It could have been a great game. No, scratch that. It SHOULD have been a great game ! The current world champions against their runner-up.

Italy against France.

On the field, some of the greatest players of all time…

But in the end, the game was one of the worst of the tournament.

If Italy deserved the victory they got, based on the games they played, they did not deserve to advance to the quarterfinals all that much.

On the other hand, France lost everything and it is totally coherent if you look at the game they played during their week in Switzerland.

How much fans regret the Italian and French teams from 1998-2000. They faced each other in France for the 1998 World Cup and in the Netherlands during the 2000 European championship. And both games were far better than what we got to watch this time.
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Written by Angela Assante

At last, Spain has won victory over Italy!

They had never beaten the Azzuris since 1920 but on Sunday, they defeated them in style.

June 22nd is said to be cursed for the Spanish who have never won on that date, and breaking this fate required as much strength as wonders.

Unbreakable doors

90 minutes of football meant 90 minutes of beauty and emotion. Spain had the better of the game: their power lied in their possession and their tactical display. Ramos and Puyol were fabulous at the back along side keeper I. Casillas, Silva and Senna were dynamic in midfield while Villa’s pace and tricks helped Spain attack from every angle.

The Spanish could have broken the deadlock but Buffon was sharp and striker Fernando Torres was well contained by the Italian defence.

At the other end of the pitch, Italy’s number 9 Luca Toni suffered another miserable night.

For the third time in a row in the Euro 2008 quarterfinals, extra time was needed to separate the two sides; still, the doors of both goalkeepers’ post were closed.
Spain had a clear appeal on penalty early in the first half of extra time but the German referee denied them; Luis Aragones was furious while Italian fans felt redeemed.

The Spanish team showed signs of fatigue in the late stages of the 30 minutes and substituted D. Guiza who struggled to deal with the ball upfront. Italy tried to capitalize on these weaknesses as they then controlled the game but Casillas was too good to disappoint the Spanish supporters.

As time was running out, Spain’s hunger for snatching a very last minute victory growed bigger.

In the remaining seconds of the 120 minutes, they launched the last attack of the game but Santi’s effort was between a shot on goal and a pass and Villa could not reach the ball.

The heroic leader

The moment of penalty shootout saw the two captains – Buffon and Casillas – clash in a fierce duel.

The Italian keeper had previously saved a penalty in the group stage, which prevented his team from an early exit.

So could he save this other time?

Unfortunately for the World Cup Champions, the answer is no.

Real Madrid veteran I. Casillas spectacularly punched away Italy’s second spot kick, which put the Azzuris under pressure as Spain had converted two out of two at that stage.

Buffon tried his luck and rekindled his team’s chances of carrying the day when he saved Daniel Guiza’s low strike.

Stress reached its climax for both sides and Spain was suddenly in an uncomfortable position.

But Casillas again came to the rescue as he brilliantly put away another penalty kick – meaning that the Spanish were one kick away from reaching their first semifinals of a major tournament in 24 years.

Young player Fabregas had the opportunity to score his first ever penalty in professional football and he scored indeed

Italians are out and perhaps they will explain their loss by the fact that big players like Gattuso and Pirlo were suspended.

As for Spain, they will meet Russia in the semis and it promises to be a game of class as Russia will seek for revenge.

written by Angela Asante

by Hasan Saiyid

Eighty-eight years and Luis Enrique have been the two main themes of nearly all previews of the potentially scintillating quarterfinal between Italy and Spain. Commentators have not been remiss in pointing out that Spanish heartache extends back to 1920, the last time they beat Italy in an official game and 1994, the last time they were beaten by Italy in an official game.

The latter memory is what continues to rankle the Spanish. The World Cup 1994 quarterfinal has now been etched into Spanish football’s consciousness for the typical injustice that seems to perpetually hold Spanish football back. Then, it was Mauro Tassotti’s elbow that disfigured Luis Enrique’s face, an offence that the referee did not see and one that deserved a red card and a penalty.

The Spanish firmly believe that that one instance defines what is wrong with Italian football: it is grossly cynical. Yet, the Spanish also have a grudging admiration for calcio, something they will only admit quietly or rarely. I still remember the graciousness of Ivan Helguera, then of Real Madrid, in saying that “Italy have won three World Cups, while Spain…well you know.” Helguera was speaking before the titanic tussle between Juventus and Real Madrid in the semi-final of the 2003 Champions League. The Spanish media had built that game up as a quintessential encounter between the forces of light versus the forces of darkness. Helguera had no problem in admitting that Italian football was more successful than the Spanish brand, and it had nothing to with representing evil, and everything to do with the ability of knuckling down and getting a result.

Few are as kind as Helguera, however. Picking up a Spanish sports daily these days must feel like handling a high-strung kitten. All the headlines have been roaring (meowing, if you are not Spanish) their team on to vanquish their age-old nemesis, but this bravado will barely register on Italian minds. Italy know how to negotiate the business end of tournaments perhaps better than any country in the world, and as Germany, Turkey, and Russia have proven in the last few days, the groups stage is no reliable indicator of success down the road.

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By Hasan Saiyid
Euro2008TV.com

Go ahead, write Italy off yet again.  Around the last game of the group stage of every major international tournament, Italy find themselves in a familiar position: do-or-die, with ruthless journalists (foreign and Italian) waiting to sound the Azzurri death knell.  Then, somehow, the Italians wriggle their way through, serving crow for the skeptics.

It seems Italy’s World Cup win of two years ago has done nothing to change the common perception that Italian football is an anachronism in a time that proffers the majestic Dutch and Spanish teams.  After all, which neutral would not be seduced watching the two? Even the normally prudent TSN commentator and former West Ham goalkeeper Craig Forrest could not resist being caught up in the Holland-France post-game euphoria. “That is the way football should be played,” he opined.

