Italy Team Preview – Overview
Former champions Italy are back to try and win a second title to add to the one they won back in 1968. Italy haven’t missed a tournament since 1980 and they have been finalists a couple of times since then losing to France in 2000 and to Spain four years ago.
On the face of it this Italy side looks nothing like as good as ones which have been sent to this tournament before them but we know they will be defensively organised and will be led by a passionate manager but whether they have enough goals in them to go all the way remains to be seen and only time will tell.
Statistics
Best Performance – Winners (1968)
Previous Appearances – 8 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 & 2012)
Qualified – Group H Winners
Qualifying Record
P-10 W-7 D-3 L-0 GF-16 GA-7 PTS-24
Fixtures
Belgium vs Italy – Monday 13th June, kickoff 20:00 at Parc OL, Lyon
Italy vs Sweden – Friday 17th June, kickoff 14:00 at Stadium Municipal, Toulouse, Toulouse
Italy vs Republic of Ireland – Wednesday 22nd June, kickoff 20:00 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille
Squad
Manager: Antonio Conte
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Federico Marchetti (Lazio), Salvatore Sirigu (PSG)
Defenders: Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Angelo Ogbonna (West Ham United), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
Midfielders: Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Tiago Motta (PSG), Stefano Sturaro (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Federico Bernadeschi (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarwy (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna)
Forwards: Simone Zaza (Juventus), Graziano Pelle (Southampton), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Eder (Internazionale), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)
Betting
I’ve already backed Italy to win their group but there isn’t a lot else that interests me here I have to say. Their goalscorer market is wide open and none of their forwards are a stand out convincing target to get stuck into. You would think they would go deep enough in the tournament to eliminate the chances of someone in midfield or defence poaching a couple of goals and doing enough.
With that in mind I’m going to avoid betting any more on Italy in the outright markets although once we know which direction Conte is going in with his forwards we might find some value as the tournament progresses.
Tips
No Bet
