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ITALY 2-2 ARMENIA. BALOTELLI NOT ENOUGH. AZZURRI STILL TO BE SEEDED?
La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy
Oct 16 2013
Milano, 16 October 2013
Prandelli's side make a sloppy start to the game in Naples but fight
back through Florenzi and SuperMario. Failure to win means their
place as top seeds for the World Cup draw is at risk
Italy finished Group B unbeaten, albeit with some difficulty, but
still do not know if they will be seeded in the December draw for next
summer's tournament. It's something they'll have to sleep on because
it now depends on results in the South American qualifying group.
That's the price the Azzurri have to pay for drawing at home to
Armenia - by no means a disastrous result in itself but Italy came
up against unexpected problems and looked a different team to the
one seen in previous outings. Not even Balotelli's appearance as a
second-half substitute was enough to clinch the three points that
would have locked up their place in the top seeds pot.
LIMP START - With Prandelli's only major selection doubt decided
on Monday evening - Balotelli on the bench initially and Osvaldo
up front - Italy lined up as expected in a 4-1-4-1 with Pirlo in
the deep-lying role, Montolivo and Aquilani in the engine room and
Florenzi and Insigne wide in support of the former Roma striker. What
wasn't expected was the Azzurri's approach to the game: they were
limp, distracted and imprecise more than demotivated, too stretched
out over the pitch and tended to make things up as they went along
rather than stick to any game plan. All too often it was a series of
individual initiatives that came to nothing, with mistakes galore and
worries at the back from the start. The first of which came after 4
minutes thanks to some sloppy play from Astori, Movsisyan fortunately
failing to seize the opportunity. But after letting them off the hook
once he wasn't going to repeat the gesture when Aquilani handed him
another chance a minute later. The Fiorentina midfielder - the hero
when he snatched a late leveller on Friday - put Armenia in charge
of proceedings tonight with a fluffed clearance which rebounded into
the path of Movsisyan, who skipped past Astori and beat Marchetti to
herald the start of a tough night for Italy.
INSIGNE SHAKES THEM UP - Italy were unable to sort themselves out for
at least another quarter of an hour, with lapses in concentration and
misplaced passes still the order of the day. Osvaldo totally skewed
his shot in the 12th minute after showing good control to get himself
into position. Thankfully Insigne was on hand to shake things up for
Prandelli. Playing in his home stadium, the Napoli forward become
an increasingly inspired presence throughout the first period, when
he was by far Italy's best performer. He fired off a warning shot by
hitting the post in the 22nd minute (Osvaldo's follow-up effort was
tame) then hurt the visitors by doing at least half of the work for
Italy's equaliser in the 24th minute, standing it up beautifully for
Florenzi to prove his goalscorer's instinct and nod Italy level. 1-1.
balotelli comes on - We were seeing another game by that point, with
the Azzurri more and more in the ascendancy and Armenia limited to
playing on the break. Ozbiliz had a 34th-minute effort smothered by
Marchetti but Prandelli's side went closer still a minute later and
again it was that man Insigne: wowing the Neapolitan fans with a smart
dragback on the turn to create himself space to shoot a fraction
wide of Berezovski's upright from an angle. Italy's best chances
continued to fall to the Napoli striker in the second half too,
when Prandelli threw Balotelli into the fray for Osvaldo less than
ten minutes after the restart. And it was Balotelli the team player,
not Balotelli going it alone. Italy's tactical shape and the flow
of the match didn't change when Candreva replaced Florenzi either:
Italy kept taking the game to their opponents and Armenia attempted
the occasional foray forward. Insigne went close again in the 58th
minute (a near-post strike saved by Berezovski) and in the 61st,
when some decent work by Balotelli put him in one on one with the
Armenian keeper, who was spared by Insigne's hurried, central shot.
BEHIND AGAIN, LEVEL AGAIN - But there was a surprise in store for
Italy and it came in the 70th minute following a double mistake by
Marchetti. The Lazio keeper first gifted the visitors a free corner
with some poor handling then got caught in no man's land when the cross
came in, allowing Mkhitaryan to head Armenia back in front. The Azzurri
trailed for just six minutes though, the time it took for Balotelli
to leave his mark on the game with the help of Pirlo, who dinked in a
brilliant first-time pass to put Mario clean through on goal, the AC
Milan striker applying a cool finish. Balotelli almost added a third
shortly afterwards, with a free kick that Berezovski somehow managed
to turn behind for a corner. And with five minutes remaining he had
the ball in the back of the net again, but only after a blatant push
on a defender. The best chance to win it came in added time, when he
went on a solo charge up the pitch before arrowing a low drive just
a whisker past the far post. That was Italy's last hope of securing
their spot as seeds at the World Cup. Now they'll have to wait and see.
from our correspondent Andrea Elefante
http://english.gazzetta.it/Football/15-10-2013/italy-2-2-armenia-balotelli-not-enough-azzurri-still-to-be-seeded-201369176110.shtml
La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy
Oct 16 2013
Milano, 16 October 2013
Prandelli's side make a sloppy start to the game in Naples but fight
back through Florenzi and SuperMario. Failure to win means their
place as top seeds for the World Cup draw is at risk
Italy finished Group B unbeaten, albeit with some difficulty, but
still do not know if they will be seeded in the December draw for next
summer's tournament. It's something they'll have to sleep on because
it now depends on results in the South American qualifying group.
