Catenaccio
Encyclopedia
Catenaccio is a tactical system in football with an emphasis on defence. In Italian
, catenaccio means "door-bolt", implying a highly organized and effective backline defense which is intended to prevent goals.
of Internazionale
in the 1960s who used it to grind out 1–0 wins over opponents in their league games.
The Catenaccio was influenced by the verrou (also "doorbolt/chain" in French) system invented by Austria
n coach Karl Rappan
. As coach of Switzerland
in the 1930s and 1940s, Rappan played a defensive sweeper called the verrouilleur, who was highly defensive and was positioned just ahead of the goalkeeper. In the 1950s, Nereo Rocco
's Padova
pioneered the system in Italy where it would be used again by the Internazionale team of the early 1960s.
Rappan's verrou system, proposed in 1932 when coach of Servette
, was implemented with four fixed defenders, playing a strict man-to-man marking system, plus a playmaker in the middle of the field who played the ball together with two midfield wings.
Rocco's tactic, often referred to as the "real" Catenaccio, was shown first in 1947 with Triestina: the most common mode of operation was a 1-3-3-3 formation with a strictly defensive team approach. With catenaccio, Triestina finished the Serie A tournament in a surprising second place. Some variations include 1-4-4-1 and 1-4-3-2 formations.
The key innovation of Catenaccio was the introduction of the role of a libero, or sweeper, a player positioned behind the line of three defenders. The sweeper's role was to recover loose balls, nullify the opponent's striker and double-mark when necessary. Another important innovation was the counter-attack, mainly based on long passes from the defence.
In Herrera's version in the 1960s, four man-marking defenders were tightly assigned to each opposing attacker while an extra sweeper would pick up any loose ball that escaped the coverage of the defenders. The emphasis of this system in Italian football spawned the rise of many top defenders such as Claudio Gentile
and Gaetano Scirea
in the 1970s, Giuseppe Bergomi
and Franco Baresi
in the 1980s, the famous all-Italian Milan
defensive four of Baresi, Paolo Maldini
, Alessandro Costacurta
and Mauro Tassotti
of the 1990's and 2006 World Cup
winners Fabio Cannavaro
and Alessandro Nesta
and many others in 2000s for which the Italian national team would become famous.
, invented by Rinus Michels
in the 1970s, rendered Herrera's version of Catenaccio obsolete. In Total Football, no player is fixed in his nominal role; anyone can be successively an attacker
, a midfielder
and a defender
. Man-marking alone was insufficient to cope with this fluid system. Coaches began to create a new tactical system that mixed man-marking with zonal defense. In 1972, Michels' Ajax defeated Herrera's Inter 2-0 in the European Cup final
and Dutch newspapers announced the "destruction of Catenaccio" at the hands of Total Football. In 1973, Ajax crushed Nereo Rocco's Milan 6-0 for the European Super Cup in a match that the defensive Milan system was totally undermined by Ajax.
In pure zonal defense, every midfielder and defender is given a particular zone on the field to cover. When a player moves outside his zone, his teammate expands his zone to cover the unmarked area. However, Catenaccio philosophy called for double-marking when dealing with strong players. Zona Mista (Italian for "mixed zone") was created.
In Zona Mista (Il gioco all'Italiana), there are four defenders. A sweeper is free to roam and assist other defenders. A fullback plays in both defensive and advanced position, typically on the left flank. The two stoppers, who started then to be called "centre back", mark their zones. In the midfield, there are defensive midfielder, centre midfielder and the playmaker
(the number 10) and a winger who covers typically the right flank and sometimes acts as an additional striker. Zona Mista employs two-prong attack. A centre forward plays upfront. A second striker plays wide to the left (a derivation of Catenaccios left winger) and drift inside to act as a striker or to cover the playmaker when the playmaker drops into a defensive position.
