[Oscar]

Super Iker!

[WhiteStar Warriors]

I can't believe the fans who are saying it was a great game. The game sucked. The best game was czech republic vs turkey

[JumpinJackFlash]

From the other thread..

First off, the people being rude and immature are not the only people complaining about Italy's anti-football. There are plenty of neutral observers with loads of football knowledge that would rather not have to sit through another match of Italy packing it in.

Whether some so called "experts" ie-the Andy Grays of the world dislike the way Italy played tonight, doesn't mean that it isn't an effective way of playing. With a defense weakened by the loss of Cannavaro and the decline in form of Materazzi, the azzurri still managed to stop Spain scoring for the whole game.

Spain's biggest asset is their attack, they scored EIGHT goals in the first three games and Villa is the topscorer in this competition. Did they score tonight? The answer is no. Spain had a reputation for being the "goalscorers" of the tournament going into this game and the azzurri cut that off completely.

Whether the armchair "I want twenty goals and monster trucks" fan reconigses the tactical skill of that is irrelevent. If the azzurri had a striker in good form up there instead of that horses ass Toni then it may be a different story right now. Different teams require different tactics; Italy's games in the group stages were some of the best in this competition, so much for "boring".

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by WhiteStar Warriors

I can't believe the fans who are saying it was a great game. The game sucked. The best game was czech republic vs turkey

Yeah, not much in entertainment tonight. Although if you are Spanish you don't really much care at the moment. The next game against Russia should be much better.

Spain had a reputation for being the "goalscorers" of the tournament going into this game and the azzurri cut that off completely

Spain didn't exactly play their normal game tonight. Partly because of the temperature and the attacking team would do the most running (not smart) partly because that would only put Italy in a position they would like to be in to counter from, and partly because of the nerves to fall in the quarters again. Ramos and Capdevilla mostly stayed on their own half, we played a much slower and secure passing game.

Nothing to detract from Italy's defensive capabilities, however Spain didn't exactly go into this game like they did against Russia.

[Borussia]

Originally Posted by WhiteStar Warriors

I can't believe the fans who are saying it was a great game.

Maybe those fans love the tactical game...

Congrats to Spain on reaching the 1st semi-final since 1984, finally they had a little bit of fortune & good nerves!

Despite Pirlo's absence, Donadoni played way too devensively in my eyes (you could get the impression he was going for the pk's) and made the big mistake of nominating Di Natale (I knew he wouldn't manage to control his nerves after being booed) instead of Del Piero for the pk's!


Buona notte.

[DaveyGorgeous]

Originally Posted by JumpinJackFlash

From the other thread..

Whether some so called "experts" ie-the Andy Grays of the world dislike the way Italy played tonight, doesn't mean that it isn't an effective way of playing. With a defense weakened by the loss of Cannavaro and the decline in form of Materazzi, the azzurri still managed to stop Spain scoring for the whole game.

Spain's biggest asset is their attack, they scored EIGHT goals in the first three games and Villa is the topscorer in this competition. Did they score tonight? The answer is no. Spain had a reputation for being the "goalscorers" of the tournament going into this game and the azzurri cut that off completely.

Whether the armchair "I want twenty goals and monster trucks" fan reconigses the tactical skill of that is irrelevent. If the azzurri had a striker in good form up there instead of that horses ass Toni then it may be a different story right now. Different teams require different tactics; Italy's games in the group stages were some of the best in this competition, so much for "boring".

Good post. Some fans just cannot see that. The game isn't supposed to be played in an attacking style. The game is not supposed to be played in any way. I believe its best played to a team's strengths. Italy's strength (though not as much in the group stage) has been to frustrate strikers, close down their opponents options and minimize their goal-scoring opportunities. We are not strong in attacking, hence, we do not play like Russia or the Dutch though I think our attacking mindedness did raise in this tournament compared to years past.

Just quit the bashing everyone, take your victory with humbleness, and good luck

[!Bob]

Originally Posted by JumpinJackFlash

From the other thread..

Whether some so called "experts" ie-the Andy Grays of the world dislike the way Italy played tonight, doesn't mean that it isn't an effective way of playing. With a defense weakened by the loss of Cannavaro and the decline in form of Materazzi, the azzurri still managed to stop Spain scoring for the whole game.

Spain's biggest asset is their attack, they scored EIGHT goals in the first three games and Villa is the topscorer in this competition. Did they score tonight? The answer is no. Spain had a reputation for being the "goalscorers" of the tournament going into this game and the azzurri cut that off completely.

Whether the armchair "I want twenty goals and monster trucks" fan reconigses the tactical skill of that is irrelevent. If the azzurri had a striker in good form up there instead of that horses ass Toni then it may be a different story right now. Different teams require different tactics; Italy's games in the group stages were some of the best in this competition, so much for "boring".

It doesn't require great quality to stop a team from scoring as Greece proved.

Equally, teams with great scoring records don't score in every game, as Netherland proved. Against Italy, they netted 3 times. Against Russia (which Spain beat comfortably), they scored one from a free kick in the 86th minute.

Pray tell, in which game did Italy play well?

[Caesar]

Italy played well and with a lot of heart. It's a rough way to go out, my sympathies.

[DaveyGorgeous]

Originally Posted by Caesar

Italy played well and with a lot of heart. It's a rough way to go out, my sympathies.

Thank you for your kind words sir.

[FNU]

Italy played for Pks, they got what they deserve. Donadoni is the biggest moron to ever manage a NT, especially one that just won the World Cup. He completely ruined the team chemistry and didn't know how to get the best out of these players. He's always been a loser, and now he leaves a loser hopefully for good.