RIO DE JANEIRO — Italy playmaker Andrea Pirlo put on a performance worthy of his 100th appearance for his country, while reminding Brazilian fans what they have been missing.
His free-kick after 27 minutes and a 78th-minute strike from Mario Balotelli, either side of Javier Hernandez’s 34th-minute penalty, gave Italy a 2-1 win over Mexico in their opening Group A match on Sunday (yesterday morning, Singapore time) in Rio de Janeiro.
But the notoriously difficult to please Maracana crowd was united in its adulation of the 34-year-old, appreciating the sort of player their own country has struggled to produce and even shunned.
Pirlo’s role as a deep-lying playmaker has now become an alien concept in Brazil, where any midfielder who sits just in front of the defence is expected to perform a purely destructive role, whose primary purpose is to snuff out danger and stop anything that moves, by fair means or foul.
Former Brazil coach Mano Menezes was more adventurous, but after he was replaced by Luiz Felipe Scolari in November, there was a quick return to the old approach.
“I don’t go with this story that the defensive midfielders have to go forward all the time and try and score goals,” Scolari said shortly after taking over. “What we have to do is not concede goals. I don’t want my central defenders to be left in one-to-one situations, I’m not going to let it happen.”
While Scolari praised his side after the 3-0 win over Japan in their opening Group A match on Saturday, it would be interesting to see what he makes of the Italians.
Although Daniele De Rossi was the only player in Italy’s five-man midfield considered a tackling specialist, they more than compensated by the number of openings created, with Pirlo’s incisive passing and vision orchestrating matters.
“To look up and see a player like him in front of you is all you can ask for as a defender,” said defender Giorgio Chiellini. “You know when you give him the ball that he’s going to get the team moving forward. He’s like the oil in our engine.”
Meanwhile, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has criticised his side’s profligacy in their 2-1 win over Uruguay in Group B, and wants an improved showing if they are to remain on track for a first Confederations Cup title.
Despite having 78 per cent of possession, Spain only scored twice from Pedro Rodriguez and Roberto Soldado, and an 88th minute free-kick from Luis Suarez for Uruguay ensured a nervy ending for the reigning world and European champions in Recife.
“At the end of the 90 minutes we were happy to hear the final whistle,” said del Bosque.
“We should have scored more and maybe we were tired and also as a result of winning 2-0, that affects the players, they start to slow down and that is why we suffered at the end.” REUTERS
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, "script", "facebook-jssdk"));
No comments:
Post a Comment