Hey folks, World Football Cup started

Vive La France !

That was true champions blood revitalizing kit for this oldie team. What a pleasure !
 
Last edited by a moderator:
To be fair Henry's behavior looked quite unprofessional to me, however the referee could not punish him for simulating the foul since there was a foul.
 
I agree with fgianni, there was an attempted tackle, even if Grosso didn't change his direction, it was still goin to be a penalty...The australian wanted to stop Grosso, he amde an obstacle in front of him, he wasn't aiming for the ball, he wasn't standing on the ground, it was a diving tackle.The referreeing level in this tournament(like the rpevious ones) is pathetic i agree.

And yes that's true the italians deserved to win anyway.

FORZA ITALIA:D
 
I understand ManGo, also the battle you speak of. Solo que me hierve la sangre ver ese tipo de referencias. Things get lost easily.

Like Bart said, "No problemo".
 
Last edited:
MacAuley, Materazzi didn't even deserve a booking, at 1st i thought he was so wrong, seeing the reply, he nearly made a foul, the penalty was a 50-50 chance, and that's in my opinion up to the ref, the australian wasn't just blocking, he wasn't even near that, and Grosso wasn't yet at the proper position to pass, you don't see players lifting their legs or diving to block a ball thta is only in the penalty area, he wanted to block Grosso, blocking a player means a foul, in the penalty area it's a penalty, at some angle however it seems like Grosso made it out of nothing, because when Grosso changed direction, the australian attempt seemed meaningless, but at any other angle, you'll understand it better.

It's not because i'm cheering for italy, i don't really mind to say it wasn't a penalty if it wasn't, but it was, it's like when hiddink came out after the game to say they played some ebautifull football, his crappy attempt of keeping it going till a penalty shoot out or a silver goal was beautifull football yeah right!

Italy have a relatively easy game, and that amkes me worried :D, but it should be easy Ukraine aren't a real challenge, i think Argentina, Portugal and Brazil will also get through this round.
 
akalai said:
So WHEN, prior to this game, was the last time Italy won a game in regular time???
Click to expand...

Indeed a long time!
Italy Check-Republic 2-0 in regular time FIFA Stadium Hanover 22/june/2006
Italy Ghana 2 0 in regular time FIFA Stadium Hamburg 12/june/2006

And on the 10 official Matches played before that 1 loss, 2 draws and 7 victories in regular time.

Shall I add the friendly games:

Italy Holland 3-1 12/Nov/2005
Italy Germany 4-1 1/Mar/2006

Do I need to add more?
 
fgianni said:
Indeed a long time!
Italy Check-Republic 2-0 in regular time FIFA Stadium Hanover 22/june/2006
Italy Ghana 2 0 in regular time FIFA Stadium Hamburg 12/june/2006
Click to expand...

Yes, my mistake... sorry Francesco! Definite brain explosion on my behalf!!!

Having made a fool of myself I still think that Italy has enough of a record in recent World Cups of defending in order to draw games into extra time that you could call it a trait, and therefore a little strange to question Guus Hiddinks tactic of taking Italy on in this area where they have often fallen down.... such as Brasil in '94, France in '98 and Korea in 2002.

Either way, as has been said, it's all history now and Australia has exited this cup...hopefully we can make it again soon. (Sooner being anytime less than another 32 years!) There is a link to the footage above for those who wish to make up their own mind.

Cheers!
 
Italy vs Ghana was actually entertaining, in the 1st half before Materzzzi got the boot, Italy were far better than the australains, better (more effective)chances, and more organized...I'm not criticizing Hiddink ebcause he played it boring, because he wanted to win, like Italy always want to win, but i'm criticizing him, because he knows beautifull football was the alst thing he wanted to offer in thsi match. A hypocrite i wnated to say.

I donno what's wrong with what i've said, if you are looking at a building from tis side, you'll never see its door, but if you changed your angle, you'll see it, what's wrong with that...

Blocking a player= foul, blocking the ball is allowed, the australian was no where to block the ball, unless youa re saying he doesn't know the difference.

The problem talking now about italy is its reputation, like the refs warning italians from diving, fearing from dirty fouls, that's why the ref in the alst agme didn't hesitate giving materazzi the red. Not many peopel are sympathetic with Italy but their win was only fair and that one said many many many people can't deny.

Italians know exactly what theya re playing for, and can do better, and it's not that the italians were the only boring team, look at Brazil in most or almost all of tis games recently, in recent world cups, they don't look like reaching the quarters..etc Holland, England, Even Argentine(sometimes), France..etc.

It's not just Italy's style now, football isn't about havign 11 forwards, right??? There is a defence, a midfield and an offensive line, modern football is tiring, needs a totally different strategy...

All these teams want to win, i don't blame them for that...And no one can.
 
akalai said:
OK... make up your own mind re:Australia vs. Italy, watch this footage:

http://www.soccerblog.com/2006/06/video_lucas_neill_foul_on_gros.htm
Click to expand...

Well it looks that most of the comments on that page do agree with my interpretation (not that is really a proof).
Grosso could indeed have avoided Neill's foul, but I dare you to find a player that would have done it!
If you want to foul me in your penaly area, I may not be a real gentleman, but I am not really going to do anything to stop you, be my guest!
 
Ah, the world unites.

This is just like sports talk radio in any city in the US. ;)

Great games start again tomorrow.
 
Well we are all here talking about it because there is no footie to watch for two days. :(

This thread would have been less than half its size without the penalty given to Italy!

Well tomorrow is football again, and Italy vs Ukraine could indeed end up in an unexpected way, Andriy Shevchenko can give huge headaches to any defense in the worls, expecially to one that has lost three key players like Nesta, Rossi and Materazzi.
 
And anyhow I don't understand why everyone is screaming at Grosso's alleged dive, and no one has anything to say against Bresciano's dive (there wasn't even contact between the two) that got Materazzi sent off, and since he is the third defender Italy loses, it is going to make the task of beating Ukraine difficult indeed.

Might it be that there is a slight bias somewhere?
 
fgianni said:
I wish for Italy, but my money is on Germany for what I have seen so far.
Click to expand...

Germany has most impressed me too. Brazil scares me most, just so much talent, if they ever played with the fire that Germany is playing with they would score in double digits each game.
 
fgianni said:
Might it be that there is a slight bias somewhere?
Click to expand...

Haha... yeah Francesco, poor Italy... so hard done by. Watch out, it's another conspiracy against Italy just like in 2002, anyone and everyone is out to get Italy! :)

"It was a scandal. The truth is that he [Moreno] had his mind set against us... this was a desired elimination. By who? I don't know... there are things greater than me, but the feeling is that they wanted us out." Francesco Totti, 2002

"I said that it would be tough, that we had additional opposition. I am not talking about a plot but about an additional opposition." Giovanni Trapattoni, 2002

...there are more than enough crazy X Files-esque type comments like these around from 2002...but I guess had the roles been reversed and Italy had been on the receiving end of this penalty call against Australia it would be due to some conspiracy or other??? Ofcourse! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom