| SCOOP OF THE MONTH NATIONAL TEAM CALCIO NEWS TRAVEL IN CALCIO LAND HISTORY THE LEGEND |
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| History | |||||||||||||||||||
| Soccer was introduced in Italy in the late 19th century (the Federation was born in 1898 and the national team in 1910) and since then is far more than just a game for Italian people: it comes nearly to be a religion of its own; and since the 1930s the Italian national team has always been one of the most competitive worldwide, winning three World Cups (1934, 1938 and 1982), one Olympic Tournament (1936) and one European Championship (1968), always being present at the World Cup finals except for 1930 and 1958. Why Italian National Team Color is Blue (Azzurra) ? The (light) blue is the color of Savoia. It was used for the previous President's flag (blue with the coat-of-arms of the Republic in gold). That blue color is the livery color of the House of Savoy, and therefore for the Kings of Italy 1861-1946. How has the team been doing in the World Cup? WORLD CUP The World Cup was introduced in 1930 and held every four years since then (with the exception of 1942/1946), FIFA is responsible for arranging the preliminary and final competitions, for which the defending champion, the organizing country and 30 other teams may qualify. The FIFA (the governing body of world soccer) World Cup soccer (football) championships are the most anticipated and watched sporting events in the world. More viewers watch them than the Super bowl, World Series of Baseball, and Olympics combined; the final of the 1998 competition was watched by over 2 BILLION people worldwide. The Azzurri has won the world cup champion for three times by now ?.1934,1938 and 1982 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Has been played since 1960, originally as "Nations Cup". From 1960 until 1976, 4 teams qualified for the final tournament, from 1980 until 1992, 8 teams made it there, and since 1996 16 teams qualify for the final showpiece. Italy's participation in the European Championship has not been as successful as its World Cup exploits. Just one lone victory in 1968, a fourth place finish in 1980, a joint (with West Germany) third place finish in 1988 and recently a finalist in 2000 . A rather meager total for a traditional power like the Azzurri. |
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| last update: October 25,2002 | |||||||||||||||||||