Croatia gk stopped even though it probably was a goal anyways. Big goal though. It now means Germany is in Italy's section instead of possibly seeing them in the final
Congratz guys, now that we're into the knock out rounds anything could happen! Few notes: - I didn't like the formation, 3-5-2 works better IMO, Italy didn't play very well today - Cassano and Balo should start, nice goals by both specially Mario! - Cesare took out Cassano way too early, kinda killed Italy's momentum, he could have played more - Hope all those yellow cards won't come back and bite us in the ass - Pirlo again didn't "click" with De Rossi, another reason to go back to the 3-5-2 IMO I for one hope to meet the English in the quarter finals, who do guys prefer, them or France? I feel Italy has better chances against England. FORZA AZZURRI!
Italy need to go back to the 3-5-2 -Barzagli--De Rossi--chiellini? -Abate---Motta---Pirlo---Marchisio---Balza -----------------Cassano-----Balo--------------
We just saw how poorly we looked against a British style team. England have better skill and faster attackers. I would avoid the English. Even though France are better on paper, i'd rather face them instead Can Ukraine still finish first ?
Can someone please confirm this? That would be really awesome, we have way too many at the moment and our bench doesn't have any kind of depth to afford losing players.
I think we are all clear now that any discussion of dropping Cassano or Balotelli is utter crap, right? Between the time Fantantonio went off and the time Super Mario came on, Ireland DOMINATED Italy. Without Cassano's movement to find space and vision to create space, and Balo's sheer power to put a defense under immense pressure, Italy basically cannot even play the ball in the final third. Other things I was right about: - Balzaretti is a playa. The only reason he is so underrated is because Zampa won't sell him to a big Serie A team, even though both Juve and Milan have desperately needed a leftback for years. Zampa holds out for some foreign moneybags offer, and Balz toils away in obscurity in Sicily. - Motta lacks the creativity to play as a trequartista. He didn't have a bad game, but he adds nothing in breaking down a packed defense - De Rossi and Pirlo still can't play together. Terrible match from Pirlo. Having no one to play the ball into up front as Di Natale was smothered by Irish rugby players didn't help, but Pirlo was just off all match. - Abate is a huge upgrade to Maggio defensively but adds nothing going forward, which is so weird when you look at what he was like even three years ago. - Marchisio is much more suited to a 3-5-2 where he has less width to be responsible for and can play more vertically Things I was wrong about: - I expected more dynamism from Diamanti, and certainly a better freekick from that position, which was in his absolute sweet spot. Still 100x better than Montolivo and put himself about more than Giovinco - Croatia gave Spain much more trouble than I expected. Croatia is good but I thought the matchup was bad, but Croatia made excellent adjustments. I always have much respect for their football. It's a shame they go home while Greece and the Czechs and other rubbish teams like maybe even England advance. So now it's back to the 3-5-2 with the double-madman frontline of Cassano-Balotelli for the knockouts. But with Balz for Giac and hopefully Nocerino for Motta. Bonucci for the injured Chiellini is a downgrade in a way but Bonucci's been playing well and his passing ability out of the back may be helpful in unlocking tough opponents.
I'm so happy that Balotelli proved the haters wrong. You can see how much talent that kid has with his movement and athleticism.
Hope this helps: Article 21 Yellow and red cards 21.01 As a rule, a player who is sent off the field of play is suspended for the next match in the competition. The Control and Disciplinary Body is entitled to augment this sanction. 21.02 A player is automatically suspended for the next competition match after two cautions in two different matches as well as after the fourth and any subsequent caution. 21.03 Cautions and pending yellow-card suspensions expire on completion of the qualifying competition. They are not carried forward to the final tournament Final tournament 21.04 Single cautions from matches in the final tournament expire on completion of the quarter-finals, and are not carried forward to the semi-finals. 21.05 Cautions and pending yellow-card suspensions from the final tournament expire at the end of the competition.
Great result, great goals from our two main strikers, and happy we're through to the quarterfinals even if today Italy was worse on balance than in the previous two matches. This was Prandelli's finest hour, though --Abate and Balzaretti were better as terzini, Balotelli was an inspired sub, and De Rossi had a gigantic match after moving to midfield from center of defense. Cassano and Balotelli created both their goals almost single-handedly (they forced corners, then scored from those corners) and even with Chiellini injured, the team pulled together to close the match. A fantastic show of team spirit, all around, after good choices from the manager. With all that said, this is still a problematic Italy. We are not scoring from open play, our shooting isn't crisp or accurate enough, Chiellini's injury could be costly, we have no true trequartista, and I am a bit worried about Pirlo, who looked completely exhausted in the closing stages of the game. But the important thing is that we are among the final eight. Forza Azzurri!
Winning the group would have been huge. Not too sure about the Spanish goal. They struggled quite a bit today. Credit to them though for not conceding a goal at the end though. I'm proud of our team. They have essentially played THREE road games and are on to the quarters. It wasn't pretty, and there is a lot of work to do, but you can see things starting to come together. Still think we need a couple tweaks.
Chiellini injury 'worries' Italy By Football Italia staff Italy’s chief medic has confirmed Giorgio Chiellini has a suspected thigh strain. “We are a little worried, yes.” The defender pulled up suddenly during the 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland. “Unfortunately he had a muscular problem in his left thigh, so a new muscular problem after previous issues,” said Professor Enrico Castellacci. “As you know, we cannot give an accurate diagnosis on these things immediately, so we must wait a few days. “We are a little worried, yes. It’s a shame as he had come back quickly from a thigh problem in the other leg, but felt this latest setback. “The other players are all in good shape.” Chiellini almost had to miss out on Euro 2012 due to a thigh strain in his right leg, but recovered in time to play the first three games.