Italy will certainly win through in first place.
Three teams will fight it out for the other place.
Serie A has everything: High-level strategy, superior players, and excellent coaching. However, even though Italy has the world's strongest soccer league, this is not reflected in its national team. Coach Sacci, who created a revolution in technique, but ultimately got lost in technique, has been replaced by the mediocre, careful Maldini. As a result, the overflow of personnel talent will not necessarily be utilized effectively.
The Italian defense boasts superior stability, giving up only 2 points including playoffs despite the death of Ferrara. However, the middle, and at times even the forwards are all solid players known for their power and running, so the opposition defense is not confused. The Italians rarely lose this way, but in this tournament, where the real battle begins only with the championship tournament, the lack of scoring power cannot fail to be a fatal flaw.
The greatest problem is Italy's leading fantasists, Zola and Del Piero. Then, for sharpness, speed, and desire for goals, Chiesa is battling for one seat. With Coach Maldini's realism bordering on cowardice, the extra space for the creativity and changeups that are so critical for capturing goals is only narrowed.
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Every time Italy has won through to the final match in the post-war era, it has been a slow starter. Each time, it stumbled through the preliminary league, then suddenly came out full of confidence. Given this track record, one can imagine Italy zigzagging through the preliminaries again this time. The team Italy will face in its first match, Chile, is led by its two top scorers Zamorano and Salas, who scored 23 of Chile's 32 goals in the South American regional qualifiers. It is a source of confidence for Italy, that the same as when the World Cup was held in Italy in 1990, Italy has Austria in reserve for its last preliminary match and can count on 3 points even if it has the minimum goals for-against difference. However, the Camaroon team that Italy must play in the proceeding second match has superior physical skills and is impossible to read and is quite dangerous for an Italian team whose engine will not quite start up. However, this Camaroon game is also lady luck. In the past nine tournaments, the team that came out on top in Camaroon's group has always won through to the championship.
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