The most famous example of Zona Mista was the Italian team playing in the 1982 FIFA World Cup Final
. Classy and skillful Gaetano Scirea
was the libero, the then 18-years old Giuseppe Bergomi
the holding midfielder, and Fulvio Collovati
and tough tackling Claudio Gentile
the centre backs. As the system required, Gentile who was normally a fullback extended his defensive cover wide to the right; sometimes Gentile and Orialli switched their roles (when Gentile man-marked Maradona) - Gentile as holding midfielder, Orialli - as right centre-back. Gabriele Oriali
played right (often central, holding) midfielder, Marco Tardelli centre midfielder and Bruno Conti
the playmaker. True to the call of his role, Conti played an instrumental role in Italy's win. He was a central figure in Italy's second goal that was scored by Tardelli and single-handedly created Italy's third goal by breaking down the right side from the half-way line and crossing to Alessandro Altobelli
, who came on as an early substitute for the injured Francesco Graziani
(left forward), to score from the top of the box. To complete the roster, Paolo Rossi
played the other forward position and Antonio Cabrini
was on the left wing as wingback.
has contributed to make catenaccio a tactic of the past.
Real Catenaccio is no longer used in the modern football world. Two major characteristics of this style – man-to-man marking and the libero position – are no longer in use. What many consider Catenaccio is rather a hyper-defensive or retreat style of defending from teams, with rare forward movement. This hyper-defensive style is still commonly referred to as Catenaccio. Nowadays, Catenaccio is used mainly by weaker teams, in order to reduce any technical gap against stronger teams by showing a more physical approach to football. The slow disappearance of the role of sweepers in modern football has also contributed to the decline in its use.
The Catenaccio system is often criticised for reducing the quality of football games as a spectacle. In certain parts of Europe
, it became synonymous with negative football since the focus is so much upon defending. Many journalists and coaches have called this syle of play "anti-football".
One frequent mistake is to define Catenaccio as any defensive tactical system used by a football team. This is actually untrue, because Catenaccio is just one of the possible defensive tactics which can be used. Nowadays, Catenaccio is used less and less by top teams, and generally only under particular circumstances, such as when suffering from a numerical inferiority following a sending off
, or when needing to defend a marginal scoreline until the end of the match.
Catenaccio is often thought to be commonplace in Italian football; however, it is actually used infrequently by Italian Serie A
teams, who instead prefer to apply some other, more modern, tactical systems, like 4-4-2 and others. This does not apply to the Italian national football team, however. Italy's previous coaches, Cesare Maldini
and Giovanni Trapattoni
, used the Catenaccio at international level, and both failed to reach the top. Italy, under Maldini, lost on penalties at the 1998 FIFA World Cup
quarter-finals, while Trapattoni lost early in the second round at 2002 FIFA World Cup
and lost at the UEFA Euro 2004 during the first round, although after this, Trapattoni would apply Catenaccio football successfully, securing a Portuguese Liga
title with Benfica. However, Dino Zoff
employed it to good use for Italy, securing a place in the European Championship Final in 2000, which Italy only lost on the "golden goal" rule.
However, German coach Otto Rehhagel
used a similar system for his Greece national football team
in the 2004 European Championship, and won the tournament as a result despite being cast as heavy underdogs.
When Italy was reduced to 10 men in the 50th minute of the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2nd round match against Australia, coach Marcello Lippi changed the Italian's formation to a defensive orientation which caused the British newspaper The Guardian
to note that "the timidity of Italy's approach had made it seem that Helenio Herrera, the high priest of Catenaccio, had taken possession of the soul of Marcello Lippi." It should be noted, however, that the ten man team was playing with a 4-3-2 scheme, just a midfielder away from the regular 4-4-2.
After the 2006 World Cup, the media picked up the fact that modern football is becoming increasingly defensive: the number of goals scored in that World Cup was only 147 (an average of 2.297 per match), and the Golden Boot
winner Miroslav Klose
only scored five goals as opposed to the eight of the previous winner, Ronaldo
. Additionally, the 2006 World Cup was the first not to feature any forwards in its official top three "Best Players".
