to the guy that said Italy got whooped.. you must be a blind man. I am Italian and im not being biased here but Ireland didnt really do much to win the game, they just scored off 2 set pieces, but in saying that, either did Italy.
Italy did what was needed and played for the draw. They controlled the game for most parts and didnt give Ireland room to attack. Ireland did the same and didnt stop running for 90 minutes. They were always pressuring the Italians on the ball and deserved the draw at most.
Lippi is still a stubborn old bastard, Zambrotta and Legro need to go, and as much as I love him for Juve, Iaquinta wouldnt start for me if i was manager.
The one thing that shits me the most about Lippi is how he always brags about how anybody between the age of 18-40 have a chance to play for the national team but he repeatedly overlooks in form players, Pazzini, Cassano, Foggia just to name a few.
Fuck Lippi and his conspiracies, Italy wont win the 2010 world cup with this squad, bar a miracle! Although i think we can still expect to see them towards the latter stages of the competition because they always seem to grind out results just like today against Ireland.
The Confed cup showed what will happen to Italy if they play poorly against teams like Brazil, Spain, England, Holland, etc.. This is not the Italy of old, it needs a facelift, starting from the defence.. and minus Lippi.
Ancelotti says hes interested in the job after the world cup, and he wouldnt hesitate to call up Cassano but as far as i can remember, the italian media have always been critical of the managers decisions when calling up players. There was the whole Baggio saga with Trap and the media love it when Italy fail just to pin the blame on the manager.
In saying all that, FORZA AZZURRI! we have qualified undefeated, credit to Ireland who are also undefeated, i hope they qualify for 2010 WC.
my 2 cents..