Italy and the Rugby League World Cup 2017

2017 will mark the second time that the Azzurri have qualified for the Rugby League World Cup.

Great strides were made in their first appearance in the World Cup in 2013, and hopes are high that they can at least reach the Quarter finals this time around.

In 2013, Italy were drawn in Pool C alongside Scotland, Tonga and co-hosts Wales.  Their tournament began with an upset victory over Wales at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.  In their second match, they took on Scotland. The match turned out to be a thriller and it was tight with the game ending in a high scoring draw.

All Italy had to do then was win their last group match against Tonga after Scotland won their match and finished with the same points. Tonga had nothing but pride to play for after their hopes of qualification had vanished but they shocked the Azzurri by keeping them scoreless and eliminating Italy from the World Cup.

Wounds were licked and Italy dusted themselves down to begin qualification for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.  The first stage of qualifying involved having to finish in the top 3 in their 2014–15 European Shield competition.  Italy only managed to secure qualification for the 'final qualification tournament' after winning their second to last game against bottom placed Ukraine.  Italy finished the Shield in third place with 3 wins and 3 defeats in six matches.

The final qualification tournament consisted of 6 teams - the top three teams from the European B tournament, the winners of the European C tournament and seeded nations Wales and Ireland. The winners of each group qualified for the World Cup, while the runners-up faced each other in a play-off match to determine the final spot.   So it all came down to a Play Off v Russia for a place on the plane to Oz.  Italy demolished Russia 76-0 to seal qualification

Now ranked 14^th in the world and heading into the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, a strong squad has been selected, below are a few names who will be an integral part of the Italian squad.

Terry Campese: Former Canberra Raiders and Hull KR half, Terry Campese, played a pivotal role in the Azzurri qualifying for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup after impressive performances against Serbia and Russia. Returning to Australia in 2017, Campese is almost certain to feature and will provide some much needed direction around the halves.

James Tedesco: Tedesco was only 20 when he made his international debut in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, and whilst in that tournament he was pushed into the centres by captain Anthony Minichiello, Tedesco is almost guaranteed to be starting fullback for the Italians in the 2017 event.

Paul Vaughan: The former Canberra Raiders forward will bring some much welcomed grunt to the Italian forward pack, with the prop forward certain to build on his impressive performances for the Italians in 2013.

Joel Riethmuller: Seven Test veteran, Joel Riethmuller will not only bring a wealth of experience to the Italians at World Cup 2017, but the former North Queensland Cowboy and current Northern Pride player will bring some much welcomed knowledge and experience to the squad.

Mark Minichiello: The younger brother of Anthony, and Italy captain. Mark has had a hugely successful career and, for the past couple of seasons, has plied his trade in the English Super League with Hull FC.

Former player, and member of the 2013 squad, Cameron Ciraldo is the coach of Italy and is assisted by ex Australia and Azzurri full back Anthony Minichiello.  Minichiello was also involved in the last World Cup as a player and his experience in the game is invaluable.

Ciraldo (l) & Minichiello

Ciraldo said of Minichiello, who played 302 matches for Sydney Roosters and captained the club to Premiership success in 2013. “To be honest I don’t think we would be in this position if it wasn’t for Anthony,” 

“It was through him pledging his allegiance for the last World Cup qualifiers five or six years ago that we started to build a team and some sponsors, so I am incredibly grateful that he has decided to join the coaching staff.”

Minichiello said the opportunity to represent the country from where his father had emigrated to Australia at the age of 13 in a Rugby League World Cup was among the highlights of his illustrious career.

“It was a really proud moment. The joy of my family to represent their heritage and play with my brother again was something I will never forget,” he said.

“All the players had photos in the dressing room of their grandparents or parents and it created a really good feeling amongst the boys. There wasn’t any pressure on us to win the World Cup but we had a really good group of players and it was fun.”

Ciraldo’s grandmother was born in Calabria and his grandfather came from Sicily.

