England has been facing more and more criticism over the fact that the Premier League is so overpopulated with foreign players that young English players don’t have the opportunity to grow adequately. Italy seems to be under fire for the same sort of situation, with such a lack of talented Italian football players.
The Azzuri have failed to impress lately. The 2010 World Cup finals were hardly impressive for the Azzuri, with an equilizer in Ireland the only element that pushed them into the finals. At the finals, the Italians also failed to impress, especially in their first two games against Paraguay and New Zealand.
For all their renowned defensive abilities, the Italians looked lacking in imagination in attack. Italy felt a loss of Pirlo’s unmistakable guile, Totti’s technique, and Toni’s form, and will moreover struggle to find stars to put in the Italy soccer jersey. Inter Milan made Jose Mourinho proud as the won the Serie A and Coppa Italia in 2010, ending up lifting the Europeans Champions League 2-0 against Bayern Munich at a match in Madrid. However, in spite of the great season, Inter failed to send a single player into the Italina World Cup team. For the majority of the season, Inter’s first team rarely held an Italian player. Only youngsters Davide Santon and Mario Balotelli made a lasting contribution and they were used mainly from the substitutes bench and neither made the final squad for the summer’s showpiece event in South Africa.
A quick scout through the Serie A giants reveals a worrying trend. AC Milan have more Italians in their first team squad, but the vast majority are approaching or beyond 30 years of age. Juventus boasts a few Italian players, including Chiellni, Giovinco and De Ceglie, who all back up the magnificent Marchisio in the midfield. A large amount of Juventus Italian nationals, and especially those that are first team caliber, are all above thirty.
More and more, the majority of the players on the Italian national team are not coming out of the top four to five teams from Serie A, but instead from the teams which sit just outside of this elite crew. The Italian World Cup team has, at present, 6 players hailing from Juventus, with three under the age of thirty, 3 from Milan, one from Roma, but also has 3 from Napoli, two from Genoa, two coming from Sampdoria, 2 from Fiorentina, and one each who come from Bari, Cagliari and Udinese. There is also a player from Al Ahli of the UAE (Fabio Cannavaro).
The trend is not stopping anytime soon, thanks to the ages of top players this may become a worry for both Azzuri managers and the Italian FA alike. Many of these Italian players are now not playing in the Champions League each season and that will have an impact on their abilities to perform against the very best.
Italy’s future is not totally dismal, with such players like Salvatore Bocchetti, Leonardo Bonucci, Domenico Criscito, and Giampaolo Pazzini rising through the order, however, these players will be receiving an education in soccer from places like Lazio, Palermo, Bari, and Cagliari rather than Nou Camp, Old Trafford, Allianz Arena, or Bernebeu.
The Italian side needs to begin worrying about the state of their leagues. Without a strong national identity, can a player really defend a nation with the vim and vigor of patriotism?
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