Italia vs Germania quarter final

What a champion this guy is.

 

One of many of why we lasted this far into the tournament.

 

Agreed but weren't you part of the few who wanted him to retire from the Nazionale about a year ago?

 

He's been on the Nazionale since God knows when but in 2008, 2010 and 2014, we fared poorly.

What was the underlying variable that allowed us to outperform? lol

@Calcio Pauly thoughts?

 

No Iaquinta or Montolivo?

 

No.

 

We lost on PK's to Spain in 2008. We were not a bad side that year. In 2010, he was out due to his back problems. Pirlo was injured as well. We did not recover from those two hits. Prandelli lost the script in 2014. Buffon was pissed about it and we did not see a repeat this summer.

 

My apologies then.


There were many who insist he retire but he's the heart of this team.

 

In 2008 Italy was unwatchable.

 

Same could be said about this summer's side. They were not bad. Neither was this team. But the tactics were all wrong and I would not be surprised if I stated the same 8 years ago.

 

And yet Italy beat Belgium, Spain and came within a PK of beating Germany.

Handily I might add.

 

In 2008, we lost that strange match against a good Dutch side. We drew against Romania and defeated France to take second in the group. Then in the knockout, Spain advanced on PK's after a nil-nil draw to eventually start their era as champions.

This tournament, we defeated an overhyped Belgium side after a great long pass from Bonucci. Pelle added another in the end. Against Sweden, we struggled but scored near the end with Eder. We then lost to Ireland. Against Spain, Chiellini knocks in a rebound after De Gea poorly handles Eder's free kick. Pelle puts another one away at the end. Germany gifted us a PK to allow us back into game. Not the stuff to make a movie about.

 

lol

You forgot that we played exceptionally well against Spain and literally gave them nothing until the players got tired near the end. Even the biggest Italy haters were patting us on the back for how we played a strong tight game and won against two of the biggest teams in the world.

You're so good at spinning bullshit you should join the democratic party.

 

Show me where I stated that we played poorly against Spain. I believe what I wrote was that we were not a bad side in 2008. Your statement was that they were unwatchable in 2008. So who is spinning whom here?

 

It depends on the definition of poorly Mr Clinton. This team played well and delivered the results. End of story.

 

If you return to the original post, notice that it was written in two paragraphs. The second paragraph from which you throw the "movie" quote was in reference to this summer's tournament. I attended a Christian Brothers high school and Brother Di Pasquale drilled proper English and writing skills in our class in the 9th grade. Granted that today the course is no longer called English but some other PC crap, we did learn how to properly express ourselves back in the day.

 

Interesting.. and why haven't you drilled this concept to your pupil, Ciucc?

You realize I am fluent in three languages?

 

I think 2010 was Marchetti. And he blew against Slovakia on the 3rd goal if I remember correctly

 

Our options upfront are so suspect that if balotelli even has a decent season I can see him getting back into the squad to pick up his typical yellow cards. Not just balotelli but I can see seba also getting back into the squad. None of these forwards from this current squad have a guaranteed spot at this point. The only forward I can see getting a bigger role is insigne. Like I've said the defence carried this team.

 

My stream has frozen I think...has Zaza taken his penalty yet?

 

LOL - I am hard on him often for his writing skills.

 

Bias much? You distorted every point to match your argument.

People seem to forget that we were a penalty away from getting knocked out in 2008. If Buffon didn't make that miracle save, they'd have been out by the second game. Donadoni has done some exceptional work since then, but at that time, he was out of his element. The loss of Cannavaro hurt us but that side looked tired and hungover from two years prior.

Flash forward to now. An Italian side depleted in the middle, with Marchisio (who likely would have taken De Rossi's spot) and Verratti (the most technically gifted mid we've had since Pirlo) out and facing powerhouses Spain and Belgium (I go by rankings, not personal bias). You count the Ireland game but fail to acknowledge that was our B squad.

Why are so many reaching still? Why can't we all accept that Conte did good work and restored some pride in our Italia?

 

Going into this year's Euros I had very low expectations for Italy. I can truthfully say that this was one of the weakest Italy teams I had ever seen. Despite having in my oppinion an amazing defence it still didn't stack up to what we had in the past, however, I knew this would be the main strength we built this team on. Losing two good players before the tournament even started just added to the lowering of my expectations. Despite that, as I learned from the past, Italy breathes soccer and can never ever be counted out. With all that said I am VERY proud of what this team did. With amazing tactics and defence, paired with a very strong unity amongst the players we managed to achieve more than what could have ever been expected. Am I upset? Sure. But I also know that we came up against an amazing Germany team and to take them down to penalties was a great feat. I can sit here and say Pelle or Zaza's penalties sucked and whatnot but this is the way the game goes and you have to give credit to these guys for what they did during regular play. Had it not been for Pelle's great play during the tournament there is an massive chance we would not have even seen this stage of the tournament. I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you to all the players that represented the shirt with heart, pride, and sacrifice. You continued a tradition of excellence and have made us all proud! Forza Azzurri Always!!!

Sent from my SM-N920W8 using Tapatalk

 

Seeing the reaction of the players at the end of the Germany game shows how much heart they put into this tournament.

I was very proud to be an Azzurri fan this summer.

 

Both against Spain in 08 and against Germany this year, we were both missing our midfield. This time it was practically our whole midfield, against Spain it was Pirlo and Gattuso