Di Natale questionone for Prandellito ponder
Overlooked for the best part of two years, and neglected by previous managers as well, Udinese’s veteran striker is at last receiving the recognition he deserves, a few months short of his 35th birthday. Italy truly is a country for old men, but it has taken Di Natale three record-breaking seasons – 80 league goals in 117 matches, leading scorer two seasons running – to force himself into contention.
Di Natale is steadiness and loyalty personified. Typically, when his club team-mate Piermario Morosini suffered a fatal heart-attack in April while playing for Livorno, leaving an invalid sister without support, it was Di Natale who immediately responded with a statement that all her financial needs would be taken care of.
Against Spain, Di Natale banished the ghost of an agonising penalty miss in the shoot-out four years ago. It was just the clinical finish Italy were looking for but it still seems that the more extravagant, but less reliable talents of Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano will be preferred. That’s what Italy’s team manager Gigi Riva is predicting anyway.
The Italians come into this game on the up, but Spain was their first decent result after three consecutive defeats, and their first goal in four matches. Croatia’s defence is their weakness, but you could say the same of Russia who comfortably beat the Azzurri 3-0 in their final warm-up match.
“This is a different rival to Spain,” said Prandelli yesterday, “and even more dangerous because Croatia can change their style of play during a game.
with respect to the game against Spain but I will evaluate the situation.
“I need to see who is mentally and physically ready for this crucial game.”
What seems clear is that Italy intend to persist with three centre backs and five in midfield.
Daniele De Rossi, normally the man in the engine room, looked as comfortable and strong at the back as he did for Roma last season. Switching a holding player to centre back is a Barcelona tactic, and while Luis Enrique did not survive the season at Roma it may be that the former Barca man has provided Prandelli with a valuable parting gift.
“We feel good with 3-5-2. I think it’s the most reliable solution for the team at this point,” says Christian Maggio. It definitely suits him as he has made the right wing-back position his own at Napoli over the past couple of seasons.
Prandelli himself had no intention of using this system in the run-up to the tournament. It is not a formation he likes, always preferring a back four, but tactical diversity is the name of the game in Serie A. Both Walter Mazzarri at Napoli and Francesco Guidolin at Udinese have stuck by their commitment to three at the back, but Prandelli’s task has been made a lot easier by Antonio Conte’s decision to go that way with Juventus.
He switched from his preferred 4-2-4 to 4-3-3 at the start of the season, but the subsequent move to 3-5-2 has allowed Italy to make the changeover with minimum fuss because of the strong Juventus presence in the side, especially in defence.
Italy have found a balance that they didn’t have before, with Emanuele Giaccherini slotting in perfectly on the left on his debut, allowing his club team-mate Claudio Marchisio to take up one of the two “enforcing” positions in the centre.
Marchisio was a revelation in the Spain match, as he has been for Juventus over the past nine months. His late burst into the box might have won the game for Italy had he been able to steady himself to finish. Against Croatia he may well be given the task of policing Luka Modric, whose movement and precision passing are obviously a threat.
Modric’s ability to direct play from a deep position combined with his creative play around the opposition penalty are what marks him out, but Italy will also be concerned about Ivan Perisic.
“Normally he starts very wide on the left,” warned Luca Calamai in the Gazzetta dello Sport yesterday. “Sometimes he seems almost out of the game. But when Croatia come forward he often makes straight for goal looking to shoot. He has the timing to make incursions and a scorer’s instinct. Perisic is one to sound the red alert.”
Croatia is sitting in pole position in the group after a 3-1 triumph over Republic of Ireland and despite injuries to key players such as defender Dejan Lovren and striker Ivica Olic before the tournament, it did not miss a beat in their opener with the midfielders and strikers looking particularly bright.
Coach Slaven Bilic could opt to be more cautious by dropping one of his goalscorers, Nikica Jelavic or Mario Mandzukic to employ an extra midfielder for a stable and conservative approach against the Azzurri.
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