Sophie Vorrath writes:

1. The Italian national team is known as the
Azzurri, because of the traditional sky blue “azzurro” colour of its jersey and, along with Saudi
Arabia, is the only World Cup sqaud whose list
is comprised entirely of players contracted to clubs of its own country.

2. They last won the World Cup in 1982,
beating West Germany 3-1 in the final. This, their third World Cup
title (after 1934 and 1938), drew them level with record champions
Brazil.

3. In the current World Cup campaign, the Azzurri have topped Group E, having beaten the Czech Republic 2-0 in Hamburg, held the US to a 1-1 draw – after which coach Marcello Lippi explained that the previous game, in which his side beat Ghana 3-0, took too much out of his team.

4. Italy’s triumph against the Czechs has been sullied by bad news from home,
with four of Italy’s top football teams – Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and
Fiorentina – indicted overnight in a match-fixing scandal that has
besmirched a national passion and shaken the stock market. The four
teams face relegation from the top flight of Italian football if found
guilty of rigging matches at a trial to take place next week.

5.
Paolo Rossi, who stepped out of the shadows of a two-year ban for
betting irregularities to coach the Italians to victory in the 1982
World Cup in Spain, says that the five Juventini in the squad – Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro (captain), Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi and Alessandro del Piero – may be affected by the scandal at home.

6.So far in the tournament, Italy’s ace striker Luca Toni remains goalless,
while midfield star Francesco Totti – who was banned from the Euro 2004
for spitting – has struggled, lasting only 35 minutes in the US game
before being pulled.

7. In the match against the Czech
Republic, Italy lost centre half Alessandro Nesta in the thirteenth
minute to a suspected hamstring injury, but it was his replacement, Inter Milan defender Macro Materazzi, who gave the Azzuri the lead as he rose highest at a corner to head his side in front.

8.According to coach, Marcello Lippi, Italy has traditionally performed badly in the group stages, but is “made for the knockout games as our mentality is to give our best when it is a one-off.”

9. Their match against the US has been touted as one of the ugliest in the Cup so far
– with 34 fouls, three red cards and three yellow cards. One of those
red carded was Daniele De Rossi, who intentionally thrust his right
elbow into the face of the US’s Brian McBride, causing blood to ooze
from just below McBride’s left eye.

10. In the 2002 World Cup,
Italy was eliminated by co-host country South Korea in round 16. The
match was marked by controversy, after referee Byron Moreno gave Francesco Totti
a second yellow card in extra time for an alleged dive, and disallowed
an Italian goal. Replays seemed to indicate both that the card was
unfounded and the goal was legal, but the decisions stood and South
Korea won 2-1, again with a golden goal in extra time.