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Italy National Football Team

Head coach: Roberto Donadoni
Captain: Fabio Cannavaro
Top scorer: Luigi Riva
FIFA ranking: 1

The Italian national football team (Nazionale italiana di Calcio) is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) and represents Italy in international football competition. They are the current World Champions, having won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Italy is among the top teams in international football and the second most successful national team in World Cup play, having won four World Cups (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil. To this tally they can add one European championship (1968), and one Olympic Gold Medal (1936).

The traditional colour of the national team (as well as of all Italian teams and athletes except in motor sports) is light blue (azzurro, in Italian), and therefore national team members are nicknamed Azzurri.

World Cup and European Championship runners-up (1984-2004)

For twenty-four years following the 1982 triumph, the Azzurri figured prominently on the world stage but did not win another tournament. Italy failed to qualify for the 1984 European Championship and were knocked out in the Round of 16 of the 1986 World Cup by France. 1988 saw them reach the semi-finals of the European Championship, where they were defeated 2-0 by USSR.

Italy hosted the World Cup for the second time in 1990. The Italian attack featured forwards Salvatore Schillaci and a young Roberto Baggio. Despite being favourites to win and not conceding a goal during five matches, Italy was knocked-out in the semi-final by defending World Champion Argentina, losing 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw after extra time; Aldo Serena missed the final penalty kick (with Roberto Donadoni having earlier had his penalty saved). Italy went on to defeat England 2-1 in the third place match. Italy then failed to qualify for the 1992 European Championship.

In the 1994 World Cup, Italy started slowly but reached the final. They lost the opening match against Ireland 0-1, this being the only match Italy would lose (not counting games lost after shootout) over the span of three World Cup finals from 1990 to 1998, but advanced from Group E based on goals scored among the four teams tied on points. In the Round of 16, Italy was down 0-1 late against Nigeria, but Roberto Baggio equalized in the 89th minute and scored the go-ahead goal in extra time. Baggio scored another late goal against Spain in the quarter-final to seal a 2-1 win and two goals against Bulgaria in the semi-final for another 2-1 win. In the final, Italy and Brazil played 120 minutes of scoreless football, taking the match to penalty shootout. Italy lost the subsequent shootout 3-2 after Baggio missed the final penalty kick of the match, shooting over the crossbar.

Italy didn't progress beyond the group stage during the finals of Euro 96. Again, Gianfranco Zola failed to convert a decisive penalty against Germany, who eventually won the tournament. Then, during the qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the Azzurri beat England in Wembley for the second time, 1-0 with a goal by Zola. In the final tournament, Italy found themselves in another critical shootout, for the third World Cup in a row. The Italian side, where Del Piero and Baggio renewed the controversial staffetta (relay) between Mazzola and Rivera from 1970, held to a 0-0 draw the eventual World Champions and host team France after extra time in the quarter-finals, but lost 4-3 in the shootout. With two goals scored in this tournament, Roberto Baggio is still the only Italian player who scored in three different FIFA World Cup editions.

In Euro 2000, another shootout was this time to favour Italy, in the semi-final against co-host nation, Netherlands. Italian goalkeeper Francesco Toldo saved one penalty during the match and two during the shootout, while the Dutch players missed one other penalty during the match and one during the shootout with a rate of one penalty scored out of six attempts. Emerging football star Francesco Totti scored his penalty with a cucchiaio (spoon) chip. Italy finished the tournament as runners-up, losing the final 2-1 against France (to a golden goal in extra time), after conceding les Bleus' equalizing goal just 30 seconds before the end of injury time (94'). After the defeat, coach Dino Zoff resigned after being clamorously criticized by A.C. Milan president and politician Silvio Berlusconi.

In the 2002 World Cup co-host country South Korea knocked out Italy in the Round of 16, reviving the 1966 nightmare. The match was marked by controversy, as referee Byron Moreno gave Francesco Totti a second yellow card in extra time for an alleged dive, and disallowed an Italian goal. Replays seemed to indicate both that the card was unfounded and the goal was good, but the decisions stood and South Korea won 2-1, again with a golden goal in extra time.

A three-way tie in the group stage of the 2004 European Championship left Italy as the "odd man out", and they failed to qualify for the quarter-finals, finishing behind Denmark and Sweden on the basis of number of goals scored in matches among the tied teams. The winning goal scored during stoppage time against Bulgaria by Cassano resulted useless, leaving the Italian striker in tears at the end of the game.

Italy Team
No.	NAME	POS	Height	Weight	Age
1	Gianluigi Buffon	G	6-3	203	29
12	Christian Abbiati	G	6-3	203	29
14	Marco Amelia	G	6-2	172	25
-	Alessandro Gamberini	D	6-1	172	25
3	Max Tonetto	D	5-9	148	32
5	Fabio Cannavaro	D	5-9	165	33
6	Andrea Barzagli	D	6-1	174	26
13	Manuel Pasqual	D	5-10	157	25
22	Massimo Oddo	D	5-11	168	31
23	Marco Materazzi	D	6-4	203	33
4	Massimo Ambrosini	M	5-11	148	30
8	Gennaro Gattuso	M	5-10	179	29
10	Daniele De Rossi	M	6-0	172	23
16	Aimo Diana	M	5-11	159	29
19	Gianluca Zambrotta	M	5-11	174	30
20	Simone Perrotta	M	6-0	157	29
21	Andrea Pirlo	M	5-10	161	28
7	Alessandro Del Piero	S	5-8	161	32
9	Filippo Inzaghi	S	5-10	157	33
11	Tommaso Rocchi	S	5-10	157	29
15	Antonio Di Natale	S	5-10	172	30
18	Christiano Lucarelli	S	6-2	187	31
27	Fabio Quagliarella	S	5-11	174	24

Group B
	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD	P
France	7	6	0	1	15	2	13	18
Italy	7	5	1	1	13	6	7	16
Scotland	7	5	0	2	13	6	7	15
Ukraine	6	4	0	2	8	6	2	12
Lithuania	7	2	1	4	4	7	-3	7
Georgia	8	2	0	6	13	14	-1	6
Faroe Islands	8	0	0	8	2	27	-25	0