“They came out here for an opportunity and worked their arses off to create a better life for their family, so when I think about the sacrifices they made I get pretty emotional and I am just really proud to represent them,” he said.

Despite a long history in international Rugby League, Italy will face three relatively unknown opponents when they make their way to Australia for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

Fiji, Ireland and USA are in their group this year and only the USA Hawks have played Italy before.  The last encounter between the two nations being at the 2000 Emerging Nations World Cup in England. On that day, Italy ran out 40 – 16 victors over the USA team at The Shay in Halifax.

With each of their opponents set to boast plenty of NRL and Super League experience, the Italians will have a difficult task ahead of them if they are to progress from the World Cup group stages for the first time.

Forza Azzurri!!

Where are the members of the Azurri Italia 90 squad? Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini was born on 27 November 1964 in the small town of Lesi, in the Marche region of central Italy. Like most Italians, he was raised a Roman Catholic and his life revolved around religion and football, passions which remain today.

As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches and helped them win the Serie A title along with four Coppa Italia trophies and the European Cup Winners’ Cup. 

He was capped 36 times by Italy, making his last appearance in 1994.  Mancini started his career at Bologna, making his debut back in 1981 before a big money move to Sampdoria in 1982 followed.  He also played for Lazio, where he won another Scudetto, Cup Winners’ Cup and two more Coppa Italia’s. He finished his playing career in England with a brief stint at Leicester City

Towards the end of his playing career, he showed signs that he would end up in management when he started giving team talks at half-time. Coach, Sven Goran Eriksson, was a huge influence on ‘Mancio’, playing under him at both Samp and Lazio and he became the Swedes assistant at theBiancocelesti near the end of his playing career.

Mancio joined Leicester City on loan in January 2001, but by early February he was given leave of absence, citing personal reasons. He telephoned the club and informed them he would not be returning to England as he had been offered the head coach position at Fiorentina.  Despite his brief stay in the Premier League he cites his time at Leicester City as the period during which he fell in love with the English game, and which later prompted him to accept the job at Manchester City.

Sadly for Mancini, he never truly replicated his club form at international level and he struggled to cement a regular starting spot for the Azzurri. He won 36 caps for his country, but only scored four goals in return. He made his senior international debut in 1984 against Canada and he would continue to represent Italy for ten years. Despite being an influential figure for Samp at the time, Mancini was a non-playing member of the Azzurri squad at Italia 90, kept out of the side by the striking prowess of his Blucerchiatistrike partner, Gianluca Vialli, as well as Salvatore Schillaci and new kid on the block Roberto Baggio.

His failure to play any part in Italia ‘90’ has lingered with ‘Mancio’ throughout his career. Even now as a coach he still struggles to understand Azeglio Vicini’s decision. ‘I didn’t even play for ten minutes” fumed Mancini. “Not even in the third place game. I still don’t understand the decision.”

Mancini’s international career ended after a dispute with national team coach Arrigo Sacchi, his assertive personality leading him to become frustrated with not being guaranteed a first team place at the 1994 World Cup. In truth it was a similar story to Italia ’90’ for the assertive Italian, the fierce competition for places hindering his opportunities with players like Gianfranco Zola, Giuseppe Signori, Roberto Baggio and later Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero hastening his self-imposed exile from the Azzurri.

An elegant and skilful player, Mancini was also renowned for his flair, outstanding technique, ball control, and dribbling ability, as well as his tactical intelligence. He frequently stood out because of these attributes. But he wasn’t just a talented forward; he also possessed impressive leadership skills.

Mancini’s first head coaching role was at Fiorentina, aged only 35-years-old. Despite his inexperience he won the Coppa Italia with the Viola but left soon afterwards with the club facing bankruptcy. He took over as head coach at Lazio, where again he inherited financial constraints and was forced to lose a number of key players. Despite limited resources during his two season tenure, he still managed to guide the club to Coppa Italia success, a competition of which he was quickly growing fond.

