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Confident Italy faces upstart Korea
The Italians will look to halt the South Korean history-writing at this World Cup on Tuesday, when the three-time champion faces the giant-killing host in the round of 16. The Italian players utter the standard soccer remarks about "respect for their tough opponents." But underneath one senses they feel South Korea is a team they should beat. "They're a very well-organized team, they run a lot," Italian playmaker Francesco Totti said. "It's a good team, but with the attack we have, we can score goals when we want." How many would that be? "One is enough," Totti said smugly. Even the wild Korean fan support doesn't seem to faze them. "They might have a home-crowd advantage, but they have that advantage against a great team," Totti said. Italy has reason to curb that cockiness. The Korean "Red Devils" beat Portugal and Poland and tied the United States to win their group. Meanwhile, the Italian "Azzurri" squeaked into the second round, after losing to Croatia and tying Mexico. What's more, Italy -- a team legendary for its impenetrable backline -- is likely to be without two of its best defenders on Tuesday: centerback Fabio Cannavaro, suspended after receiving two yellow cards; and his defensive partner Alessandro Nesta, who has a badly swollen foot. The Italians give high reviews of the South Korean team as a whole, but they don't seem to have studied their opponents very closely. Striker Christian Vieri's remark was typical. "There's no one particular player who plays well. They're all good," he said. Defender Mark Iuliano said: "I haven't seen any good individuals in their team -- they're a unit."
The Koreans will certainly know their opponents. They've been preparing for the World Cup for months, while the Italians were battling away in the tough Italian league and European club tournaments. Italy will need to freshen up soon if it wants to make it far in the tournament. Despite having one of the most impressive rosters in the World Cup, the team has not dazzled so far. After a strong 2-0 opening victory against Ecuador, Italy went down to Croatia 2-1 -- although the match included two controversially disallowed Italian goals -- and then drew with Mexico 1-1 with two more efforts ruled offside. Errors of the game officials aside, Italy has problems of its own. Its defense has suffered occasional shakiness, not to mention injuries. The midfield, perhaps the side's weakest area, has often seemed overwhelmed. And coach Giovanni Trapattoni has switched around the attack several times in search of a winning formula. Vieri and set-up man Totti are sure to start in attack, but it's unclear if Trapattoni will start a third attacker against South Korea as he did against Mexico, a change from the first two matches. It's also unclear who that third attacker might be. Alessandro Del Piero scored Italy's tying goal against Mexico, and so he's a fan favorite to start. But earlier, Filippo Inzaghi had been favored, with Vincenzo Montella the second pick. In Korea, locals are hoping a historic result by another Korean team may be repeated Tuesday, citing the stunning 1-0 loss Italy suffered in the 1966 World Cup to North Korea. The Italian players, however, say they don't care much about a match that took place before they were born. The question is: How will a confident Italian side behave if it finds itself suddenly a goal down to South Korea? Soft-spoken Italian midfielder Gianluca Zambrotta had wise words. "There have been a lot of surprise eliminations," he said. "We need to be calm. When you start to lose your head, you're in trouble." |
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South Korea's World Cup squad follows coach Guus Hiddink's lead onto a global stage. 