England Vs. Italy Opinion – Is There Some Hope for England?

When the fixture list was released for the 2014 World Cup, football fans everywhere circled a certain Group D match on June 14^th as must see entertainment. Although Uruguay and Costa Rica played out a highly entertaining affair earlier in the day, the world was fixated on the Amazon rainforest to watch two of the world’s football powers (or former power in the latter’s case) collide – Italy and England.

As a die-hard England supporter I expected the narrative to be eerily similar to their Euro 2012 Quarterfinal match against the Italians in which England decided to park the bus immediately upon entering the field for warm-ups, make Andrea Pirlo seem like a resurrection of Christ with his dominance of the midfield, and yet somehow made it to penalties where upon every England fan knew the odds of them pulling out the victory were cooked when Pirlo’s scrumptious panenka penalty put Joe Hart’s komodo dragon impersonation between the sticks out of its misery.

So with the match approaching I expected a similar strategy would be employed by England. Despite the pre-tournament hoopla about Roy Hodgson going with the youth movement and a Liverpool foundation, many expected a similar “park-the-bus” strategy and an entirely Italian dominated affair. Except a funny thing happened – Hodgson decided to go for it.

Right from the announcement of the starting lineup the indications were there. An attacking lineup featuring the Manchester United duo of Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck along with the Merseyside quartet of Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling indicated that the bus might have been retired in favor of a slightly speedier model. Combine that with the pre-match news that Italian goalkeeping legend Gianluigi “Gigi” Buffon and starting left-back Mattia De Sciglio would be unavailable due to injury and you began to think there might be some chinks in the Italian armor. With Italy setting up in a slightly unorthodox 4-1-3-1-1 that had Giorgio Chiellini lining up in De Sciglio’s spot on the left side, the match seemed there for the taking.

And for the majority of the first half England tried to take it. When within the first four minutes Raheem Sterling hit a 25-yard strike that seemed destined for the top corner (and caused much of the viewing party I was with, and myself, to leap up in premature celebration) there was an optimistic air around the English fans – could this be the dawn of a new era? While England continued to pepper the Italian goal with shots, testing the mettle of stand-in keeper Salvatore Sirigu, they lacked the ability to finish off their plethora of chances.

That lack of cutting edge in front of goal would come back to haunt them as in typical Italian fashion a beautifully crafted set-piece was worked for the opener. Off a corner in the 35^th minute Pirlo showed his worth with an outrageous dummy, and Claudio Marchisio’s rifled it past Joe Hart with a fantastic strike to give Italy a 1-0 lead. Fun fact: 7 of Italy’s last 17 World Cup goals have been scored from corners – they clearly practice them.

Although England fans were going ‘Uh-oh’, in atypical English fashion the Three Lions mustered a quick response. Within two minutes of the Italian’s opener Sterling smashed a typical Y-button through ball to Rooney on the left who, in his most useful moment of the entire match, picked out Sturridge with a beautiful left-footed cross and the Liverpool front man made no mistake with a half-volley from six-yards out. Cue mass hysteria, his ridiculous dance, and #DoTheStudge. Despite late Italian pressure (including a moment of madness from Joe Hart) the score was knotted up at 1-1 going into the half.

In the second half Italy ratcheted up the pressure and were rewarded by who else – Super Mario. By his usually high standards Mario Balotelli had been relatively quiet so far in the match but in the 50^th minute he outmuscled an out-of-position Gary Cahill to a back-post header and made no mistake past his former Manchester City club-mate Joe Hart. 2-1 Italy in the Arena Amazonia.  While there was still plenty of time left, England seemed to wilt in the notorious Amazonian heat and were unable to provide the same level of attacking intent they showed in the first half. Substitutions proved fruitless, as despite an impressive cameo from Ross Barkley, the score remained 2-1 and all three points went to Italy in a highly entertaining affair.

A Few Things:

• Italy looked like contenders: Going into the tournament no one was talking about Italy as true contenders for the trophy. Yet after this display the other teams better start taking notice – Italy looked for real. The Italians are the masters of closing down space and completed passes at a record-rate. Italy recorded a pass completion percentage of 92.3% vs. England which is the highest ever recorded in a World Cup since 1966. Take note – Italy is here to play.

• What to do with Wayne Rooney: With the introduction of Sterling into the starting line-up, Rooney was shifted on to the left-side and it was a horror-show for most of the match. He left Leighton Baines frequently exposed by failing to track back and other than his sublime pass for Sturridgeas equalizer, he looked shockingly out of place on the pitch (including missing a sitter in the box to equalize in the second half). Although it would be a big call to drop Rooney (and I personally don’t think he’d have any impact off the bench) the thought was being circulated after the game. Rooney was unfortunately poor and in order for England to have a chance of advancing he must be better. Oh there was also this…worst corner kick ever?

• Pirlo: This. Just this. The man even looks like Jesus Christ with his beard. Surely playing the Son of God is against FIFA Fair Play Rules? He was fantastic again against England. Just a brilliant player.