Italia vs. Romania 6/13/08 [R]

[VCFan]

Some obscure rule? Are you referring to the offsides rules? That was just shoddy defending. The defenders should have never given up on that play.

It was miscommunication, plain and simple. They should have called off the offsides trap when they saw Panucci taken down by Buffon.

But I wonder how many of the players on both sides actually knew about this rule? I'm not saying that makes the goal invalid, but it does make it unfortunate.

[McGinty]

For me, our EC had finished yesterday, because if we can't beat Romania, well, better go out early.

So little respect for a team that took points from the WC finalists as well as the team that took 4 points from the Netherlands in qualifying...

[Khaloisha]

Some obscure rule? Are you referring to the offsides rules? That was just shoddy defending. The defenders should have never given up on that play.

Yeah, because Uefa used to explain every decision of the referee the day after right? That rule that serves well Netherlands was, in fact, unknown to the majority of people, plain and simple.
But I'm angry towards Orebro: he gave Romania a PK that, for the kind of contact, should have gave us 3 or 4 PK as well. He disallowed us a fair goal.

Uefa/Fifa should stop to call referees that doesn't see football at high level except in these occasions. I'm so freakin tired to be penalized by those.

[Khaloisha]

So little respect for a team that took points from the WC finalists as well as the team that took 4 points from the Netherlands in qualifying...

That's because we're the WC champion that i would have see us win against Romania.

[Hungry Dave]

Yeah, because Uefa used to explain every decision of the referee the day after right? That rule that serves well Netherlands was, in fact, unknown to the majority of people, plain and simple.
But I'm angry towards Orebro: he gave Romania a PK that, for the kind of contact, should have gave us 3 or 4 PK as well. He disallowed us a fair goal.

Uefa/Fifa should stop to call referees that doesn't see football at high level except in these occasions. I'm so freakin tired to be penalized by those.

Well I mean it makes sense that the rule would require the referee to give permission to leave the field. Otherwise players could just step off whenever to create an offsides situation. Unfortunate for the Italians.

I do agree that the Toni goal ruled offsides should not have been called off. That was a legitimate goal. Plus, because the goal was scored right before half time, it would have changed the game entirely. The Italians didn't look very good against the Dutch but had they gotten the 3 from Romania, they would be in a good situation going into the 3rd match. That makes me think that that offsides decision had more of an impact.

[Khaloisha]

Thanks for the fair comment, Hungry Dave. Repped.

[Tetsuo]

That's because we're the WC champion that i would have see us win against Romania.

though luck for you. if you thought Romania was San Marino well...hey surprise for you. Romania is no pushover. :)

[ToonUSA]

ToonUSA, looks like you lost again!!!!! :rolleyes:

Uh, lost what exactly?

Another great result. Hai Romania!

[Pit-182]

The gazzetta's today title says it all
http://www.gazzetta.it/tools1024/includes/primapagina/primapagina_large.jpg

[canzano55]

yes i had looked at the stats and the fact you dominated the game doesn't mean anything. after all in it's football history italy's main tactic was defense and counterattack. 8 changes Romania. 8 changes Italy. that seems pretty fair to me. yes the referee did a mistake. if i start counting how many times romania was disadvantaged in the last 8 years (especially in 2003) i would fill 5 forum pages. sometimes bad things happen. it's inevitable.I hear what you're saying but that doesn't excuse the bogus call.

This is European international football at the highest level and ironically the officiating just hasn't been up to par.

I know you believe Romania deserved a draw or maybe even a win but any sane mind will tell you that the separation in quality in yesterdays game was severe. If anything, despite missing the penalty, Romania was extremely fortunate to walk away with a draw and thats the truth.

[Amsteldam]

Uh, lost what exactly?

Another great result. Hai Romania!
Wasnt it you that predicted a France victory yesterday???
If not, then kindly ignore my post

[Tetsuo]

I hear what you're saying but that doesn't excuse the bogus call.

This is European international football at the highest level and ironically the officiating just hasn't been up to par.

I know you believe Romania deserved a draw or maybe even a win but any sane mind will tell you that the separation in quality in yesterdays game was severe. If anything, despite missing the penalty, Romania was extremely fortunate to walk away with a draw and thats the truth.

you're beeing subjective. both teams had the same number of chances. you had a valid goal ruled as offside. mutu mised a penalty and justice was served. 1-1 IS A FAIR RESULT.

[FNU]

you're beeing subjective. both teams had the same number of chances. you had a valid goal ruled as offside. mutu mised a penalty and justice was served. 1-1 IS A FAIR RESULT.
You're logic is quite funny. Mutu didn't miss, it was saved first of all. It shouldn't have been awarded in the first place. Like I mentioned, it's not a fair result by comparing one thing in your control against another that isn't.

