[FNU]

Familiar foes set to duel again


FRA 20:45 ITA
ZÜRICH

Opponents in the UEFA EURO 2000™ and 2006 FIFA World Cup finals and again in qualifying for these finals, France and Italy renew their high-profile rivalry in their concluding Group C fixture in Zurich.


• The stakes are likely to be high again given the formidable-looking makeup of a section that also includes the Netherlands and Romania, but both sides can take heart from recent history.
• Italy beat France on penalties in the World Cup final but Les Bleus can point to a golden-goal win against their neighbours to win UEFA EURO 2000™. Raymond Domenech's team also took four points off Italy on the road to Austria-Switzerland, despite eventually finishing three points below them in qualifying Group B.
• The Azzurri pipped France to the world crown by winning 5-3 on penalties in Berlin on 9 July 2006. Zinédine Zidane opened the scoring with a seventh-minute spot-kick before Marco Materazzi equalised after 19 minutes on a night most memorable for Zidane's extra-time headbutt on Materazzi that earned the Frenchman a red card.
• Italy's successful spot-kick takers in the ensuing shoot-out were Andrea Pirlo, Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Grosso. Sylvain Wiltord, Eric Abidal and Willy Sagnol all scored for France but David Trezeguet struck the crossbar with his kick.
• The teams that night were:
Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso, Mauro Camoranesi, Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Simone Perrotta, Francesco Totti, Luca Toni.
France: Fabien Barthez, Willy Sagnol, Lilian Thuram, William Gallas, Eric Abidal, Franck Ribéry, Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, Zinédine Zidane, Florent Malouda, Thierry Henry.
• Del Piero, De Rossi and Vincenzo Iaquinta appeared as substitutes for Italy, and Alou Diarra, Trezeguet and Wiltord for France.
• The teams met again just two months later in a UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying match at the Stade de France and this time France prevailed. They made a lightning start with Sidney Govou scoring after two minutes and Thierry Henry doubling the lead on 18. Although Alberto Gilardino replied for Italy two minutes later, Govou restored France's two-goal advantage ten minutes after half-time.
• The most recent meeting between France and Italy was a goalless draw in Milan on 8 September 2007.
• The teams that night were:
Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Massimo Oddo, Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Barzagli, Gianluca Zambrotta, Daniele De Rossi, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Mauro Camoranesi, Alessandro Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi.
France: Mickaël Landreau, Lassana Diarra, Lilian Thuram, Julien Escudé, Eric Abidal, Franck Ribéry, Claude Makelele, Patrick Vieira, Florent Malouda, Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka.
• It goes without saying that the countries' most significant encounter in the UEFA European Championship came on 2 July 2000 in Rotterdam where a 103rd-minute golden goal from substitute Trezeguet earned France their second continental crown. Italy had earlier taken a 55th-minute lead through Marco Delvecchio only for Wiltord, another France substitute, to equalise in the dying seconds of normal time.
• Lilian Thuram, Henry and Trezeguet are France's survivors from that final, while Fabio Cannavaro and substitutes Massimo Ambrosini and Del Piero remain with Italy.
• The 2006 World Cup final is the only time that France have lost to Italy in eight matches and it is 30 years since the Azzurri's last win in open play against their rivals, a 2-1 success at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
• Besides their UEFA EURO 2000™ triumph, France beat Italy in the second round of the World Cup in 1986 and the quarter-finals in 1998.
• The overall head-to-head record for this fixture is 18 Italy wins, nine France wins and eight draws, with victories on penalties counted as wins.
• France, under Domenech, suffered a UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying play-off defeat by Italy in November 1999. After a 1-1 first-leg draw, Thierry Henry opened the scoring in the return for France but the Azzurrini fought back to win 2-1, Andrea Pirlo deciding the tie for the hosts in extra time.
• Italy coach Roberto Donadoni was in the AC Milan team defeated by Olympique de Marseille in the 1993 UEFA Champions League final.
• Italy full-back Grosso plays his club football for Olympique Lyonnais where he is a team-mate of French internationals Hatem Ben Arfa, Karim Benzema, Jean-Alain Boumsong, François Clerc, Grégory Coupet, Govou and Jérémy Toulalan.
• France midfielder Patrick Vieira formerly played with Grosso at FC Internazionale Milano. Vieira now counts Azzurri defender Materazzi among his Inter team-mates.
• France goalkeeper Sébastien Frey plays with Italy pair Riccardo Montolivo and Franco Semioli at ACF Fiorentina, where he also appeared alongside Luca Toni. Azzurri striker Toni is now a team-mate of French internationals Willy Sagnol and Franck Ribéry at FC Bayern München.
• France's Abidal, Henry and Thuram are colleagues of Italy full-back Gianluca Zambrotta at FC Barcelona.
• France defender Philippe Mexes plays alongside Italian internationals Christian Panucci, Simone Perrotta and De Rossi at AS Roma.
• France forward Trezeguet plays with Italy's Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Mauro Camoranesi and Del Piero at Juventus.
• Italy have a positive recent memory of the Letzigrund Stadion in Zurich after defeating fellow UEFA EURO 2008™ finalists Portugal 3-1 there on 6 February this year.
• France, appearing in their fifth successive UEFA European Championship, were European champions on home soil in 1984 and lifted the Henri Delaunay trophy for a second time in 2000.
• Italy's best performance in the UEFA European Championship came when they beat Yugoslavia in the 1968 final. They were runners-up in 2000 and semi-finalists in 1988 with a team featuring Donadoni himself.

