Reasons To Be Cheerful, If You’re Italian

So last night Italy suffered their first loss in the 2013 Confederations Cup.

A thrilling encounter saw hosts Brazil see off the Azzuri with a 4-2 victory.

But it’s far from a doom and gloom situation at the moment if you’re an Italian fan.

The Italians have been going through a period of transition since they won the World Cup back in 2006.

Legends such as Alessandro Del Piero, Fabio Cannavaro, Gennaro Gattuso and Francesco Totti all retired in dribs and drabs after that and Italy have struggled to replace them.

An ignominious group stage exit when defending their World Cup title in 2010, which included being held to a draw by lowly New Zealand, saw Marcello Lippi step down as manager.

His replacement was the well-respected Cesare Prandelli.

Prandelli made his name as a manager whilst in charge of Fiorentina.

In five seasons he led the Viola to Champions League qualification on three occasions.

In a remarkable achievement he managed to take Fiorentina to a sixth-placed finish and UEFA Cup qualification despite starting the season with a 15 point deduction.

That UEFA Cup campaign saw them reach the semi-finals before losing on penalties to Rangers.

And since taking charge of the national team Prandelli has done a good job.

He brought new players into the team and took the little fancied Azzuri all the way to the Euro 2012 Final.

They were soundly beaten 4-0 by world beaters Spain but the fact that they made it to the final was a great achievement for the Italians.

Now we come to the present and Italy have qualified for the next round of the Confederations Cup after victories against Mexico and Japan.

And last night’s game against Brazil, just three days after they barely scraped past Japan, showed how much they have improved.

Italy took the home side to the limit and in the end would have been well worth the draw.

With the tie poised at 3-2 Italy threw everything they had at Brazil and were unlucky not to equalise several times before Fred added Brazil’s 4^th goal of the game and put the result beyond any doubt.

But this wasn’t just about the result, this was about Italy showing they could well be a force to be reckoned with in years to come.

The Azzuri were missing arguably their two biggest players in Andrea Pirlo and Danielle De Rossi but still provided a challenge against a reformed and on form Brazilian outfit.

In all likelihood Spain will knock them out of the Confederations Cup in the next game but Italian fans certainly have reasons to be positive.

Why Have The NBA Playoffs Been So Boring in 2013?

We’re in the middle of a fantastic series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat so this seems like an odd question to poise but to me these Playoffs have been very uninspiring.

Even the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers series that went to a seventh game did little to light a fire under me.

I felt like I knew the Heat would prevail and the Finals against San Antonio are the first time I’ve really felt the Heat were under any threat.

That lack of suspense is a big part of why I’ve felt so underwhelmed by these playoffs.

This may be the first time in history that I have been more entertained as a whole by the regular season than I was by the Playoffs.

The fact that the San Antonio Spurs whitewashed the Memphis Grizzlies – albeit two of their games did go to overtime – in the Western Conference Finals just underlined the lack of competition this year.

The Grizzlies had recently beaten an Oklahoma City Thunder side missing star man and point guard Russell Westbrook.

Kevin Durant did his best to make up for Westbrook’s absence but it left the Thunder too lopsided and too reliant on Durant to progress.

One of the few chances these playoffs had of being salvaged went by the wayside when the Spurs defeated Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

Not that the Spurs aren’t an exciting side but the Warriors are young, vibrant and most of all fresh.

They would have added an element of unpredictability had their stay in the competition lasted a bit longer.

Their series against the Denver Nuggets in the first round was one of the few bright spots of this playoff campaign and I imagine the anticipation for a Golden State versus Miami final would have been off the charts.

The only other team that threatened to stir up any interest in the Playoffs were the New York Knicks.

They had the potential to mount a serious challenge against the Miami Heat but due to their three point shooters not firing and Carmelo Anthony losing his regular season form they couldn’t even beat the Indiana Pacers.

The series that I think has epitomised these playoffs as a whole was the first-round clash of the Atlanta Hawks and the Indiana Pacers.

That series, and these playoffs as a whole, can be summed up with one word.

Lacklustre.

This was illustrated by the fact that I watched three of those games in full and I couldn’t tell you a single thing that happened in any of them.

The Spurs and Heat are having a great battle at the moment and with game five taking place tonight they could go on to make these Playoffs eternally memorable.

But prior to this series the entertainment level was not as high as I have become accustomed to.

All I can hope for now is that the San Antonio versus Miami battle rages as hard as it has in the first four games for the next three games.

And with the way things are going Tony Parker, LeBron James and their respective teams may well do that.