[Tetsuo]

You're logic is quite funny. Mutu didn't miss, it was saved first of all. It shouldn't have been awarded in the first place. Like I mentioned, it's not a fair result by comparing one thing in your control against another that isn't.

i say it was a missed penalty because it was poorly taken by mutu at semiheight and on the center. and that was a clear penalty don't deny it.

[Tetsuo]

the fact is the game could have gone either way. if you went 1-0 at halftime i say you would have won it (although it's not certain). but if mutu had scored in the 81 minute then now the italians would probably be home.

[VCFan]

How does the fact that Buffon had to save a penalty against Romania make up for a valid Italian goal that was canceled? Who cares if Mutu struck it poorly or not... Buffon's save was the save of the tournament so far.

And while I don't think the referee can be blamed for awarding the penalty, it wasn't quite as clear-cut as the Romanians make it out to be.

[VCFan]

the fact is the game could have gone either way. if you went 1-0 at halftime i say you would have won it (although it's not certain). but if mutu had scored in the 81 minute then now the italians would probably be home.

The difference is that we should have been 1 - 0 at halftime and Mutu was invisible for the second half of the game. So Italy winning was the far more likely outcome, as your own post indicates.

[graywolfe81]

I would be willing to bet on the fact that the Italy-France match will NOT end up in a draw. This will be a all or nothing type of attitude for this game.IMO Italy will beat them sensless.
Now, if Mutu would conjure himself for the Holland game, and stop feeling sorry for himself , we have a chance.
If we do not qualify , we can look back at his missed penalty as a turning point.

I don't think that would be very fair to him, though I'd expect it. Whatever one may think of the missed penalty, his foresight, and pitch perfect reaction and finish to actually put you guys on the scoreboard in the first place was a combination of insane luck (idiotic backpass/header), and supreme skill (perfect finish w/one miraculous touch. How often do you get chances like that in a game? Virtually never (although oddly, today in the second game we saw a similar piece of luck for one team, though the finish was obviously the height of simplicity)).

If the game turned on anything, for me, it was the combo of that horrible mistake and Mutu's fantastic finish and then Romania falling asleep at the wheel on a corner a minute later. To me, the result was fair, and Mutu was responsible for your squad having a chance to win it in the first place, he's the last guy I'd blame for it not happening considering his contributions, and the spectacular failure to keep the ball out of the net on the ensuing corner (i believe there was a horrid whiff on an attempted clearance as well).

[graywolfe81]

One thing is in your control, the other isn't. Is that even or fair? No.


Italy can't talk about fairness when they spent the last 15 minutes trying to qualify for the diving competition in Beijing in August. Outrageous, cynical, despicable cheating was the rule of the day for Italy (not a surprise since they consistently engage in this b.s.) down the stretch as they tried to steal 3 points by dekeing the ref. Luckily, the refs weren't buying. Instead of feeling hard done, you should be praising the Gods you didn't have half your team carded for diving down the stretch.

[graywolfe81]

How does the fact that Buffon had to save a penalty against Romania make up for a valid Italian goal that was canceled? Who cares if Mutu struck it poorly or not... Buffon's save was the save of the tournament so far.

And while I don't think the referee can be blamed for awarding the penalty, it wasn't quite as clear-cut as the Romanians make it out to be.

The Romanian was held in a chokehold. Are those always called? No. Should they be? Hell yes. When should you ever, ever, ever be allowed to have the attacking player your marking in a one armed chokehold? Is that some new fangled way of marking I should have my players practice come August? That was a clear PK, and the American announcers were horrendous in their call. Happily the studio team corrected Tommy Smythe's brain dead analysis.

Don't buy the Italian dominance angle either. Thought Italians played better, but both teams had clear cut chances they failed to finish and some bad luck (PK poorly taken, a stupid ref call (as if stupid ref calls have been something rare, and only happening to Italy in this tournament-the refs have been botching calls of signifigant importance in virtually every single match, many of which have resulted in goals scored and disallowed that shouldn't have been in either case). The result was fair in my mind. Both goalies stood on their head and pulled Hasek in his prime performances out of their rears (in a hockey to soccer analogy), both teams failed to finish chances that normally would be finished. Both sides left w/a point.

Fair result. Particularly when you take into account the fact that the Italians deliberately tried to rig the game via cheating in the closing 15 minutes. Most teams occasionally dive, some teams do it more often then others (Portugal, Italy, Argentina come to mind, Germany in the past), but the Italians performance late was as I mentioned earlier, extraordinarly cynical, cheap, and obviously based on the premise that "fairness" is for squares and that scoreboard is all that matters regardless of how you attain the result. If that's how they approached the game (and it was), then any claims of unfairness are the height of hypocrisy and any sympathies they should have gotten for having a legit goal disallowed are null and void (since they were obviously 100% dedicated to earning an absolutely fraudulent penalty and resulting goal to get the points they needed by cheating).