Most Appearances for Italy

Rank	Player		# Appearances
1	Maldini		126
2	Cannavaro		115
3	Zoff		112
4	Facchetti		94
5	Del Piero		85
6	Baresi		81
7	Bergomi		81
8	Buffon		81
9	Tardelli		81
10	Albertini		79

Brazilian Escape : Italy draw with Cameroon

Italy have avoided tournament big guns Brazil, Argentina and Holland until the final. The Azzurrini face Belgium in the quarter final on Saturday. Draw with 10 men Cameroon, secure their top position in group D.

“We must avoid Brazil,” said Casiraghi in his pre-match press conference.

“Cameroon will put us under pressure in terms of physical strength and will play to win. They won't make any calculations, because it just isn't in their attitude to football.”

It just that they should performed better to win gold this olympic. Brazil and Argentina has shown improvement after day 1.

Azzurrini to watch for

Sebastian Giovinco, Juventus (age 21) – A sensational young talent with almost perfect technique - there is no doubt that Giovinco has the potential not only to go to South Africa, but to be a star there too. His size shouldn’t matter as he has a brilliant footballing brain. 8/10

Italian Men Soccer Team

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With Brazil stil struggling to find its true form,Italy has showed that their young stud is reliable and can finish the job.

Italy outclasses Honduras in Olympic opener 3-0

QINHUANGDAO, China (AP)—Italy got first-half goals from forwards Sebastian Giovinco and Giuseppe Rossi, and Robert Acquafresca added another in the second as Italy beat Honduras 3-0 in its opening Olympic soccer match.

Giovinco put the Italians ahead in the 41st with a powerful left-footed strike from 30 meters out into the top left corner.

Four minutes later, Slovakian referee Damir Skomina awarded Italy a penalty after defender Quiarol Arzu’s handball in the box, and Rossi slotted the ball inside the right post just before halftime.

Acquafresca then converted a penalty minutes into the second half after being taken down inside the box by Hernandez to finish off the scoring.

Honduras should have pulled one back late in the game, but Carlos Pavon knocked a penalty kick over the bar.

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• Italian men's soccer team blanks Honduras in Beijing

Italy Olympic Soccer Squad

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ROME (AFP) - Italy coach Pierluigi Casiraghi unveiled his 22-man squad for next month's Beijing Olympics here on Thursday.

The Azzurrini (the little Azzurris) will undergo their pre-Games medical examinations on Monday before heading off to their training camp at Coverciano near Florence.

They have a warm up game against Romania scheduled for July 22 and are due to arrive in Beijing four days later.

A genuine waiting room for the senior line-up, the U-23 team is composed almost entirely of Serie A representatives, which unsurprisingly gives them solid experience of top-level football. The star of the side is nonetheless Giuseppe Rossi, who plies his trade in Spain with Villarreal and forms one third of Italy's formidable attacking trio alongside Sebastian Giovinco and Robert Acquafresca. Meanwhile, captain and Torino prospect Marco Motta looks to be the natural successor to a long line of talented Italian defenders.All that remains to be seen now is whether Casiraghi decides to bolster his squad with three older players, as the rules permit.

Facts and figures

Former stars
Franco Baresi (1984), Demetrio Albertini (1992), Andrea Pirlo (2000), Alberto Gilardino (2004)

Key players
Giuseppe Rossi (forward), Marco Motta (defence), Claudio Marchisio (midfield)

Qualifying statistics
Placed third in a strong group after one win, one draw and one defeat, Italy finally won through on penalties in a play-off contest with Portugal (0-0; 4-3 on penalties).

The numbers game
19: the number of goals scored by Alberto Gilardino, the top scorer in the history of the team, with a record three superior to that of his AC Milan colleague Andrea Pirlo, who fired 16.

Italy Olympic squad

1	Emiliano VIVIANO
2	Marco MOTTA
3	Paolo DE CEGLIE
4	Antonio NOCERINO
5	Luca CIGARINI
6	Domenico CRISCITO
7	Riccardo MONTOLIVO
8	Claudio MARCHISIO
9	Tommaso ROCCHI
10	Sebastian GIOVINCO
11	Giuseppe ROSSI
12	Daniele DESSENA
13	Andrea CODA
14	Robert ACQUAFRESCA
15	Salvatore BOCCHETTI
16	Lorenzo DE SILVESTRI
17	Ignazio ABATE
18	Andrea CONSIGLI

Italy U-19 lost in Euro Champions Final

Image via WikipediaFrancesco Rocca's Under 19 boys were defeated 3-1 in the finals of the European Championship despite having more men on the pitch for a good part of the game. A well deserved win for the Germans, who played better.

