"I want an Italy that takes risks," says Marzio Innocenti, President of Italian rugby, ahead of the World Cup scheduled for September 8 in France. After a lackluster season, pinned down to the role of Cinderella of the 6 Nations, Italy has ended up in a thrilling group, with two opponents to beat at all costs, Namibia and Uruguay, before coming up against holy monsters like New Zealand and France. "The goal," Innocenti said when interviewed by the newspaper Il Giornale, "is the same as always, to advance to the quarterfinals. Given the round we have been given, we are told it is impossible. In sports, the impossible does not exist. In any case, it is certainly very, very difficult. I asked the team: go and have the four best games in the round in the history of Italian rugby. Then we'll see what happens". The great Diego Dominguez says that if we beat Namibia and Uruguay, anything can happen on September 29 against the All Blacks. Does he believe that? "It's true, every match at the World Cup has its own story, and the charge with which we arrive will make the difference. I don't limit myself to New Zealand, after that there's France, one match doesn't exclude the other, and if you lose one doesn't mean you lose the other. In the 1982 World Cup, Italy ended up in the group with Argentina and Brazil, and we know how that turned out". This is the fourth time we are going to the World Cup with a newly exonerated coach; the other times it did not turn out so well. Couldn't one wait a moment to dismiss Kieran Crowley? "No, you couldn't because we were planning a new four-year term and four more years with Kieran was not what we wanted".
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