At the start of the month, I wrote an article entitled "More in
Hope than Expectation: Italy Fans Prepare for the World Cup".
 In it, I tried to sound a rallying call to put aside the
criticism of Lippi and his players, and to try and focus on the
positives for the tournament.  In doing so, I was not trying to
say the criticisms of Lippi and his choices were wrong - I
myself have written articles questioning him and his selections
- but was instead putting down in words what I always feel on
the eve on a major tournament; the excitement and hope.  Today,
that lies in tatters, as an Italian squad that could easily be
labelled the worst in history crashed out of the tournament in
embarrassing style.  Perhaps naively, I almost convinced myself
that the stuttering performances since we qualified (and, let's
be honest, before) could be written off - come the occasion, our
players would rise to the challenge.  His choices may seem
crazy, I told myself, but this is the man who won us the world
cup; he will have a pl