Italy's journey towards Brazil 2014 begins with a draw, a result that brings us definitively back to earth after the illusions of the European Championship. The road leading to the World Cup will be long and winding and yesterday we had proof of that. Because it is one thing to play a tournament against the most prestigious and stimulating opponents, another is to find the motivations in places like Sofia, which, with all due respect, hardly ignite the imagination of the Italian people. And since, Prandelli dixit, the Azzurri give their best only under pressure, here comes the first misstep of the qualifiers.
It ended 2-2, but the result, although globally fair, ends up satisfying us more than them, and that's saying something. Aware of the poor athleticism of hers, Prandelli tried to play it on automatic pilot: 3-5-2 made in Juventus, with 7 bianconeri on the pitch from the first minute. The score is now memorized, but the legs have betrayed almost immediately, and so Bulgaria has gathered courage. First a great shot by Ivanov on which Buffon performed a miracle, then Manolev's goal, which caught the same goalkeeper strangely unprepared. And if Super-Gigi is also wrong, it means that it really isn't the evening!
But in the blues there was also a certain Osvaldo, one that the Europeans saw on television, and who took the field with the eyes of the tiger. His paw in front of goal and the header (deflected by Ivanov) turned the game around in a few minutes, bringing Italy even with a one-goal lead at half-time. Too much grace for a confused and dull team, which didn't find in Giovinco the man capable of turning on the light. Bad test of the Atomic Ant, which failed on its first time as number 10. The Bulgaria didn't give up, and in the 66th minute they equalized with Milanov, good at exploiting the umpteenth indecision of the blue rearguard. There was actually the shadow of an offside on the goal, but the following minutes (opportunities for Mizanski and Manolev) didn't allow for any kind of controversy. As if that weren't enough, fifteen minutes from the end Daniele De Rossi was forced to leave the field due to an injury to the flexors of his right thigh, which will force him to stop yet to be defined.
"One point is fine, at the beginning of the season we always have some problems" declared Prandelli at the end of the race, in an attempt to show us the full part of the glass. “It's a pity we didn't manage to score the third goal at 2-1 for us – continued the coach -, because we would have found a less aggressive team. We lacked pace and precision, we played under tone tonight. Now we have to recover in view of the match against Malta”. Soft opponent, who shouldn't cause us any problems on Tuesday evening in Modena. Also because after this draw Italy will take the field with the right loads of pressure on them, the only way they can get results.