http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/tourname...703/index.html

Conspiracy theories welcome.

[FNU]

Group C (Tuesday)
Netherlands (6, winners) v Romania (2), France (1) v Italy (1)
Again, top spot is decided in favour of the Netherlands, and second-placed Romania will join the Dutch in the quarter-finals by winning their encounter in Berne. If Romania draw or lose then that would allow either France or Italy to go through by winning their match in Zurich – the only way Les Bleus can progress. If Romania lose and the others play out a score draw, Italy would go through in a three-way head-to-head tie on two points as they would have scored more goals in the games involving France and Romania.
If Romania fall by one goal, two goals or by a three-goal margin other than 3-0 and the other match finishes 0-0, Romania would advance as their head-to-head record with Italy would be dead level but they would have a superior overall goal difference (or in the case of the three-goal defeats, goals scored). If Romania lose by four goals or more and the other game ends 0-0, Italy would proceed with a better overall goal difference than Romania. If Romania lose 3-0 and the other match finishes 0-0, Italy and Romania would have to be split on qualifying coefficients, in which case Italy would prevail 2.364-2.250.

[Pit-182]

Mmmh I think Domenech doesn't really care about go through to the quarters, but he is really obsessed with Italy and he wants to have a revenge of WC 2006.

And this is kinda scary for Italy.

[Amsteldam]

Good news for Italy if you do make the QF, you guys have never lost against Spain in any major tournament:

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/st...ita/index.html

All of Spain's wins came in friendlies

[FNU]

When was the last time Spain won in a quarter final?

[VCFan]

Originally Posted by Amsteldam

Good news for Italy if you do make the QF, you guys have never lost against Spain in any major tournament:

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/st...ita/index.html

All of Spain's wins came in friendlies

Yep, for some reason the Azzurri drag their asses during the group stages but really wake up for the knockout rounds (if we make it that far). I suppose that's why all these crazy conspiracy theories are being floated about the importance of eliminating Italy in the group stage.

I'm sure the Dutch would be very happy if we could "dispatch" Spain during the quarterfinals

[Amsteldam]

Originally Posted by VCFan

I'm sure the Dutch would be very happy if we could "dispatch" Spain during the quarterfinals

We'll make you a deal, we kick Romania's ass and you give Spain a free pass

That way we both save face, how's that???!!!

Originally Posted by FNU

When was the last time Spain won in a quarter final?

1964, but that was because they didnt have a quarterfinal

[FNU]

Originally Posted by Amsteldam

We'll make you a deal, we kick Romania's ass and you give Spain a free pass

That way we both save face, how's that???!!!

1964, but that was because they didnt have a quarterfinal

You rather face Spain?

[Amsteldam]

Originally Posted by FNU

You rather face Spain?

Yup!!

I dread Italy or France again, you guys will be PISSED and out for revenge.
Not saying we will lose, but it'll be a bloodbath for sure.

I'm guessing we'll win but only by one goal or so. And it'll be a hardfought victory

[FNU]

Originally Posted by Amsteldam

Yup!!

I dread Italy or France again, you guys will be PISSED and out for revenge.
Not saying we will lose, but it'll be a bloodbath for sure.

I'm guessing we'll win but only by one goal or so. And it'll be a hardfought victory

True, but Spain with Villa and Torres are REALLY lethal up front. I know your defense is playing awesome for what they're rated, but Villa has got the touch. I agree with what you're saying, but let's not forget if Romania go through either by win or draw, they might get through Spain and they'll know how to play you. In fact, they will play for a PK shoot out guaranteed... remember EURO2000?