In 2004, Mancini was given the chance to manage Inter, a major club with no shortage in financial resources. During his first spell at the Nerazzurri, the club won three consecutive Serie A titles. It was a record that meant Mancini became Inter’s most successful coach in 30 years.

Mancini left the Benemata in 2008, replaced by Jose Mourinho as the Inter board continued their chase of the Holy Grail – the Champions League. After taking a year out of football, Mancini was appointed as Manchester City manager in December 2009. He quickly instilled a winning culture and guided the club to Champions League football and the FA Cup in his first full season in charge. The following campaign he led City to their first league title in 44 years, a success secured in one of the most dramatic final days in Premier League history, Mancini’s men scoring two goals in injury time to complete an enthralling 3-2 comeback against Queens Park Rangers.

Credit for this victory, however, is apparently due to divine intervention.  As the season was reaching a tense finish, Mancini took time out to visit the religious pilgrimage site, Medjugorie, in Bosnia Herzegovina. ‘Mancio’ stated that it was this pilgrimage that turned the title in his favour.

The following season was turbulent for the former Samp man, as City failed to retain the title, losing out to rivals Manchester United, and also losing the FA Cup final to Wigan Athletic. He was sacked the following week however the man showed his class after paying for a full-page advert spread in the Manchester Evening News to say farewell and to thank the club’s fans. The act was reciprocated in the Gazzetta dello Sport by Manchester City supporters.

In September 2013, Mancini signed a three-year contract with Galatasaray taking over from the previous coach Fatih Terim. However, the stylish coach barely lasted a year in Turkey despite winning the Turkish Cup. Mancini returned to Inter for a second spell in November 2014, replacing Walter Mazzarri at the helm and it seems he is slowly turning the Nerazzuri’sfortunes around.

Mancini has won a total of 25 trophies; 13 as a player and 12 as a coach. Incredibly, every season he has coached between 2002 and 2013, the Italian has reached a semi-final of a major cup competition. He holds a number of records including reaching the most consecutive Coppa Italia finals from 2004 to 2008, the first with Lazio and the rest with Inter.

Mancini may not have seen a minute of playing time at Italia ‘90’ however he has since carved out an extremely successful career and the story of ‘Mancio’ is far from over…

@insearchofluca

My best Italy 11 ever... from 1990 onwards.

The World Cup is upon us once more and it seems anyone and everyone is picking their World Cup 'Greatest Ever XI’…so I thought I may as well jump on this particular bandwagon.

But I have decided to pick mine slightly differently.  Since this blog is about all things Italian, mainly calcio, and the reason I started it in the first place was by reminicising about Italia 90 , my ‘Greatest Ever Italy XI’ will consist of players who have represented the Azzuri from 1990 onwards.  

Italia 90 logo

That obviously means that some of THE greatest players ever to represent the famed Azzuri will not appear here – players like Gianni Rivera, Guiseppe Meazza or Valentino Mazzola (Captain of Il Grande Torino)

Nor will previous World Cup heroes likes Marco Tardelli or Paolo Rossi.  This XI is picked solely on my memories and experiences of following these players since 1990.

Marco Tardelli scoring in 1982 World Cup final

I have picked a 3-4-3 formation and these first four will probably feature in the majority of ‘Greatest XI’ teams.  All four are born leaders and instantly command the respect of team mates and opposition alike.  -


1 Gianluigi Buffon (139 Caps)


2 Paolo Maldini (126 caps, 7 goals)

3 Fabio Cannavaro (136 caps, 2 goals)

4 Franco Baresi (captain) (82 caps, 2 goals)

My midfield four has a mixture of grit, determination and flair….oh and a wizard (Pirlo) when it comes to taking free kicks -

5 Gennaro Gattuso (73 caps, 1 goal)

6 Roberto Donadoni  (63 caps, 5 goals)

7 Andrea Pirlo (108 caps, 13 goals)

8 Gianfranco Zola (35 caps, 10 goals)


The front three have been the main stay of the Azzuri frontline for the majority of the past 20 years, maybe not as profilic for the national team as they were for their club sides, but I have picked them on reputation and influence alone -

