Warm Up Match: Portugal vs Italia (2 Viewers)

[MCPIERO]

Its on Wednesday 31 March E.K.O.
Live on British Eurosport around 21:30.
Im looking forward to see the silky skills of players from both sides.
Could someone post the lineups.I dont know whos selected but I would play Pirlo for sure and as Piero is out I would have Vieri/Pippo with Cassano & Totti behind in attack. Montella is also back from injury(hes always an outsider though) Miccoli and DV should get a chance also. Fiore another player who is playing great for club. Tacchi should get a chance and what about Enzo? drop Legro and give Samps pretty boy CB Conte a chance

 

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[MCPIERO]

Trap unveils Azzurri experiments Tuesday 30 March, 2004

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Giovanni Trapattoni is experimenting a change of tactics for the Portuguese friendly and confirms Stefano Fiore will start alongside Andrea Pirlo.


The Azzurri lined up with a 4-3-1-2 system in a game between ranks at the stadium in Guimaraes this evening and Trap announced that Francesco Totti would play behind front two Marco Di Vaio and Christian Vieri.


Trap has been forced into a switch due to injuries for Alessandro Del Piero, Antonio Cassano, Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta for this tricky trip to Portugal.


According to this test line-up, we will see three Milan players in the starting eleven – Giuseppe Pancaro, Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo.


On form Inter defender Daniele Adani is drafted in to replace Nesta, while Matteo Ferrari takes the other central role.


It looks as if Trapattoni will therefore experiment with other systems apart from the successful 4-2-3-1 formation that proved so effective in qualifying.


Italy will take on the Portugal side Coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari at 8.45pm UK time on Wednesday evening.


It will be the 23rd time the two teams have met with a record of 16 Azzurri wins, two draws and four Portuguese victories.


They last faced off in another international friendly in Genoa, where debutante Bernardo Corradi sealed the 1-0 win on Feb 12 2003.



Italy (confirmed): Buffon; Panucci, Ferrari, Adani, Pancaro; Fiore, Pirlo, Gattuso; Totti; Di Vaio, Vieri


C4

 

[Martin]

What a sucky lineup, Portugal is taking this one.

 

[mikhail]

I don't know about that. The key to beating Portugal is to beat the heck out of their midfield. They're sissies at heart. And who better to do that than Gattuso?

 

[Martin]

Adani in defence, that doesn't look good. Nor do I have much faith in Di Vaio anymore and Vieri is off form..

 

[Azzurri7]

di vaio - vieri , i bet vieiri will beat him, di vaio aint good for the national team..micco would b better

 

[Stu]

++ [ originally posted by Martin ] ++
What a sucky lineup, Portugal is taking this one.

I think it's pretty good, although the defence could definitely use some more quality. Panucci I disagree with, but the rest is actually ok. With no Nesta or Cannavaro Ferrari and Adani is a justifiable choice for central defence imo, and right now Pancaro is better than Zambrotta.

 

[Stu]

++ [ originally posted by Martin ] ++
Adani in defence, that doesn't look good. Nor do I have much faith in Di Vaio anymore and Vieri is off form..

Who would you replace Adani with, and it's not like if Trap has a whole lot of options upfront with Cassano and Del Piero out. Plus, Inzaghi's playing crap atm.

 

[Dragon]

Di Vaio shouldnt be there

 

[Stu]

++ [ originally posted by azzurri7 ] ++
di vaio - vieri , i bet vieiri will beat him, di vaio aint good for the national team..micco would b better

Miccoli would probably be a better alternative to Di Vaio upfront, but I have my doubts about his fitness, afterall, he did skip the game against Modena due to injury didn't he?

 

[Stu]

++ [ originally posted by fabiana ] ++
Di Vaio shouldnt be there

Maybe he shouldn't, but who else does Trap have at his disposal? The only player that I would play ahead of DV given the injury situation is Fabio Bazzani, and he isn't even in the squad.

 

[Martin]

I didn't say Trap made a poor selection, just that this doesn't look good whatever the reason.

 

[Martin]

Azzurrini pummel Portugal
Tuesday 30 March, 2004

Claudio Gentile’s Under-21 side earned an emphatic 3-1 victory against their Portuguese counterparts in Tuesday’s test.

The tactician experimented with a new system that saw Brescia duo Matteo Brighi and Simone Del Nero in support of lone centre forward Alberto Gilardino.

It took just thirty seconds for the Azzurrini to open the scoring in Melgaco with Udinese midfielder Gianpiero Pinzi, turning in an angled drive on Gilardino’s assist.

Portugal tried to fight back, but just before the break Parma hitman Gilardino thumped the crossbar and then added to their tally by nodding in a corner kick.

Gilardino is on stunning form this season and has become a leader of the Under-21 side as well as the Gialloblu’s top scorer in Serie A with 14 goals.

This tie was in preparation for the European Under-21 Championships to be staged in Germany from May 27, but Coach Gentile was forced to do without several players including Roma starlet Daniele De Rossi, Inter fullback Giovanni Pasquale, Giandomenico Mesto, Alessandro Gamberini and Parma’s Daniele Bonera.

Livorno defender Giorgio Chiellini made his debut in the second half and marked it with a goal, pouncing on Moreira’s goalkeeping error to make it 3-0 to the visitors.

Portugal finally earned a consolation strike soon after when Joao Paulo got the home side on the scoresheet by redirecting Hugo Viana's wayward effort, but this was a confident and impressive win against one of Europe’s best young teams.

Portugal 1-3 Italy

Scorers: Pinzi 1 (I), Gilardino 37 (I), Chiellini 62 (I), Joao Paulo 65 (P)

Italy U21: Amelia; Zaccardo, Balzaretti, Cannavaro, Moretti; Pinzi, Palombo, Brighi, Donadel; Del Nero, Gilardino

 

[Stu]

++ [ originally posted by Martin ] ++
I didn't say Trap made a poor selection, just that this doesn't look good whatever the reason.

