Interesting match. Italy is better but the english tactic to defend at all cost and then counterattack is not bad. Could work but shouldn't!
Eee--Tal--Ya!! Eee--Tal--Ya!! Eee--Tal--Ya!! Methinks the Azzurri will do it. Super Mario will be psychota non grata after his hat-trick against the lions.
I can see England winning this, maybe on penalties. But must stop giving the ball away. Italy lack energy in the second half of games. England lack possession but are effective. (The highest conversion rate of chances of any team so far) Balotelli or Rooney, who will get sent off first?
I thought Rooney, while pretty much missing a sitter, made a big difference. Not the goal, but the small touches in the final third. England had been completely missing that without him. I'd like to think he and Walcott and Welbeck, given more time together, could really make things interesting. I was also happy to see Roy sub in Carroll and the Ox so late in the match. That's an encouraging mindset. I also think that's great man management as those specific players would surely benefit from that confidence boost, and they may very well need some confidence on Sunday. I'm a bit blinded on Italy, but I've been pretty impressed--shockingly so. I knew they would not advance in South Africa, but this year it's been pretty amorphous in the build up (kinda like England, actually). Pirlo and Cassano have been very good, but Yes--they cannot really go the full 90 at top gear. I'd like to see them revert to the 3-5-2, but without Chiellini I doubt it. And that is a gigantic loss, by the way. I also think Balotelli has been fantastic. I understand why he was benched, but I think any Italian hope lies with him. He worked brilliantly with Cassano in the first two matches, they just couldn't find the final touch. Modric said that Croatia's job became much easier once Mario was subbed out. I think he's got to score a few more before the tourney's over.
England on penalties! Walcott, Young, Rooney, Gerrard and Wellbeck to exploit our lack of pace. England vs Germany in the semi's
I watched Italy v Russia before the tournament, and I thought they'd be one of the worst sides in the competition. However they galvanised themselves against Spain, put in a decent show against Croatia, and scraped through against Ireland, although for long spells I thought the Irish had them rattled. They've done well to get out of a tight group. However, when you look through the names in their first eleven, it's a poor Italy side. It's not that different to the side that couldn't beat New Zealand, and lost heavily to Slovakia just two years ago. That is on paper though, and certainly on paper this is England's worst squad for 30 years in my view. We've had teams to win tournaments but it just hasn't happened, but this squad, well it's not much better than Sweden, but Italy and Germany have won many tournaments in the past by playing shit and having match winning tactics, why not us? I don't think we will win it, Semi's against Germany should be our final destination. It's not a given that we'll beat Italy, but I'm absolutely delighted we got them rather than Spain, if we raise our game just a little I think we could do it without extra time or penalties, he needs to drop Milner, we need more pace and the fluidity may come.
Balzaretti, Cassano, Balotelli, Barzagli, Giovinco, Abate, Bonucci, Maggio, Giacherrini, Motta and Diamanti are names who have played this tournament who did not play in South Africa. Pirlo played half a match also. To say some of those guys arent good players show what little knowledge you have. You think because they don't play for Real, Man U or Barca they arent good players. Italians rarely play for clubs outside of Italy.
I didn't expect England to win the group & they've done so without playing spectacular football. Let's no underestimate the test that was posed in the group either. Three really good sides, one of which was the host nation. However I do believe to beat Italy we're going to have to move into another gear.
Best of luck to all of my English friends on these boards and around the world. May this be a great match and the best team win!
Out of all the quarterfinal ties, this one is the one I am most looking forward to. Mainly because it's probably the toughest to call. I have no idea who's going to win this, I really don't. And there's no clear favorite in this one. Maybe u could say Italy are slightly favorites, but it's by the slightest of margins. This is the one quarterfinal matchup I actually got right in my per-tournament predictions. I say this one goes to penalties. It may not be pretty, but it will be tight, and exciting. My prediction... Italy 1-1 England .... Italy to go through on penalties.
I wouldn't get too big on Italy, this is still the team that got hammered 3-0 by Russia not long before the tourney started, I can see it being a close game and it could go either way. If someone had told me before the tournament started that you can have Italy in the QF's I'd have snapped their arm off
That's fine. Italy is also the team that conceded only two goals in all of qualification....played with (maybe even better than) Spain in the first game and only tied Croatia because of one error in Chiellinis part. England on the other hand won their group having been outplayed by both France and Ukraine and squuezed out a win against an off form Sweden. But whatever gives you confidence works for me. If both teams come out playing their best it should be Italy easily. But it's football so we never know what kind of team is gonna show up on any given day.
http://www.fussballdaten.de/vereine/england/italien/ The results of the last 30 years from clashes between both football nations clearly favour Italy (if you're superstitious and pay attention to historic stats). Nevertheless, I think it's gonna be the expectedly close & intensive match with probably pk shooting in the end.
England went through qualification undefeated and have qualified from their group undefeated and so far under Hodgson they are also undefeated. They are also the last team to beat Spain. If you think the Italian team and players are better that is your opinion, I don't, that is my opinion. Plus being outplayed is matter of opinion, Neither France nor Ukraine had any fantastic chances, most were shots from outside the box, even France's goal was a shot from outside the box. Passing the ball around in your own half or in the middle is hardly an indication of being better or being the team that should have won
I like England, they have spunk. Gerrard has been playing really well of late, he'll be the catalyst. Everybody says that Rooney is the make or break player but everything seems to be revolving around Gerrard in midfield so he's the guy Italy has to watch out for. I like England's defensive pairing of Terry and Lescott, they might be the best pairing in Europe right now arguably. On paper I don't think England is weak at all. They have pace, defensive composure, and youthful-exuberant players like Welbeck/Oxely/Young that can create problems. I don't think this is the best England team we've ever seen but they're definitely not the weakest. If they can beat Italy, there's no reason why they can't go all the way. PS. Italy lost to Spain in 2008 who ended up being the eventual winners, I don't see why this year would be any different.
We don't play Italy often enough. Ironically for one of these teams this match is the beginning of a double header, what with the friendly in August. It'll be a cracking game though, let's just hope it doesn't go to penalties because we could be there all night!
i see England here, and only England... it is going to be a game that it is going to be decided , on who will be more calm, at their gameplay. from what i ve seen in the tournament Italy, is having more trouble than England, to find their gameplay during game. i believe England will clear this from the first half also with two goal difference.
Very interesting match. Both teams havent look great in near past. My prediction is Italy to win, maybe in penalties. Good luck to both
Neither Ukraine nor France outplayed us. They couldn't break us down and we were content to let them have the ball and hit them on the break. That said I think Italy are being talked down a little too much and I don't like it. They have better players than England it's just a question of whether they've got the better team.
I think putting the ball in the net qualifies as a fantastic chance even if the linesman 2 meters away didn't see it. There were definitely other great chances too like the one handed save by Hart on the swerving shot.
I don't get this talk about Sweden outplaying England? That's a bunch of boloney. England was great in that game and made the most of their play with clever passing and good runs. Sweden didn't dominate anything in that game except for possession (which we all know doesn't mean anything). France, it can be argued, outplayed England. Not saying that England deserved to lose that game because they didn't - they were excellent defensively and posed a counter attack threat. Lescott and Terry are better for sure! Chiellini is not even playing. Also England's wide players are better than anything Italy has not to mention England has a top 3 world forward in Wayne Rooney. The only thing Italy has over England is Pirlo. If Pirlo goes unchecked by Hodgson (which is unlikely) then Italy has a very good chance to go through.