If you look at the World Cup odds you have to go down a little bit to get to defending champion Italy. The Italians are not getting a lot of respect in World Cup betting even though they won the title four years ago. World Cup odds list Italy at 10.5 to 1 to defend their title. Italy is actually the fifth choice overall to win the World Cup behind Spain, Brazil, England and Argentina. Even some of Italy’s fans are not giving the team much of a chance to repeat. Head coach Marcello Lippi was ripped in the press for the players he selected for the World Cup roster. Not making the trip to South Africa will be Fabrizio Miccoli, Antonio Cassano, Francesco Totti and Mario Balotelli.
Italy is still a heavy favorite to win Group F. Italy is -310 in World Cup odds to win Group F with Paraguay a distant second choice at 3-1. Slovakia is just over 6-1 while New Zealand is a big longshot. Italy is the team from this group that everyone will be watching. They may be watching a lot of low scoring games considering that Italy don’t have much goal scoring ability. They do have Captain Fabio Cannavaro who was great four years ago. He earned the Golden Ball and he was FIFA world player of the year. This will be his fourth World Cup and his last. He is retiring from International play after the World Cup and he will not likely to return to Juventus.
Cannavaro not only has to deal with his own circumstances, he has to deal with the Italian team. The roster looks weak and head coach Marcello Lippi is expected to leave after the World Cup. Cesare Prandelli is expected to be named Lippi’s successor.
Many experts are saying that Italy is too old to defend their title in World Cup betting. They still have goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, defender Gianluca Zambrotta and midfielders Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo but the goal scoring is a huge question mark. Cannavaro is trying to keep everyone together as the team captain but there seems to be a lot of question surrounding this Italy team. The good news for the Italians in World Cup odds is that Group F is not that tough. New Zealand probably won’t get a point while Paraguay and Slovakia should fight for second place.