Monday, May 15, 2006

Rinaldi responds to Lippi

Having seen the call-ups for the Italian World Cup squad by his fellow Tuscan Marcello Lippi, a sorry Scottish-Italian blogger has responded with his own 23 for Germany. It is a tradition he has followed for many competitions trying to name a "shadow" squad which he thinks might do pretty well at the competition.

The underlying thought process - if you want to credit him with one - is that it shows the strength in depth Italy possess (or not, depending on your viewpoint). See if you can come up with any players that you would like to have seen in either squad.

Lippi's 23

Portieri: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio), Marco Amelia (Livorno).

Difensori: Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Alessandro Nesta (Milan), Marco Materazzi (Inter), Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus) Massimo Oddo (Lazio), Cristian Zaccardo (Palermo), Fabio Grosso (Palermo).

Centrocampisti: Andrea Pirlo (Milan), Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Mauro German Camoranesi (Juventus), Simone Perrotta (Roma), Simone Barone (Palermo).

Attaccanti: Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Alberto Gilardino (Milan), Luca Toni (Fiorentina), Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus), Francesco Totti (Roma), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Udinese).

Riserve: Morgan De Sanctis (Udinese), Daniele Bonera (Parma), Franco Semioli (Chievo), Marco Marchionni (Parma).

Rinaldi's 23

Portieri: Francesco Toldo (Inter), Christian Abbiati (Juve/Milan), Carlo Cudicini (Chelsea).

Difensori: Christian Panucci (Roma), Manuel Pasqual (Fiorentina), Paolo Maldini (Milan), Dario Dainelli (Fiorentina), Paolo Cannavaro (Parma), Emiliano Moretti (Valencia), Cesare Bovo (Roma).

Centrocampisti: Christian Brocchi (Fiorentina), Massimo Ambrosini (Milan), Enzo Maresca (Sevilla), Fabio Liverani (Lazio), Stefano Fiore (Fiorentina), Eugenio Corini (Palermo), Alberto Aquilani (Roma).

Attaccanti: Antonio Cassano (Real Madrid), Tommaso Rocchi (Lazio), Cristiano Lucarelli (Livorno), Francesco Tavano (Empoli), Mauro Esposito (Cagliari), Fabrizio Miccoli (Benfica).

Riserve: Francesco Antonioli (Sampdoria), Christian Terlizzi (Palermo), Pasquale Foggia (Ascoli), Massimo Maccarone (Middlesbrough).

For your information, my team plays a very Lippi like 4-3-3 with Toldo in goal, Panucci and Pasqual down the flanks with Dainelli and Maldini in the middle. Brocchi is the midfield battler with Maresca to break forward and Liverani pulling the strings. Cassano and Tavano play off Lucarelli up front. Or any combination you prefer.

20 comments:

martinobhoy said...

Diana of Samp in neither squad?

I'd move Maldini up to the main squad instead of Materazzi as well and possibly Lucarelli rather than Iaquinta.

Glad to see Pippo there. Do we take credit for that after our campaign?

martinobhoy said...
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a.c.t. said...

Attaccanti: Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Alberto Gilardino (Milan), Luca Toni (Fiorentina), Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus), Francesco Totti (Roma)- you seriously want to leave these out??

martinobhoy said...

a.c.t

I think Ginkers' squad is another 23 players who didn't make the main squad. There's no way he wouldn't want Luca Toni to be there believe me!

Great photo! Karen Hill from my all time favourite movie if I'm not mistaken.

ginkers said...

Martino, Diana is injured so couldnt be called up.

ACT, the idea was to come up with 23 that Lippi didn't call up just to see how strong Italy are. Looking at my squad, I think we are pretty weak defensively but the more you move up the pitch the better we get!

PS Il mitico Toni non si tocca!

a.c.t. said...

Ahhhh ho capito adesso!

That is indeed Karen Hill - the coolest woman in film.

martinobhoy said...

Ginkers

Didn't know that about Diana. I think he would have been a decent addition to the squad.


a.c.t

Coolest woman in film is Maria Grazia Cucinotta as Beatrice Russo in Il Postino.

martinobhoy said...

Or Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia.

Or Claire Grogan in Gregory's Girl and Comfort & Joy.

Or Anne Bancroft in The Graduate.

God, this beats working!

ginkers said...

What about Monica Bellucci? Now that beats working. In fact, it beats anything

martinobhoy said...

Ginkers

I get the feeling I've hijacked your blog again but at least I'm talking about something interesting for once even if it isn't strictly Italian football.

a.c.t. said...

Or Sharon Stone in Casino, or Jodi Foster in Taxi Driver..

a.c.t. said...

Oh, how could I have forgotten Pam Grier in Jackie Brown.

martinobhoy said...

Definitely Sharon Stone in Casino. I still struggle to watch that film because I know the horrific ending is coming.

Also Sharon is very cool in The Quick & The Dead.

And how could I leave out Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny?

Or Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot? Or have I taken that too far?

a.c.t. said...

Next you'll be saying Robin Williams in Mrs Doubtfire!

I haven't seen The Quick & The Dead, is it worth watching?

How could we not have mentioned Uma Thurman? Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill will do.

martinobhoy said...

Quick & The Dead is a great little film in my opinion - very underrated. I'm not really a fan of Westerns but maybe it's the twist of having a female gunfighter that makes it worth watching. Great cast too - Gene Hackman, Leonardo Di Caprio, Russell Crowe as well as Sharon.

One more for the list and not a guy in a dress this time (far from it!) Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation.

a.c.t. said...

That's one of my favourite films too. Angelica Houston in The Grifters/Prizzi's Honour is another one for the ever expanding list.

martinobhoy said...
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martinobhoy said...

Okay one last one to finish off the weekend.

As Lloyd Cole & The Commotions once sang "She looks like Eve Marie Saint in On The Waterfront".

Fantastic film, amazing performance by Brando and Eve looking very cool throughout the film.

a.c.t. said...

Just one last one, Monica Belucci in Dobermann. I think that's it now I'll be really scraping the barrel soon.

martinobhoy said...

a.c.t

Yeah, time to knock this one on the head. The only one I haven't mentioned so far that should be on the list is Nastassja Kinski in Paris, Texas.