España v Italia (Sunday QF)

leninbenjamin

DesF wrote: »

Casillas hopefully.

you were right.

fair f*ck's to the Spaniards. Senna's penalty was class. delighted for Cesc though, wouldn't have wanted anyone else on that team to get the winning penalty.

Sherifu

Happy with that.

Xavi6

mike65 wrote: »

Xavi would have missed that!

Mike.

Nah he never misses a peno

Bubs101

Bubs101 wrote: »

Spain are also bottlers. End of story

Couldn't have been more wrong. Fair play to Spain but Chielline and Donadoni were great in this game

Also, why bring on Del boy and not have him take a decisive peno??

Xavi6

Mr Alan wrote: »

why ya looking for estaban?

Because he's probably ripping up his De Rossi shirts as we speak! First Old Trafford, now this!

Dr_MaSoN

gwon spain!

kmart6

leninbenjamin wrote: »

you were right.

fair f*ck's to the Spaniards. Senna's penalty was class. delighted for Cesc though, wouldn't have wanted anyone else on that team to get the winning penalty.

I would.......Torres!!!!!

eZe^

Unlucky to the Italians to be fair, but the more positive team won... Btw, what a penalty from Camorenesi!!!


DELIGHTED!!! Espana are now one step closer to abolishing the past reputation... One step closer, was Ramos dedicating something to Puerta there at the end....

And to the people who questioned the morale and togetherness in the Spanish team, I think the end summed it up with Casillas and Villa rolling all over the floor...


Casillas has proven he is up there with Buffon in my opinion!! What a keeper.

leninbenjamin

kmart6 wrote: »

I would.......Torres!!!!!

**** no. wannabe scouse trash

eZe^

Bubs101 wrote: »

why bring on Del boy and not have him take a decisive peno??

Agreed, I thought that the idea was to put their 3 experienced penalty takers from 06 to step up first...

445279.ie

Dissapointed Italy lost. Had alot riding on it!!

(shag with an Italitan guy )

Tusky

Really glad Italy lost. They defended their way to the World Cup title and they tried to do it again for the European title. The right team won.

Xavi6

DCC160 wrote: »

Dissapointed Italy lost. Had alot riding on it!!

(shag with an Italitan guy )

Oh hai, asl?!

_blank_

Defending is as much a part of the game as attacking.

Tom65

DesF wrote: »

Defending is as much a part of the game as attacking.

But it's a less fun part of it!

TwoShedsJackson

Thank God for that, Italy bored the hole off me for 120 minutes.

Guy:Incognito

DesF wrote: »

Defending is as much a part of the game as attacking.

Only when it's the Italians apparently. Lessers teams arent allowed.

ironingbored

Spain deserved to win it although there are a number of mitigating factors with regard to Italy.
1) Pirlo and Gattuso missing
2) Bit of a creative void in Italy at the moment.
3) Missing Cannavaro
4) Donadoni is relatively inexperienced

It's all set up now for Marcello Lippi to return and win the 2010 WC! While kicking Ireland's ass in teh qualifiers despite the fact we have McGeady.

Drag00n79

Bubs101 wrote: »

Also, why bring on Del boy and not have him take a decisive peno??

He was probably down for the fifth.

Xavi6

ironingbored wrote: »

Spain deserved to win it although there are a number of mitigating factors with regard to Italy.
1) Pirlo and Gattuso missing
2) Bit of a creative void in Italy at the moment.
3) Missing Cannavaro
4) Donadoni is relatively inexperienced

It's all set up now for Marcello Lippi to return and win the 2010 WC! While kicking Ireland's ass in teh qualifiers despite the fact we have McGeady.

Meh he was no big loss really. Sure they didn't concede tonight. Not like he would have scored a hattrick tonight had he played.

Bubs101

Shamrok wrote: »

He was probably down for the fifth.

I assumed that to, but in this scenario the 4th was more important

Drag00n79

Bubs101 wrote: »

I assumed that to, but in this scenario the 4th was more important

Names and order have to be given to the ref prior to the shoot-out.

gimmick

Justice done. Italy were a disgrace to the game tonight. I hate those horrifically negative tactics.

ironingbored wrote: »

Spain deserved to win it although there are a number of mitigating factors with regard to Italy.
1) Pirlo and Gattuso missing
2) Bit of a creative void in Italy at the moment.
3) Missing Cannavaro
4) Donadoni is relatively inexperienced

While those are valid points, I have no doubt in my mind that Italy would have went out to be negative regardless of any of those mitigating factors. Historically they are a terribly negative nation footballwise.

I quite fancy a Germany Russia final tbh.

ShoulderChip

Senna was a pure legend tonight fair duce.

stick-dan

the way italy set out to play the game was disgraceful, i know they lack attacking options and are forced to put the donkey up front but it would have been one of the worst things for football had there boring style of football gone through...

A Dub in Glasgo

Great to see Spain win that one

kinaldo

Stekelly wrote: »

Greece were called a disgace to football for winning the last time by playing to their strengths and being defensive.

Why does RTE's main commentator (Maloney?) pronounce Villa as Viiia but Capdevila he says like (Aston) Villa? More t the point, why am I watching RTE?

According to the rules of Spanish I think it should be pronounced David Biya, as in Balencia. Spanish V generally sounds like an English B with some exceptions, like the English David.

