England has been facing more and more criticism over the fact that the Premier League is so overpopulated with foreign players that young English players don’t have the opportunity to grow adequately. However, this criticism could also be applied to Italy’s team due to their marked lack of football superstars.
In recent times the Azzuri have been less than impressive. Their qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup finals was hardly impressive, relying on a last gasp equaliser in Ireland to put them into the finals after a series of unimpressive drawn games. Italy’s at the finals continued to dissatisfy fans, especially while playing Paraguay and New Zealand.
Italy was hurt by their lack of ingenuity in attack, despite their renowned defensive abilities. Italy felt a loss of Pirlo’s unmistakable guile, Totti’s technique, and Toni’s form, and will moreover struggle to find stars to put in the new soccer jersey. Inter Milan made Jose Mourinho proud as the won the Serie A and Coppa Italia in 2010, ending up lifting the Europeans Champions League 2-0 against Bayern Munich at a match in Madrid. Disappointingly, Inter failed to contribute any players to the World Cup Squad for Italy. Inter’s first team hardly ever contained an Italian player for most of the season. Only youngsters Davide Santon and Mario Balotelli made a lasting contribution and they were used mainly from the substitutes bench and neither made the final squad for the summer’s showpiece event in South Africa.
Looking through Serie A big teams is enough to confirm this worrying trend. AC Milan have more Italians in their first team squad, but the vast majority are approaching or beyond 30 years of age. It’s a slightly rosier picture at Juventus, but only just thanks to the likes of Chiellini, Giovinco and De Ceglie coming through the ranks to supplement the impressive Marchisio in midfield. The vast majority of Juventus Italian nationals, certainly those who would be considered for the first team, are also 30+.
More and more, the majority of the players on the Italian national team are not coming out of the top four to five teams from Serie A, but instead from the teams which sit just outside of this elite crew. The 2010 World Cup Italian squad has a total of six players from Juventus, with two coming from Milan, and one from Roma. However, the team also has 3 players from Napoli, another 2 from Sampadoria, 2 from Genoa, two from Fiorentina, and one apiece from Udinese, Cagliari, Bari, and Al Ahli of the UAE.
The tendency against national players is one that is unlikely to stop soon, which may become a torment to the Italian FA as well as future Azzuri team managers. Many of these Italian players are now not playing in the Champions League each season and that will have an impact on their abilities to perform against the very best.
It isn’t a bleak future by any means, youngsters like Salvatore Bocchetti, Leonardo Bonucci, Giampaolo Pazzini and Domenico Criscito are coming through the ranks, but unlike their predecessors, their football education will come on the pitches of Cagliari, Bari, Palermo and Lazio, rather than the Bernebeu, Nou Camp, Old Trafford and Allianz Arena.
It is a worrying trend for the Italian national side and one that needs to be addressed. Can the heroes of a country really be considered heroes if they don’t have their hearts in a national cause?
