JOIN USItaly coach Cesare Prandelli has no time for the near-hysteria, conspiracy theories and negative football that have often been too close for comfort to the four-times world champions.
In just under four years in charge, Prandelli has rebuilt the team from the ashes of the bitter 2010 World Cup failure and has turned Italy into a far more palatable, likeable outfit.
The histrionics, gamesmanship and rough defending have been replaced by a more open, attacking game, even if it occasionally leaves them open to the sort of 4-0 hammering they suffered in the Euro 2012 final against Spain.
One of Prandelli’s first moves was to impose a new code of ethics on his team under which players would be dropped from the team if he felt they had set a bad example in club matches.
Daniele De Rossi and Mario Balotelli have both fallen foul of Prandelli’s rules and spent time on the sidelines, as has Dani Osvaldo, who missed last year’s Confederations Cup after he publicly criticised his club coach at AS Roma.
Yet at the same time Prandelli has managed to nurture the talents of so-called “difficult” players and he has repeatedly voiced his faith in Balotelli, saying the maverick striker “needs love”.
He also has not been afraid to call up “oriundi”, foreign-born players such as Brazilian-born Thiago Motta and Argentine-born Osvaldo, whose selection is always a political hot potato.
During Euro 2012, Prandelli became exasperated at media criticism for a team change he had not even made and refused to accept suggestions that Spain and Croatia would play out a draw to eliminate his side in the final round of group games. “At the end of the day, this is a simple game of football and football needs to bring happiness to people,” he told his excitable countrymen.