MX23RW : Friday, November 8 18:42:39| >> :600:89665:89665:

Andrea Pirlo defends state of Italian football

Italy legend Andrea Pirlo does not believe that football in his home nation is in a bad state ahead of the Azzurri's impending World Cup playoff campaign.

Andrea Pirlo has rejected claims suggesting that the state of football in Italy is in poor health.

Giampiero Ventura's side limped to a 1-1 home draw with Macedonia on Friday, which leaves the Azzurri needing to navigate the playoffs in order to reach the World Cup.

If Italy manage to get to the finals in Russia, they will be attempting to avoid a third successive group-stage exit following early knockouts in 2010 and 2014.

Pirlo, who on Sunday announced his impending retirement once his New York City FC contract expires at the end of the year, is confident that results will soon improve.

"Italian football is not sick," the 38-year-old, who won the World Cup in 2006, told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"It's true that we have had two bad exits from the World Cup, but in the middle we had two great Euro campaigns with a final and a good showing in France. With a little more luck, we could have gone right to the end in France.

"There is currently a changing of the guard that happened with Germany, France and Spain as well. Once it's over, you will have a more prolific period and start winning again."

Italy have won the World Cup four times over the years.

ID:309090: cacheID:309090:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2266:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Italy manager Giampiero Ventura on the touchline during the international friendly with Germany in Milan on November 15, 2016
Read Next:
Buffon defends under-fire boss Ventura
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
FT
Bengals
34-35
Ravens
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!