Italy, Europe’s most successful nation in World Cup history along with Germany with four triumphs each, have only been crowned continental champions on one occasion after they beat Yugoslavia (2-0) in a replayed final in Rome on June 10, 1968.
Although everything is possible in football, it looks unlikely that in France this month the Azzurri will end their 48-year wait for a European title.
Despite being drawn in a modest qualifying group, Antonio Conte’s Italy were hardly convincing en route to reaching the 15th Euro finals in history.
Italy were undefeated in their 10 group ties (seven wins and three draws) to secure their place among the finalists for the sixth time in a row. The Azzurri only managed a series of narrow wins, including a double against bottom-of-the-group Malta by the same 1-0 scoreline, and were unable to beat eventual runners-up Croatia.
Conte took over the national team in the wake of Italy’s early exit from the 2014 World Cup finals.
Although he was determined to build a new team, his task became more complicated than he had probably anticipated as, in the last few years the Serie A failed to produce the same kind of star players that could help the team make a quantum leap in quality.
So, Conte found himself very much restricted in his selections.
No wonder then that Italy have the fifth oldest squad in Euro 2016 (behind Ireland, Russia, Czech Republic and Slovakia), with an average age of 28 years, 10 months and 19 days.
Struggling to find young talent, Chelsea-bound Conte has picked just seven players under the age of 25 for Euro 2016.
Another aspect to consider is that at this year’s Euro, starting next Friday, Italy will have a squad brimming with experience but badly lacking in technical skill, particularly in midfield.
In fact, 38-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is considered Italy’s star player as Conte hopes that substance rather than style will be his winning card.
Many argue that Conte’s Italy are practically in the same situation as Cesare Prandelli’s side four years ago before the Azzurri’s first match against eventual winners Spain in their Euro 2012 opener.
But in Andrea Pirlo the Azzurri had a leader in midfield who could make the difference and Mario Balotelli was a deadly striker who could punish any opposition.
Midfield problems
Also, four years ago, Prandelli could count on Claudio Marchisio. This time around, Conte has lost arguably his two best midfielders in Marchisio and Marco Verratti through injury.
This has left the Italians with few options in midfield, with Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna) and Fiorentina’s up-and-coming Federico Bernardeschi the only creative midfielders capable of providing ammunition to the strikers.
Italy, twice runners-up in the European Championship – in 2000 and 2012 – need to hit the ground running this month as they were pitted in a tough group.
The first match (against Belgium) is always tricky in any competition, especially if the opponents are billed among the favourites.
Belgium look to have all their cards in place to make inroads as Sweden and Ireland look no pushovers either.
Another factor to take into account is that the 46-year-old Conte has already unveiled his plans to quit the national team and join Londoners Chelsea after the Euros.
This might leave a negative impact on Italy’s already slim chances of progressing in this competition.
On a brighter note, perhaps, the Italy squad currently comprises six Juventus players who have been playing together for quite some time and who Conte knows well from his time as coach of the Italian champions in Serie A between 2011 and 2014.
At international level, this is seen as an advantage because national coaches do not have enough time to leave their imprint on the team.
Their job is usually limited to selecting the most in-form players ahead of qualifying games or international tournaments.
Meanwhile, Italy are currently a disappointing 12th in the FIFA rankings. But on many occasions, they have done well in tournaments in which they started as underdogs and also outside the top 10 in the world list.
One only needs to remember the runners-up spots in the 1994 World Cup, Euro 2000 and Euro 2012.
Before these competitions got underway, the Azzurri were ranked 16th, 14th and 12th respectively. In similar vein, before lifting the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Marcello Lippi’s team was ranked 13th.