Italy V. Croatia: Rating the Italian Players in Euro 2012 Group C Showdown

Cesare Prandelli looks pretty serious in this picture.  As well he should.

After a dominant first half, Italy was unable to adjust to Slaven Bilic's tactical changes at the half in yesterday's game against Croatia.  While they really only allowed the Croats one genuine chance, Mario Mandzukic was able to make it count.  The Italians are not in absolute peril, but they know that they let this one get away, and will now are in a difficult situation.  They must win against Ireland on Monday and hope that Spain puts on a similar clinic to the one they put on against Ireland today.

Only a win against the Irish and a Spanish win against Croatia will put them through.

So what were the positives and negatives for the Azzurri in this match-up?  Let's go through one-by-one and see.

Gianluigi Buffon

Grade: A

For the second game in a row, Gigi Buffon did absolutely everything right but was hung out to dry by his defenders for a split second to allow an equalizing goal.

Buffon didn't make any incredible saves, but that is mostly because besides that one goal. Croatia never really put him into a position to have to make one.  He came out and claimed crosses and made the simple saves that the Croatians would force out of him.

He did spill a long shot in stoppage time, but it was well covered and presented no real danger.

Leonardo Bonucci

Grade: B+

Bonucci played a good all-around game today.  He consistently won aerial battles with Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic and Nikica Jelavic and played generally great defense on the right of Prandelli's three-man back line.

He even made a mark in the attacking side.  He played several good long balls out of the back and even decided to tee one up from long range that was deflected out for a corner kick.

However, his most memorable moment came in the 33rd minute.  After going up to win a ball in the Croatian box on a set piece, Bonucci was slow getting up and in the process of getting back to his position when a pass came his way.  He touched it neatly toward Antonio Cassano, who burst into space and shot across the face of goal from a tight angle.  

It was a fantastic one-touch ball that showed just how skilled this defender really is with his feet.

Daniele De Rossi

Grade: B+

It wasn't as good as his stellar game against Spain, but Daniele De Rossi played well again in the center of the three-man defensive line today.

There was some concern as to whether or not De Rossi would be able to hold his own against a team playing with two out-and-out strikers up top, as Vicente Del Bosque refused to do against the Italians on Sunday.  He proved that he could again hold the role down well.  He was able to contain any would-be crossers that ventured close to him and defended well when Mandzukic and Jelavic were targeted by their teammates.

There were one or two slightly shaky moments, particularly one right before the half when he made a slightly nonchalant clearance that probably caused a few heart rates to rise before it was corralled by a teammate.  

Overall it was a very good match for De Rossi, but I think that Prandelli's repeat of the 3-5-2 that he adopted from Juventus wasn't the best for this match.  I would have preferred a four-man line so that the fullbacks could pressure the wings better and there would be more height (De Rossi is generously listed at 6'0") in the box against the Croatians, who play much wider than the Spaniards do.  The Irish are also a team that relies on wide play in their attack, and it might be best to counter that with a four-man line.

Giorgio Chiellini

Grade: C+

I have no idea what it was that Giorgio Chiellini did to anger the soccer gods, but he'd better atone for it quick.

Yesterday's game marked the third consecutive match in a major tournament where an error by the normally reliable Chiellini ultimately led to a goal for the opposition.

Today's mishap was absolutely inexcusable.  He completely lost Mandzukic in the box and misjudged his header on Ivan Strinic's cross, allowing the striker to collect the ball and beat Buffon with a hard shot that went in off the inside of the post.

What makes the mistake even more puzzling is that before the goal, Chiellini was making a serious case for man of the match.  He was getting to every ball and winning a ton of headers in the box.  The Italian defense was denying Croatia any genuine chances until Chiellini's howler.

Christian Maggio

Grade: B-

Maggio was looking a lot livelier than he did against Spain in the early going in this match, but around the hour mark his game started falling apart.  His passes started getting sloppy and he began to give the ball away as a matter of routine.

He didn't do anything that put the Italians into any particular dangerous situation, although he is guilty of not doing enough to press Strinic as he delivered the ball that would eventually win the game.  Overall it was another indifferent match that could have Prandelli casting a watchful eye at Ignazio Abate in training over the weekend.

Claudio Marchisio

Grade: B

If Marchisio had just tweaked his sights a little bit this tournament, he'd already have scored three times.

After twice shooting straight at Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas on Sunday, Marchisio had a golden chance in the 37th minute when he went through on goal.  His first shot was denied by a good diving save by Stipe Pletikosa, who then outdid himself by lunging forward and denying Marchisio a second time on the rebound.  Had Marchisio gotten the ball airborne on the rebound, it likely would have been the breakthrough.

Marchisio played well in the first half, taking a total of four shots, including an 11th minute effort off a long rebound that just whistled over the bar.  He did his part defending in the first 45 minutes as well.

Unfortunately, after the restart he just plain disappeared.  I barely saw him touch the ball at all.  He needs to be more consistent and threaten throughout the entire match if Italy is to take the next step in this tournament.

Andrea Pirlo

Grade: B+

Pirlo was unable to display the sparkling form he showed against Spain in the second half after Croatia seized the ball and took the initiative in the second half, but he played well in the first, showing off his array of passing skills.  Much of his grade has to do with his absolutely magical goal in the 39th minute.

I was personally expecting Pirlo to whip the ball into the box as he stood over a 21-yard free kick on the left edge of the box.  Instead he sent a masterful shot over the wall and in at the near post.  It was an absolutely fantastic shot, and proof that the old man's still got it.

