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.