Word: azzuri
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Dates: during 2002-2002
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...Which brings us to Italy, another soccer powerhouse sent home by host Korea. Italy usually is the opposite of Spain - their game is boring, but they always know how to place the dagger in the opponent's heart. The azzuri's sense of entitlement wore off this time at the coming out party of an up-and-coming Korean side. Korea the introvert, the middle brother who struggles to find its place in the Asian family, took the Cup by storm as a country and as a team, in a perfectly planned and executed effort to let the world know...
...There should, for instance, be a system of fines and other penalties for losing coaches who accuse referees of incompetence, or worse. The most egregious example of this sort of scapegoating came last week, when Italy's Giovanni Trapattoni blamed Ecuadorean ref Byron Moreno for the Azzuri's inglorious defeat by South Korea. In addition to questioning Moreno's professional abilities, Trapattoni suggested obliquely that the official was ordered by FIFA to ensure a Korean victory so that one of the two host nations would remain in the tournament...