9  Alessandro Del Piero (91 caps, 27 goals)

10 Roberto Baggio (56 caps, 27 goals)

11 Francesco Totti (58 caps, 9 goals)

Roberto Baggio (L) and Alessandro Del Piero

Manager - Marcello Lippi.  Italy have had some great managers over the past 24 years such as Arrigo Sacchi and Giovanni Trappatoni, but Lippi winning the 2006 World Cup for the Azzuri, especially in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal of 2006, assures him of the job.

Over the last 20 odd years I have only watched these players via television and appreciated their skill, passion and leadership from afar.   I was lucky enough to be in Rotterdam for the Euro 2000 final, sat amongst the Italian fans.  Playing for the Azzuri that day were Fabio Cannavaro, Paolo Maldini, Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero.


Some obvious choices, some not so obvious as well. No room for Marco Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Costacurta or Pippo Inzaghi.  No room either for older heads like Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli or Guiseppe Bergomi.


Whatever your thoughts on my selection, it would have been one hell of a starting 11!!


Over to you….what would your XI be?

Grazie mille


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Rugby League World Cup 2013 - Italy

Azzuri badge. 

The World Cup is just round the corner.  No, it really is.  Forget about the football World Cup in Brazil next summer, you can experience the Rugby League World Cup (http://www.rlwc2013.com/) which begins this weekend (26 October) in the United Kingdom.

14 teams do battle to see who will be crowned World Champions, and one of those teams is Italy.  Yes, the Azzuri has a rugby league team and they play in the opening game in Cardiff against Wales.

Rugby League isn't a hugely popular sport in Italy, especially having to compete with calcio and Rugby Union but it has been played, sporadically, in Italy since the 1950's.  Initally struggling to gain popularity, it virtually disappeared during the 1970's.  The game was revived in the mid 1990's and Italy began to compete internationally with varying degrees of success, culminating in the Azzuri qualifying for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

Italy sealed their place in the tournament after topping their qualification group by beating Russia, in front of 2,500 in Padova.  Another victory against Serbia and a draw with Lebanon saw the Azzuri safely through.


In 2010, the Italian Rugby League championship was launched as a semi professional competition. It is made up of three conferences, with a total of ten teams.   The teams that competed in this year's Italian Championship were: North West Roosters, XIII del Duomo, XIII del Ducato, XIII del Bresà, Arieti Este, Padova RL, Grifons Padova, XIII della Ghirlandina, Firenze RL and Sharks Tirreno.  The championship went to XIII del Ducato, who beat North West Roosters in the final.  Italy is still an emerging nation in Rugby League terms and, as a result,the current World Cup squad is made up of Australians of Italian descent.

Anthony Minichello.  Image courtesy of www.rlwc2013.com

Italy, currently ranked 13th in the world, are coached by Carlo Napolitano and are captained by the Australian full-back (of Italian descent), Anthony Minichello.  Minichello is a legend of the game in Australia, and is widely regarded as one of the best full-backs of his generation.  He plays for the Sydney Roosters, who play in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition in Australia and has scored 122 tries in 275 games for his club side.

Alongside Minichello is another vastly experienced player in Anthony Laffranchi, who plays for St Helens in the English Super League competition.  Laffranchi will add much needed experience to the forwards in the tournament, having played over 230 first team games in his career.  Other players to look out for as the tournament starts are winger Josh Mantellato and hooker Ray Nasso, both scorers in the famous 15-14 friendly victory over tournament hosts England on Saturday 19 October 2013.  Veteran halfback Craig Gower, with 14 caps, has been ruled out of the tournament through injury.

Italy begin their campaign against Wales in Cardiff, then face Scotland and finish with a tough game against Tonga.  It will be very tough for the Azzuri to progress, and the task is made even more difficult as only the group winners progress to the Quarter finals.  If Italy do make it through they are likely to face the current world cup holders, New Zealand,  in Leeds.