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, catenaccio means "door-bolt", implying a highly organized and effective backline defense which is intended to prevent goals.
History
The system was made famous by the Franco-Argentine trainer Helenio HerreraHelenio Herrera
Helenio Herrera Gavilán was a Franco-Argentine football player and manager.Although born in Argentina, Herrera's parents were both Spanish, his father being a well-known Spanish anarchist in exile...
of Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
in the 1960s who used it to grind out 1–0 wins over opponents in their league games.
The Catenaccio was influenced by the verrou (also "doorbolt/chain" in French) system invented by Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n coach Karl Rappan
Karl Rappan
Karl Rappan was an Austrian footballer and coach. He played and managed mostly in Switzerland, where he won multiple titles. He had four tenures as coach of the Swiss national team, which he managed in three World Cups, and is the all-time leader in matches won as coach of the Swiss team...
. As coach of Switzerland
Switzerland national football team
The Swiss national football team is the national football team of Switzerland...
in the 1930s and 1940s, Rappan played a defensive sweeper called the verrouilleur, who was highly defensive and was positioned just ahead of the goalkeeper. In the 1950s, Nereo Rocco
Nereo Rocco
Nereo Rocco was an Italian football player and manager. He is famous for having been one of the most successful head coaches in Italy, and the first proponent of catenaccio in the country.-Playing career:...
's Padova
Calcio Padova
Calcio Padova is an Italian football club, based in Padua, Veneto. The club was founded in 1910. Padova is playing in Serie B, having last been in Serie A in 1996...
pioneered the system in Italy where it would be used again by the Internazionale team of the early 1960s.
Rappan's verrou system, proposed in 1932 when coach of Servette
Servette FC
Servette FC is a Swiss football club, based in Geneva currently playing in the Swiss Super League. They were playing in the Swiss Challenge League, the second highest tier of Swiss football having been relegated from the Swiss Super League at the end of 2004/05 season...
, was implemented with four fixed defenders, playing a strict man-to-man marking system, plus a playmaker in the middle of the field who played the ball together with two midfield wings.
Rocco's tactic, often referred to as the "real" Catenaccio, was shown first in 1947 with Triestina: the most common mode of operation was a 1-3-3-3 formation with a strictly defensive team approach. With catenaccio, Triestina finished the Serie A tournament in a surprising second place. Some variations include 1-4-4-1 and 1-4-3-2 formations.
The key innovation of Catenaccio was the introduction of the role of a libero, or sweeper, a player positioned behind the line of three defenders. The sweeper's role was to recover loose balls, nullify the opponent's striker and double-mark when necessary. Another important innovation was the counter-attack, mainly based on long passes from the defence.
In Herrera's version in the 1960s, four man-marking defenders were tightly assigned to each opposing attacker while an extra sweeper would pick up any loose ball that escaped the coverage of the defenders. The emphasis of this system in Italian football spawned the rise of many top defenders such as Claudio Gentile
Claudio Gentile
Claudio Gentile is an Italian football coach and former defender of the 1970s and 1980s. Gentile appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments, including playing in the winning Italian team in the 1982 final. His club career was notably spent with Juventus for whom he made almost 300 league...
and Gaetano Scirea
Gaetano Scirea
Gaetano Scirea was an Italian football player who is considered one of the greatest defenders of all-time.Scirea is one of only five players in European football history to have won all international trophies for football clubs recognized by UEFA and FIFA...
in the 1970s, Giuseppe Bergomi
Giuseppe Bergomi
Giuseppe Bergomi is a retired Italian footballer who spent his entire career at Internazionale, being equally at ease as a central or right defender....
and Franco Baresi
Franco Baresi
Franco Baresi is an Italian football youth team coach and former player. He played as a sweeper and spent his entire career with Serie A club AC Milan, acknowledged as one of the greatest defenders ever to play the game. Baresi was nicknamed "Piscinin", Milanese for "Little one"...
in the 1980s, the famous all-Italian Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
defensive four of Baresi, Paolo Maldini
Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former footballer who played as a left or central defender. He spent all 25 seasons of his career at Serie A club Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009, becoming a symbol and a legend of the club...
