What's With the Azzurri Trivia Quiz

Answer: Beniamino Gigli

Gigli was a famous operatic tenor of the first half of the twentieth century. He was born in 1890 and made his debut as an opera singer in 1915. Gigli continued to perform until 1955, only two years before his death at the age of 67.

The other three Italians may have been able to sing - history doesn't mention their prowess in this field - but are much better known as explorers.

Answer: Leaning Tower of Pisa

The experiment was described by Vincenzo Viviani in a biography he wrote about Galileo. Galileo himself did not record the experiment which has led many historians to argue that it didn't actually happen. Despite the doubt, the event is well known and the point it was intended to prove was being investigated by Galileo - that objects of different weight would fall at the same speed.

I cannot find out which balls he used, but maybe the Azzurri won't mind playing with a tennis ball for a change if no soccer ball was involved.

Answer: Raphael

The only Italian artist listed is Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, usually known in English as Raphael, who was one of the three major Renaissance artists, bracketed with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. 'La Madonna di San Sisto', its Italian name, was painted for Pope Julius II in 1512 as an altarpiece for the church of San Sisto from which the painting gets its name. It was sold in 1754 and taken to be put on display in Dresden. It was then removed by the Russians at the end of World War II and displayed at Moscow's Pushkin Museum. It was returned to Germany ten years later.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Rousseau were both French and Dante Gabriel Rossetti was English, although born to an Italian family.

I'm not sure any of the artists would find painting white lines to their taste, but they would be beautifully done.

Answer: The Name of the Rose

'The Name of the Rose' was published in 1980, in the author's native Italian, before appearing in English in 1983. The story is about William Baskerville, a Franciscan friar, who investigates a series of deaths in a Benedictine monastery. The novel was adapted for the film of the same name in 1986, with Sean Connery playing Baskerville and Christian Slater as Adso of Melk, his novice.

All the works listed were written by Italians. 'The Prince' was by Niccolo Machiavelli, 'The Leopard' by Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and 'The Divine Comedy' by Dante Alighieri.

Referees normally only have to record the names and numbers of players committing fouls, although sometimes there are so many that the notebook may look like a short story, if not a novel.

Answer: Giuseppe Zanotti

Zanotti was born near Rimini in 1957 and turned to the fashion industry in the 1980s after working as a DJ. He bought his own shoe making factory in 1994 and concentrated on designing and making his own footwear ranges.

Of the other options, Jimmy Choo is Malaysian born, although he works in the UK. Blahnik is Spanish and Louboutin is French.

Although Zanotti's designs include men's shoes and trainers, it seems that he has not yet turned his talents to creating fashionable football boots.

Answer: Gino D'Acampo

Gino was born near Naples and moved to England to pursue his career in cookery. He appeared regularly on the British daytime television show 'This Morning' before moving to present his own shows such as 'Gino's Italian Escape', which had its first series in 2013. He appeared on the 2009 series of 'I'm a Celebrity', where a number of (reasonably) well-known people are left to fend for themselves in the Australian jungle. D'Acampo's series included the actor George Hamilton and snooker player Jimmy White, with D'Acampo emerging victorious.

The other men named are all Italians who made their name as celebrity chefs.

This proves to be one of the more successful choices, as the Azzurri all enjoy their food.

Answer: Clothing

Tacchini was actually a professional sportsman himself before turning his hand to producing fashionable sportswear. He began his tennis career in 1955, becoming the Italian champion in 1960. Tacchini founded his sportswear company in 1966, naturally specialising in tennis wear and with players such as Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova and Pete Sampras wearing his designs. The company expanded into other sports, including golf and skiing, as well as general leisure wear.

The Italian team are, of course, very conscious of what they are wearing. Blue is the main colour of their strip, which gives them their name (Gli Azzurri means 'The Blues'). Their kit has been supplied at various times by Adidas, Nike and Puma, but not by Tacchini.

Answer: The Millionairess

The film was based on the play written by George Bernard Shaw, who also provided the idea for 'My Fair Lady', filmed four years later in 1964. 'The Millionairess' is a rather convoluted story about an heiress who can only marry a man who proves his ability to make money. Sellers plays the Indian doctor with whom she falls in love and who eventually, despite his best attempts to fail, meets the conditions to enable the couple to marry.

Footballers are renowned for their ability to feign injury and attempting to convince the referee that they have been fouled. Sometimes the injuries and fouls are genuine but often the acting is pathetically poor, so Sophia's guidance on how to act convincingly would be more than welcome.

Answer: Italian partisans

Mussolini was one of the founders of Fascism and was Hitler's main ally in Europe in the Second World War. He became Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 before taking control as a dictator in 1925. In April 1945, Mussolini could see that the war was lost and attempted to escape. He was captured by a group of partisans, who opposed both his regime and the Germans who were occupying Italy, and executed along with his mistress, Clara Petacci and other members of his group. The partisans were Communist supporters, so were at the opposite end of the political spectrum.

In football terms, the right winger is nothing to do with politics, but describes the player who plays on the far right of the pitch. I doubt that Mussolini would be particularly athletic in any event (even if he wasn't dead).

Answer: Goalkeeper

At last, the Azzurri say. Dino Zoff is classed as one of the best goalkeepers of the twentieth century, alongside Russia's Lev Yashin and England's Gordon Banks. He played for Italy on 112 occasions between 1968 and 1983 and was in the squad for four FIFA World Cups, playing in three of the tournaments. He was not picked to play in his first, in 1970, but crowned his career by winning the World Cup in Spain. Not only was he the captain, Zoff set a record for being the oldest man to be in the winning team, at the age of forty - a record which still stands in 2014.

Thank goodness we have one real footballer for the team. With the rather eclectic group of people otherwise assembled it seems a good goalkeeper will be essential. I suspect even the mighty Zoff would have his work cut out captaining this motley crew.