Crotia would have had a Brazilian if he hadn't broke his leg and Kuranyi(Germany) is Brazilian and Amauri I thought was trying to get citizenship to play with Italy.
Posts: 508 | Location: New home of the Dallas Cowboys | Registered: Oct 31, 2003
Absolutely embarrassing. I haven't seen such a poor defensive display by an Italian team in my life. Slow with no organization. If Materazzi never plays another game for the Azzurri, I'll be a very happy person. He couldn't keep up with the pace against a quick and agile Dutch team. He was beaten to every ball and was constantly out of position.
The non-offside call by the referee on Van Nistelrooy's goal was unfortunately correct. He is probably the only one on the pitch to have the correct interpretation of the rule that states that a player for offside purposes is still in play if he is off the pitch. If it was a Dutch player that took out Zambrotta, then maybe the play would have been stopped for a foul, but it was Buffon that took him out. The rule was designed to prevent players from stepping off the pitch to force an offside position.
Regardless, Italy was horrible. To get caught on the counter that bad not once, but twice is a disgrace. Lesser teams get picked apart like that (and we all know that Italy has exposed teams at the back on more than one occasion in this manner). When I saw the lineup, I knew it was not going to be good. Materazzi should not have played. Chiellini should have started in his place. Grosso should also have been on the pitch, perhaps at the expense of Panucci. Donadoni's loyalty to Milan in starting Ambrosini ahead of De Rossi was also a huge mistake.
The three players that made the most impact for Italy - Grosso, Del Piero, and Cassano, all came on as subs. Arguably, Di Natale was also good up front and had a couple decent chances. The fact that Toni didn't bury the ball when in alone on Van der Sar was brutal. All he needed to do was pull the ball to his right foot and slot it home, as the keeper was completely out of position. One expects more from a striker that scored close to 40 goals this season at Bayern.
I could go on and on. In the next game I would expect to see Grosso, Del Piero, and Cassano start. If not, this Euro is over for Italy.
At this point, even if Italy makes it out of the group stage, they need to make it to the semis (at least), otherwise the next moves will be Ancelotti to the Azzurri and Donadoni to Milan.
Originally posted by PURPLE: Crotia would have had a Brazilian if he hadn't broke his leg and Kuranyi(Germany) is Brazilian and Amauri I thought was trying to get citizenship to play with Italy.
Duh, I forgot about Kuranyi, also forgot Senna on Spain. That still is less then 1/3 of the teams. There is no way Amauri would have been taken for Italy. Kaka has an Italian passport, they could've used him against the Dutch.
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Gerald Ford
Originally posted by futronic: Absolutely embarrassing. I haven't seen such a poor defensive display by an Italian team in my life. Slow with no organization. If Materazzi never plays another game for the Azzurri, I'll be a very happy person. He couldn't keep up with the pace against a quick and agile Dutch team. He was beaten to every ball and was constantly out of position.
The non-offside call by the referee on Van Nistelrooy's goal was unfortunately correct. He is probably the only one on the pitch to have the correct interpretation of the rule that states that a player for offside purposes is still in play if he is off the pitch. If it was a Dutch player that took out Zambrotta, then maybe the play would have been stopped for a foul, but it was Buffon that took him out. The rule was designed to prevent players from stepping off the pitch to force an offside position.
Regardless, Italy was horrible. To get caught on the counter that bad not once, but twice is a disgrace. Lesser teams get picked apart like that (and we all know that Italy has exposed teams at the back on more than one occasion in this manner). When I saw the lineup, I knew it was not going to be good. Materazzi should not have played. Chiellini should have started in his place. Grosso should also have been on the pitch, perhaps at the expense of Panucci. Donadoni's loyalty to Milan in starting Ambrosini ahead of De Rossi was also a huge mistake.
The three players that made the most impact for Italy - Grosso, Del Piero, and Cassano, all came on as subs. Arguably, Di Natale was also good up front and had a couple decent chances. The fact that Toni didn't bury the ball when in alone on Van der Sar was brutal. All he needed to do was pull the ball to his right foot and slot it home, as the keeper was completely out of position. One expects more from a striker that scored close to 40 goals this season at Bayern.
