Alert: COPA DEL MONDO BRAZIL 2014: GROUP STAGE (2) ITALY VS COSTA RICA, ARENA PERNAMBUCO, RECIFE

totti fan · Jun 21, 2014

Body language from Verratti says he wants to come on.

totti fan · Jun 21, 2014

Brasitusa said: ↑

I think Uruguay is a bad match-up for us.
Not only they have tough defense and agile counter-attacks, but they are also playing in South America and European teams are not doing well. All South Americans are poised to advance, while Europeans have only convincingly beat up on each other, and have been struggling against everybody else.
I fear the worst.
Still, we do have the advantage of the tie, so, it's not lost yet.
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France has been the best team in the group stages.

FORZA NAPOLI <3 · Jun 21, 2014

@OldLady is the right man for the job and will lead us to a 3-0 victory.

indestructible · Jun 22, 2014

We lost to a team called "the tacos"

elvesuvio · Jun 22, 2014

indestructible said: ↑

We lost to a team called "the tacos"
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Excuse me. I'm gonna go hang myself.

Il Ciuccio · Jun 22, 2014

indestructible said: ↑

We lost to a team called "the tacos"
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hey tacos are great !

indestructible · Jun 22, 2014

elvesuvio said: ↑

Excuse me. I'm gonna go hang myself.
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You and me both

Sal · Jun 22, 2014

Deand21594 said: ↑

Seen this comment on the footballitalia.net comments section. Thought it was worth a post.

Costa Rica deserved the win and played better. No question. I could not understand why Italy played with no urgency even after they were down. It bothered me. After the game heard a comment made my GIGI Buffon. He said even if Italy had won or tied the game they still would have needed same result a tie vs Uruguay to go thru. If you look at the tables its actually true. Even with a win Italy would have needed the same result against Uruguay. So either way you are playing 3 games in extreme conditions for a European team . Keep in mind that Italy started by playing in Manaus, Recife, and then Natal ( the hottest place of the 3 temperature wise and a last game is at midday) . If you win the group you have to play Recife again (round of 16) . 4 extreme weather conditions games in a row in 15days if you count the round of 16 game. If you come in second you play in Marcana (rio) in round of 16 no weather issues. Say what you want about whether it is an intelligent strategy but keep in mind Italy played in Brazil in the Confederations cup last year. They played fast paced game in Recife against Japan and won barely 4 -3. I believe Italy was playing for a tie and it backfired. Why put Motta vs Veratti, defensive move. Balotelli buries the breakaway and a tie is secure. You are playing a country with momentum and belief located near the equator and used to these conditions. Its true most of the players on CRC play in Europe but most of them are native to CRC and played many many more games in the tropical climate of CRC. If Italy ties or loses yesterday England would be eliminated. If they win England have a chance only to win finish second thus forcing a 4th game in a row in tropical humid weather for Italy. Italy is thinking in terms of 7 games in 27days if they make the final . Playing the first 4 games in searing heat and humidity i believe played into their thinking. Uruguay is a stronger team on paper than CRC but they are located in a non tropical environment. Since they needed the same result either way the calculation was made to be conservative and put all the effort to get the required result against Uruguay. I am not trying to take away any credit from CRC. They were the better team and deserved the win. They marked Pirlo well . But if you were coaching from a 7 game in 27 day perspective and knew your teams limitations you could see why they might desire the 2nd spot in the group standings. Once Uruguay beat England Italy knew they could secure the second spot with 2 ties. It makes sense and i don't put it past the Italians. Good luck to CRC they may go deep into the tournament.
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Huh.

Il Ciuccio · Jun 22, 2014

Sal said: ↑

Huh.
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the guy is basically saying that italy played the way they did because no matter what they would to "play" all 3 games. so in other words they were being lazy and wanted to try in the last game.

el napulitan · Jun 23, 2014

Il Ciuccio said: ↑

the guy is basically saying that italy played the way they did because no matter what they would to "play" all 3 games. so in other words they were being lazy and wanted to try in the last game.
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i think he's saying italy want to finish 2nd rather than 1st so they can play in a cooler climate, which you could say is clever but really its fcuking retarded as you dont just assume you getting out of the group

jerrito · Jun 23, 2014

Gigi is trying to be optimistic, especially because his teammates are watching him Would everyone prefer it if he acted like Ronaldo and said "They took my orsacchiotto and we always lose because my teammates are idiots, and I have better hair and a stomach like Van Damme?"

el napulitan · Jun 24, 2014

official line ups

ITALIA - Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Darmian, Verratti, Pirlo, Marchisio, De Sciglio; Balotelli, Immobile

URUGUAY - Muslera, Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Alvaro Pereira, Alvaro Gonzalez, Rios, Rodriguez, Lodeiro, Suarez, Cavani

el napulitan · Jun 24, 2014

St. Michael's Sword · Jun 24, 2014

I like the line-up. I'm much more confident with this line up than anything else we've used so far.

Calcio Pauly · Jun 25, 2014

totti fan said: ↑

The difference between this performance and the England was the runners. We didn't have players successfully running through the lines like Marchisio, Candreva and Darmian did in the 1st game. Best we could hope for was balls over the top, (beat offside trap), which nearly worked. But otherwise as I said the other component of our game which was very effective v England didn't work out for us this time.

On the basis of the 1st match, criticism of Pirlo, De Rossi, Motta isn't really warranted.
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Motta sucked, and Verratti's play today vs Uruguay proved it. I'm not afraid of saying I'm wrong when I'm wrong, but Motta proved nothing this World Cup.