Sunday 8 June 2014

Match Preview: England v Italy

Who are we playing?
Italy in Group D of the 2014 FIFA World Cup
Saturday 14 June 2014 Kick-off: 23:00 BST

Where are we playing?
Arena da Amazônia, Manaus

It replaced the old Vivaldão stadium, which used to be the main stadium of the city.

Arena Amazonia, Manaus
The Arena da Amazônia was planned to be completed early 2013, but various delays pushed the opening back to early 2014.

It was designed by German company gmp Architekten, who also chucked up Frankfurt’s Commerzbank Arena and Warsaw’s Stadion Narodowy. The shape of the stadium is meant to resemble a traditional basket and to counter the area's challenging climate. The roof’s steel structure serves as a large gutter that drains the tropical rain water, the roof’s coating reflects heat radiation, having a cooling effect, openings in the roof and facade stimulate ventilation, and there are ample areas of shade where spectators can shelter from the sun.

Can I watch it on the telly?
You can and advert free on the BBC so there's no chance you'll miss the first goal if someone presses the wrong button. The late finish means you should check your pub is stopping open if you are watching it in there.

Big game?
Ireland's Alex Pearce's tackle ends Montolivio's dreams
Huge.

Any World Cup match featuring England and Italy is huge as both nations are hugely passionate about football. England fans are still raw about their exit from Euro 2010 at the hands of a penalty shoot out to Saturday's opponents.

The Italians warm up has not been without it's problems. They lost Montolivio to injury in a friendly against Ireland and then suffered the indignity of managing only to draw with traditional European whipping boys Luxembourg. However, it may be a cliche but it's true, you can never write off the Italians.

Sophia Loren
England's warm up games have shown worrying signs should we need to call on our second string defenders while the right back berth looks to be a real issue. However, Ross Barkley has shown that he could provide England with that vital spark of creativity, though in the group games, he's more likely to do that coming from the bench.


Apart from Leonardo da Vinci,  the Roman Empire, Pizza, Marco Polo, Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Giorgio Armani,  Antonio Vivaldi, Gianni Versace, Sophia Loren and Christopher Columbus, what has Italy ever done for us?
Well, there's Ravioli...

Who's playing for us?
Ross might a win a few friends
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Celtic), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Chris Smalling (Manchester United)

Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Everton), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain [injured and highly unlikely to feature](Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

Forwards: Rickie Lambert (Southampton), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United)
Nutter

Who's playing for them?
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris St-Germain), Mattia Perin (Genoa).

Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorigo Chiellini (Juventus), Gabriel Paletta (Parma), Ignazio Abate(AC Milan), Mattia De Sciglio (AC Milan), Matteo Darmian (Torino).

Midfielders: Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Thiago Motta (Paris St-Germain), Marco Verratti (Paris St-Germain), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Marco Parolo (Parma), Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina).

Forwards: Mario Balotelli (AC Milan), Antonio Cassano (Parma), Alessio Cerci (Torino), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli).

Any useless stats and info?
Hardly any but here we go:
Kev
  • We've played Italy on 24 occasions, winning eight and losing ten. There have been six drawn matches.
  • Our first World Cup Clash with Italy came in the qualifying tournament for 1978 World Cup in November 1976. Enzo Bearzot's team beat Don Revie's England 2-0  in Rome.
  • By the time we played the return a year later at Wembley, Ron Greenwood was in charge of the team. England won 2-0 thanks to goals from Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking. Sadly, the win wasn't enough to secure qualification
  • England won the last meeting between the two teams, friendly in Switzerland by 2-1. Jack Butland became the youngest ever England goalkeeper beating the record of Billy Moon. Phil Jagielka and Jermain Defoe got our goals.
Prediction:
An England win in a tense, gripping, sweaty encounter.

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