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Extended Clip - FIFA World Cup 2022: Could Italy Have Won It?
1k Plays3 years ago
With Argentina crowned as the champions of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Nima Tavallaey and Carlo Garganese debate and analyze how well Italy would have done had Roberto Mancini's men qualified to the tournament.
This is an extended clip from this weeks free Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts.
To listen to ALL complete episodes of The Italian Football Podcast, go to Patreon.com/TIFP and become a Patron for only $2.99 USD per month (excluding VAT).
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
Italy's World Cup Absence
00:00:06
Speaker
Italy, obviously not in this World Cup. Now that we've seen that the World Cup is over, we've seen how everyone done, how the big teams done.
Could Italy Have Won the World Cup?
00:00:15
Speaker
How well do you think Italy could have done at this World Cup if we had just qualified? As an Azzurri fan, I'm annoyed as hell because I think Italy could have won this World Cup.
00:00:26
Speaker
I really do. I know people are going to say, oh, you're biased and whatnot. But no, no, no, I really think Italy could have won this World Cup.
Italy's Mentality Challenges
00:00:35
Speaker
I look at these teams and I don't think Italy are significantly, if not stronger, then they're certainly not significantly weaker than any of them. They're on the same level as all of them. And it annoys me. I'm not saying they would have won the World Cup. I don't think Italy will ever.
00:00:53
Speaker
be able to win two tournaments in a row, because we know the Italian mentality. As soon as Italy won a tournament, they automatically think they're senators of the Roman Empire, returned home from glory, and they start to do all these charades in front of each other, and then they fail immediately and fall flat on their face. I mean, that's just part of the Italian psyche. It is what it is.
00:01:13
Speaker
And Italy is like Sven said, you've got to love it as it is. You're not going to change it. It's just never going to happen. It's Italy. And the Italian mentality is fantastic. And I love it. So I don't think Italy is ever going to win two
Tournament Overview: Lack of Dominance
00:01:28
Speaker
tournaments in a row. But I do think that they could have probably gotten to a semifinal and maybe a medal, for sure.
00:01:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. I really do think so. I mean, I watched this tournament and there was no outstanding team in this tournament. There's no team that stood out and I thought, you know what?
00:01:49
Speaker
I really fear playing those. If Italy were in this tournament, I would really fear playing them. There really wasn't. I mean, in terms of actual quality in the team, the talent, there's only one squad that I think is absolutely head and shoulders above the rest, and that is France. But even France was significantly weakened in this tournament because they had so many.
00:02:09
Speaker
so many injuries, so many, half their first team was missing before the tournament even
France and Argentina's Vulnerabilities
00:02:15
Speaker
started. And then obviously as the tournament went on, they lost, they lost Lucas Fernandez. I mean, just thinking the final, they were playing Camavinga and midfielder was playing at left back.
00:02:24
Speaker
you know, when they took off Teo. I mean, France were Teo Hernandez injury away or suspension away in the tournament from just complete disaster, basically. You know, so there was, you know, Argentina, I thought, you know, very, very beatable. We saw that, you know, they wrote their luck at times.
00:02:41
Speaker
And, you know, you know, I look at, I look all round. I mean, I think Holland got to the quarter finals and I think they're a very, very poor team. Uh, Holland, uh, you know, Brazil team who were brilliant. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Brazil.
00:02:56
Speaker
Yeah, Brazil, Brazil brilliant team poorly coached.
Brazil's Weaknesses
00:03:00
Speaker
Yeah, but even but even Brazil, Brazil beatable because you know, even if you break down Brazil, you know, they they're fullbacks are, they're two fullbacks of Danilo and Alexandra, two players that Juventus fans have been pulling their hair over the last two years because they offer nothing going forward. They've got, they've got Tottenham reserve, a Tottenham reserve playing at the striker.
00:03:24
Speaker
You know, I mean, you know, and then they lost Gabriel Jesus. Yeah, but we have to. So there are weaknesses. Well, we have to be honest here as to calling Rishalis on a top number reserve. You have to put an asterisk and that asterisk is of Antonio Conte. And Antonio Conte wouldn't have mattered if Rishalis on it scored eight goals, three goals in the World Cup final had won it. He'd still be benched for Kulosevski because that's just content. Like it's just for sure.
00:03:47
Speaker
I love him. I love the man. I know, but rate him, but I mean, you know, judge him as an actual player. He's not a top player. I mean, he's not a top player. I mean, even if you look at him at Everton, you know, look at, I'm looking at his stats now. He scored 10 goals last season for Everton. He scored seven goals the season before, and the most he's ever scored is 13 in a season, you know, and in five years.
00:04:09
Speaker
in the Premier League. Thirteen was the most he's ever scored. Five, thirteen, thirteen, seven, ten. This isn't a top player, and that's their starting striker for Brazil.
England's Conservative Approach
00:04:19
Speaker
Again, I think Brazil beatable team. There's lots of good teams in this tournament, but I don't think there's anyone that's really outstanding to be honest with me. I think England, very, very solid team.
00:04:32
Speaker
not sure about their coach, and they're very too conservative.
Italy's Midfield Strengths
00:04:36
Speaker
You know, and again, I look at Italy's midfield, they're center midfield, and I think, you know, with the exception of Spain, Italy are dominating the midfield against every team they play against. Croatia, okay, Croatia got that outstanding midfield, but Croatia have got absolutely nothing at all in an attack, completely impotent in attack. They just don't, they just don't hurt teams going forward at all. So, you know, I think, yeah, I think Italy could have done well
Frustration Over Italy's Absence
00:04:58
Speaker
on it. That, that is frustrating. It's really, really frustrating, because I think we've got
00:05:02
Speaker
We've got the quality and we could have done, we definitely could have done really well here.