Spanish national team boss Vicente del Bosque has given his thoughts on Wednesday´s friendly with Italy in a Press conference, and insists he is not even thinking about a repeat of November´s 4-0 mauling at the hands of Portugal.. - Last minute withdrawals, injuries, little training, a lot of travelling, the Spanish Super Cup...Could something similar to what happened in the friendly against Portugal happen against Italy? I don´t...More

San Nicola, Bari The winners of the last two editions of the World Cup meet in what promises to be a mouth-watering friendly at Bari’s San Nicola stadium on Wednesday night as Italy play host to Spain. Both teams are in comfortable positions in their Euro 2012 qualifying groups and will look to test themselves ahead of their next competitive fixtures in autumn. Spain will be without Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Ramos who join Carles Puyo...More

It is amazing what one positive result can do. Before the start of the Euro 2012 qualification campaign, many, this writer included would have tipped Northern Ireland to finish fourth in a group that included Slovenia, Serbia and 2006 World Champions Italy. Okay, maybe third at a push if they could get the better of their two games with the Slovenians. However, their first meaningful away win for several years has restored optimism and ...More

The line between success and failure is never so blurred as it is during a World Cup. As we approach the final of this summer’s tournament, this writer takes a look at the aspects of the world cup that have failed to live up to the pre-tournament hype, whether they be players, coaches or behind-the-scenes issues. 10. Fabio Capello Just a month ago, the Italian tactician was being lauded as Sir Alf Ramsey’s natural successor. His unf...More

Defending champions Italy were dumped out of the World Cup on Thursday by a Slovakia team they were widely expected to beat, despite the prior two poor performances in the group matches. The Azzurri found themselves two-down with 20 minutes to go, with defensive lapses again costing them dear. Antonio Di Natale’s tap-in gave Italy late hope, as they only needed a draw to progress (as long as the Paraguay-New Zealand game finished...More

Humiliating, disturbing and frustrating are just a few adjectives used to describe Italy’s performance on Thursday. However, most fans could only focus on the pain they felt as they saw their beloved Nazionale crash out and burn from a group deemed to be one of the easiest. Lack of attacking flair, lack of cohesion, players played out of position, countless formations creating confusion, wrong choice of players - these were just some ...More