Italy have gone into the World Cup with mixed form; although they won against England in their first game, they have drawn six, won three and lost two of their last 11 games. PHOTO: AFP
Italy look to reach the World Cup last 16 with victory over giant-killers Costa Rica on Friday but the four-time champions are wary of Recife’s tropical conditions.
Tough-tackling Roma midfielder Daniele de Rossi has underlined Costa Rica’s likely advantage in the sweltering conditions in Recife, where he said Italy were ‘dying from the heat’ last year during the Confederations Cup.
Having made a blistering start to what is only their fourth World Cup campaign with a shock 3-1 win over Uruguay, the ‘Ticos’ would be forgiven for keeping the pace high from kick-off as they go in search of another upset.
“Italy have great players like [Mario] Balotelli and [Andrea] Pirlo, who controls all of their play, and we have a lot of respect for them,” said FC Copenhagen midfielder Christian Bolanos.
“But we’ll hope to benefit from the heavy climate. We are used to playing in those kinds of temperatures.”
Italy, who crashed out at the group stage in 2010, launched their bid for a record-equalling fifth title with a crucial 2-1 win over England in Manaus last week in their Group D opener.
But the four-time champions were given notice following Costa Rica’s shock win over 2010 semi-finalists Uruguay that a match they would have been widely expected to dominate may be more difficult than first imagined.
“They’ll be fired up after their win,” said De Rossi. “If they had lost 4-0 then we might have underestimated them, but now there’s no chance of that.”
However, De Rossi added, “I hope, and I’m sure, we can beat Costa Rica and secure our ticket to the second round.”
Meanwhile, Costa Rica midfielder Jose Miguel Cubero said his team have no intention of playing for a draw.
“When you play for a draw in football, you usually end up losing,” said Cubero. “We’re going for the win against Italy.
“But we will have to cut out the mistakes that we made, especially in the first half, against Uruguay.”
Swiss seize underdogs tag for France clash
Switzerland are trying to pile the pressure on France by claiming the underdog tag for the Alpine neighbours’ World Cup Group E clash in Salvador on Friday.
Both teams won their openers, with France topping the table after a convincing 3-0 win over Honduras, while the Swiss secured a last-gasp victory over Ecuador.
Super-sub Haris Seferovic netted in the last minute of injury time to claim a 2-1 come-back victory after the Swiss had fallen behind to Enner Valencia’s first-half header.
Sixth-placed Switzerland are 11 places higher than the French according to Fifa’s rankings, but insist those standings mean nothing.
“Favourites? You like that word in France, eh?,” said Swiss central defender Steve von Bergen.
“It is France who are the favourites.”
On the other hand, Ecuador and Honduras coaches Reinaldo Rueda and Luis Suarez will both face their old sides as the two group outsiders look to get their first points of the World Cup when they meet in Curitiba on Friday.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2014.
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