Euro 2012 Betting Italy
Welcome to our Euro 2012 Italy Team Guide. Here we preview the chances and make our predictions on Italy for Euro 2012. We also take a look back at their Euro 2012 qualifiying performance and previous appearances at the European Championships.
Italy Euro 2012 Match Betting Previews
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Spain v Italy 
- Group C - 17:00
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Italy v Croatia 
- Group C - 17:00
Monday, 18 June 2012
Italy v Rep of Ireland 
- Group C - 19:45
Italy Coach - Cesare Prandelli:
Cesare Prandelli is the current Head Coach of Italy, he replaced Marcello Lippi after the 2010 World Cup. After finishing bottom of their group and being eliminated at the Group Stage at the World Cup Prandelli has come in and quietly gone about his work and it's already paying dividends, the Azzurri were undeated in qualifying for Euro 2012!
During his playing career Prandelli represented Cremonese, Atalanta and Juventus and made 197 Serie A appearances. Prandelli moved into coaching in 1990 and started out with the Atalanta youth team. He progressed quickly to manage their first team and has since led the likes of Parma, Roma and most notably Fiorentina where he was awarded the Serie A Coach of the Year in 2009.
Italy - Euro 2012 Qualifying:
Italy qualified via one of the weaker qualifying groups and booked their place at the Euro 2012 finals with ease. They topped their qualifying group, were undefeated, scored 20 goals and only conceded 2 goals against the likes of the Slovenia, Estonia, Northern Ireland, Serbia and the Faroe Islands. Their task was also made easier by the fact that Italy only played 9 of the their 10 qualifying games after their match against Serbia was abandoned due to crowd trouble. The Italians were subsequently awarded the win by UEFA.
| Date | Home Team | Result | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/09/2010 | Estonia | 1-2 (1-0) | Italy |
| 07/09/2010 | Italy | 5-0 (3-0) | Faroe Islands |
| 08/10/2010 | Northern Ireland | 0-0 (0-0) | Italy |
| 12/10/2010 | Italy | P-P (P-P) | Serbia |
| 25/03/2011 | Slovenia | 0-1 (0-0) | Italy |
| 03/06/2011 | Italy | 3-0 (2-0) | Estonia |
| 02/09/2011 | Faroe Islands | 0-1 (0-1) | Italy |
| 06/09/2011 | Italy | 1-0 (0-0) | Slovenia |
| 07/10/2011 | Serbia | 1-1 (1-1) | Italy |
| 11/10/2011 | Italy | 3-0 (1-0) | Northern Ireland |
Italy - Past European Championship Performances:
It's perhaps a little surprising to read but the stats show that the Italian's have consistently underachived at the European Championships. We have to go back to 1968 for their only victory in the tournament. In more recent times, Euro 2000 saw the Azzurri lose in the Final to France and at Euro 2008 they went out at the Quarter Final stage - however they did famously win the World Cup in 2006!
Italy Recent European Championships Performances:
- Euro 1996 - Eliminated Third In Group
- Euro 2000 - Runners Up
- Euro 2004 - Eliminated Third In Group
- Euro 2008 - Eliminated In Quarter Finals
Italy - Player to Watch - Mario Balotelli:
Our player to watch for Italy at Euro 2012 is the supremely talented but highly controversial striker Mario Balotelli! He is expected to play at key role for Italy at Euro 2012 and if he's in the mood he could fire the goals that take Italy deep into the tournament. It's going to be interesting to see which Mario Balotelli turns up for Italy, will it be the striker that is sometimes simply unplayable or will his off the pitch reputation proceed him? One thing is for sure, whenever Balotelli is around it's never going to be boring!
Super Mario started his career at lowly Lumezzane before attracting the attention of Inter Milan in 2006. He made his Inter debut aged 16 and quickly established himself as a regular in the first team. As quickly as young Balotelli's career was taking off on the pitch so was his reputation for poor discipline and antics off the field! He clashed regularly with then coach Jose Mourinho and famously with his own Inter fans after wearing the shirt of bitter rivals AC Milan on national TV! After 59 appearances and 20 goals it seems Inter had enough of Balotelli's behaviour and he was transferred to Manchester City for €24 million.
Like his time at Inter, Balotelli has lit up the Premier League with his unquestionable talent but controversy continues to follow him at every step! Already during his time at Manchester City Balotelli has been involved in a car crash, confronted a bully in a school after asking why a young Man City fan was not at school, having the police involved after fireworks were going off inside his home, giving £1000 to a homeless man on the streets of Manchester and throwing darts during a training ground prank! It's probably the following quote from Roberto Mancini (his manager at both Inter and Man City) that best sums up Mario Balotelli - "The problem is because of his age, he can make some mistakes. He's Mario. He's crazy - but I love him because he's a good guy!"
Let's take a closer look at Super Mario trying to put on his bib, we've watched this clip loads of times and never get tired of it!
Italy - Our Prediction
Italy have been drawn in Group C at Euro 2012 where they will face the reigning World and European Champions Spain as well as Croatia and the Republic of Ireland in a tough looking group. The Italian's have a reputation for being slow starters at major tournaments but their disciplined and defensive nature means they will certainly be hard to beat.
After a disastrous World Cup 2010, Prandelli has re-shaped the team using a mixture of youth and experience and they head to Euro 2012 with confidence after being undefeated in qualifying. The bookies are quoting best odds around 16/1 for Italy to win Euro 2012 which we think is a fair price that could look very generous if the Italian's make the knockout stages. However, the beteuro2012.com team aren't convinced this new generation are ready yet or have enough firepower across the team so at this stage we're predicting Croatia to pip the Italians to the Quarter Finals behind Spain. A bet on Italy failing to qualify from the Group stage is being offered with odds around even money (2.00), it could prove a decent bet?
Overall, our Euro 2012 betting focus on Italy will be on match betting only, especially under 2.5 goals in-play. The Italians are reknowned for their defensive quality so they won't concede many!
Bet on Italy for Euro 2012
For all the latest betting odds on Italy for Euro 2012 please visit our Italy Euro 2012 Betting Odds page!
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