da bet7k：
da premier bet： After their embarrassing group stage elimination, many people are wondering how a nation like Italy can go out in the group stages of the World Cup. Not only were they World Champions but their group was one of the easiest in the tournament, and to finish below a side like New Zealand speaks volumes about the current state of Italian football.
The thing Italy appeared to be lacking the most was a ‘number 10’ upfront; in previous years there has been a Del Piero, Totti or Baggio to link the attack to the midfield. This year there was nobody to fill that void, Italy tried playing Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio behind the front two but he proved to be very disappointing. The closest players Italy had at the tournament to a ‘number 10’ were Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella but they are no where near good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as Del Piero, Totti and Baggio. It seems that a country that almost pioneered the classic ‘number 10’ is seeing the ‘species’ dying out, the last ‘number 10’ to show any promise from a young age was Antonio Cassano. But he has let attitude problems get in his way and finds himself now playing for Sampdoria at nearly 28-years-of-age.
How great were Italy’s forwards that a player like Gianfranco Zola was only restricted to 35 appearances for the Azzurri and a player like Paolo Di Canio didn’t win a single cap for his country. Today Italy would beg to have to players like those at their disposal, currently Italy’s most promising player is Mario Balotelli but after his attitude problems he could unfortunately go the way of Antonio Cassano. Plus despite having some fancy tricks in his locker Balotelli isn’t really a ‘number 10’ either and is more of a goalscorer.
So many countries would love to of had a player like Alessandro Del Piero play for them and for someone that seems to have been around forever, if only he really could be for Italy. It’s a real shame that a country that has had so many great forwards over the years have to resort to having players like Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alberto Gilardino start upfront for them. Whilst they are decent strikers they are nothing like what Italy has had in the past, and compared to the other top nations they are miles behind.
Italy desperately needs something for the next time they are at the World Cup and perhaps emerging goalscorers like Balotelli and Federico Macheda will be enough for them. However, at least for entertainment purposes not having another magical ‘number 10’ upfront for Italy again will be sad to see.
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