(France. Again. - The Euro 2008 Draw)

The Euro 2008 draw was held today, and the last thing that I expected to happen did.

Specifically, our Azzurri must face France. Again. Anyway, here’s Italy’s group:

Group C

• Holland
• Italy
• Romania
• France

It’s already widely being called “The Group of Death,” and for once, I’m not disagreeing. Three major European sides (and one side known for playing like a major European side from time to time) have been drawn into what may be the tournament’s most difficult group.

Of course, the main story here is that the paths of Italy and France have crossed yet again, so let’s get that out of the way right now: This is a fantastic opportunity. Yes, you read that correctly. Although I am not looking forward to hearing about Domenech’s ridiculous comments, and while I understand that France’s very presence greatly complicates getting through to the next stage, I am looking at the June 21st match with France in particular as a chance to put some debates to bed.

Let me explain: Immediately following the 2006 World Cup, some contended that Italy did not deserve to win the tournament. On top of that, some actually argued that France was the better team in the final match, implying that the title was somehow stolen from Les Bleus. It seemed to be fate then, that placed Italy in France’s Euro 2008 qualifying group, which warranted a match in September, 2006 - right on the heels of the Azzurri’s victory in Germany.

Of course, Italy lost in Paris to a French team with something to prove - in front of 78,000 screaming Parisians. On the surface, that loss seemed to give credibility to the claims that France was the better team (although a look at Italy’s track record of not playing at its best until their backs are against the wall paints a more complete picture), and served to give the French a warm and fuzzy feeling. Subsequently, with a bit more motivation behind them, Italy welcomed France to Milan for a 2007 rematch which ended up in a bad-blooded, scoreless draw.

Had Italy emerged victorious from the tie in Milan, it would have gone far in silencing the critics who still maintain that France is the better team… but when an under-pressure France put 10 men behind the ball, the fate of the match was sealed. That leads us to today, with a June 21st meeting set - and another chance to prove that Azzurri are superior to Bleus - another fantastic opportunity to show the rest of Europe what Azzurri tifosi already know.

Bbbb…but what about the other two teams?

Romania. In four words: This won’t be easy. As if it wasn’t enough to have drawn France, Italy must face the nation of Gheorghe Hagi, a historically on-and-off force that seems to be set to “on” right… about… now. With a bunch of players from the Romanian league, it may be tempting to overlook Romania, but Chivu (from Inter) and Mutu (from Fiorentina) have led their country to the very top of their qualifying group. If that’s not some street cred, I don’t know what is.

Holland. (a.k.a. The Netherlands, a.k.a. The Oranje) Holy damn, can these guys ever pass! The last time Italy played them, it was in a friendly under Lippi which the Azzurri won 3-1, but don’t get a false sense of security from that result; Holland has improved since the last World Cup, and the squad is experienced, as always. With van Nistelrooy and Seedorf heading up their front line and midfield, respectively, they play a dangerously technical game to rival that of the Azzurri. The fact that Italy open their campaign against Holland makes them that much more dangerous (given the Italian tradition of being a little too relaxed until the situation is dire).

The Coaches Respond

To get a feel for the different responses to the draw, I’ve collected some of the comments made by Group C coaches… and much to my surprise, Domenech actually made sense this time:

Holland’s Coach, Marco van Basten

You can say we have a really heavy group. We have to play against the World Cup Finalists Italy and France. These are the two big countries. They have lots of experience, good players, so we have a really hard group.

In the last World Cup we had a ‘group of death’ and I am very curious what they will call this one. We start against Italy, then France and then Romania so it will be a tough group for us.

Romania’s Coach, Victor Piturca

(Joking) It is a very nice and easy group, with the world champions, the World Cup runners-up and Holland who we know very well.

We hope it will be an extraordinary experience for us and why shouldn’t we be one of the two teams to qualify?

France’s Coach, Raymond Domenech

One certainly can’t be happy in a group like that, but the draw is done now and we have to get used to it.

It is a difficult group with the final game anything but simple against Italy. In fact, it could even be irrelevant, as we have to ensure Romania and Holland don’t knock us out first.

We all know the quality of the Dutch, but be careful of Romania, as they finished ahead of Holland in qualification.

Italy’s Coach, Roberto Donadoni

I was hoping for a little more good luck, but that is fine.

I had a feeling it was going to be a very difficult group and it is just the latest challenge that we must face with a relaxed state of mind. There are more worrying things in life than football.

Categories: Azzurri, Euro 2008