There are many who are tipping Italy to come out victorious at the European Championships in Poland and the Ukraine, and their believe is in fact not based on football but on past circumstances.
Italian football is once again embroiled in a match-fixing scandal, that sadly no longer seems to rock the games but merely appear to be some mild turbulence. The thing is though when previous match-fixing scandals have surfaced Italy has twice gone on to win the World Cup.
In 1982 Italy won their third World Cup following the Totonero scandal and thanks in the main to the man caught up in that very scandal Paolo Rossi who returned from a two-year ban just prior to the World Cup Finals.
In 2006 Calciopoli as it was called hit the news, and the national team pulled together to lift their fourth World Cup.
They say that adversity unites a group and many are watching the Italian camp with great interest. The loss of their first choice left back Domenico Criscito, is so far the only setback the national team has suffered from the latest scandal calcioscommesse. History is on their side when it comes to rising above adversity, and the team’s support of Mario Balotelli by stating that they will all walk on the pitch if he is racially abused, rather than off it which would mean a forfeit, show that they are definitely a united group.