Fair enough, but it's not that bad a team imo.

 

[Stu]

++ [ originally posted by Martin ] ++
Azzurrini pummel Portugal

:thumb:

 

[Kiko]

What about Corradi or like Montella to replace DV

 

[nuc_juve]

let di viao and miccoli in front......

what a good combinatiaon......

alll juveee...

 

[epitaph]

International Friendly Preview: Portugal vs Italy

While Wednesday's encounter between Portugal and Italy is being billed as a "friendly" match, it's no secret that this contest will be a serious test for both nations ahead of Euro 2004.

Both sides are eyeing the prize at this summer's big tournament and a win for either side on Wednesday will be a huge boost of confidence.

Furthermore, these two nations could potentially face off in the finals of the tournament as they cannot meet in teh quarter finals or the semi-finals because of the way the bracketing is set up.

If history is an indicator, than Italy have nothing to worry about as they have dominated this rivalry. In 22 matches with the Portuguese, Italy has 16 wins, 2 draws and just 4 losses. During these 22 matches, Italy has outscored Portugal 46 to 19.

Their last meeting was on February 12, 2003 in Genova where Italy won 1-0. This time around, the match is being played in Portugal for the first time since 1993 when Italy won 3-1.

Team News:

Portugal:
Newcastle's midfielder Hugo Viana has been dropped from the squad and is considered a long shot to make the team for Euro 2004.

Tottenham's Helder Postiga is on the verge of being axed from the squad and this could be his last chance to shine for Portugal.

Porto's Vitor Baia and Maniche continue to get snubbed by Scolari, same goes for Stuttgart's Fernando Meira.

Nuno Gomes makes a return to the international fold, after his two-goal display in Benfica's 4-3 loss to Inter in the UEFA Cup on Thursday.

Fernando Couto, Deco, Petit, Rui Jorge and Tiago have all been training separately from the rest of the squad because of minor injury problems and are all doubtful starters for Wednesday's match.


Italy:
Trapattoni is without three of his first choice players as AC Milan's Alessandro Nesta, Inter Milan's Fabio Cannavaro and Juventus' Gianluca Zambrotta are all injured.

Look for Parma's promising Matteo Ferrari and Inter's Daniele Adani to start in the center of back line with AC Milan's Giuseppe Pancaro to take over from Zambrotta at left back.

Lazio's Giuseppe Favalli, who has not played for Italy since 1998, and Parma's Marcello Castellini are some of the surprises in Italy's 22-man squad announced on Sunday.

Juventus' striker Marco Di Vaio will pair up with Vieri in attack in what should be a formidable partnership.


Form Guide:

Portugal: (W,L,W,D,D)

08/20/2003 Portugal-Kazakhstan (Friendly) 1-0
09/06/2003 Portugal-Spain (Friendly) 0-3
09/10/2003 Norway-Portugal (Friendly) 0-1
11/15/2003 Portugal-Greece (Friendly) 1-1
02/18/2004 Portugal-England (Friendly) 1-1

ItalyD,W,L,W,D)

09/10/2003 Serbia and Montenegro-Italy (Euro Qual.) 1-1
10/11/2003 Italy-Azerbajdzan (Euro Qual.) 4-0
11/12/2003 Poland-Italy (Friendly) 3-1
11/16/2003 Italy-Romania (Friendly) 1-0
02/18/2004 Italy-Czech Rep. (Friendly) 2-2

Probable Starting Lineups:

Portugal: Ricardo; Paulo Ferreira, Fernando Couto, Jorge Andrade, Rui Jorge; Costinha, Petit, Rui Costa, Luis Figo, Simao Sabrosa; Pauleta

Italy: Buffon; Panucci, Ferrari, Adani, Pancaro; Gattuso, Pirlo, Camoranesi; Totti, Di Vaio, Vieri

Players To Watch:

Take your pick: Figo, Rui Costa, Simao, Pauleta, Totti, Di Vaio, Vieri and Pirlo. Should be an exciting contest, so watch them all.

 

[Trezeguet_FC]

You know, we Azzurri fans are spoilt brats. We have Vieri, Totti, Pirlo, Fiore, Gattuso AND Buffon on the starting line-up, and we are complaining. The team below that was mentioned as a possible line-up, is an AMAZING line up that can crush any defense. Totti and Vieri alone are among the bestest of players in the world. And here we are, complaining that Nesta or Cannavaro or Del Piero is missing. Just look at that. Pancaro even is on AMAZING form. Ferrari and Adani are perfect subs for Nesta and Canna. And the midfield is the midfield i think we should field for Euro. I think the following line-up should be the Euro line up, bar the defense and a couple of readjustments in the midfield attack.

Game Line up:

Buffon; Panucci, Ferrari, Adani, Pancaro; Fiore, Pirlo, Gattuso; Totti; Di Vaio, Vieri

My Euro Line up:

Buffon; Zambrotta, Nesta, Cannavaro, Pancaro; Fiore, Pirlo, Gattuso; Totti; Del Piero, Vieri

That was 3 changes in defense and one in attack. And this is just a friendly we are talking about. The Azzurri line up for this game is amazing, and on paper, they are much better than Portugal. Lets up they perform as well as they are expected. But i must agree, putting Di Vaio in the starting lineup would be ridiculous. He should have called up Baggio for that spot... after his fine game this weeked where he set up two and scored two sublime goals.

 

[kaizer]

++ [ originally posted by Kiko ] ++
What about Corradi or like Montella to replace DV

montella...?? even di vaio is playing better than him. trap shud've called corradi, or bazzani