"Squadron Azzurra" - one of the strongest teams in the world

The Italian national football team is one of the most titled and strongest in the world. This team has achieved incredible success at all times. It still retains the title of one of the most powerful. "Squadron Azzurra" has fans all over the world and continues to amaze with its game, although in recent years it is worth noting that the performances of Italians are not so pleasing. In this article you will learn all the important information about this team - from the won trophies to the champions. Moreover, you will find out what "Azzurra Squadron" is, how this expression is translated, what it happened from and why it is still used.

Team name

Almost every football team has its own nicknames. This applies to the national teams. If we talk about Italy, then its main team is very often in all countries of the world called the phrase "Squider Azzurra". But what does it mean? In fact, everything is quite simple - this phrase is translated as a "blue team". But on this simplicity ends, the question arises: why are the Italians so called? Fortunately, in this case there is no secret - the reason lies in the blue uniform of the footballers, in which they have been performing for more than a decade.

Now you know how the "Azzurra Squadron" is translated, and why the Italian team is called that way. However, there was one very interesting question: where did this name come from? The thing is that in 1861 Italy united under its own head the royal house of Savoy. And his colors were exactly blue. When international football was born, this house was still in power in the country, so the players, representing Italy in the international arena, played in shirts of the appropriate tone. However, as everyone knows, after the Second World War, the royal house in Italy was gone. But the players continued to use this form, which has become a tradition. That's why the Italian national team is called "Squider Azzurra".

Style of play

As you already knew, "Squider Azzurra" in Italian is the "Blue Team". However, there is one more word that is often associated with the national team of this country - it is "catenaccio". This is the style of the game that the Italians professed in the 60s and 70s of the last century. It was based on full concentration on defensive actions. The attacking component consisted of sharp and fast counterattacks. When the Italians scored a goal, they sat in a defensive defense, so most matches won with a minimum score. Today "catenaccio" as such is no longer used. However, the modern drawing of the game team of Italy, as well as some other clubs has much in common with what happened in football fifty years ago.

Successes

What trophies did not win the "Azzurra Squadra". The photos of Italian footballers were constantly on the covers of sports magazines, as they all achieved impressive success. For example, it was Italy that became the first European team to win the World Cup in 1934, as well as the first team to defend this title (in 1938).

Then the team did not follow the most successful stage. She could go to the playoffs of the World Championship only in 1970 - and immediately reached the finals. And in 1982, for the third time in history, he won the World Cup. In 1990, the Italians took third place, and in 1994 - the second. The fourth cup was brewing, but it had to wait until 2006. Since then, the Italians experienced a decline. And in 2010 and 2014 they could not even leave the group.

However, there is another important tournament - the European Championships. In 1968, Italy first came to him - and immediately won. Unfortunately, this was her only victory at this tournament. In 1980, the Italians took the fourth place, 1988 - the third, and in 2000 reached the finals, but lost. The same story was repeated in 2012, when the Italians again took second place. At the last tournament, in which the Italian national team took part (European Championship-2016), the "Azzurra Squadron" reached the quarterfinals, where it lost to the Germans.

Records

As for the players who represent the Italian national team, here throughout the history there were world stars. To date, the most matches for the national team was Gianluigi Buffon. This is the legendary goalkeeper who played 165 games. He defends the colors of the team since 1997.

Of the field players, the record holder is Fabio Cannavaro. He was a participant of 136 matches. And of the now playing field players stands out Daniele de Rossi, who has 108 matches for the national team. The most goals for the team scored Luigi Riva - as many as 35 pieces in 42 games. If you take still playing players, then the record belongs all the same de Rossi. In his 108 games he scored 19 goals.