Goal.com's Resident Paisan has usually been apathetic about the Coppa Italia, and has come up with some suggestions on how to make it more watchable.
I make it a point every year to watch the English FA Cup final. No matter what two teams are playing, I either shell out the pay-per- view bucks from the comfort of my living room or find a spot in a jam- packed British pub and watch with a few hundred lager-guzzling fans.
And every year, I wish Italy’s domestic cup had the same prestige and excitement surrounding it. I have channel-surfed right past Coppa Italia games on TV in the past, opting instead to watch more exciting stuff…like infomercials.
The Coppa Italia -- which kicked off this past weekend, officially marking the start of Italy’s soccer season -- needs to be given more prestige. Otherwise, it risks turning into another meaningless tournament (can you say “Intertoto�) in an already crowded schedule.
The Coppa has been largely uneventful over the past few years, drawn sparse crowds, and played between teams who look like they’d rather be someplace else. It has become an afterthought for coaches who routinely field second-string line-ups, even in the later rounds.
That doesn’t only undermine the integrity of the competition, but sends fans the message, "We don’t care about this competition. Why should you?"
In case you didn’t know, Inter Milan won last season’s cup, somewhat salvaging another mediocre year. Think Inter Milan is worried about defending its Coppa Italia crown this season? Not a chance. The team is focused on the Scudetto and Champions League. The Coppa Italia was Inter Milan’s consolation prize last season, like winning a blender on the "Price is Right" when the other guy got the car.
So, how do you make the Coppa Italia a better competition?
Let’s start with the final. Don’t play it over two legs. Make the final a one-game winner-takes-all event. Stage it in Rome’s Olympic Stadium. Then get Italy’s Prime Minister (in this case, AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi) to do his best Queen Elizabeth impersonation and present the trophy to the winners. Wouldn’t it be fun to watch him present the cup to Juventus?
Next, sweeten the pot. The Coppa Italia champs don’t need to be given a place in the UEFA Cup, but rather an automatic spot in the Champions League. That would give the tournament some meaning and respect. Teams may not be so quick to dismiss the event if there is a big prize up for grabs. Of course, the Kazakhstan champs might not like having to deal with another Italian team in the early rounds of the Champs League, but I bet UEFA would love it.
Even though I think my ideas are great – they have fallen on deaf ears. However, there is some hope.
The Coppa Italia will take on a slightly different look this year. Italian soccer officials are keen to cut down on the long, drawn out (and largely uninteresting) early round-robin stages. The competition, which will feature a record 72 teams, will implement a direct knock-out phase in the first three rounds. Lower-seeded teams get home-field advantage (gotta love the chance of an upset – even though there were none this past weekend). In the event of a tie, overtime and penalty-kicks will determine which team advances to the next round.
The tournament will then revert to the home-and-away system in the Round of 16, at which time Serie A’s top teams--Inter Milan, Juventus, AC Milan, Udinese, Sampdoria, Palermo, Roma and Lazio (who all clinched places in a European competition)--will enter the fray.
But without much motivation for the teams to win, all we can do is hope that they all play like they care.