Czech v Italy should be a great game though. There will likely be a real incentive not to lose that one.
I'd say avoiding Brazil qualifies as a real incentive!
The only positive aspect of being humiliated by the Czechs is that Italy might look past us to their match with the Czechs. In fact Italy can tie us and then finish first by beating the Czechs.
In the past we've squeaked into the knockout phase with 4 points. That won't happen this time -- we'll almost certainly need 6. So no point in sitting back against Italy.
Agreed. Perhaps the best game in the first round.