Lack of talent & scarred by past - Italy's 'torturous' campaign
The campaign was only one match old when Luciano Spalletti was dismissed from his position as manager after a 3-0 defeat by Norway in June. Although the 66-year-old remained in charge for a further three days - overseeing a win against Moldova - his departure was an early indicator of the challenges the four-time World champions would encounter. The appointment of former Italy and AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso as his successor was a surprise, left-field choice.
Italian football writer Emmet Gates believes the former AC Milan, Napoli and Fiorentina manager was only appointed because "no one else wanted the job". Speaking to BBC Sport, Gates said: "Nothing in his managerial career has shown that he's an elite-level tactician. "He won the Coppa Italia in his spell at Napoli but compared to his predecessor, he's oceans apart.
" Yet despite the questions over his suitability for the role, the 48-year-old oversaw an upturn in results as Italy won five consecutive qualifying games - beating Estonia and Israel home and away before winning in Moldova. That was until a second, humbling defeat of the campaign - which Gates describes as "torturous" - 4-1 at home to Norway left the 2006 winners second in Group I. Italy therefore dropped into the play-offs for the third consecutive campaign and will face Northern Ireland in a one-legged semi final in Bergamo on Thursday, with the winner set to visit Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina next week for a place at this summer's World Cup.
After making his international debut at 23 years old, Cannavaro went on to play for Italy a further 135 times When Italy lined up in the final against France 20 years ago, they did so with what was arguably the greatest team in the country's history. From Gianluigi Buffon and Cannavaro at the back to Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti in attack, manager Marcello Lippi had an embarrassment of riches at his disposal. But a fourth triumph in the country's history was anything but an overnight success; it was the product of a development model that no longer exists in Italian football.
The foundations were laid a decade earlier when the under-21s side - coached by Cesare Maldini - won three consecutive European Championships between 1992 and 1996. The development of Maldini's teams - which included Buffon, Cannavaro, Totti and Del Piero - was aided by a ruling in Serie A that prohibited clubs from having more than three non-European players on the pitch at one time. It meant by the time the 1994 and 1996 championships rolled around, the quartet had already amassed a wealth of senior experience for clubs such as Parma, Napoli, Roma and Juventus.