Soccer Lessons

Italian Marcelo Lippi has faced a number of soccer pundit jokes this season due to the age of his team.  The team is very likely to be fairly new by the Brazilian World Cup, when athletes such as 32 year-old Gianluigi Buffon, 36 year-old Fabio Cannavaro, 32 year-old Gennaro Gattuso, and other players like Andrea Pirlo (31), Gianluca Zambrotta (33), Vincenzo Iaquinta (30), Mauro Camoranesi (33), and Antonio Di Natale (32) are sure to be gone from the team.  Who will Lippi or his successor choose to replace the team?

Lorenzo De Silvestri    Defender     (Fiorentina)    Aged 22
De Silvestri, who stands at just over six feet tall, comes from Lazio, where he recently served as fullback.  Since his move to Fiorentina in 2009, De Silvestri has rediscovered his best form that saw him represent Italy at every age range from Under 16 through to the U21 side. A marauding, powerful full back, he gets forward well and looks to be a possible long term replacement for Gianluca Zambrotta in the national team.

Davide Santon        Defender    (Inter)        Aged 19
Santon, who made a striking 28 appearances for Inter this season and five for Azzuri, is a skillful defender with an ability to play either flank successfully. Santon’s energy is boundless; his energy on the pitch has earned him a comparison to Paolo Maldini by Italian head coach Marcelo Lippi. Thanks to his sound technical skills, and omitting the risk of injury, Santon should be joining the next few major finals Italian squads.

Mario Balotelli        (Striker)    (Inter)        Aged 19
Inter’s hot headed and often temperamental striker can play anywhere in attack or as a winger and has been heralded as one of the brightest hopes wearing the official italy soccer jersey for a generation.  Batelli’s run-ins with both fans and management only serve to distract from his excellent record: the player scored twenty goals in 59 games and notched 6 and 16 for the U21 Italian set. His time will surely come in the Euro 2012 qualifiers when Italy are going to need a new look strike force.

Federico Macheda    (Striker)    (Man Utd)    Aged 18
A fiercely underrated player that has yet to regularly make the first team at Old Trafford, Macheda is set to have a great next season and catch they eye of Azzuri management. Macheda is a strong, intelligent striker, who has an eye for goal. His particular talent is scoring with his back to the goal, and he has been capped at U21 for Italy; if Macheda makes a difference in the first team for United, he should end up with a spot on the Italian national squad.

Antonio Candreva    (Midfielder)    Udinese    Aged 23
Finding a replacement for Andrea Pirlo may be the Italian sides greatest challenge in the next few years and one possible replacement could be Candreva. The Udinese midfielder, who is being touted as making his loan move during last season to Juventus more permanent, is versatile enough to play anywhere in midfield but seems to excel in the holding, creative role so favoured by Pirlo.