Do never take a WC into account... this is the mother of defending competitions!! (The reason is simple; it's what every footballer would kill his own mother for - apart from the Italians - and it's only played once in 4 years... The way to get it does not matter AT F@CKING ALL)
lets put it this way, italy would not have won the world cup if lippi wasnt coach. but it's not just because of lippi, the squad was of very high quality and i had no doubt they would make their mark this year (i knew they had it in them to make semis, but i couldnt belive they made it all the way). look at italy on an indivicual basis: best GK in the world, even tho the defence was having troubles for 2 years leading up tot he world cup it proovee once again no one defends as well as italy, midfield has one of the best playmaking forwards in totti, and we had toni (the most in form striker in the world with 31 goals). we italy had this year which it dint have in previous years was that extra creativity with pirlo.
lets put it this way, italy would not have won the world cup if lippi wasnt coach. but it's not just because of lippi, the squad was of very high quality and i had no doubt they would make their mark this year (i knew they had it in them to make semis, but i couldnt belive they made it all the way). look at italy on an indivicual basis: best GK in the world, even tho the defence was having troubles for 2 years leading up tot he world cup it proovee once again no one defends as well as italy, midfield has one of the best playmaking forwards in totti, and we had toni (the most in form striker in the world with 31 goals). we italy had this year which it dint have in previous years was that extra creativity with pirlo.