I love it. Everyone wants Italy to loose. Makes me that much more proud to be Italian. Cool Calm Mike, THANK YOU for being you.
Benzema might have set himself up in the hole, tucked in behind Anelka, but that wasn't Domenech's fault. We can nitpick some selections, but this game was all on the players, who were far too tentative, lacking inspiration, and huevos.
With the exception of Portugal and Netherlands, it looks like most teams are far too tentative, lack luster, and lacking inspiration. I am quite dissapointed with the Euros so far to be honest. France is too good to repeat their goal-less performance in 98, was it? Look for France to play a tight game against the Netherlands. That should be a fun one to watch.
You may be right. I was just pointing out where he was located on the pitch as you said he was up front.
It's still early. A lot of the "favorites" just wanted to get a result in their first game and not ge the first team to get upset. I think we'll see much better play when the groups get into their 2nd matches.
No, it wasn't. Not trying to give you a hard time (although I'm tempted because of that 2006 semi final ...) but I'm a goalkeeper myself and a couple of years back we had exactly the same situation in a rather important match. I was furious to say the least and I was dead certain that the ref (who told me about the rule when I complained and then booked me when I accused him of making it up on the spot) was full of BS but afterwards I looked it up and there it was. It's an utterly silly rule but the call was perfectly right. Actually, I got into an argument with an Italian friend of mine yesterday who thought I was full of BS. Then he looked it up. It doesn't matter if Panucci was out of the field on purpose or by accident - I have positively no clue as to why you'd need such a silly rule but it's there and the ref made the right call.
Francois, got to say that Domenech is ruining your chances of progressing, let alone winning. Anyone who knows anything about Romania knows that they play the one up top and defend with 10 behind the ball. And yet Domenech plays TWO holding midfielders in Makelele - who is starting to look OLD - and Toulalan and fails to employ a midfielder who can get up and support the strikers. Anelka and Benzema didn't help, but man........I would have thought that Diarra would have been a better choice next to one of the two holders. And 2 further questions; No way no how is Eric Abidal better than Patrice Evra who has been the best left back in Europe the past 2 seasons and who is Florent Malouda sleeping with? He must know where the bodies are buried to keep getting picked.
As for the offside goal, there is a rule in the referee's code book that argues that Panucci, derspite being off the field, was still playing RVN on.
I said ten Italian defenders, not 10 eligible. Proof yet again, if proof were needed about how past it Matterazi is; he was peddling in cement trying to get back when RVN was in one on one just before half time. Awful. That said, Barzagli wasn't much better. If I was Donadoni, I'd be playing Panucci (also better than Matterazi) and Chiellini at centre back and Zambrotta and Grosso at fullback.
Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy's opening goal in the win over Italy was legitimate, says Premier League referees' chief Keith Hackett. Van Nistelrooy looked yards offside when he prodded home from close range. But it appears he was played onside by defender Christian Panucci, who was lying off the pitch at the time. "The fact is the assistant was correct; the defender who slid off the field is still regarded as active," Hackett told BBC Sport. "Christian Panucci went off through contact with his own goalkeeper (Gianluigi) Buffon. He is still considered part of the game." Uefa general secretary David Taylor said the officials had made the right decision.
It was Ireland. The country that sent my great-grandparents to America hasn't had many World Cup highlights, so we remember that one. I thought it was a bizarre call, but there you have it. But more to the point, who gives a damn? The Dutch still would have won 2-0 without it, and were by far and away the better team yesterday. The Italians only had two legit scoring chances the whole game; Del Piero's free kick and Toni's breakaway where he should have just tapped it over Van Der Saar. The Dutch could have won that game 5-0; that's how badly they outplayed Italy. I think Italy's in some trouble here. They looked just terrible yesterday. Really old, unimpressive on the attack (not a shock), and leaky on defense (uh-oh). As has been said, they tend to be slow starters, but in a group this tough, a -3 goal differential is a steep hole to climb from. They should just count their lucky stars that France only took one point off Romania.
Yeah Phil - I was surprised at the team selection. No Di Rossi, no Aquilani and the age thing......it's a creaky ship.
Yes, Barzagli dissapointed me as well. I must also bite the bullet with Materazzi, I do not want to see him on the pitch anymore. I think we will be fine in the back with; Grosso --- Chillini --- Barzagli --- Zambrotta If Barzagli doesn't step it up, then yes, play Panucci in the middle similar to the formation used against the Netherlands. I jsut hope Donadoni doesn't wait that long to make subs again. Also, in regards to your ten Italian defenders, I think I made my point already. There aren't 10 central defenders that I would feel comfortable putting infront of Ruud, Van Der Vart, Schneider, Van Persie, etc. With that being said, I didn't feel comfortable with who we had on the pitch either. We really are missing Cannavaro. Our defense has been exposed against the Dutch, and it is and it isn't cause of concern. I was always under the impression that the Dutch had the best attack in the tournament.
Panucci just reads the game so well, especially if he's covered up by a younger, quicker defender like Chiellini. Re: the dutch attack, when you consider that Huntelaar wasn't playing, that Van Persie has played very minimal football all season and that Ryan Babel is out injured and that neither Maceo Rigters or Royston Drenthe made the squad, they're loaded up top.
Oh, and I'd be remiss not to get in on the Materazzi bashing. I defended their decision to play him based on his performance in the 2006 WC (they aren't world champs without him), but good gracious was he bad yesterday. Just brutal. They subbed him out in the second half, but that was a case of closing the barn door after the horses were miles away. The worry now for Italy is that they absolutely must take 3 points off Romania and probably chip away at that -3 differential, but that's a team with a strong defense, and a 0-0 tie might be the most likely outcome. It also wouldn't hurt the Azzuri if the Dutch gave France the same treatment they received yesterday.
