IRENE – Marcello Lippi is getting tired of hearing that Italy’s players are too old to win the World Cup again. And he doesn’t appreciate the rampant skepticism over his squad – even back home.
The 62-year-old coach lashed out at Italy’s critics at his first chance upon landing in South Africa on Wednesday, asking them to at least give the team a chance to prove itself.
“Yes, we have old players, but with age comes charisma and the experience of playing in big games. I think we have the right mix of young and old players,” Lippi said.
“We have nine players from 2006 — that’s less than 50 per cent. I’ve never seen any team that wins the World Cup show up four years later with 23 new players.”
While Lippi has kept the likes of 36-year-old Fabio Cannavaro and 33-year-olds Gianluca Zambrotta and Mauro Camoranesi, he has also brought along three 23-year-old defenders – Salvatore Bocchetti, Leonardo Bonucci and Domenico Criscito.
The average age of the squad is 28 years, nine months.
Still, the new players have not proved themselves yet and most analysts are picking Brazil, Spain, Argentina, and England as the favourites, with the defending champions hardly ever mentioned.
Criticising the national team has become a sort of national sport in Italy over the past few weeks.
“Whenever a World Cup comes around everyone wants to get in their say.
“Last time, everyone joined in as we moved along, but this time we’re not going to allow anyone to jump on the bandwagon,” Lippi said.
With standout midfielder Andrea Pirlo likely to miss the entire group phase due to a left calf injury, Italy are without their most talented player.
“Single players don’t win World Cups. Let’s be clear. There are no longer any superstars in Italy, and it’s not like anyone I left home would alter the skill aspect,” added Lippi, who was criticised for not even considering talented but temperamental forwards Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli.
Lippi recalled that his team were very nervous before the 2006 opener with Ghana and didn’t feel truly confident until their memorable extra-time win over Germany in the semi-finals.
“We may not be perfect in the first game here, but hopefully we’ll build ourselves into a solid squad as we go along. This is a team I hope goes very far – all the way.” (AP)
