The Azzurri came away with a 2-1 victory in their opening game of the World Cup. It wasn’t easy but Cesare Prandelli’s side came away with all three points thanks to a second half goal from Mario Balotelli. Now the Italians look to get another win against Costa Rica on Thursday.
Italy vs Costa Rica: Tactical Analysis
1) Either choose to play counter-attack or possession football
Cesare Prandelli has a team that is more than capable of passing the ball and maintaining possession for good parts of the game and, with Pirlo pulling the strings, it is something that the Italian boss shall consider for the upcoming game against ‘Los Ticos’. The thing is that Italy were once an extremely dangerous counter-attacking side. That has changed with Prandelli and, as Luxembourg National team manager Luc Holtz said recently, “If Italy have a weakness it is that they can be hurt on counterattacks”. Prandelli listened to Holtz for the England game and ceded some possession to the Three Lions and it made it more difficult for them to counter-attack. It also prevented the Italian fullbacks from getting caught out of position, even though Italy’s second goal came from Darmian pushing forward and passing to Candreva, who then gave Balotelli a magnificent aerial pass to head home. Against the Costa Ricans, Italy should play possession-based football and try to stop counter-attacks from occurring against them. They will most likely sit back and wait for Pirlo to pick out a perfect Pirlo-esque pass to assist their goalscorer.
2) Keep Balotelli Firing
Balotelli has everything needed to be a world-class striker, and just like in the Euro 2012, if Balotelli can score then Italy will advance. Balotelli is quick, strong in both the air and ground, has a deadly finish, is mentally fast, but he is also quite insane (as in he loses his temper quickly on a bad day). His maturity, or lack of it, will determine how well he can perform. If Italy have the childish side of Balotelli, the one who is unfocused, gets stupid cards, or even gets sent off, then Italy will have a tougher job in the attacking third of the pitch. But if ‘Super-Mario’ comes then Costa Rica are in for a day in hell, and not only temperature-wise. Against England he scored the winning goal with a magnificent header and no less will be expected of him this Friday.
3) Win every single defensive set-piece or aerial battle.
In fact, just try to win every single loose ball. England’s only goal was from a perfectly put cross by Rooney that Sturridge put into the net. Taking nothing away from the strike, if the Italians had been focused the ball would most likely not have gone through them. Italy will most likely be at full strength by gameday with Mattia De Sciglio and Gianluigi Buffon coming back from injury. Also, De Rossi and Barzagli are back from injury having been out on Tuesday. This is a major boost for the Azzurri and will no doubt contribute to their prowess on the field as the AS Roma player, De Rossi, is vital to defending the defenders and stopping the attack before it even starts. Also as it showed in the England game, set pieces are very dangerous and even though it worked to Italy’s advantage on Saturday, it could very well work against them on Friday because Costa Rica are able to score from set pieces, just like they did against Uruguay.
4) Make sure Chiellini has better cover behind him.
Had Hodgson realized just how slow Chiellini really is then he would have overloaded his side with Sterling and Sturridge the whole game instead of trying to play through the middle. Chiellini is a great defender and like many defenders of the old, he is slow. Very Slow. Costa Rica counter attack often, and with the speed of Bryan Ruiz and Joel Campbell, Chiellini has to make sure he does not get caught out of position, and if he does then Barzagli has to make sure he is there covering for him.
As long the Italian can do these four things then I can easily see a 3-1 scoreline against the Costa Ricans, but if they cannot, then things may turn sour and they could end up on the losing side.
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