One of the main criticisms that England faces is that the prevalence of foreign players in the Premier League inhibits the growth of the top young English players. However, this criticism could also be applied to Italy’s team due to their marked lack of football superstars.
The Azzuri have failed to impress lately. The 2010 World Cup finals were hardly impressive for the Azzuri, with an equilizer in Ireland the only element that pushed them into the finals. Italy’s disappointment only grew in the finals, where their first two games against Paraguay and New Zealand were supremely lackluster.
Despite Italy’s strong reputation for defense, their lack of imagination in attack was painful. Italy missed the cunning of Andrea Pirlo, a looming threat from a player of the amplitude of Francesco Totti, and the usually great from of Luca Toni; what is worse, Italy may struggle to find new players to fill the latest soccer apparel.Inter Milan won both Serie A and Coppa Italia in 2010 prior to lifting the European Champions Leauge with a 2-0 game, beating out Bayern Munich in Madrid. However, in spite of the great season, Inter failed to send a single player into the Italina World Cup team. For most of the season, Inter’s first team barely contained an Italian player. Young Mario Balotelli and Davide Santon did in fact make a lasting contribution, but were used mostly as substitutes and neither player ended up on the final squad for the showpiece in South Africa.
If we look to the rest of Serie A, it becomes apparent that the giants of the league are facing the same conundrum. Even though AC Milan boasts a higher percentage of Italians in their first squad, most of the players are nearly or over thirty. Juventus boasts a few Italian players, including Chiellni, Giovinco and De Ceglie, who all back up the magnificent Marchisio in the midfield. A large amount of Juventus Italian nationals, and especially those that are first team caliber, are all above thirty.
Increasingly, the bulk of the Italian national team is not now coming from the top four or five teams in Serie A, but from the teams who sit just outside of that elite group. 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.
It is a trend which considering the age of many of the players from the top clubs, looks likely to continue and it must be a worry for the Italian FA and any Azzuri team manager. A great many Italian players are declining participation in the Champions League each season, a fact that hurts Italian players’ performance against the competition.
Italy does have hope for the future, with players like Domenico Criscito, Salvatore Bocchetti, Giampaolo Pazzini, and Leonardo Bonucci as up and coming players. Sadly, though, these players are likely to gain their football education not on the pitches of Old Trafford, Allianz Arena, Bernebeu and Nou Camp but on those of Palermo, Bari, Cagliari, and Lazio.
The Italian side needs to begin worrying about the state of their leagues. Can a champions be said to be truly champions of a country, when it contains no nationals from that country and contributes no players to the national cause?
