The Italian Job Done - What next for the Azzurri?

When Alberto Gilardino wrong footed Manchester City's Shay Given and stoked the ball into the net with a close range finish in Dublin he booked Italy's ticket to South Africa ,whilst the Irish will now have to face the play-offs. This was incidentally only the third time that the Azzurri had qualified for the World Cup with one match to spare and on the two previous occassions that happened the Italians went on to win the trophy in 1982 and 2006. But do the Italians really have it in them to complete this unique hat-trick?

Marcello Lippi's side have had quite an uninspiring qualification campaign despite being in one of the weaker groups and scored only 18 times in their 10 games. Wednesday night's victory over Cyprus might have made for an extremely enthralling encounter with Gilardino scoring a hat-trick in the last 12 mins of the game to rescue the Azzurri once again but it also exposed some glaring deficiencies in the squad. Throughout the qualifying games the Italian side looked as if they were lacking new ideas. Lippi has retained the same philosophy of football which he deployed in Germany three years ago and whats even more surprising is that he has decided to stick to the same players as well.

The squad which triumphed in Berlin is no longer what it was and has suffered from a combination of a general decline in form and aging. Only a handful of the members still seem to have the appetite and more importantly the character to maintain a place in the current team. The other Azzurri winners have been very inconsistent with their recent performances and need to put in a lot of effort if they desire to retain the crown in South Africa. Gennaru Gattusso in particular has been a shadow of the player he was both on the international stage and the domestic stage. The same could be said about his Milan team-mate Gianluca Zambrotta who played a pivotal role in the last World Cup. But since then Zambrotta has seen his place challenged by the new generation of Italian footballers including the likes of 19 year old Davide Santon who put in a stellar performance against Cyprus along with Domenico Criscito of Genoa. The defensive department will also need some more work as apart from the Juve duo of Cannavaro and Chiellini the reserves look a little fragile. And if unfortunately one of them were to be injured before or during the World Cup it could prove to be a massive headache for Lippi.

The midfield too could do with a little bit of polishing. Italy's playing style has become highly predictable as they have been using the same tactics for the past four years and moreover the players pulling the strings too have remained unchanged. As mentioned before Gattusso seems to be out of sorts in recent times and the other selections lack in creativity. True, Pirlo can still cut defences with his incisive passing but he has always been used as a deep-lying midfielder and so that essential link between the attack and the midfield is missing and this has been evident time and again as Italy have at numerous times seemed to be at a loss of ideas. The whole of the peninsula feels that 'Il Talentino' Antonio Cassano is the answer to this problem as the man has single-handedly driven Sampdoria to the top of the table from being mid-table regulars over the past two years. Cassano's talent is undeniable and his previously questionable attitude is pretty much reformed and at a time like this where Italy need an injection in their attack he seems to be the 'right man at the right place at the right time' but Lippi somehow chooses not to see it. His stubborn refusal to call up the ex-Real Madrid man has suggested that the issue is more personal than professional if that were to be the case it would be a great loss to the Italian side. Recent rumors have suggested that the dressing room is happy with Cassano's absence and hence that maybe prolonged. There is some good news though as youngsters have again been leaving their marks up for evaluation and they seem to be doing a good job as Marchisio has become a regular feature of the team and others like Pepe, Galloppa continue to do well on the club level.

The forward line also sees more players knocking on the door to book their flying tickets than those with confirmed bookings. Iaquinta has been doing rather well at Juventus and he is sure to travel to Africa and now so is Gilardino who has scored four crucial goals for Italy in his past two games. SerieA's current topscorer Di Natale should also confirm his place in the squad if he were to maintain his current form. Then their are players like Balotelli and Giovinco who risk failing to make the cut as they don't fit into his 'experience and grooming' philosophy. Both the aforementioned players are so enormously gifted that it would be disservice not to take them along. Plus now with Totti having announced his intention to play for the national team again it is likely to give Lippi plenty of headache.

If the Italians are to claim the World Cup for a record fifth time they need to do a lot of work and improve in all areas and to do that they will surely require new blood in their squad as the current one seems to have exhausted its potential. But Lippi is a man who is known to usually stick to the men he has had and so it might prove to be a difficult task for him to change his footballing philosophies so now we can just wait and watch for the next few months to see who will be and who won't be on that flight to South Africa.