The first game of the tournament is shaping up to be an interesting one, with both the teams looking for a victory which will take pressure off the matches against Uruguay. With the threat of Suarez and Cavani there is no doubt that Italy will want a win on the board before having to face that formidable attacking line-up.
The Italians do have a number of issues. With a declining amount of teams in the Champions League knockout stages and an increasing number of players playing their trade abroad the squad can appear much more disjointed than in previous years. With fewer players being tested at the highest level on a regular basis there is the danger that they won’t be ready forthe combative international fixtures ahead of them. Secondly, there is still a huge reliance on ‘golden generation’ players which won the World Cup eight
years ago in Germany. Players like Buffon, Pirlo and Chiellini are still the backbone of the team even in their 30s and it is a sign of the lack of truly world class talent in depth that younger players haven’t taken over. This is surely the last World Cup for those players but they are still required as mainstays of the team rather than old legends around the squad to oversee the youngsters and step up when required.
GIANLUIGI BUFFON