Italy edge closer to 2012 finals

On Friday, Cesare Prandelli’s new-look Italy side secured a comprehensive 3-0 win in Modena over modest Group C opponents Estonia to move within sights of qualification to the finals which will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine next year.

The Azzurri now lead the group with 16 points from six games, with second-placed Slovenia five points behind having played an extra qualifier.

Serbia, the team many had thought would be Italy’s sternest challengers in the group, are eight points adrift. They played the same number of games as Italy.

The writing is now on the wall... only a bizarre twist of unfavourable results will deny Italy from a place in the finals.

But, the million dollar question always remains... how far would Italy go in the tournament?

That’s a little bit too early to answer and Prandelli knows it is far better to go step by step and focus on the impending tasks awaiting his team to make sure of the top place in the group that means automatic qualification.

In their remaining four qualifiers, Italy travel to the Faroe Islands on September 2 and Serbia on October 7. They host Slovenia on September 6 and Northern Ireland on October 11.

The remaining calendar looks favourable for Italy who dropped the only two points so far in Belfast. Northern Ireland are not a force in European football so Prandelli’s men should wrap up their qualifying campaign in style in autumn.

Prandelli is doing a splendid job in reviving the fortunes of a national side that underachieved in Euro 2008, under Roberto Donadoni, and was a complete flop with Marcello Lippi in last year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.

Since taking over almost a year ago, the former Fiorentina mentor did well to remove the dead wood, infuse fresh enthusiasm and gradually introduce new players, ones who were still untried and untested at international level before his appointment as national coach.

Given the ever-increasing number of foreigners plying their trade in the Serie A, particularly those covering key positions at the big clubs, Prandelli has no easy task in identifying suitable players to replace the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Gennaro Gattuso, Francesco Totti, Luca Toni and so forth.

Results, so far, have been very encouraging.

However, the pundits are still not in a position to properly gauge Italy’s game with Prandelli in charge as Slovenia, Estonia, Northern Ireland and Faroe Islands are no quality sides and, therefore, not an adequate yardstick against which to measure the team’s progress.

The only opponents in Group C that should enable us to decipher where Prandelli could take the Azzurri are Serbia.

But, they will only host Prandelli and his men in October, probably at a time when Italy would have already booked their berth at the European Cham-pionship finals.

So, apart from the media hype that this clash may generate (following the fracas of the Serb hooligans in Genoa last year), Serbia vs Italy could turn out to be a mere formality and an ideal occasion for Prandelli, in particular, to test new modules or, perhaps, introduce other new players in his fold.