LA NAZIONALE: ALL TIME GREATEST X1?

GOALKEEPERS:

Gianluigi Buffon
Gianluca Pagliucia
Angelo Peruzzi
Francesco Toldo
Dino Zoff
Enrico Albertosi
Walter Zenga

DEFENCE:

LIBERO
Franco Baresi
Giacinto Facchetti
Alessandro Nesta
Cesare Maldini
Paolo Maldini
Gianluca Zambrotta

STOPPERS:
Gaetano Scirea
Antonio Cabrini
Claudio Gentile
Fabio Cannavaro
Giuseppe Bergomi

MIDFIELD:

MEDIANI
Romeo Benetti
Giovanni Trapattoni
Marco Tardelli
Rino Gattuso
Beppe Furino
Giancarlo Antognoni
Bruno Conti
Demetrio Albertini

FANTASISTI
Andrea Pirlo
Gianni Rivera
Valentino Mazzola
Sandro Mazzola
Mario Corso
Gigi Meroni
Roberto Baggio
Francesco Totti
Gianfranco Zola

FOWARDS

CENTRAVANTI
Giuseppe Meazza
Silvio Piola
Gigi Riva
Paolo Rossi
Christian Vieri
Giuseppe Signori
Alex Del Piero
Alessandro Altobelli

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By no means confine yourself to this list, these are the ones i can think off the top of my head, add players you think are worthy to also be named as great Italian internationals like maybe Inzaghi and Donadoni, Tassotti, Evani etc.

My All-time Italy X1: 1-4-2-1-2

Buffon

Baresi

Cabrini
Scirea
Gentile
Facchetti

Rivera
Sandro/Valentino Mazzola

R. Baggio

Riva
Meazza/Piola


The majority of these players i am too young to see, but in Italy we have constant journalism, books, videos of our past great matches and players that we are aware of how influential and great our old players were.

quite a few players form the last time years pirlo

zola did'nt he any ever get 1 national game

Zoff

Facchetti, Baresi, Scirea, Maldini

Pirlo

Tardelli, Benetti

Antognoni

Riva, Meazza



Pirlo gets in 'cos he was one of the most important players in a WC win! In 20 years he will defo be included in these kinds of teams. Cannavaro would be included, but you cant leave out Baresi and there are several other class stoppers.

Pirlo + Antognoni = awesome creativity, and they are supported in midfield by two of the biggest hard-men in football.

2 of the best wing-backs in the entire history of football to provide width.

and a complementary striker duo.

punty wrote:quite a few players form the last time years pirlo

zola did'nt he any ever get 1 national game

I remember Zola in our shirt.

1994 - Sent off in World Cup INSTANTLY
1996 - KNOCKED US OUT

Other than that, fantastic goal v England, but little else. He was a great gentleman, great player especially. for Parma and Napoli - Maradona once said that Zola would be a better player than him, but Ancelotti didn't like him and they clash at Parma, Sacchi didn't trust him, and once he moved to Chelsea the old prejudices about not picking Italians abroad resurfaces.

Trap and Zoff wouldn't tolerate a 'free' player like Zola, Trap resisted all calls for a Baggio send-off at 2002

BTW who would be coach ?

Pozzo, Bearzot or Lippi ?

Hardrada wrote:Zoff

Facchetti, Baresi, Scirea, Maldini

Pirlo

Tardelli, Benetti

Antognoni

Riva, Meazza



Pirlo gets in 'cos he was one of the most important players in a WC win! In 20 years he will defo be included in these kinds of teams. Cannavaro would be included, but you cant leave out Baresi and there are several other class stoppers.

Pirlo + Antognoni = awesome creativity, and they are supported in midfield by two of the biggest hard-men in football.

2 of the best wing-backs in the entire history of football to provide width.

and a complementary striker duo.

Pirlo is my idol and hero, although like Brera used to say about Rivera - these types of fantasista need a 'libero' to protect them. Pirlo has Gattuso, Rivera was played alongside Lodetti.

I think maybe in a more TACTICAL all-time X1, managers like Rocco would do this, but i hear the argument for Pirlo and i was so eager to put him in, but i resist for fear of claims to bias!

sciera you must have gentile

Hardrada wrote:BTW who would be coach ?

Pozzo, Bearzot or Lippi ?

In Italy, we have world-class managers, we will do a thread on managers and tactics soon i think, i will love to write my piece about Catenaccio and Total Football because coaches like Herrera and the 'grande Inter' team of the 1960s and also Amaral at Juventus you can argue were a precurser to the Dutch total Football.

Pozzo will always be tainted by Mussolini sadly, although Mussolini did a lot to revolutionise football and its popularity in Italy, one of his very few positive points to emerge from his dictatorship.

Bearzot and Lippi, there are just too many similarites with the 1982 and 2006 sides, the omens, it was all written in the stars.

I am devastated that Sacchi couldn't produce his Milan ethic on the national side, Zoff was also a good manager, the only national manager who has given us the best of Totti.

In future, i would love to see Mancini, Spaletti or Ancelotti given the chance. I think Donadoni is a wrong appointment in terms of experience, but Gabrielle Marcotti was talking about this, and argues that this isn't as important at international level, more important is the technical staff you surround yourself with, but we must wait and judge his tenure after our qualification campaign.

punty wrote:sciera you must have gentile

They are complete opposites, and thus compliment each other.

Scirea wasn't strong or quick but his anticipation and tactical reading were fantastic and he could always win the ball cleanly.

Gentile was a true 'MONSTER', yet he was rarely sent off in his career

lol you could say he was brilliant at cheating
i remember him against maradona in 86 i think

bloody hell, i feel sorry for the little guy, got completely battered and bollakated

lol if u believe the rumors

punty wrote:lol you could say he was brilliant at cheating
i remember him against maradona in 86 i think

bloody hell, i feel sorry for the little guy, got completely battered and bollakated

lol if u believe the rumors

Maradona, to this day, says that sometimes he looks behind him to see if Gentile is breathing down his neck

more than breathing lol forza M

did italy win 2 world cups during the mussolini era?

punty wrote:more than breathing lol forza M

did italy win 2 world cups during the mussolini era?

34 and 38

Although for choice of words, I think 'pre-war era' might be a bit more PC.

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:

punty wrote:lol you could say he was brilliant at cheating
i remember him against maradona in 86 i think

bloody hell, i feel sorry for the little guy, got completely battered and bollakated

lol if u believe the rumors

Maradona, to this day, says that sometimes he looks behind him to see if Gentile is breathing down his neck

Rumor has it that Gentile was rubbing his genitals against Maradona through the match

Maradona had great respect for him as an opponent and for his methods.