AfrcnHrbMan
30 May 2008, 10:20 PM
Seven days, fourteen hours, seven minutes, and two seconds until the tournament begins and I felt it was time to start this thread to get this ball rolling. I decided to do a bit of reconnaissance on les bleus group opponents, so I watched Italy - Belgium and Holland - Denmark today.
First I didn't think Belgium would be and adequate judge on Italy's current strength and I wasn't far off. It ended 3-1 and that's how the game played. It wasn't really until around the 60th minute that the belgians even had a real decent chance, and by then the Italians really took their foot off the pedal. It started getting real choppy too. Mirallas came on and finally started asking questions of the italian defense, and the goal in stoppage time came of some poor defending on a corner.
DiNatale had a well taken brace, though the 2nd one was a gift really by the Belgian defense. I thought he looked pretty good out there, but it was my first time really taking a look at him. He has quick feet and looks like a problem causer. I don't know much about him. Del Piero also came on and was abusing the belgian back 4. He is a real classy player, even though he took a bit of a dive in the 37th :D. I don't know about Pirlo, I don't think he did much today. A few good passes but I don't think he provided much of a spark. Not a big fan of him anyway. Panucci was quiet, but Zambrotta looked real dangerous going forward, especially in the second half. Nice to see him not go doing in that scoring chance he created late in the game. Overall I wouldn't say Italy was really tested and it wasn't much of an indicator.
Holland Denmark on the other hand, was a bit more telling. I don't know about this Holland team defensively. They look pretty vulnerable. The announcers were harping about the central defense but I think the problem is before that. The Oranje don't seem to pressure enough from the midfield. I felt a need for a dominate ball destroyer in there. They did play a solid Denmark team, and Bendtner was the man of the match in my opinion. Even with these points I felt Holland were good enough offensively to win that game. Twice in the first half Robben just squeaks shots past the far post. I thought Robben was great out there, taking on defenders, making excellents runs and passes. The Real Madrid trio in general played real well. Nice attacking play between them to lead to Van Nistelrooy's goal. Van der Vart was getting himself in to some real good positions but had absolutely no end product. He seemed to be shanking shots left and right. When Sneijder took his position in the center, the team looked livelier after taking a lot of pressure from the Danes. If Van Persie is starting, VDV will be benched and Sneijder will be in his place i bet. Babel was a real spark off the bench as well, and he immediately makes his presence felt, which I like about him. He's one who's not afraid to run at anyone.
Denmark was playing them hard though away from home too. They were passing behind the dutch defenders pretty easily, and Bendtner was running wild out there. He was getting free headers, beating defenders head on and really troubling them. He just toyed with the dutch defense in there 6 yard box when he passed the ball to Poulsen for the equalizer. Poulsen himself should have had a brace, off another unmarked header in the 55th. Bendtner got a good long range shot in stoppage time, and almost stole a victory for the danes. Despite this Vennegor of H. or Kuyt should have given them the win at the end but they screwed it up. Shaky from the dutch but the do look really dangerous going forward.
First I didn't think Belgium would be and adequate judge on Italy's current strength and I wasn't far off. It ended 3-1 and that's how the game played. It wasn't really until around the 60th minute that the belgians even had a real decent chance, and by then the Italians really took their foot off the pedal. It started getting real choppy too. Mirallas came on and finally started asking questions of the italian defense, and the goal in stoppage time came of some poor defending on a corner.
DiNatale had a well taken brace, though the 2nd one was a gift really by the Belgian defense. I thought he looked pretty good out there, but it was my first time really taking a look at him. He has quick feet and looks like a problem causer. I don't know much about him. Del Piero also came on and was abusing the belgian back 4. He is a real classy player, even though he took a bit of a dive in the 37th :D. I don't know about Pirlo, I don't think he did much today. A few good passes but I don't think he provided much of a spark. Not a big fan of him anyway. Panucci was quiet, but Zambrotta looked real dangerous going forward, especially in the second half. Nice to see him not go doing in that scoring chance he created late in the game. Overall I wouldn't say Italy was really tested and it wasn't much of an indicator.
Holland Denmark on the other hand, was a bit more telling. I don't know about this Holland team defensively. They look pretty vulnerable. The announcers were harping about the central defense but I think the problem is before that. The Oranje don't seem to pressure enough from the midfield. I felt a need for a dominate ball destroyer in there. They did play a solid Denmark team, and Bendtner was the man of the match in my opinion. Even with these points I felt Holland were good enough offensively to win that game. Twice in the first half Robben just squeaks shots past the far post. I thought Robben was great out there, taking on defenders, making excellents runs and passes. The Real Madrid trio in general played real well. Nice attacking play between them to lead to Van Nistelrooy's goal. Van der Vart was getting himself in to some real good positions but had absolutely no end product. He seemed to be shanking shots left and right. When Sneijder took his position in the center, the team looked livelier after taking a lot of pressure from the Danes. If Van Persie is starting, VDV will be benched and Sneijder will be in his place i bet. Babel was a real spark off the bench as well, and he immediately makes his presence felt, which I like about him. He's one who's not afraid to run at anyone.
Denmark was playing them hard though away from home too. They were passing behind the dutch defenders pretty easily, and Bendtner was running wild out there. He was getting free headers, beating defenders head on and really troubling them. He just toyed with the dutch defense in there 6 yard box when he passed the ball to Poulsen for the equalizer. Poulsen himself should have had a brace, off another unmarked header in the 55th. Bendtner got a good long range shot in stoppage time, and almost stole a victory for the danes. Despite this Vennegor of H. or Kuyt should have given them the win at the end but they screwed it up. Shaky from the dutch but the do look really dangerous going forward.