Odds of around 500/1 to win the tournament speak volumes, but this will be a huge learning curve for them, and can only help to enhance the game in Italy for many years to come.  Hopefully when the next tournament comes around in 2017, the Azzuri will have some born and bred Italians representing their country.

Alessandro Del Piero and Minichello.  Image courtesy of www.foxsports.com.au

Follow the fortunes of the Azzuri here http://www.firl.it/  and on Twitter @ITALIA_RLXIII

Forza Azzuri...

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Rio bound...

Italy have qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with two games to spare.  It was, on paper, a tough group with Czech Republic, Denmark and Bulgaria all in with a chance of qualification. The Azzuri are unbeaten after eight group games and will be expected to win their final games to head to the World Cup in bouyant mood.

On the way to qualification Italy have won six games and drawn two (against Bulgaria away in the opening game and in Prague against the Czech Republic).

The six wins have seen the Azzuri score 15 goals, conceding only five.  Forward Mario Balotelli is the top scorer in this qualifying campaign with four goals, taking his total tally for the national team to 11 goals.

As with every World Cup Italy will be amongst the favourites to win the cup next year, and will be aiming to win the famous trophy for a fifth time, 80 years since they won their first World Cup in 1934 on home soil.

Italy have played more World Cup football than any other team .   In the pre-war era, the Azzurri were almost untouchable as they won the 1934 trophy on their debut appearance and retained the title in 1938.  Post-war the Superga air tragedy which claimed the lives of the famous Il Grande Torino side of 1949 and provided the majority of the Italian national side at that time, had a knock on affect for decades as Italy lost their way on the international stage and were repeatedly knocked out in the first round of the World Cup.

In 1978, a new generation, including legendary striker Paolo Rossi, emerged and, after reaching the semi-finals in Argentina, won the World Cup in Spain in 1982. 

Marco Tardelli celebrates after scoring in the 1982 World Cup final.  Image courtesy of  www.2uptop.com

Recent success in the tournament has been mixed to say the least.  Italy failed to get out of the group stages in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  Emerging from the disgrace of the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal the Azzuri managed to restore the honour of Italian football by winning the 2006 World Cup in Germany, defeating France on penalities in Berlin.

It was a different story again in the 2002 World Cup.  The team were progressing nicely through the tournament and came up against co hosts South Korea in the last 16.  But they hadn't banked on a hugely controversial referee in Byron Moreno. 

In that infamous match Moreno chalked off a perfectly valid Italian goal, as well as disallowing Damiano Tommasi's golden goal which would have seen them through the the Quarter Final.  Francesco Totti was sent off for diving, replays showed he slipped.  The Koreans, however, were awarded a controversial penalty when Moreno adjudged that Christian Panucci had tugged his opponents shirt.  Italy eventually lost to a golden goal from Ahn Jung-Hwan in the 117th minute. The game finished  2-1 to the Koreans and the Azzuri were on their way home.

Then, in 2010, to further compound the Italians insistance of corrupt refereeing, Moreno was arrested at JFK Airport in New York with over 6lbs of heroin strapped to his body, worth approximately 535,000 euros.  He was sentenced to two years in prison, and was released in 2012.

And what of the 'Class of 2014'?  Can the current squad mount a serious challenge to win the World Cup?

Azzuri - 2013.  Image courtesy of en.jabetarea.com

Manager Cesare Prandelli has a richly talented squad at his disposal with a wealth of experience in key positions.  The main man for the Azzuri for many years now has been Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.  A veteran with 136 caps, and a World Cup winner in 2006, Buffon will be hoping to end his international career on a high.  

The heartbeat of the team is controlled by the mercurial Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo, still going strong for both club and country at the age of 34.  He is suitably supported by Roma's Daniele De Rossi.  Add to that the quality of players like Riccardo Montolivo (Milan), Thiago Motta (Paris St Germain) and Emanuele Giaccherini (Sunderland) and the midfield is a very strong area for the Azzuri.