, Alessandro Costacurta
Alessandro Costacurta
Alessandro "Billy" Costacurta is an Italian former professional football defender turned manager.Costacurta spent some twenty years at Milan, with a brief period spent in AC Monza on loan. He is best known for his role alongside Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini and Mauro Tassotti, forming one of the...
and Mauro Tassotti
Mauro Tassotti
Mauro Tassotti is a retired Italian footballer. He played for seventeen years with A.C. Milan, mostly at right back but could also fill in at centre back if required, thanks to his versatility and commitment...
of the 1990's and 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
winners Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro, Ufficiale OMRI is a former Italian footballer considered one of the greatest defenders of all time and was given the name "Muro di Berlino" which means The Berlin wall by Italian supporters. He spent the majority of his career in Italy...
and Alessandro Nesta
Alessandro Nesta
Alessandro Nesta, Ufficiale OMRI , is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club Milan. Considered by many as one of the best centre backs to have ever played the game, he is a four-time member of the annual UEFA Team of the Year.-Early life:Nesta was raised in...
and many others in 2000s for which the Italian national team would become famous.
Zona Mista
Total FootballTotal Football
"Total Football" is the label given to an influential tactical theory of association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. It was pioneered by Dutch football club Ajax from 1969 to 1973, and further used by the Netherlands National Football...
, invented by Rinus Michels
Rinus Michels
Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels OON was a Dutch association football player and coach...
in the 1970s, rendered Herrera's version of Catenaccio obsolete. In Total Football, no player is fixed in his nominal role; anyone can be successively an attacker
Attacker
In some sports, an attacker is a specific type of player, usually one whose role involves aggressive play. Heavy attackers are usually placed up front so they can score some points for the team.In football, attackers are also referred to as strikers....
, a midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
and a defender
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
. Man-marking alone was insufficient to cope with this fluid system. Coaches began to create a new tactical system that mixed man-marking with zonal defense. In 1972, Michels' Ajax defeated Herrera's Inter 2-0 in the European Cup final
1972 European Cup Final
The 1972 European Cup Final was a football match held at De Kuip, Rotterdam, on 31 May 1972, that saw Ajax of the Netherlands defeat Internazionale of Italy 2-0. Two second-half goals from Johan Cruyff gave Ajax their second success in the competition, after their 1971 victory...
and Dutch newspapers announced the "destruction of Catenaccio" at the hands of Total Football. In 1973, Ajax crushed Nereo Rocco's Milan 6-0 for the European Super Cup in a match that the defensive Milan system was totally undermined by Ajax.
In pure zonal defense, every midfielder and defender is given a particular zone on the field to cover. When a player moves outside his zone, his teammate expands his zone to cover the unmarked area. However, Catenaccio philosophy called for double-marking when dealing with strong players. Zona Mista (Italian for "mixed zone") was created.
Playmaker
In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's offensive play, and is often involved in passing moves which lead to goals....
(the number 10) and a winger who covers typically the right flank and sometimes acts as an additional striker. Zona Mista employs two-prong attack. A centre forward plays upfront. A second striker plays wide to the left (a derivation of Catenaccios left winger) and drift inside to act as a striker or to cover the playmaker when the playmaker drops into a defensive position.
The most famous example of Zona Mista was the Italian team playing in the 1982 FIFA World Cup Final
1982 FIFA World Cup Final
- External links :**...
