)
Giuseppe Viani (1960)
Giovanni Ferrari (1960–1961)
Giovanni Ferrari and Paolo Mazza (1962)
Edmondo Fabbri (1962–1966)
Helenio Herrera and Ferruccio Valcareggi (1966–1967)
Ferruccio Valcareggi (1967–1974) — European Champions 1968, Runners-Up World Cup 1970
Fulvio Bernardini (1974–1975)
Enzo Bearzot (1975–1986) — World Champions 1982— 4th Place World Cup 1978
Azeglio Vicini (1986–1991) — 3rd Place World Cup 1990
Arrigo Sacchi (1991–1996) — Runners-Up World Cup 1994
Cesare Maldini (1997–1998)
Dino Zoff (1998–2000) — Runners-Up European Championships 2000
Giovanni Trapattoni (2000–2004)
Marcello Lippi (2004–2006) — World Champions 2006
Roberto Donadoni (2006-current)
Players
Current squad
The following players named for Euro 2008 on May 20, 2008.
Caps and goals as of March 26, 2008, included against Spain.
Recent call-up
The following players have all recently been called up to the Italy squad. Bracket shows last call-up time.
Previous squads
2006 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
UEFA Euro 2004 squads - Italy
2002 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
UEFA Euro 2000 squads - Italy
1998 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
UEFA Euro 1996 squads - Italy
1994 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
1990 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
UEFA Euro 1988 squads - Italy
1986 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
1982 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
UEFA Euro 1980 squads - Italy
1978 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
1974 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
1970 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
UEFA Euro 1968 squads - Italy
1966 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
1962 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
1954 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
1950 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
1938 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
1934 FIFA World Cup squads - Italy
Notable players
» Players are ordered by year of debut with national football team
Most capped players
As of March 26, 2008, the players with the most caps for Italy are:
Top goalscorers
As of March 26, 2008, the players with the most goals for Italy are:
Trivia
The team's kit suppliers are currently Puma.
Italy played in the two World Cup finals that ended in shootouts. In 1994, they lost to Brazil and most recently in 2006, they emerged victorious over France.
There has been at least one Juventus player in every Italian World Cup squad since they first entered in 1934.
Italy have reached the World Cup Final at 12 year intervals for the last 10 tournaments, suffering defeat in 1970, then winning in 1982, suffering defeat again in 1994 before winning in 2006.Further Information
Get more info on 'Italy National Football Team'.
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External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://italy_national_football_team.totallyexplained.com">Italy national football team Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