The defence is also vastly experienced with Juventus duo Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Christian Maggio (Napoli) leading the line giving confidence and experience to Andrea Ranocchia (Inter) and Angelo Ogbonna (Juventus) to name but a few.


Goals win matches though and, in attack, the Azzuri can boast a formidable front line.  Star man is, of course, Milan's Mario Balotelli.  His goals in the latter end of the qualifying campaign secured Italy's passage to Brazil.  Prandelli can also look to Alberto Gilardino (Genoa) and Pablo Osvaldo (Southampton) for goals.  

Italy are currently ranked as sixth favourites to lift their fifth World Cup, with odds of 20/1 with some bookmakers.  If I was a betting man, I would stick a couple of quid on that...

Forza Azzuri!

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Italia '90

Everyone loves Italian football right?  Everyone loves the stadia and the ‘ultras’?  Everyone has an ‘Italian’ team?

For me, my love of Italy and Italian football started with Italia 1990. I was 13 in 1990 and didn’t know much about football outside of what I saw on Grandstand every week. The English leagues were all I knew.

I remember settling down at home to watch Argentina v Cameroon in the opening game.  Almost 80,000 people, supporters of local and national football teams worldwide, had come together to witness this 'David and Goliath' battle.  Naturally, the colour and vibrancy stood out straight away.  I had never seen anything like the San Siro before. The stadium resembled something from a science fiction movie. Other grounds stood out as the tournament progressed, like Stadio Olimpico and Luigi Ferraris with its ‘towers’ in each corner.  

My love for football had arrived.  I was hooked.  I set up camp in my room for every England game, cheering them on in the early stages.  Gazza mania hadn’t taken off and Gazza was just a talented footballer with the world stage at his feet.  Republic of Ireland were still classed as the nation's 'second team' at that point too, no doubt due to the fact that their team consisted mainly of English born players.

The tournament progressed and little side stories unfolded it seemed with each game.  At the wrong side of 35, Roger Milla was scoring for fun for Cameroon.  Salvatore Schillaci was the star of the Azzuri, his six goals earning him the Golden Boot. Schillaci was plucked from pre tournament obscurity and became a national hero.  Even England, finishing top in their group, had qualified for the knock out stages!

Belgium were next.  A dour game was won by a wonderstrike in extra time from David Platt.  The nation expected.  Cameroon stood between England and a semi final spot.  Easy...or so everyone thought!  That 'little fella’ Milla nearly spoiled the party but Lineker held his nerve from the spot.

Amazingly, and against the odds, England had booked One night in Turin against West Germany. This was turning into a memorable World Cup for me.  What a tournament.

We all know how the semi final turned out but I had discovered something else which is still with me to this day….Calcio.  Italian football was all the rage.  They had the best players in the world at that time.  Gullit, Van Basten,  Maradona.  In 1992 Gazza signed for Lazio and Serie A was on my TV every week.

Fiorentina are my Italian team, thanks to a weekly subscription to a 'fantasy football league' in the early 90s.  Before the days of Baddiel and Skinner and The Daily Telegraph, the only way to play fantasy football was the old fashioned way.  These leagues were advertised in the back of football magazines and subscription involved posting a cheque every week in return for a print out of your results.  My team was Il Viola.

I spent two amazing weeks in Tuscany on my honeymoon and I managed to visit the grounds of Siena and Fiorentina whilst we were there (don't worry, I had permission!). For years I had seen these fantastic grounds on television, mostly via Channel 4 in the early days and more recently on ESPN.  I am still waiting for the day that I experience calcio first hand.  The Rome Derby maybe, or the Derby d'Italia (Inter v Juventus).  The ultimate would be to watch a Wigan Athletic team play in Italy in European competition. Having reached the group stages of the Europa League in the 2013/2014 season, the draw wasn't as romantic as I had hoped and the dream remains on hold for another year.

 #Credere  (#Believe)

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