. Classy and skillful Gaetano Scirea
Gaetano Scirea
Gaetano Scirea was an Italian football player who is considered one of the greatest defenders of all-time.Scirea is one of only five players in European football history to have won all international trophies for football clubs recognized by UEFA and FIFA...
was the libero, the then 18-years old Giuseppe Bergomi
Giuseppe Bergomi
Giuseppe Bergomi is a retired Italian footballer who spent his entire career at Internazionale, being equally at ease as a central or right defender....
the holding midfielder, and Fulvio Collovati
Fulvio Collovati
Fulvio Collovati is an Italian former footballer, who played defense. He was a stopper and also played on the international level, winning the 1982 FIFA World Cup....
and tough tackling Claudio Gentile
Claudio Gentile
Claudio Gentile is an Italian football coach and former defender of the 1970s and 1980s. Gentile appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments, including playing in the winning Italian team in the 1982 final. His club career was notably spent with Juventus for whom he made almost 300 league...
the centre backs. As the system required, Gentile who was normally a fullback extended his defensive cover wide to the right; sometimes Gentile and Orialli switched their roles (when Gentile man-marked Maradona) - Gentile as holding midfielder, Orialli - as right centre-back. Gabriele Oriali
Gabriele Oriali
Gabriele Oriali is a former football player from Italy, who mainly played defensive midfield but could also play as defender.-Playing career:...
played right (often central, holding) midfielder, Marco Tardelli centre midfielder and Bruno Conti
Bruno Conti
Bruno Conti is an Italian ex-football player and former coach of the Serie A club Roma from 14 March 2005 to 30 June 2005. His two sons Daniele and Andrea are both professional footballers...
the playmaker. True to the call of his role, Conti played an instrumental role in Italy's win. He was a central figure in Italy's second goal that was scored by Tardelli and single-handedly created Italy's third goal by breaking down the right side from the half-way line and crossing to Alessandro Altobelli
Alessandro Altobelli
Alessandro Altobelli is a former professional Italian footballer.Nicknamed Spillo for his slender build. Altobelli was one of the most effective Italian forwards of the late 1970s and 1980s...
, who came on as an early substitute for the injured Francesco Graziani
Francesco Graziani
Francesco "Ciccio" Graziani is an Italy football manager and former player.-Playing career:Graziani was born in Subiaco, in the province of Rome....
(left forward), to score from the top of the box. To complete the roster, Paolo Rossi
Paolo Rossi
Paolo Rossi is an Italian former football striker. In 1982, he led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot/top scorer honors, and the Golden Ball. After his performance at the 1982 FIFA World Cup he became a hero in the hearts of all Italians...
played the other forward position and Antonio Cabrini
Antonio Cabrini
Antonio Cabrini is an Italian football former player. He played left-back, mainly with Juventus. He won the 1982 FIFA World Cup with the Italian national team....
was on the left wing as wingback.
Catenaccio today
Over the years, the original Catenaccio has been slowly abandoned for other, more balanced tactical approaches; in particular, the increasing popularity gained by an attacking-based approach like Total FootballTotal Football
"Total Football" is the label given to an influential tactical theory of association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. It was pioneered by Dutch football club Ajax from 1969 to 1973, and further used by the Netherlands National Football...
has contributed to make catenaccio a tactic of the past.
Real Catenaccio is no longer used in the modern football world. Two major characteristics of this style – man-to-man marking and the libero position – are no longer in use. What many consider Catenaccio is rather a hyper-defensive or retreat style of defending from teams, with rare forward movement. This hyper-defensive style is still commonly referred to as Catenaccio. Nowadays, Catenaccio is used mainly by weaker teams, in order to reduce any technical gap against stronger teams by showing a more physical approach to football. The slow disappearance of the role of sweepers in modern football has also contributed to the decline in its use.
The Catenaccio system is often criticised for reducing the quality of football games as a spectacle. In certain parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, it became synonymous with negative football since the focus is so much upon defending. Many journalists and coaches have called this syle of play "anti-football".
One frequent mistake is to define Catenaccio as any defensive tactical system used by a football team. This is actually untrue, because Catenaccio is just one of the possible defensive tactics which can be used. Nowadays, Catenaccio is used less and less by top teams, and generally only under particular circumstances, such as when suffering from a numerical inferiority following a sending off
Misconduct (football)
Misconduct in association football is any conduct by a player that is deemed by the referee to warrant a disciplinary sanction in accordance with Law 12 of the Laws of the Game. Misconduct may occur at any time, including when the ball is out of play, during half-time and before and after the...
