A map of the country appears to be a pointer as to an Italian’s big love: Italy’s outline is similar to that of a football boot. Between Turin and Milan, Rome and Naples, “Calcio” is the biggest passion. Football is by far the No 1 sport for the country’s 58 million population.

The Italian Football Association (FIGC) was founded on 16 March 1898 in Turin. The first championship was played in the same year between four north Italian clubs. Genoa 1893 were the winners of the one day tournament.

The association’s milestones gives one a overview of the nation’s football history. Italy’s first international match took place on 15 May 1910 in Milan (6-2 against France). The first big era in Italian football followed in the 1930s after professional football was introduced in the 1929/30 season. The “Azurri” team won the World Cup in 1934 and 1938. In between, the “Sky Blues” also captured the gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

Guided by the renowned coach Vittorio Pozzo, Italy won the World Cup for the first time on 10 June 1934 when beating Czechoslovakia 2-1 after extra time. Players such as Giampiero Combi, Angelo Schiavio, Giuseppe Meazza, Eraldo Monzeglio and Ramondo Orsi were the guarantors of the victory on home soil in Rome.

Things were even more clear cut when they defended the title in Paris on 19 June 1938. Again coached by Vittorio Pozzo, the team built around Amedeo Biavati, Alfredo Foni and Silvio Piola easily beat Hungary 4-2. The country then had to wait 44 years before they were able to win the World Cup for the third time.

On 11 July 1982 Italy beat Germany 3-1 in the final in Madrid. Coach Enzo Bearzot and players such as striker Paolo Rossi, goalkeeper Dino Zoff as well as defenders and midfielders Claudio Gentile, Gaetano Scirea and Bruno Conti became national heroes. The southern Europeans survived the first group phase without winning before then running into top form. They gave Germany no chance in the final.

Defeat in the last game of the 1994 FIFA World Cup is seen by the Italians as being the country’s most bitter experience in a final. The “Squadra Azzurra” lost on penalties to Brazil (3-2) after an extra time goal-less draw in Pasadena. The loss was bitter but not a disgrace. Just the performance of the Italian stars in the World Cup finals in England in 1966 could be deemed embarrassing. A soldier called Pak Do Ik scored the goal that gave North Koreaa sensational 1-0 win in the group match against the clear favourites. The Italians were eliminated early on and had to endure the wrath of their own fans when returning home.

The FIFA World Cup 2002 ™ was also a sobering experience. When losing to hosts South Korea in the last 16 on the golden goal rule, the Italians felt they had been cheated by the referee.

The name of the legendary goalkeeper Dino “Nazionale” Zoff is associated with the only European Championship title (1968). His team-mates such as captain Giacinto Facchetti, Gianni Rivera, Sandro Mazzola and Gigi Riva were amongst world football’s top stars at the time. Two years later, the team also reached the final of the FIFA World Cup in Mexico. But the Brazilians were too strong and won 4-1. The “Azzurri” had used up a lot of energy in the semi-final played up in the high altitude of Mexico City. The match, which ended in a 4-3 victory after extra time against Germany, is generally considered to be one of the best games of the century.

The basis for the lasting success of the Italian national team has been laid by the country’s club teams. The big northern Italian clubs such as Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan and both of the capital city’s clubs  Lazio and AS Rome dictate the league’s proceedings. SCC Naples were also a member of the top flight before they were forced to take a financial and footballing backseat.

Juventus holds the league championship record. They have won the national title on 27 occasions and are also nine-time Italian cup winners. Italian clubs have won more than 40 European competitions. AC Milan heads the list with 15 titles followed by Juventus (10) and Inter (7). Football coaches from Italy are often of a world class standard. The country’s great coaches were Vittorio Pozzo before the Second World War as well as Ferruccio Valcareggi, Enzo Bearzot, Azeglio Vicini, Arrigo Sacchi, Cesare Maldini, Dino Zoff, Giovanni Trapattoni, Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi in “modern times”. “Catenaccio”, the legendary and typically Italian line of defence was however introduced by a foreign coach, namely Helenio Herrera (Argentina) when at Inter Milan.

EURO 2004 in Portugal ended recently in a disaster for the supporters who are spoiled with so much success. The team that was only defeated by World Cup winners France in the final of the 2000 European Championship in the Netherlands and Belgium on the golden goal rule, were knocked out straight away at the group stage. Marcello Lippi, Juventus’ “champion maker” followed in coach Giovanni Trapattoni’s footsteps.

Lippi is one of Europe’s most successful coaches: he guided Juventus to the Italian championship on five occasions between 1995 and 2003 and he also won the Champions League in 1996. He additionally reached the final of the Champions League three times in recent years. “Lippi will bring about the revolution,” wrote the jubilant Milan newspaper “Corriere della Sera”, when Lippi took over the national side. His aim is to lead Italy back to the very top again at the FIFA World Cup 2006 ™ after 24 years without winning a major title. And the coach will go his own way. When nominating his first team, he omitted superstar Alessandro Del Piero but, in the meantime, the Juventus player is back in the squad. Lippi has players in his ranks that every European top club would love to have in their team. But the task of forming a new side into a functioning collective hasn’t quite been accomplished yet. With their abilities, the three-time World Cup winners will again be one of the favourites in Germany in 2006.