That's the price the Azzurri have to pay for drawing at home to
Armenia - by no means a disastrous result in itself but Italy came
up against unexpected problems and looked a different team to the
one seen in previous outings. Not even Balotelli's appearance as a
second-half substitute was enough to clinch the three points that
would have locked up their place in the top seeds pot.
LIMP START - With Prandelli's only major selection doubt decided
on Monday evening - Balotelli on the bench initially and Osvaldo
up front - Italy lined up as expected in a 4-1-4-1 with Pirlo in
the deep-lying role, Montolivo and Aquilani in the engine room and
Florenzi and Insigne wide in support of the former Roma striker. What
wasn't expected was the Azzurri's approach to the game: they were
limp, distracted and imprecise more than demotivated, too stretched
out over the pitch and tended to make things up as they went along
rather than stick to any game plan. All too often it was a series of
individual initiatives that came to nothing, with mistakes galore and
worries at the back from the start. The first of which came after 4
minutes thanks to some sloppy play from Astori, Movsisyan fortunately
failing to seize the opportunity. But after letting them off the hook
once he wasn't going to repeat the gesture when Aquilani handed him
another chance a minute later. The Fiorentina midfielder - the hero
when he snatched a late leveller on Friday - put Armenia in charge
of proceedings tonight with a fluffed clearance which rebounded into
the path of Movsisyan, who skipped past Astori and beat Marchetti to
herald the start of a tough night for Italy.
INSIGNE SHAKES THEM UP - Italy were unable to sort themselves out for
at least another quarter of an hour, with lapses in concentration and
misplaced passes still the order of the day. Osvaldo totally skewed
his shot in the 12th minute after showing good control to get himself
into position. Thankfully Insigne was on hand to shake things up for
Prandelli. Playing in his home stadium, the Napoli forward become
an increasingly inspired presence throughout the first period, when
he was by far Italy's best performer. He fired off a warning shot by
hitting the post in the 22nd minute (Osvaldo's follow-up effort was
tame) then hurt the visitors by doing at least half of the work for
Italy's equaliser in the 24th minute, standing it up beautifully for
Florenzi to prove his goalscorer's instinct and nod Italy level. 1-1.
balotelli comes on - We were seeing another game by that point, with
the Azzurri more and more in the ascendancy and Armenia limited to
playing on the break. Ozbiliz had a 34th-minute effort smothered by
Marchetti but Prandelli's side went closer still a minute later and
again it was that man Insigne: wowing the Neapolitan fans with a smart
dragback on the turn to create himself space to shoot a fraction
wide of Berezovski's upright from an angle. Italy's best chances
continued to fall to the Napoli striker in the second half too,
when Prandelli threw Balotelli into the fray for Osvaldo less than
ten minutes after the restart. And it was Balotelli the team player,
not Balotelli going it alone. Italy's tactical shape and the flow
of the match didn't change when Candreva replaced Florenzi either:
Italy kept taking the game to their opponents and Armenia attempted
the occasional foray forward. Insigne went close again in the 58th
minute (a near-post strike saved by Berezovski) and in the 61st,
when some decent work by Balotelli put him in one on one with the
Armenian keeper, who was spared by Insigne's hurried, central shot.
BEHIND AGAIN, LEVEL AGAIN - But there was a surprise in store for
Italy and it came in the 70th minute following a double mistake by
Marchetti. The Lazio keeper first gifted the visitors a free corner
with some poor handling then got caught in no man's land when the cross
came in, allowing Mkhitaryan to head Armenia back in front. The Azzurri
trailed for just six minutes though, the time it took for Balotelli
to leave his mark on the game with the help of Pirlo, who dinked in a
brilliant first-time pass to put Mario clean through on goal, the AC
Milan striker applying a cool finish. Balotelli almost added a third
shortly afterwards, with a free kick that Berezovski somehow managed
to turn behind for a corner. And with five minutes remaining he had
the ball in the back of the net again, but only after a blatant push
on a defender. The best chance to win it came in added time, when he
went on a solo charge up the pitch before arrowing a low drive just
a whisker past the far post. That was Italy's last hope of securing
their spot as seeds at the World Cup. Now they'll have to wait and see.
from our correspondent Andrea Elefante
http://english.gazzetta.it/Football/15-10-2013/italy-2-2-armenia-balotelli-not-enough-azzurri-still-to-be-seeded-201369176110.shtml