Expectation burdens Italy

Italy striker Luca Toni kicks the ball during a training session at the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence on Thursday.Photo: AFP

Coming into the tournament as the reigning world champions and on the back of topping a qualifying group that included France and Ukraine, it would seem on the face of it that Italy will be the team to beat in Austria and Switzerland.
They also recorded an impressive 3-1 friendly victory over one of the other favourites Portugal recently.
Italian teams may not have excelled in Europe this season but given that few top European teams are actually predominantly represented by players from the same country that is not much of an indicator.
Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has lifted the league title with Real Madrid for the second year in a row and another export, main striker Luca Toni is champion and top scorer in Germany.
Football in the country looks remarkably healthy and the fans are brimming with confidence, but that could just be Italy's downfall.
In recent times Italy have almost always flattered to deceive when among the favourites and yet risen to the occasion when expectations were at their lowest.
Two years ago Italy were in disarray ahead of the World Cup finals in Germany. The match-fixing scandal had erupted and there were also suspicions of illegal betting by notable players, such as goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Everyone knows what happened next. Italy trudged along unspectacularly but made it all the way to the final and beat France on penalties to claim their fourth world crown.
It was a similar situation to 1982 when Paolo Rossi had received a suspension for another betting scandal and came back just before the World Cup to then inspire Italy to victory in Spain.
In 1994 Italy were supposed to be a waning team but they gritted their teeth and battled through to the final where they lost to Brazil on penalties.
However there have also been many false dawns in Italian football, particularly in the European Championships.
In the 1986 World Cup the reigning champions were eliminated in the second round by France, in 1990 they failed to win on home soil and in 1992 they did not even make it to the European Championship finals.
At Euro 96 Italy were expected to do well in England and faced a group with Germany, Russia and the Czech Republic.
They began well in defeating Russia but then suffered a surprise loss to the Czechs, who until then were not considered one of the top sides.
Italy battered eventual champions Germany in their last match but could not score in a 0-0 draw and went out in the group stages.
In 2000 they reached the final but in 2004 they failed to get out of a comfortable looking group including Sweden, Denmark and Bulgaria.
There was also the 2002 World Cup defeat to co-hosts South Korea to add to the list of Italian disasters in big tournaments.
It all means that a measure of caution should surround the Italians ahead of the June finals, particularly given their being drawn in the group of death with France, The Netherlands and Romania.
World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi also seemingly tempted fate recently when he declared: "Right now there is no better team in Europe than Italy.
"There is enthusiasm, there's a good feeling. And the joy shown after qualification against Scotland (Italy won in Glasgow to secure their place at the finals) says more than any discussion."
If history is to be taken into consideration then Italy will probably be taking an early flight home unless that expectation is tempered a little.
Perhaps their only saving grace is the uncertainty surrounding the future of coach Roberto Donadoni, who was offered a conditional contract extension based on progression to at least the semifinals.
He turned it down and maybe that unknown factor will have created just enough doubt to bring the best out of Italy.