Italian national team coach Cesare Prandelli was in the stands at the Ennio Tardini for Parma's 1-1 draw with Genoa on Sunday, keeping his eye out on a few of the players that could make his World Cup squad this summer. The most notable of those was Antonio Cassano, with the veteran attacker currently enjoying one of his best seasons in years. Only once in his career has he scored more goals in a Serie A season, and that was five years ago.
Cesare Prandelli’s Cassano dilemma
Despite an excellent domestic season, it wouldn’t be surprising if Antonio Cassano missed out on the World Cup this summer.
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When he made the move from Inter Milan to Parma in the summer, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was the start of a gradual slide into retirement for the 31-year-old. But the move was supposedly in order to maximise his playing time in the hope he could play his way into a World Cup squad one last time. So far, he's holding up his end of the bargain, and making the most of his chance at the heart of Serie A's chief overperformers.
Prandelli won’t have been overly enamoured with what he saw in the stands against Genoa, but that matters little. He won’t be making his final selections based on just one game. And over the course of the season, FantAntonio has rolled back the years. Almost all of Parma’s attacking play goes through the versatile forward, whether he’s drifting inside off the left, or dragging defenders out of position as a false nine.
But unfortunately for Cassano, Prandelli perhaps has more of a dilemma over which attackers to take than any other position on the field. At Euro 2012, his five strikers were Mario Balotelli, Antonio Di Natale, Fabio Borini, Sebastian Giovinco and Cassano. Of that list, only Balotelli is a dead cert now. Other players have since entered the reckoning, with Lorenzo Insigne maturing into a player capable of making a difference at international level, and Pablo Osvaldo increasingly looking like a Prandelli favourite.
Cassano also has further competition from Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile, as well as Mattia Destro and Alberto Gilardino. Should Stephan El Shaarawy shake off his long-term injury in time -- which, admittedly, now looks highly unlikely -- it'll be even harder for Cassano to fit. When Prandelli makes his final selection, there are other factors that will come into consideration over just domestic form. That too hampers Cassano's cause.
He’s a well-known troublemaker; an awkward character that has had regular fall-outs through the years. He left Roma over a contract dispute, Real Madrid for ‘disrespecting’ coach Fabio Capello, and Sampdoria after upsetting president Riccaro Garrone for refusing to attend a dinner being held in his honour.
In his autobiography, former AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti noted that after consultations with the rossoneri players, he rejected the chance to sign FantAntonio on the grounds he wouldn't fit with the group. His detachment could perhaps be overlooked if, like Balotelli, he was a world class talent with a good international track record. That just isn't the case.
There’s also the problem that Cassano is a luxury player. In his own words: “I like playing as a centre-forward because I get to run as little as possible.” Against teams like Spain and Germany, where defensive discipline is required for, at the very least, 90 minutes, you need willing workers. Players who will not become demoralised or frustrated as easily as Cassano. Prandelli’s alternatives may not be as technically able, but they are more willing to work for the team.
A prime example of the anti-Cassano is Emanuele Giaccherini, a player that you'd expect to be nowhere near the Italian national team. He was average at Cesena, used sparingly at Juventus, and has underperformed at Sunderland. But he's featured regularly for the Azzurri under Prandelli for his workrate and discipline. Unlike Cassano, he's a player that the coach trusts.
Ultimately, Cassano is a player who is capable of producing pure footballing magic, and has earned transfers to AS Roma, Real Madrid and both Milanese giants off the back of doing so more often than most. But that magic may not come around often enough to negate the mental and technical baggage he carries. Much like his former Roma teammate Francesco Totti, he's a domestic genius, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him miss the World Cup this summer.
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