, or when needing to defend a marginal scoreline until the end of the match.
Catenaccio is often thought to be commonplace in Italian football; however, it is actually used infrequently by Italian Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
teams, who instead prefer to apply some other, more modern, tactical systems, like 4-4-2 and others. This does not apply to the Italian national football team, however. Italy's previous coaches, Cesare Maldini
Cesare Maldini
Cesare Maldini is an Italian football manager and former player. He played as a centre back and spent the majority of his career with AC Milan. Maldini also represented Italy at international level in the 1962 and 1966 World Cups. His son Paolo, also a defender, previously held the record for the...
and Giovanni Trapattoni
Giovanni Trapattoni
Giovanni Trapattoni , sometimes known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football coach and former player, considered the most successful club coach in the history of Serie A. As a player he was part of Italy's squad at the 1962 FIFA World Cup....
, used the Catenaccio at international level, and both failed to reach the top. Italy, under Maldini, lost on penalties at the 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
quarter-finals, while Trapattoni lost early in the second round at 2002 FIFA World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
and lost at the UEFA Euro 2004 during the first round, although after this, Trapattoni would apply Catenaccio football successfully, securing a Portuguese Liga
Portuguese Liga
The Primeira Liga , formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system...
title with Benfica. However, Dino Zoff
Dino Zoff
Dino Zoff is an Italian former football goalkeeper and is the oldest winner ever of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian team in the 1982 tournament in Spain, at the age of 40 years, 4 months and 13 days.Zoff was a goalkeeper of outstanding ability and has a place in the...
employed it to good use for Italy, securing a place in the European Championship Final in 2000, which Italy only lost on the "golden goal" rule.
However, German coach Otto Rehhagel
Otto Rehhagel
Otto Rehhagel is a German football coach and former football player. Along with Helmut Schön, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Udo Lattek and Hennes Weisweiler, he is considered one of the most successful German managers....
used a similar system for his Greece national football team
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...
in the 2004 European Championship, and won the tournament as a result despite being cast as heavy underdogs.
When Italy was reduced to 10 men in the 50th minute of the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
2nd round match against Australia, coach Marcello Lippi changed the Italian's formation to a defensive orientation which caused the British newspaper The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
to note that "the timidity of Italy's approach had made it seem that Helenio Herrera, the high priest of Catenaccio, had taken possession of the soul of Marcello Lippi." It should be noted, however, that the ten man team was playing with a 4-3-2 scheme, just a midfielder away from the regular 4-4-2.
After the 2006 World Cup, the media picked up the fact that modern football is becoming increasingly defensive: the number of goals scored in that World Cup was only 147 (an average of 2.297 per match), and the Golden Boot
FIFA World Cup awards
At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are attributed to the players and teams which have distinguished from the rest, in different aspects of the game.These are awards granted during the men's senior tournament...
winner Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Josef Klose is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Lazio in the Serie A. Since bursting onto the international stage at the 2002 World Cup, he has become well known for his knack of scoring headers, front-flip goal celebrations, and decisive short passing.Klose holds German...
only scored five goals as opposed to the eight of the previous winner, Ronaldo
Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...
. Additionally, the 2006 World Cup was the first not to feature any forwards in its official top three "Best Players".
See also
- StrikerStrikerForwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
- Football (soccer)Football (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
- Total FootballTotal Football"Total Football" is the label given to an influential tactical theory of association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. It was pioneered by Dutch football club Ajax from 1969 to 1973, and further used by the Netherlands National Football...
- Football tactics and skillsFootball tactics and skillsThere are various individual skills and team tactics needed to play effective association football . Football is in theory a very simple game, as illustrated by Kevin Keegan's famous assertion that his tactics for winning a match were to "score more goals than the opposition"...
- Formation (football)Formation (football)In association football, the formation describes how the players in a team are positioned on the pitch. Different formations can be used depending on whether a team wishes to play more attacking or defensive football....