Unfortunately, he was forced to defend for much of the second half and couldn't press the advantage he'd given his team.  Pirlo thoroughly won the battle of midfielders with Luka Modric in the first half, but couldn't establish enough possession in the second half, and it ultimately cost the Azzurri.

Thiago Motta

Grade: C

Thiago Motta did absolutely nothing today.

He couldn't get into the match anywhere offensively, and did little to mitigate that on the defensive end of the ball.  He even got himself booked for a completely unnecessary infraction when he pulled a Croatian player down in the box during the normal jostling while waiting on a corner.

Shortly after picking up his yellow, he was on the receiving end of a leaping challenge from Croatian captain Darijo Srna.  Srna smacked him right in the head as he came through, and I thought he should have been booked.  It must have been immediately apparent to Prandelli that he was off-kilter after the challenge, because he was brought off the field six minutes later.  It will be interesting to see whether or not he's healthy to go against Ireland on Monday.

Emanuele Giaccherini

Grade: B-

I was very surprised when Giaccherini was sent out again in the left wing-back spot.  He had shown that he's not at all familiar with the position, having either been a winger or a mezz'ala in his club career, and he didn't do a particularly good job against Spain, particularly on Spain's equalizing goal, when he let Cesc Fabregas get in front of him to score.

That being said, Giaccherini's second international game was much, much better than his first.  He did a much better job getting forward against the Croatians, and put a few good balls into the box that didn't come to fruition thanks to some good marking by the Croats. He also provided the service to Mario Balotelli that created a chance that the striker barely missed in the opening minutes of the match.

He was much better defensively.  He made a great sliding challenge in his defensive third in the 58th minute that snuffed out a potential attack—one that would have resulted in a dangerous free kick had it gone wrong.  He was consistently clogging the lanes for crosses on the Italian left, and was much better tracking back to defend then he was in Sunday's game.

There were a few brain-cramp moments—most notably when he took a shot from well out of the box on the follow-up to a corner kick that ended up going about twenty rows up behind the goal.  Overall it was a much better game—one that may have somewhat quieted the footsteps of Federico Balzaretti behind him.

Mario Balotelli

Grade: B+

A vast improvement.

Sunday's clunker against Spain must obviously have been a wake-up call for Super Mario. Against Spain, he was finding space amongst defenders but not doing anything with the ball. This time around, he was finding teammates and taking shots.

He announced himself early on in the game, taking a great service from Giaccherini and whistling a shot just wide of the left-hand post in the third minute.  In the 16th, he put a shot on target, which unfortunately was right at Pletikosa.

He played very well the rest of the game, finding a space right outside the box where he could take the ball and fire in a shot from range.  He remained a threat until Prandelli again replaced him with Antonio Di Natale in the 69th minute.

As well as he played, there was room for improvement.  There were several sequences, particularly in the first half, when he held the ball up or attempted to pass to a teammate when he should have been a bit more selfish and shot the ball himself.

If he can keep playing the way he did yesterday and become a bit more predatory, I can definitely see him finding the net in this tournament.

Antonio Cassano

Grade: B+

It was probably a bit much to ask Cassano for an exact repeat his great performance against Spain.  He didn't show quite that much quality yesterday, but he played well.

As he did against Spain, Cassano was more of a provider than a striker.  He roved free around the attacking third and supplied his teammates with opportunities to score.  He set up Marchisio's double-chance against Pletikosa in the 37th minute and also played several dangerous balls that very nearly got through for a real chance.

He had less of an impact on the game as the second half wore on as Croatia began to take the initiative, but he may have been on the field for too long—he is still recovering from heart surgery.

I do expect the Cassano-Balotelli pairing to continue throughout the remainder of the tournament.

Riccardo Montolivo

Grade: B-

Many were surprised that Thiago Motta was preferred to Montolivo after Prandelli displayed an affinity for him in the games leading up to the tournament.  In his first action of the tournament, the former Fiorentina captain came on for an injured Motta in the 63rd minute.

He made a defensive impact fairly quickly after his introduction, heading a cross out of the Italian box after barely three minutes.

In the 76th minute he took a long-range shot that dipped as it reached the goal, forcing Pletikosa into an awkward-looking parry.  Unfortunately, he was booked four minutes later for an aerial challenge in which his hip crashed into a Croatian player's head (why Darijo Srna wasn't booked for an identical challenge on Motta twenty minutes earlier is beyond my comprehension).

Despite the one good shot, Montolivo didn't really make too much of a mark on the game as Italy was forced back for much of the second half.

Antonio Di Natale

Grade: C+

After a glorious return to the national team Sunday against Spain, Antonio Di Natale didn't show much in this one.

Di Natale was virtually invisible yesterday, unable to get any kind of service as Croatia piled on the pressure in the second half.  He almost got to a lob from Pirlo in stoppage time, but he may have accidentally stolen a win away from his own team a minute later when he rushed out to play a ball at the top of the box that was perfectly teed up for teammate Sebastian Giovinco.  He nearly took the ball right off his foot.

Sebastian Giovinco

Grade: B-

Giovinco didn't have a ton of time to make an impact—he came on for Cassano in the 83rd minute—but he showed flashes of what he could possibly do.

Two minutes after being introduced, he got up the right wing and sent a ball in that flew across the face of goal but had no teammates there to attack it.  That, unfortunately, was pretty much the sum and substance of his involvement as Croatia pressed their advantage late.

But who knows what his grade could have been had Di Natale not interfered with a perfectly teed up ball at the top of the box in the second minute of stoppage time.