[whoarethepatriot...]

This thread was originally going to be U21 thread however with the Olympics and Toulon tournament in mind i decided to change it to U23

So, some of you may know that the annual Toulon tournament will run from 20-29th May. It is being held in Toulon in France. Matches are 80 minutes not 90

The teams are Italy, Ivory Coast, Turkey, USA, France, Japan, Chile and Holland

Italy's squad has been announced;

Guarente (Atalanta); Pelle' (AZ Alkmaar); Lanzafame (Bari); Acquafresca e Canini (Cagliari); Abate, Bassi, Giovinco, Marchisio e Marzoratti (Empoli); Osvaldo (Fiorentina); Bocchetti (Frosinone); Nocerino (Juventus); De Silvestri (Lazio); Cigarini e Dessena (Parma); Dellafiore e Motta (Torino); De Ceglie e Galloppa (Siena); Coda (Udinese); Alfonso (Venezia).

(bolded players have some kind of connection to Milan)

We have been linked with Canini, so this will be a good way to see his abilities first hand. I will watch all of Italy's matches and update this thread, but i cant give guarantees on the other teams

Relevant fixtures

Wednesday, May 21 - 12:00 p.m. ET Italy vs. Ivory Coast


Friday, May 23 - 2:30 p.m. ET Italy vs. Turkey


Sunday, May 25 - 12:00 p.m. ET Italy vs. United States


Tuesday, May 27 - 12:00 p.m. ET Semifinals
Tuesday, May 27 - 2:30 p.m. ET Semifinals
Thursday, May 29 - 12:00 p.m. ET Third Place Match
Thursday, May 29 - 2:30 p.m. ET Final

Good luck to the Azzurini!

This post has been edited by whoarethepatriots: May 20 2008, 08:39 PM

[whoarethepatriot...]

I have a bit of time so i will post my comments about the Azzurini match

The players were not always playing in positions for which they play in for their clubs. De Silverstre for example was playing as a LB/LM

In the first half the team managed to pass the ball well but lacked the killer pass, Pelle wasnt helping much by being slow and fairly static. That said Cigarini did display a nice array of passes but i already knew that. The RB (Motta i believe) had a good game but the rest of the defence was kinda shaky at times. They did eventually regain composure. Canini did not play so i cant comment on him yet

The Siena midfielder (Galloppa) had a good game, nice touches and runs. Cigarini played okay not his finest game, but not the worst i have seen either. Nocerino had a good game. He is a box to box midfielder who is very energetic. Sometimes i see shades of Gattuso in him, Juve will do well to keep him. Giovinco apart from looking like Wentworth Miller (which the commentator commented on too!) is the real difference. He is pretty short and isnt that strong, but can sometimes hold off challenges. Still not a physical presence. Udinese's Candreva while not playing too long did look good.

Attack i am not too convinced with Pelle did not play too good. He is a target man but never really excelled, Lanzafame when substituted on for Osvaldo (who was practically invisible) made an immediate difference. Initally he looks slow as he is fairly tall and strong however he has deceptive pace. Some very nice touches and unlucky not to score. Juve have a potential gem in him and i can see why he is rated highly

Overall not a brilliant performance, but potential is there. They started to gel at around the 60-70 minute mark. Italy are traditionally slow starters, so thats fine

I was dissapointed not seeing Canini play, buts that mainly because we have been linked with him. Coda - penalty aside - played well. I also wanted to see Alfonso play but Bassi did good especially with the penalty stop. I also would liked to see Dessena play but Nocerino seems to have more importance and rightly so, him being captain and all. They also play in similar positions so that was a problem. Galloppa could have given way for him, but im sure Casiraghi knows what he is doing

Next up for Italy are Turkey who played very well today, it will be an interesting duel

(IMG:http://www.juventus.eoleszyce.pl/wentworth%20img/wentworth-miller.jpg) (IMG:http://www.datasport.it/immagini/Giovinco(1).jpg)

Wentowrth Miller and Giovinco, but which one is which?

This post has been edited by whoarethepatriots: May 21 2008, 09:22 PM