ItalyItaly - National football team
The Italian national football team represents Italy in international football competition and is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC). 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 the history of the World Cup having won four titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil. To this tally they can add one European championship (1968), one Olympic football tournament (1936) and two (defunct) Central European International Cups.
The traditional colour of the national team (as well as all Italian teams and athletes) is azure blue[3] (azzurro, in Italian), due to the "Azzurro Savoia" (Savoy Blue), the colour traditionally linked to the royal dynasty which unified Italy in 1861, and maintained in the official standard of the President of the Italian Republic.
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After the Italian triumph in the World Cup, Lippi announced his resignation.[25] 1994 World Cup star Roberto Donadoni was announced the new coach of the Azzurri on 13 July. Italy played in the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying Group B, along with France. Italy won the group, with France being the runner-up.[26] On 14 February 2007, FIFA ranked Italy 1st in the FIFA World Rankings, with a total of 1488 points, 37 points ahead of second ranked Argentina. This moved them up one from their previous rank, 2nd. The Azzurri had not received such an honour since 1993.[27]
In Euro 2008, the Azzurri got off to a poor start, losing 0–3 to the Netherlands. The following game against Romania ended with 1–1, with a goal by Christian Panucci that came only a minute after Romania's Adrian Mutu capitalized on a mistake by Gianluca Zambrotta to give Romania the lead. The result was preserved by Gianluigi Buffon who saved a penalty kick from Mutu in the 80th minute.
The final game against France, a rematch of the 2006 World Cup Final, was won with a 2–0 victory. Andrea Pirlo scored from the penalty spot and a free kick by Daniele De Rossi took a wild deflection resulting Italy's second goal. Romania, entering the day a point ahead of the Italians in Group C, lost to the Netherlands 2–0, allowing Italy to pass into the quarterfinals against eventual champion Spain, where they lost 4–2 on penalties. Within a week after the game, Roberto Donadoni's contract was terminated and Marcello Lippi was rehired as coach.[28]
By virtue of winning the World Cup, Italy qualified for the Confederations Cup, held in South Africa in June 2009. They won their opening match, against United States, 3–1, but defeats to Egypt (1–0) and Brazil (3–0) meant that they finished third in the group on goals scored, and were eliminated. In October 2009, Italy qualified for the 2010 World Cup South Africa after drawing with Republic of Ireland 2-2. On 4th December 2009, the draw for the 2010 world cup was made, Italy was in Group F alongside Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia..
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New ZealandNew Zealand - National football team
The New Zealand national football team, nicknamed the All Whites, is the national association football team of New Zealand and is governed by New Zealand Football (NZF). The team plays in an all-white strip, hence its nickname.
The All Whites played in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and on 14 November 2009 qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Because of the lack of a high-quality domestic league, most top New Zealand footballers play in the leagues of Europe, in the United States, or in the Australasian A-League.
New Zealand formerly battled Australia for top honours in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).
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This is no longer the case as Australia now plays in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), leaving New Zealand as the only seeded team in the OFC. New Zealand has won the OFC Nations Cup four times - in 1973, 1998, 2002 and 2008. Despite its large player numbers, football in New Zealand struggles to compete with other sports such as rugby union, rugby league and cricket, financially and for media exposure. The performance of the national team is further hindered by a relatively young semi-professional domestic league, the New Zealand Football Championship having been established in 2004. New Zealand has one professional team, Wellington Phoenix, which competes in the Australian A-League.
Since the 1990s, U.S. college soccer has played a significant role in the development of New Zealand players. This influence began when former Scotland international Bobby Clark returned to the U.S. after his 1994–96 stint as All Whites head coach to take the head coaching job at Stanford University (he now holds the same position at Notre Dame). Clark began recruiting in New Zealand, and current All Whites Ryan Nelsen and Simon Elliott played for him at Stanford. The trend that Clark started has continued to the present; more than two dozen New Zealanders are now playing for NCAA Division I men's programs in the U.S.[1] A common next step in these players' career paths is a stint in Major League Soccer; ESPNsoccernet journalist Brent Latham speculated in a March 2010 story that the All Whites' 2010 FIFA World Cup squad could have more MLS players than the U.S. squad.[1][2] However, Latham's speculation did not prove true, as only one MLS player made the New Zealand squad for the World Cup.
The best known current players are Blackburn Rovers defender Nelsen, former Roda JC defender Ivan Vicelich, Gold Coast United striker Shane Smeltz, Middlesbrough striker Chris Killen and Plymouth Argyle striker Rory Fallon. Several young players have shown promise in breaking through into the senior side, including Barnet FC midfielder Chris James, Newcastle Jets midfielder Jeremy Brockie, Shrewsbury Town striker Kris Bright and West Bromwich Albion striker Chris Wood..
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