Football in Italy - National Teams

National Teams

Main article: Italy national football team See also: Italy at the team sports international competitions

The Italian national team, called Azzurri or squadra azzurra for their blue shirts, are the second-most successful national team in the world. During the 1970s to early 1990s Italy became famous for their catenaccio, thus heralding a long line of world class defenders such as Virginio Rosetta, Pietro Rava, Carlo Parola, Giacinto Facchetti, Armando Picchi, Gaetano Scirea, Antonio Cabrini, Claudio Gentile, Franco Baresi, Giuseppe Bergomi, Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta.

A women's team, an under-21 team, an under-20 team, an under-19 team, and an under-17 team also compete.

Their honours include:

  • 4 FIFA World Cups
  • 1 European Football Championship
  • 1 Olympic Gold Medal
  • 5 European Championships U21
  • 3 European Championships U18
  • 2 European Championships U16
  • 7 Summer Universiades
  • 8 World Military Championships
  • 1 European Futsal Championship

They have been finalists in:

  • 2 World Cups
  • 2 European Championship
  • 2 Bronze medals at Olympic Games
  • 2 European Championship U21
  • 1 European Championship U19
  • 4 European Championship U18
  • 3 European Championship U16
  • 2 Summer Universiades
  • 4 World Military Championships

Read more about this topic:  Football In Italy

Famous quotes containing the words national and/or teams:

    “While I do not think it was so intended I have always been of the opinion that this turned out to be much the best for me. I had no national experience. What I have ever been able to do has been the result of first learning how to do it. I am not gifted with intuition. I need not only hard work but experience to be ready to solve problems. The Presidents who have gone to Washington without first having held some national office have been at great disadvantage.”
    —Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)

    “A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always like a cat falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days and feels no shame in not “studying a profession,” for he does not postpone his life, but lives already.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)