Team of the Month (The Italian Soccer Team)

This summer we have been witness to some amazing postseasons in hockey and basketball and across the globe we have been treated to some wonderful soccer. Due to the virus we had more sports than normal during the first half of this summer. We were witness to Tampa going back to back and Giannis Antetokounmpo showing the world why he has two MVPs and DPOY. Things are only heating up with the Olympics going on and the MLB's playoff race heating up. We are a month away from College Football and the NFL seasons which I am very excited for, considering there are big changes to both of their postseason formats.

My team of the month, is none other than the Italian Soccer team for their performance in the Euro Cup. If you don't know the Euro Cup is a tournament with twenty-four of European nations' soccer teams that compete for title of best soccer country in Europe. With their suffocating defense they were able to reach the pinnacle of European national soccer. This Italian team is a team that shocked many when they missed the World Cup in 2018 but has now found a way to bounce back. In their second game of this tournament, they beat Switzerland by three goals and at that point I knew they had a real shot to win the whole thing. Granted, I did think they would lose to Belgium despite my rooting for them, and they definitely surprised many with that upset.

This team was the definition of a team that was passing the torch with a generation of players that have been the face for the better part of two decades, playing with a new generation of players who have already shown what they are capable of. They went to shoot-outs in back to back games, both classics, a semi-final against Spain and a final against England.

In the semi-final against a very youthful Spain team it was two of the three best teams in Europe playing each other and both teams showed why they belonged in that game. Italy was in control for most of the game, taking the lead in the early second half. Spain tied it back up with a play that has to be one of the best plays you will ever see. After that, there was no scoring, both teams threatening to score the duration of the game with both amazing goalies sending the game to penalties. With an amazing stop from the twenty-two year old Gianluigi Donnarumma, the pressure was on Unai Simón Mendibil, the accomplished but youthful Spanish goalkeeper, when he faced Jorginho who took a beautiful penalty to send them to the final. It was a team win as was the previous win against Belgium both of which proved that Italy had been tested and is a team that is one of Europe's two best teams without question.

In the final against England, they conceded an early goal but threatened to score during the rest of the game. It was a crazy game and when Italy finally scored against England, it felt like the Euro Cup was theirs to lose, on the road at Wembley Stadium. And if you take away the fact that they didn't score, they had looked like the better team, during the entire latter half. Although in moments England looked threatening, Italy was able to hold off and get the game to penalties. Italy then went down in penalties and showed true grit, coming back to win the game in true dramatic fashion. It went to a full five kicks with the young Italian goalie making two incredible stops back to back. It needs to be said that without two of the three players that missed penalties on England, they would not be in the Euro Cup final, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho. It also needs to be mentioned that Jordan Pickford had an incredible game and a stellar tournament. That being said Donnarumma was able to stop the young star Chakra from England to bring the Euro Cup home to Italy.

Both games were incredible with Italy up and down the roster from defense to offense everybody scored. Even the defender Bonucci got a goal in the final. They made a complete turn around over the course of the past two years and for that they will be real contenders for a place finish at the World Cup in Qatar next year. I am curious as to who will stay on the team of the older generation, given Chiellini's and Bonucci's ages I wonder if that was the last time we will see them in the Italian uniforms, hopefully not, but you truly never know. Team of the month goes to the very impressive Italian 2021 team who found a way to grind out victories and dominated just about every team they faced. I can not wait to see this team in the world cup qualifiers next month.