Ten months ahead of the World Cup, the defending champions look nervous and edgy.
Italy did not need Fifa's latest world ranking table to remind them that their stock has fallen - the Azzurri have just dropped a rung, fourth to fifth, which is the difference between a semi-final and a quarter-final if you want to transpose the form guide into real life - because they already had the evidence of the Confederations Cup.
There, in June, they won one match and lost two, thrashed by Brazil and beaten by Egypt.
Tomorrow, they play their first game since, a friendly away in Switzerland and, in the process of reconstructing morale, as their head coach Marcello Lippi admitted "there is no time to lose".
To correct Lippi, there is a time to lose. Twelve months ahead of a major tournament, you can lose matches: such defeats are tolerable for world champions in the name of experimentation or learning.
The Confederations Cup will not be remembered very long, and, as a former manager of Italy said not long ago: "You cannot rely on Italians' form in non-competitive matches".
The Confeds Cup was no pre-season kickabout, as tonight's match in Basel essentially is, but to judge Lippi's squad entirely on the basis of a sloppy showing against the Egyptians and a pallid one against Brazil would be too hasty.
The trouble for Italy and Lippi is that the alibis of experimentation or learning are hard to locate.
The best excuse Italy had for failing in South Africa was fatigue after a long domestic season for players who are a little long in the tooth.
Lippi has become tetchy about the age of his squad. But, like in some top Italian club sides, it is a striking feature of the team's spine: Fabio Cannavaro is 36 next month, Rino Gattuso turns 32 next year, Andrea Pirlo is 30.
Lippi challenges his inquisitors to name names when they ask about the scant new blood in his teams and his lieutenants bristle even more.
Cannavaro, the Italy captain, stated simply: "There are no more Tottis, Baggios or Del Pieros."
Actually there are. Francesco Totti is still playing; so is Alex Del Piero. But, mindful of the age of his team, Lippi won't select the latter - the 34-year-old Juventus captain - and on Monday said he will not try to force the Roma totem, Totti out of his decision to no longer to play international football.
Lippi also continues to turn a blind eye to a significant - though not a universal - lobby for a return to the Azzurri for Antonio Cassano, the nearest equivalent that a section of the public see to the improvising, creative genius that Italian football now has to a Roberto Baggio.
Like Baggio, Sampdoria's Cassano is a maverick. Unlike Baggio, he is also a hothead. He has gained the lobby on the basis of having had one good season with the Genoese club after two bad ones at Real Madrid and several colourful ones at Roma.
"The priority is to create a group of players," said Lippi at the announcement of his squad, "who will put themselves at the service of the team as a whole."
Lippi does not trust Cassano, preferring the successful formula of 2006 - a solid, rugged and spirited Azzurri.
For tonight, he has chosen some rookies, like Juve's Claudio Marchisio and Genoa's Domenico Criscito for the first time.
Cannavaro meanwhile should set a new Azzurri record with his 127th cap, overtaking Paolo Maldini.
ihawkey@thenational.ae
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ICC T20 Team of 2021
Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi
LOS ANGELES GALAXY 2 MANCHESTER UNITED 5
Galaxy: Dos Santos (79', 88')
United: Rashford (2', 20'), Fellaini (26'), Mkhitaryan (67'), Martial (72')
The%20Last%20White%20Man
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Scores in brief:
- New Medical Centre 129-5 in 17 overs bt Zayed Cricket Academy 125-6 in 20 overs.
- William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana 188-8 in 20 overs bt One Stop Tourism 184-8 in 20 overs
- Alubond Tigers 138-7 in 20 overs bt United Bank Limited 132-7 in 20 overs
- Multiplex 142-6 in 17 overs bt Xconcepts Automobili 140 all out in 20 overs
Result
Tottenhan Hotspur 2 Roma 3
Tottenham: Winks 87', Janssen 90 1'
Roma 3
D Perotti 13' (pen), C Under 70', M Tumminello 90 2"
Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
Scream%20VI
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now
Sly%20Cooper%20and%20the%20Thievius%20Raccoonus
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sucker%20Punch%20Productions%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%202%20to%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go...
Etihad flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, with fares starting from Dh2,807 return. Frequent high speed trains between Zurich and Vienna make stops at St. Anton.
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
SPECS
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Results
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1hr 32mins 03.897sec
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull-Honda) at 0.745s
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 37.383s
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) 46.466s
5.Sergio Perez (Red Bull-Honda) 52.047s
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 59.090s
7. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) 1:06.004
8. Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) 1:07.100
9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:25.692
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:26.713,