Italy: Marchisio and Criscito debut



Claudio Marchisio and Domenico Criscito are the new faces for Italy’s friendly with Switzerland, but Marcello Lippi makes few other changes.

The Coach had commented he would not be revolutionising the squad even after the Confederations Cup debacle.

He made only two adjustments to his picks for the test against Switzerland on Wednesday night, giving Criscito and Marchisio their maiden senior calls.

Both are Under-21 international regulars and grew up in the Juventus youth academy, though defender Criscito is now at Genoa.

Davide Santon of Inter and Cagliari goalkeeper Federico Marchetti keep their spots in the side, but Bayern Munich outcast Luca Toni is notable by his absence.

The Azzurri will meet up at the Coverciano training ground on Monday morning and fly out to Basle for the match the next day.

Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Marchetti (Cagliari)

Defenders: Bocchetti (Genoa), Cannavaro (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Criscito (Genoa), Grosso (Olympique Lyon), Santon (Inter), Zambrotta (Milan)

Midfielders: Camoranesi (Juventus), D'Agostino (Udinese), Marchisio (Juventus), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pepe (Udinese), Pirlo (Milan)

Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Iaquinta (Juventus), Quagliarella (Napoli), Rossi (Villarreal)

http://www.football-italia.net/aug8h.html

Both of those players deserve their spots. It's time that they came in, both had very good years last year. I have believed for a long time that Marchisio will be an Azzurri regular in the near future and alongside De Rossi and Aquilani I think he has a place.

Criscito is one who has been threatening to be a future great defender for some time. He flopped at Juve when he was thrown in but now was in the top three Serie A defenders last year, looks stronger and a bit nastier but he is somewhere between a central defender and a left back, perfect for Genoa's back three, but needs to prove he can play as a central defender at a high level.

Central midfield looks very weak.

It's the strongest area of the team when everyone is fit, this is just a friendly.

Let's hope those strikers actually score some goals. Other than Iaquinta and Rossi, the others all seem to be rather ineffective for the Azzuri.

International Friendly - 12/8/09 (19.45 UK)

Switzerland 0 - 0 Italy

St Jakob Stadium, Basel

Claudio Marchisio and Domenico Criscito made their debut, but Italy failed to break the deadlock in a 0-0 friendly with Switzerland.

This was the Azzurri's first game since the Confederations Cup debacle and Marcello Lippi introduced two new faces - Claudio Marchisio and Domenico Criscito. It was also an historic game, as Fabio Cannavaro marked his 127th cap, overtaking Paolo Maldini's all-time record.

There was a minute's silence for Espanyol captain Dani Jarque, who died this week aged 26 from heart failure after a training session at the Coverciano ground in Italy.

The Azzurri were immediately more aggressive with Giuseppe Rossi threading through for a hesitant Alberto Gilardino's shot at the goalkeeper. Switzerland threatened from a corner, but Gianluca Zambrotta charged down Udinese midfielder Gokhan Inler's strike.

Italy had a goal disallowed in chaotic circumstances. Rossi's backheel allowed Zambrotta to cross for a towering Criscito header, denied by a great one-handed save and then Gilardino was just offside as he bundled the loose ball over the line.

Moments later Gilardino's chip was over the on-rushing goalkeeper and the bar. 30 seconds after that Marchisio sprung the offside trap and was clear on goal, but turned it past the far post with the inside of his right foot.

Rossi set up Angelo Palombo on the edge of the box, but he hesitated and was crowded out when he really should've hit it first time. Zambrotta drilled just wide with his left after skipping past his former teammate Philippe Senderos.

Mauro Camoranesi tried to carry on, but was forced to limp off with a left ankle problem after half an hour to make way for Udinese's Simone Pepe.

Switzerland had a great chance on 33 minutes when Giorgio Chiellini was caught out by N'Kufo, who pulled back for Barnetta to smack the crossbar. Inler thumped a screamer from almost 30 metres that Gigi Buffon did well to smother.

Gila almost intercepted a poor Senderos header back to his goalkeeper and Zambrotta had a shot from distance. In first half stoppages, Gilardino flung himself at a Pepe cross from the right, but was smothered at the near post.

Lippi made changes at the break, introducing Vincenzo Iaquinta and Davide Santon for Gilardino and Zambrotta. Switzerland threatened again with a touched on free kick for Inler to blast inches over the bar.

Barnetta was at full stretch to turn wide from an intelligent N'Kufo cutback past Chiellini, while at the other end Pepe was crowded out by red shirts in the box. Chiellini had to nod a cross off N'Kufo's head as Switzerland continually went on the counter.

Iaquinta also pounced on a defensive error, poking Marchisio's through ball wide after anticipating Senderos. Fabio Quagliarella and Gaetano D'Agostino replaced Pirlo and Rossi. The Napoli striker livened things up a bit and forced Benaglio into a tricky intervention.

Switzerland Coach Otto Hitzfeld made three changes, while Fabio Grosso came on for debutant Criscito. One of the substitutes, Hakan Yakin, curled a free kick over with his left foot.

There was controversy 10 minutes from time, as Iaquinta hooked a long ball over the top and was clear on goal, but was incorrectly flagged offside.

Pepe hit the side-netting from a corner to the back post, but Switzerland had an excellent chance with 120 seconds left on the clock. Yakin flicked on to send Derdiyok running down the right flank and Buffon got his fingertips to slow down the angled drive enough for his defence to clear.

In stoppages Italy evened out the score in terms of opportunities. Santon crossed low for Quagliarella to come sliding in at the near post, the ball turned out by a combination of Benaglio and upright. From the following corner, Quagliarella forced another save.

Switzerland: Benaglio; Degen (Schwegler 69), Senderos, Grighting, Magnin (Ziegler 86); Padalino (Derdiyok 83), Huggel, Inler, Barnetta (Vonlanthen 79); Frei (Streller 69), N'Kufo (Hakan Yakin 69)

Italy: Buffon; Zambrotta (Santon 46), Cannavaro, Chiellini, Criscito (Grosso 73); Camoranesi (Pepe 31), Pirlo (D'Agostino 61), Palombo, Marchisio; Gilardino (Iaquinta 46), Rossi (Quagliarella 61)

Ref: Kirchner (Ger)

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Not a boring 0-0 and it was nice to see some new faces, but I am glad I didn't watch the full match. Italy don't seem to have it right yet up front. Rossi seems to have a shirt but it is between Gilardino, Iaquinta and Pazzini imo who should have the central striker jersey. Still a lack of sharpness from both teams evident.