By Alberto Cagliano
Rome - The ability to stick together when things get serious, added to the country's proneness to believe in miracles, are Italy's best cards as the Azzurri squad look to retain their title at the 2010 World Cup.
In 2006, the fourth lifting of the trophy after a penalty shootout with France was the triumph of what coach Marcello Lippi likes to call "the spirit of the group."
Indeed, it took a solid and determined bunch to win the title without a single player comparable to Italian stars of the past such as Roberto Baggio or the 1982 world champion Paolo Rossi.
As a group, however, Italy's 2006 squad were deadly.
At the finals hosted in Germany, they had 10 players on target - three of them defenders -? to score 12 goals, while only conceding an own goal and a penalty.
Rather oddly, Lippi deserted the group he created with the celebrations still ongoing, only to return two years later to replace his successor Roberto Donadoni.
Evil tongues noted how Lippi, now a national hero, seemed to go into hiding in 2006 as Italian football was being swept by a massive corruption scandal hinging largely on his former club Juventus.
Whatever his role in the affair, and without any charge against him, Lippi, now 61, has gone back to his job of creating a tough, winning group for the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
His squad cut a dismal figure at the 2009 Confederations Cup, then had few problems in winning a fairly easy qualification group to the World Cup's final phase.
The Azzurri's situation now looks similar to that of 2006 - or maybe a little worse.
With a comeback from Luca Toni quite unlikely, Lippi has no clinical striker to rely on, unless one among Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alberto Gilardino, Riccardo Pazzini or Antonio Di Natale switches gears to play a memorable season.
The backbone of the team has remained the same, meaning that goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, captain Fabio Cannavaro, Fabio Grosso and Gianluca Zambrotta are now four years older as they man the defence -? their ages ranging from 32 to 36 in 2010.
Midfielders Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo also hope that their experience has increased with age as Lippi has found no rising star among the several newcomers he tested.
Sampdoria's Antonio Cassano, possibly the best supporting striker in the Serie A, never met the favour of Lippi.
His exclusion has triggered rumours and allegations, which Lippi seems ready to live with as he forges his squad for a success that would push Italy level with five-times winners Brazil.
The Coach: Before lifting Italy's fourth World Cup in 2006, the 61-year-old Marcello Lippi built his reputation as coach at Juventus. In two stints with the Turin side, he won five Serie A titles between 1994 and 2003.
In 1996, he won the Intercontinental Cup with Juve, which makes him the only trainer to have won world titles with a club and a national team.
In South Africa, Lippi hopes to follow the path of Vittorio Pozzo, who steered Italy to two consecutive world titles in 1934 and 1938. A fifth cup would also bring Italy level with top-winners Brazil.
The Star: With the 2006 world title, Gianluigi Buffon, 31, topped a career that he spent for the most part at Juventus, where he won two Serie A titles, after an early stint at Parma.
Equally effective between the posts and in tackling onrushing strikers, Buffon is the most nominated as best custodian by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, whose award he received four times.
He closed the 2006 World Cup beaten only by an own goal and a free kick and came in second behind Ballon d'Or winner Fabio Cannavaro.
Factfile: Nickname: Azzurri
Founded: 1898
FIFA affiliation: 1904
Highest FIFA ranking: 1 - November 1993 (first achieved)
Lowest FIFA ranking: 16 - April 1998
Previous World Cup appearances: 16 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
Best World Cup performance: Winners (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006) Date qualified for finals: October 10, 2009
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