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2008 Summer Olympics Games: First Training of the Italian Olympic National Team on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 "Double Trainings"
By Anna
Italia
Covering the 2008 Summer Olympics Game in Beijing from an Italian Perspective
Here is the Summary of today's Schedule Wednesday, July 9, 2008 of the Italian Olympic National Team preparing towards the 2008 Summer Olympics Games in Beijing:
Florence, Coverciano Center (July 9) - Italian Olympic National Team Coach Pierluigi Casiraghi with Gianfranco Zola during the first training of the Azzurrini in Coverciano.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
First Official training of the Olympic National Team 10:30 a.m.
Press Conference with Coach Casiraghi 1:15 p.m.
Casiraghi said:
“The dream is to win the Olympic gold medal, but this is the same dream all the other teams have. We will see if we will be able to realize it, I am happy with this group and I have a lot of confidence in this team. "
"I have many talented players and the newly-crowned European champions, Spain, has taught us that when you have quality and good play organization, you can obtain great results” this is what the coach Pierluigi Casiraghi had to say after the first training session.
“This is a short competition with some unknown factors – continued the coach. Argentina has a very good team and three important over-age players, but we will see what happens on the field. What is important now is that we concentrate on preparation.”
The emphasis right now is on the first match which is against Honduras.
Casiraghi also mentioned that he did not consider a personal victory against Fiorentina for keeping midfielder Riccardo Montolivo with the Olympic National team. Fiorentina wanted him to play for the preliminary of the Champions League but according to the statutes Montolivo, for his age, had to be included in the Olympic team.
- Italian Head Coach Marcello Lippi and his assistant Narciso Pezzotti visited Casiraghi in the afternoon to wish good luck to Casiraghi and the squad. Lippi stayed to observed the afternoon training session.
Afternoon training session Olympic National Team 5:30 p.m. ( closed to the media)
- Two hours (exercises, drills, and a match game).
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The National Olympic team will remain in Coverciano until July 22nd, the day in which the team will have its last test against Romania at the stadium in Pistoia: the team coached by Casiraghi will train at the federal technical center according to the program established by the coach and his staff, with a two-day stop, on Friday, the 18th, and Saturday, the 19th, when the players can be with their families. On Sunday, the 20th, the team will meet against in Coverciano until the 22nd. On July 25th, the team leaves for Beijing and on August 7th, they will debut against Honduras.
Related Stories:
- Italy President Giorgio Napolitano Welcomes the Italian Olympic National Team at the Quirinale , July 7, 2008
- Italian National Olympic Team Schedule Sunday, July 6 to Saturday, July 26, 2008
- Official 22 Called Up Players for the 2008 Summer Olympics Games in Beijing by Coach Pierluigi Casiraghi
ItaliaCovering the 2008 Summer Olympics Game in Beijing from an Italian Perspective
Here is the Summary of today's Schedule Wednesday, July 9, 2008 of the Italian Olympic National Team preparing towards the 2008 Summer Olympics Games in Beijing:Florence, Coverciano Center (July 9) - Italian Olympic National Team Coach Pierluigi Casiraghi with Gianfranco Zola during the first training of the Azzurrini in Coverciano.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
First Official training of the Olympic National Team 10:30 a.m.
Press Conference with Coach Casiraghi 1:15 p.m.
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“The dream is to win the Olympic gold medal, but this is the same dream all the other teams have. We will see if we will be able to realize it, I am happy with this group and I have a lot of confidence in this team. "
"I have many talented players and the newly-crowned European champions, Spain, has taught us that when you have quality and good play organization, you can obtain great results” this is what the coach Pierluigi Casiraghi had to say after the first training session.
“This is a short competition with some unknown factors – continued the coach. Argentina has a very good team and three important over-age players, but we will see what happens on the field. What is important now is that we concentrate on preparation.”
The emphasis right now is on the first match which is against Honduras.
Casiraghi also mentioned that he did not consider a personal victory against Fiorentina for keeping midfielder Riccardo Montolivo with the Olympic National team. Fiorentina wanted him to play for the preliminary of the Champions League but according to the statutes Montolivo, for his age, had to be included in the Olympic team.
- Italian Head Coach Marcello Lippi and his assistant Narciso Pezzotti visited Casiraghi in the afternoon to wish good luck to Casiraghi and the squad. Lippi stayed to observed the afternoon training session.
Afternoon training session Olympic National Team 5:30 p.m. ( closed to the media)
- Two hours (exercises, drills, and a match game).
=====
The National Olympic team will remain in Coverciano until July 22nd, the day in which the team will have its last test against Romania at the stadium in Pistoia: the team coached by Casiraghi will train at the federal technical center according to the program established by the coach and his staff, with a two-day stop, on Friday, the 18th, and Saturday, the 19th, when the players can be with their families. On Sunday, the 20th, the team will meet against in Coverciano until the 22nd. On July 25th, the team leaves for Beijing and on August 7th, they will debut against Honduras.
Related Stories:- Italy President Giorgio Napolitano Welcomes the Italian Olympic National Team at the Quirinale , July 7, 2008
- Italian National Olympic Team Schedule Sunday, July 6 to Saturday, July 26, 2008
- Official 22 Called Up Players for the 2008 Summer Olympics Games in Beijing by Coach Pierluigi Casiraghi
Posted by Anna Italia at 7/9/2008 10:25 PM 
Categories: General Soccer News, Italy Under 21 Team, 2008 Olympics
Categories: General Soccer News, Italy Under 21 Team, 2008 Olympics
I am very confused, I have seen the list of the 22 players who were called, but then another 15? The 15 includes Osvaldo, how can he not be a part of the 22? Anyone have any clarification on this? Is it just a group of 37 Casiraghi will choose from? I emphathically hope we win the Gold medal, it will certainly tide us over for the summer, after the failure of the Euro 2008, although it wasn't a complete failure. Then we will look to next summer's Confederation's Cup.
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Osvaldo is in the second group, the ones to be chosen. Did you read the post of the called up players, Anna explained it there. Man, we got to win the Gold Medal.
Franco you got to join us during the matches because we check to support the team here and have our virtual get together to let out our passion for the national team. Where are you, i mean country?
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Osvaldo for some odd reason is on the stand by list.I agree with Franco, he should be included in the first 22.
I seriously doubt Italy can win the gold medal especially with our clubs refusing to release some of the key under 21 players as well as some of the over age players. The competition is fierce, so for me winning any of the 3 medals is good enough. Both Brazil and Argentina have large number of their stars with their Olympic teams and it would be hard to compete with that.
On another note, I like the fact that Lippi was there watching the U-21. He has always paid special attention to the youth teams; he even follows some of the U-17 and U-15 tournaments. I have always admired the fact that he works closely with the youth teams’ coaches, and is involved in helping them make a transition from the junior squad to the senior. He selected 5 players (Andrea Pirlo,Alberto Gilardino,Daniele de Rossi,Andrea Barzagli,and Marco Amelia) from Italy’s u-21 team who won the bronze medal in 2004 Olympic Games. Wouldn’t be great to see another 5 or 6 players from this Olympic Games in 2010? Bravo Lippi
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Yeah, but, Brazil would play Argentina in the semi-final, so Italy could have an easy route to the final. These guys are good enough to win the gold.
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Franco,I hope we can win the Gold. I just wished we had Bonera and Santacroce in the defense; experience pays off in these tournaments. I would have also liked to see Pippo instead of Rocchi.
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