Team takes to game of short passes in prep to trouncing Costa Rica on way to R16
Call it tik-Italia. Italy has taken Spain’s famed tiki-taka system and revamped it to deal with Brazil’s heat and humidity. The Azzurri mesmerised England by completing an astounding 93.2 per cent of their passes during a 2-1 win on Saturday according to data company Opta Sports — the highest accuracy recorded in a World Cup match since the statistic began to be recorded in 1966. The previous record belonged to Denmark at 92.7 per cent from a 6-1 win over Uruguay in 1986, according to Opta.
The FIFA, however, gave Italy an 89 per cent passing completion. For long stretches, Italy’s midfielders simply passed the ball back and forth between themselves. It was a strategic decision to deal with stifling conditions at the tournament’s Amazonian venue of Manaus.
Expect more of it on Friday when the Azzurri face Costa Rica in Recife, where kickoff could come under a torrid sun at 1 pm local time.
“(Coach) Prandelli invented our style of play by adapting to our characteristics,” midfielder Daniele De Rossi explained on Tuesday. “We don’t have players that make runs for 40 or 50 meters (yards) without touching the ball. We get the ball to our most skillful players without squeezing the energy out of them.
“It’s very hot and our way of playing takes less effort,” De Rossi added. “I’ve seen squads that after a half hour are running at 2 kilometers per hour.”
No wonder Prandelli used five midfielders against England in a 4-1-4-1 formation.
De Rossi lined up just in front of the defense, and wingers Antonio Candreva and Claudio Marchisio surrounded central midfielders Marco Verratti and Andrea Pirlo.
By the time Italy scored the opening goal Saturday, England didn’t know how to react.
On a corner, Candreva made a short pass to Verratti who slipped the ball across the pitch toward Pirlo, who stepped over it to fool the defense and let Marchisio find the target from beyond the area.
“We’ve had a strong midfield for many years now and this one is especially rich with players who have different qualities and complement each other,” De Rossi said.
Pirlo is the player with the most touches (117) and passes (108) so far at the World Cup, according to Opta. He completed 103 passes with only five failed deliveries against England. De Rossi completed 99 passes, Verratti had 59 and all 26 passes from substitute Thiago Motta reached their destination in his 33 minutes of action.
“Few squads can match the quality we have in the middle of the pitch,” Prandelli said.
The numbers approach what Barcelona achieved in the 2011 Club World Cup final won 4-0 over Brazilian side Santos, when Xavi Hernandez completed 102 of 103 passes and Andres Iniesta a perfect 101 of 101.
“It’s one of the best things football has offered up in recent years,” De Rossi said of tiki-taka. “But we didn’t beat England just because of our midfield. The entire squad worked well together.” Still, Prandelli would like to see some changes against Costa Rica.
“We used Pirlo, De Rossi and Verratti together to gain numerical advantages,” he said. “But we need to improve our ability to move the ball forward vertically.” alarm bell
Costa Rica’s 3-1 impressive win over Uruguay was one of the biggest surprises in the opening matches of the World Cup. It certainly got Italy’s attention.
“That alarm bell could be an advantage for us,” De Rossi said. “It should help us enter prepared like we did against England. If they had lost 3-0 or 4-0 to Uruguay maybe we wouldn’t. But now I’m sure that won’t happen.”
Costa Rica entered the World Cup ranked 28th and was expected to be the doormat squad in Group D alongside three former champions that have accounted for seven titles between them — four for Italy (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), two for Uruguay (1930, 1950) and one for England (1966).
“It’s a squad that surprised everyone,” De Rossi added. “Nobody expected them to beat a big team like Uruguay so handily.”
Costa Rica and Italy each have three points but the central American side tops the group on goal differential. A win for either Italy or Costa Rica would just about assure a spot in the next round.
Italy will be wary of Costa Rica forward Joel Campbell, the 21-year-old who scored one goal and set up another against Uruguay. “I faced Campbell with Olympiakos in the Champions league and he already impressed me then,” Italy goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu said.
While Sirigu performed admirably against England, he could return to the bench with captain Gianluigi Buffon working his way back from left ankle and knee injuries.
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli will also probably make a change in defense, with Giorgio Chiellini moving over from left back to take over for Gabriel Peletta in the center and Ignazio Abate coming on at fullback. In midfield, Brazilian-born Thiago Motta could replace De Rossi, who had neck pain after the England game. The match will kick off at 1 pm local time and depending on the weather that could mean playing under a scorching sun.
“last year we played Japan in Recife at 9 pm and we were dying,” De Rossi said, recalling how the Azzurri struggled to overturn a two-goal deficit and beat Japan 4-3 in a wild Confederations Cup match. Costa Rica is “more accustomed to this climate but I think both squads would accept time outs.”
Italy was upset that time outs were not invoked during the England game in Manaus, although FIFA explained that the heat level wasn’t high enough to warrant breaks. The Italians combatted the heat in Amazon jungle city by relying on a high-percentage passing strategy and minimal running. Expect more of the same against Costa Rica.