Anyway, good riddance to the Azzurri. As I said in my opening post, ugly and cynical football. Spain tried to play but they can play better. Naturally I feared the team playing for penalties would win on penalties but I also had faith in Casillas.

Viva España!

estebancambias

I knew, just knew De Rossi would miss. The exact same way I knew Cambiasso would miss against Germany in 2006. I think its telepathic or something.

I am sad for Italy because I love Italy as a country. But in fairness they were **** from a postive point of view.

I don't understand the Luca Toni hate by RTE, even though I agree with them almost all the time. I think he has shown why he would score goals over a season. If only he had let the ball through to Grosso.

I don't like Spain's style. I think their attack has been overrated. They will probably win the tournament but I think they play so rigidly. Their performance against Northern Ireland at home is an example of this.

Get that waster Silva out of the team. He seems to be one of those football manager players(even though he must be alright to be picked for the spanish team) but where the hell is Capel?

Mr.Nice Guy

estebancambias wrote: »

I knew, just knew De Rossi would miss.

I knew that too. Didn't he miss against Man United in the Champions League also? I predicted Guiza would miss as well. He was rubbish and shouldn't have replaced Torres.

I see Spain going all the way as long as they can keep Arshavin and the Pavster quiet.

leninbenjamin

estebancambias wrote: »

I think its telepathic or something.

no it's called body language. i knew Di Natale and De Rossi would miss, just like i knew Rakitic missed against Crotia. they didn't look like they were going to score.

I don't understand the Luca Toni hate by RTE, even though I agree with them almost all the time. I think he has shown why he would score goals over a season. If only he had let the ball through to Grosso.

he needs wide men. plus he's old already. the last time i got a glimpse of him playing was in his sporadic appearances at the previous tournaments. he looked much more mobile back then. still, get a few wingers pumping in crosses to him all day and he'll bang 'em in. Italy just couldn't do this.

I'm still baffled as to why Donadoni didn't bring pippo inzaghi. he was exactly the player Italy needed. all they the midfield could offer were little balls over the top and he's frickin brilliant at latching onto them... well, better than the rest of the Italian strikers, even for his age.

another thing: can someone who follows Italian fooball tell me, wtf happened Cassano? I remember him years ago being touted as the next Totti. he seems average at best. where did it all go wrong? was it the Real move or before?

Xavi6

Agree on Pippo, he'd have bugged the shite out of defenders and been a better shout for a goal than Toni. Legend.

As for Cassano, he was fantastic at Bari then lost some form at Roma but did enough to move to Madrid. Always had a reputation for being a trouble maker and a hot head. He also put on a heap of weight and consequently wasn't fit enough to play. Basically his time in Spain was miserable and he couldn't wait to get back to Italy. Showed good form last season, hence his inclusion.

I would have liked Quagliarella to get more of a run ahead of Di Natale.

gosplan

Bubs101 wrote: »

TBH, this match could all come down to which keeper plays better. The two best in the world, this is Casillas' chance to challenge Buffon for the established World's number 1 spot he has held since Khan vacated it

Good call!!!!!!

Gillie

Justice Done!

Delighted for Spain.
Here's hoping the Semi lives up to what it should be - a classic!

Really would like to see Spain win out now but wouldn't mind seeing the Russians do it either!

Pepe LeFrits

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I knew that too. Didn't he miss against Man United in the Champions League also? I predicted Guiza would miss as well. He was rubbish and shouldn't have replaced Torres.

I think you can tell a lot from a player's expression before they take their kick. It was pretty obvious that De Rossi and Di Natale would miss, although I was surprised that Cazorla and Fabregas converted theirs – they both looked like they were absolutely bricking it.

Dave!

Yeah I was surprised Cazorla scored too...

eZe^

estebancambias wrote: »

Get that waster Silva out of the team. He seems to be one of those football manager players(even though he must be alright to be picked for the spanish team) but where the hell is Capel?

He regularly get panic attacks when away from Sevilla for long periods, quite like Navas actually, they are hoping it will go away in the future, because he looks some player... You're giving Silva a very hard time to be honest, Iniesta and Xavi were much worse yesterday, and so was Torres and Villa.. Silva looked the most dangerous of the front 6 imo... Cazorla offers basically nothing off the bench though, even Garcia would be better...


Senna has been the DMF of the tournament imo... Everyone doubted their DMF options, but to be fair, their actual defense hasn't been as terrible as everyone hoped it would be... They coped with Italian set pieces quite well yesterday...

vorbis

Before the match, I wanted Spain to go through. I'm still kind of glad they did it but I was very disappointed with them.

People are giving out about Italy but I thought Spain did f**k all with all the possession they had. I'm an Arsenal fan so I like the short passing game. But Spain had a pedestrian build up for most of the match. I also can't stand the pass the ball forward and then one touch it back to the original passer. Its just pretty timewasting. I'll be cheering the Russians next time out.

Bubs101

vorbis wrote: »

People are giving out about Italy but I thought Spain did f**k all with all the possession they had. I'm an Arsenal fan so I like the short passing game. But Spain had a pedestrian build up for most of the match. I also can't stand the pass the ball forward one

+1. For all the talk of Italy's negative football, they created better chances than Spain did. Spain were reduced to diving in the box and long shots. In fairness, Silva had a close one and Senna did force a blunder from Gigi but Cameronesi, Toni and Di Natale had the best chances