I could go on and on. In the next game I would expect to see Grosso, Del Piero, and Cassano start. If not, this Euro is over for Italy.
At this point, even if Italy makes it out of the group stage, they need to make it to the semis (at least), otherwise the next moves will be Ancelotti to the Azzurri and Donadoni to Milan.
I agree with almost all you wrote and was thinking the same things watching the game. I disagree with a few points, one of which is Ruud was offside no matter what crap FIFA comes up with to explain it. The rule says a player can't intentionally step out, it has always been interpreted that if you are forced out and unable to get back you are not counted. Oh and it was Panucci not Zambrotta. It doesn't matter though as the Dutch deserved the victory and would have won with or without that goal. As for the players, Materazzi is done, he is so painfully slow. Camoranesi was useless, he seemed totally lost out there. As for Ambrosini, while I am a huge Milan fan I don't see why he is even on the team. That can be said for Cassano too, Inzaghi should have been called up instead. The real problem though is the formation, they do not have the right type of players for a 4-3-3. With backs who like to push up the flanks as much as Zambrotta and Grosso do you need somebody to cross the ball to. Toni was all alone in the middle. If you are going to play two wingers they need to be the ones putting in the crosses for center mids, or they need to be strong defenders with a good outside shot for when the striker lays it back. Players of the ilk of Gerrard, Seedorf or Lampard. One can be more of an attack minded beat my man type, not both. A Kaka, Ronaldo or Ronaldinho. I don't see anybody anything like that in this side. They not only got burned twice on counters after nearly scoring but were totally dominated in the middle all day long. Why? How about because they where always out numbered. De Rossi would be a big help, but they still need more men in the middle of the field. If Donadoni insists on sticking with the 4-3-3 Del Piero and Di Natale should be up front with Toni. They would be light years better though with a 4-4-2 (see how Spain learned their lesson after the US game) with both De Rossi and Aquilani coming on. As for the other striker, I'd start with Del Piero, but it really should have been Inzaghi. Nobody is better in the big games (were Toni does not seem to shine) and he was red hot at the end of the season. Oh well Italy isn't the only team to make mistakes on their call ups, don't you think France could have used Trezequet instead of the worthless Anelka or untested Benzema? That is the big hope Italy still have, neither France nor Romania looked all that good.
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Gerald Ford
Originally posted by VT2IT: Duh, I forgot about Kuranyi, also forgot Senna on Spain. That still is less then 1/3 of the teams. There is no way Amauri would have been taken for Italy. Kaka has an Italian passport, they could've used him against the Dutch.
If Amauri had an Italian passport, he probably would have been selected for the Azzurri. Here's the rub - Kaka could not be selected to play for Italy because he's already played for Brazil's national team. As soon as a player is capped once for a country, they cannot play for any other country, even if they carry that country's passport.
Since Amauri has never suited up for Brazil, he could in fact play for Italy. He simply didn't get his passport in time. This is the same reason that Camaronesi (born in Argentina) can play for Italy, Hargreaves for England (born in Canada), etc.
That result was a bit flattering for Portugal. The Czechs had several great chances that they failed to put away, and Portugal's last goal was just a case of the Czech defense falling asleep at the very end of the game. Granted the better side won, Portugal carried play, but their back line seems very suspect to say nothing of Ricardo in goal. While they are clearly one of the better teams, lets wait to see what happens once they play a higher class of opposition. The Czechs are not the side they were a few years ago and the Turks played scared. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Swiss get a point off of Portugal.
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Gerald Ford
Originally posted by wineismylife: Blow it out yer ear Sticky. Who are you pulling for any way? Leichenstein?
What am I thinking. It is totally normal to give the host country a penalty kick to even the game after time has expired. It is even more normal to allow two free kicks in order to get said penalty kick.
I was pulling for Poland... but its pretty much over now thanks to that game being stolen.
Germany and Croatia will advance.
Posts: 1192 | Location: Anaheim Hills, CA | Registered: Nov 18, 2007
Who are you pulling for any way? Leichenstein?