Scozia vinto in Georgia, ma ancora io sono preoccupato.
October 18, 2007 2:13 amGeorgia 2-0 Scotland.
Yep. People seem pretty relieved, and quite frankly, if it was just about any other team, I’d be right there with them enjoying that relief… and who would blame us? Assuming Italy locks down three points at the Faroe Islands’ expense, all they’ll need from their November tie with Scotland is a draw and the single point that comes with it (as Chris so succinctly explained).
Isn’t that great?
Well, forgive me for not chalking in a “done deal” next to “qualify for Euro ’08″ just yet.
Reason: While the others are busy singing the praises of Georgia, I’m sitting here worrying about the ridiculous difference in quality between an Azzurri team that’s truly motivated to win, and an Azzurri team that plays “to not lose,” and I can’t help but wonder which team will show up in Scotland in November. Unfortunately, I think it may be the latter.
Basically, (and I truly do hope that I’m wrong here) since our ragazzi need only one point from Scotland, they’ll approach the match with far less of a sense of urgency, leaving them them with a sloppy, uninspired win or draw… juuuuuuust enough to see them through. Subsequently, we (the Azzurri faithful) will have to hear the anti-Italian contingent’s comments about how our team qualified by the skin of its teeth.
Are you looking forward to that? I’m most definitely not.
The scary part is, that’s the best-case scenario if the Azzurri play without a spark (as I expect them to, given relief following Scotland’s loss). In a worst-case scenario, our Azzurri would lose miserably, thus allowing Scotland to scoop up the three points, thereby forcing Italy to stay home. In that case, i tifosi will really have to endure some punishment, although it wouldn’t be the first time that a world champion didn’t qualify for the European tournament.
So, if I had it my way, Scotland would’ve won in Georgia, forcing the Azzurri to throw everything against the Scots in November, while challenging our ragazzi to show that they’re worthy world champions. A Scotland win was the only way of ensuring Azzurri win-hunting motivation in November. Now, thanks to SuperGeorgia, we’ll probably see a team playing “to not lose.”
2 Responses to “Scozia vinto in Georgia, ma ancora io sono preoccupato.”
I completely understand what you’re saying but I have to say I was so excited to see that Georgia won over Scotland JUST for that reason. I hope Italy come out playing with the urgency to win for their sakes and for the sake of their fans. It started out as a lousy campaign (why do I feel like Italy are always slow starters?)and I actually thought that we wouldn’t qualify. Now, I’m pretty sure we will.
[...] this) if anything, his comments will probably serve to motivate the Azzurri, and if you remember yesterday’s post, you know that Italy can really use an extra motivating factor since they learned that they only [...]