Quarter Final Preview: Italy v Ukraine

With all the small guns, wannabes and pretenders having fallen off their tracks, Ukraine represents the only underdog left in this world cup. alongside them stand six former champions and a portugal managed by a former champion. And along with the hopes of a young nation looking to carve a future comparable to that of its former Soviet face, Ukraine carry into this quarter final the banner of every small footballing nation fighting the hegemony of the superpowers.

The superpower in question today is Italy.

After a delightful opening match, Italy reverted to long ball defensive football, choosing to selectively show flashes of brilliance at their whim. That they are capable of some of the best football in the world, and beating the best, is not really a doubt - the Italians have always had quality. But what they lack is perhaps the inability to turn on the heat when it has mattered. If you look at past world cups, you could also say that they could do with some luck.

At its worst, this match could descend into a boring stinker, replete with niggling fouls, a red card or two, a 0-0 scoreline at 90 and an anticlimactic winner just before penalties. A lot will, of course, depend on how the Italians play.

Ukraine will play the only way they know how. There'll be lots of tackling, lots of running, and the entire midfield will be working extremely hard to supply the two Andriys, Shevchenko and Voronin. The front-line will be dropping back to pick up the ball, and the entire team should be running their socks off. It is the curse of the emerging teams at this world cup - Ivory Coast, Australia, Ghana - that their good work in midfield has been let down by poor finishing. For these nations, getting to the final third of the field has not been a problem. Knowing what to do at the final third of the field, that's what has been separating the established greats from the pretenders to the crown.

Shevchenko bears the goalscoring onus

And in spite of having the one and only surrogate Milanese himself Shevchenko leading their line, the Ukrainians are goalshy. His knowledge of the Italians will be vastly important, because eventhough the Ukrainians have scored five goals in four games, four of those came against a miserable Saudi side. Against stronger opposition, Ukraine have been finding it hard to breach defences, and at their worst, they can be accused of running like headless chickens. Often, their midfielders are reduced to long shots no thanks to a disnticnt lack of creativity just outside the box. For all their industry, what Ukraine lack is someone like Francesco Totti.

Totti will be talismanic for Italy. It is cliched to say that if Totti fires, Italy fires, nonetheless, it is to some degree true. Italy's defence is always solid, Nesta or no Nesta, Materazzi or no Materazzi. Eventhough they sometimes play adventurous football higher up the pitch, these defenders know the textbook of catennaccio, and will defend tightly whenever they have to. Their midfield is largely built around hard-knock players like Gatusso, de Rossi and Perrotta, while the sublime passing ability of Pirlo is one of the few elegant threads in this fashion item. Up front, Gilardino and Toni are big, lumbering strikers reminiscent of Christian Vieri. Neither have shown the class that they've promised, yet both are extremely strong and have pace to boot.

Totti's creativity separates the sides

Totti, it seems, represents the creative cog in this side. Without him, Italy can look sparkless, populated with tough hardliners and lumbering forwards, they almost look like an eastern european side. Without Totti, Italy almost look like Ukraine. But therein lies the difference. The Italian number 10's role will be to prise open the Ukrainian defence and release Gilardino and Toni to run at goal. Elsewhere on the pitch, Italy will need to be extremely disciplined - they've already seen two red cards so far, and may not survive another one if any of their players were to choose this stage to misbehave.

Ultimately, the game could hinge on the first goal and when it comes. If the Ukrainians score early, we could be in for a treat. If the Italians score early, it could be close shop and counter attacking football till the end. Don't expect an open match, it will be very tight, very physical and there's every chance the match will be settled on a solitary goal. Unless, of course, the Marcelo Lippi decides to bring out the Italy that defeated Ghana in their opening game... if Italy suddenly decide to turn on the style and attack in numbers, it will be curtains for Ukraine. Then again, that's an unlikely gameplan.

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