JABLONEC (Czech Republic), 26 July 2008 - This time around, it's the Germans who win. Italy Under 19 team see their golden dream vanish. Germany win the finals of the Under 19 European Championship. And they do it leaving no room for doubt: the final score is 3-1, although it could have been more. It's a pity, because Francesco Rocca's lads have played almost one half of the game with the numerical advantage (after Jungwirth was sent off in the 36th minute).

DARN IT, PALOSCHI - Italy dominate at the beginning of the game: Paloschi, taking advantage of a gap in the German defence, prods a shot over Zieler that barely misses the goal. The Germans don't seem irresistible; but every time they advance, they create confusion in the Italian defence. The most "inspired" player in Hrubesch squad is Gebhart, a real playmaker who keeps drilling into the defensive lines.

BENDER, WHAT A GOAL - Half an hour into the game, Germany open the score. It all begins with a couple of kicks in the area: no one sends it out and Lars Bender lashes a left-foot shot that leaves Fiorillo motionless. A well deserved advantage, soon "levelled" by Jungwirth's dismissal, who knocked Okaka down twice in no time, earning a couple of yellow cards and the subsequent red card.

FEW CHANCES - Despite having more men on the pitch, Italy do not create great chances. Rocca leaves Poli on the bench at the half. The forward is replaced by Bonaventura, a centre-half. Few chances to score. Germany are well organized and they punish the Italians with their breakaways. Gebhart gives an excellent pass to Sukuta-Pasu, who catches Fiorillo by surprise with his shot. The game is almost over, although in the meantime Italy are down to ten men due to Gentili's dismissal.

THE GEBHART PUZZLE- The only Azzurro goal comes 15 minutes from the final whistle. Not randomly from Forestieri, who was the most toned down today, also considering the expectations about him. The German goalkeeper makes a save with his fists in front of Okaka; the ball is lost in the area and Raggio Garibaldi strikes it into an empty goal. This would be the time for a comeback, if it weren't for Gebhart (him again). Two minutes after the Genoa centre-half's winning shot, the playmaker from Monaco 1860 overtakes Bruscagin and heads in a free-kick, defeating Fiorillo. It's the final verdict, and our goalkeeper has to avoid a 4-1 in the 90th minute, with a desperate save, again against Gebhart. The game ends with a well deserved German victory. This time around, they were better than us.

Alessandro Ruta

Cristiano Ronaldo's rude gesture

Cristiano Ronaldo's rude gesture at photographers. La Fata

The Portuguese player, on holiday in Sardinia with his girlfriend Nereida, has shown signs of impatience. First a friend of his flooded a boat carrying some photographers, then he made a rude gesture in their direction

VILLASIMIUS (Sardinia), 1 July 2008 - Up until now things had gone smoothly. But yesterday Cristiano Ronaldo, in company with his girlfriend Nereida and friends, showed the first signs of impatience. It mustn't be easy to endure the continued presence of the photographers. Spotting some photographers in a small boat in front of the Pitrizza hotel, one of his entourage took a jet ski and began to circle the boat at high speed, before making a sharp turn to flood the boat with water and ruin the paparazzi's equipment. Cristiano Ronaldo observed the scene from the beach, and further insulted the photographers with a rude gesture.

from our correspondentFrancesco Velluzzi

Tomorrow we start again and look forward

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Donadoni's lady of luck is not with him during this Euro campaign. Lost his captain, Cannavaro day before the tournament.Pick up the wrong player for defence and even worse choosing underfiring Luca Toni.

After this Euro 2008, hopefully Italy with new coach will sit down and have a deep discussion on Itali soccer future. First of all, they need to invest and look for new promising player.We need a new fresh player. Just look at Holland, they don't bring Seedorf or Staam anymore. Italy need to wake up from this mess.

Last 2006 World Cup Trumph recipe will not be the same as 2010. Now we are embracing total football, fast counter attack and all out defence. Italy need more Gattuso in the team but plus with scoring ability. With Andrea Pirlo as the server for passing the ball, on target strike is a must. Donadoni should replace Toni after missing too many chances. His dissapponting display make him the only top striker in Europe that did not even score in thie tournament.Sadly he is not playing as he used to be with Ribery in Bayern .

Lack of finishing is the main factor why Italy fail this Euro 2008. For the next World Cup Qualifying campaign, Italy will bring this defeat as a moral boost for them to be the next champion again.

Forza Italia !
lankapo