Dunno about that one. I consider a draw between Italy and Romania likely as well and in that case - with the Dutch killing France - you have the Neds locking 1st place with preciously little to play for against Romania. I actually think the Romanians are in a very good position to qualify as 2nd by just drawing out and winning the last game against a Dutch team that might rest some starters. If I was Italy, I'd prolly wanted the French to win against the Netherlands in order to have it in my own hands at the last match.
Robben injured himself crossing his arms, so I'm not holding out much hope. He makes Yatil Green look like the Iron Man.
Well, we can agree to disagree, but my thinking is that with 3 points and a +3 in the bank, the Dutch are a good bet for first place whatever happens. And as for resting starters in their third game against Romania, let's remember that the Dutch are so deep, especially up front, that they're going to have more talent on the field than Romania anyway. If Italy beats Romania, they'd be playing for 2nd place in their third match against France. If they just draw against Romania, it probably doesn't matter what happens with Netherlands/France; the Italians' goose would be well and truly cooked.
I still think despite his age they should have put Pippo Inzaghi on the squad. Let him come off the bench and score like the usual. But overall, I do agree with Boomer and Phunwin that they are starting to look really old. Now its Spain and Russia playing, lets see if Spain underachieves again. They are slow starters ( not my words, Tommy Smith's).
Ah, the Spanish National Team. Seldom has a group been rated so consistently well despite a consistent failure to do anything at all to earn their ranking.
Lol yeah, are you watching it? They're up against Russia who have Gus Hiddink as their manager now (which you probably know lol). What I found interesting was that they have my favorite player and a very good MF Cesc Fabregas on the bench. I didn't catch the starting lineup so I don't know who they have in place of him but apparently he is having trouble setting in with the national team.
No, I'm not watching yet, but I'm timing my lunchbreak so I can catch the second half. Their underachieving aside, I would like to see Spain do well. They're a talented team, and fun to watch. And I'm also a big fan of Fabregas.
that works. Yeah I think they're are the most talented team coming in this tournament. If they can just put it together, they can go far imo. They have Xavi starting ahead of Fabregas. They are attacking well at this point, Torres has had a few good shots and Villa is pushing it. Sergio Ramos keeps committing silly fouls though which is giving Russia good opportunities. Hes a hell of a talent though lol. As for Russia at this point, they are going pretty good. Nice job. They had a shot at about the 5 meter mark that went off the left bottom post. They had two instances where they got offsides but so far, they're doing well. They're keeper is playing well in my opinion. The only goal he gave up was in a 2-1 situation.
These are the lineups. SPAIN No. NAME POS 1 Iker Casillas (G) 4 Carlos Marchena (D) 5 Carles Puyol (D) 11 Joan Capdevila (D) 15 Sergio Ramos (D) 8 Xavi (M) 6 Andrés Iniesta (M) 19 Marcos Senna (M) 21 David Silva (M) 9 Fernando Torres (F) 7 David Villa (F) RUSSIA No. NAME POS 1 Igor Akinfeev (G) 22 Aleksandr Aniukov (D) 18 Yuri Zhirkov (D) 8 Denis Kolodin (D) 14 Roman Shirokov (D) 17 Konstatin Zurianov (M) 20 Igor Semshov (M) 11 Sergei Semak (M) 15 Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (M) 21 Dmitri Sychev (F) 19 Roman Pavluchenko (F) Bench: SPAIN SUBSTITUTES No. NAME POS 20 Juanito (D) 13 Andrés Palop (G) 23 Pepe Reina (G) 14 Xabi Alonso (M) 17 Daniel Güiza (F) 3 Fernando Navarro (D) 16 Sergio García (F) 10 Cesc Fábregas (M) 12 Santi Cazorla (M) 2 Raúl Albiol (D) 18 Álvaro Arbeloa (D) 22 Rubén de la Red (M) RUSSIA SUBSTITUTES No. NAME POS 4 Sergei Ignashevich (D) 5 Alexei Berezutsky (D) 7 Dmitri Torbinsky (M) 9 Ivan Saenko (F) 2 Vasili Berezutsky (D) 16 Viacheslav Malafeev (G) 23 Vladimir Bystrov (M) 6 Roman Adamov (F) 12 Vladimir Gabulov (G) 3 Renat Yanbaev (D) 13 Oleg Ivanov (M)
However, you do have to give the Spaniards credit for being resilient. Every other year they talk themselves into believing that they are great at football even though every piece of historical evidence strongly suggests the opposite. Afterwards, they become absolutely convinced that they'll win the tourney this time only to get eliminated in the quarter finals (definition of quarter final: the round in which Spain is tradtionally sent home) and, in their outrage, throw rotten eggs at their players when they arrive back home. Two years later, they send the same bunch of guys over to the next country and the madness begins anew. Gotta love those Spaniards.
Just finished 20 hour shift and sleep. What I saw of the Italy has been said. I beleive I was the first in this thread to question Materazzi starting which started the debate What has not been said is that it was a pretty entertaining game to watch
Spain wins. I thought Russia would look better SO the 2 guarantees IMO have won and look basically set to advance (Spain, Germany)
Boy, did Spain look sharp today. This is, of course, also part of the Spanish tradition: look fabulous in the opening round, then get slapped around by a real team (usually France, Germany or Italy).
Italy reeling after worst loss in 25 years http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/8228670/Italy-reeling-after-worst-loss-in-25-years
Like the game so far between Sweden and Greece. It seems like Greece is just trying to not give up a goal and failing to attack. They have made a few attacks but nothing too much. Overrated Ibrahimovic had a header go right above the goal.
A lifetime's free beer for life to first Austrian scorer http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=544984&cc=5901
