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ITALY GRAB BRONZE

Italy managed to finish third in the Confederations cup after managing to beat Uruguay in a penalty shootout. Manager Cesare Prandelli said after the match that he is extremely happy at the way the competition has turned out for the Italians. Italy came into the tournament on the back of the final appearance at the Euro 2012 in which they were defeated 4-0 by Spain. The recent successes for the national team comes from the back of disappointing performances at the previous World Cup.

Prandelli has been given the task of rejuvenating the national team, and he is delighted with the way the tournament helped his young players get some experience. Italy and Uruguay managed a 2-2 draw on the night. Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon performed his heroics on the night to help Italy win the match on penalty shootouts. Even though Buffon was criticised heavily after the loss to Spain, he showed why he is still regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world by returning to form.

Prandelli praised his goalkeeper by saying that Buffon is a great goalkeeper irrespective of what people say about him. He also praised his entire team by saying that it was commendable for them to keep going in the month of June as the season draws close.

“We showed great character and after a long season the players kept giving. We deserved this result with some good performances and we became more consistent as the tournament went on. It was tough but we stayed in the game, and then penalties are a lottery. In Italy, people say so many ridiculous things. Penalties can be saved or not, but the problem is that people assume it’s easy to save a spot-kick,” said Prandelli.

Italy will now focus completing the job in the World Cup qualifying.

TOP 10 DREAMS

Roma and Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi has said that it would be a pleasure for him to reach the list of top 10 goal scorers for the Italian national team. The midfielder scored his 14th goal for the national team in the recent 2-2 draw with Brazil in a friendly match. He has achieved this landmark in 84 matches for the national team. De Rossi is regarded as one of the finest midfielders of his generation. He is just nine goals short off getting into the top 10 list.

Italy dominated the match against Brazil from the start, but they were extremely disappointed to see the South American team get lucky with two goals in the first half. However, a strong performance from the Italians saw them manage to get the equaliser with De Rossi scoring one of the goals. De Rossi has recalled how he is yet to score for his club team – Roma – despite finding the back of the net for the Italian team on four occasions already this season.

As a result of this goal, De Rossi has moved level with the former great players like Gianni Rivera and  Giovanni Ferrari. Luigi Riva is the highest scorer for the Italian national team with 35 goals to his name.

“My Italy sides have never played as well as that against Brazil. We did well in the first half too despite the fact that we went in at the break 2-0 down. My goal? I’ve scored four goals for the national side this season and none for Roma yet. It would be an honour for me to become one of the top scorers in the history of my country,” said De Rossi after the match. This draw means that Italy have not managed a victory in the last three matches.