Maybe it is. I certainly cannot begrudge those who relish football for different reasons. Yet it is at the business end of tournaments that teams should really be weighed in the balance.  How many times have we been witness to false Spanish dawns? And cast your mind back to Euro2000. Did not the Dutch mesmerize then too, crushing Yugoslavia 6-1 only to then be outfought by, yes, Italy in the semi-finals?  Admittedly, there is something special about this Dutch side as their trouncing of Italy and France has shown, but it is early days yet.  And as Italian teams in the past have shown, peaking at the right time is key to winning international tournaments.

The reaction to Italy’s progress yesterday has been ambivalent. Their fans could not be happier, but the neutrals are cringing at another prospect of Italy going all the way.  Reverting to anachronistic stereotypes themselves, they apparently cannot bear the thought of dour, defensive Italy notching up a cynical win against the Spanish.  If there was evidence for their aversion, you could be more forgiving.  But the truth is Italy in the post-Trapattoni era have been a very attractive side to watch. They have enterprising fullbacks in Fabio Grosso and Gianluca Zambrotta, and in Andrea Pirlo an elegant playmaker. However, their most crucial player may well be the dynamic Daniele De Rossi. He is certainly one of the most complete midfielders in circulation, and proved it yesterday, as he scored and dictated midfield play in Italy’s 2-0 defeat of France. Further up the park, Antonio Cassano and Alessandro Del Piero are quintessential creative players while Luca Toni, though still yet to find his feet in this tournament, is a handful for defences.

Even allowing for Dutch largesse in beating Romania 2-0 in a game that meant absolutely nothing to them, Italy certainly deserve to be facing Spain in the quarterfinals. Predictably, pundits have started reaching for neat little clichés to describe the encounter.  It will be the “free-flowing” Spaniards versus the “hard-nosed” Italians, writes BBC writer Phil McNulty.

I do not buy the style and substance dichotomy. It is too easy.  Football is about finer details and, for my money, about results. I would much rather Italy progress cynically than exit the stage theatrically.

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by Hasan Saiyid - Euro2008TV.com

So here Italy are, then, in a very familiar predicament. After all, it would be very un-Italian to smoothly sail into the next round. Even Italy’s World Cup win of two years ago was turbulent, if not on the pitch then off it. Then it was the match-fixing scandal that rendered Marcello Lippi’s team talks unnecessary; all the Italians had to do was to read any newspaper to get a profound sense of “we are in this together against all that doubt and disparage us”.

Now, as reigning World Champions and with an attendant expectation to sweep all before them, the Italians find themselves in a familiar situation. The Italian press and public have been scathing after their beloved Azzurri folded in staggering fashion against the Dutch. Against Romania, to make all that right, Italy need to win emphatically.

Coach Roberto Donadoni has admitted that he will give Alessandro Del Piero and Giorgio Chiellini space in the starting line-up, meaning at the very least the calamitous Marco Materazzi will sit the encounter out. Donadoni has also hinted that Del Piero may get a more central role, meaning that Italy may switch from a 4-3-3 to a 4-3-2-1. Del Piero will also start as captain since his eighty-seven caps mean that he is now the most senior player in the squad.

The key for Italy in this game will be to move the ball around quickly. The Netherlands never let them settle, and Romania, who stifled France, will try to do much the same. If Italy can combine the guile of Del Piero with the brute strength of Luca Toni, then Italy should prevail.

What they are saying

Roberto Donadoni: “Romania are a well organized and close-knit unit, but we will have 90 minutes to score. We must be patient and control our opponents and try to find the energy because we will have lots of running to do.”

Del Piero: “There was the chance that I wouldn’t play and instead I am starting as captain, but I’m not thinking about proving a point,” the Juve star continued.I am keeping a clear mind and I will try and play as I did in the League. I want to be in the right place at the right time to do the right thing.”

Giorgio Chiellini: “I’m happy because that’s what I’m here for – I was hoping to play. This is a great chance for me and I have to take full advantage of it. I can’t wait to get on the pitch.”

Written by Hasan Saiyid
Euro2008TV.com Writer

Coach Roberto Donadoni’s disposition on the bench said it all.  When the Netherlands came ever so close to scoring yet another goal against Italy in the second half, the coach could not even muster up the energy to stand up and chide his pathetically under-performing team.  It is perhaps the worst moment in football when a coach, even one as taciturn as Donadoni, has an air of resigned acceptance.  Perhaps Marcello Lippi would have never sat back even at 3-0; but then again his Italy perhaps would have never collapsed so dramatically.

As Italian fans struggle to come to grips with what can only be described as a drubbing by the Dutch, there seems to be no real explanation close by.  The apologists, though not in good number currently, say that the first goal was blatantly offside and set the tone for Italy’s miserable night.  But even they cannot take refuge in the fact that the goal may have been onside (admittedly through a very obscure interpretation) and that Italy were second best on the night.  Indeed, at times it felt that their support was second best also as a wave of orange belted out tired, but justified, song after song.

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The president of the Austrian Referee Group says Van Nistelrooij’s goal is valid.

Gerhard Kapl, the president of the Austrian Referee Commission assured this monday that the first Dutch goal in the Holland vs Italy game was valid.

Referee Gerhard Kapl explains after the match that the offside positioning of RVN was cancelled due to the presence of the injured Panucci behind the Italian net which occured during the play of action.

“The swedish refereree’s decision is 100 % correct” says Kapl. The director cited clause 11.4.1 of the rules of the refereee, which stipulates that an oponnent player can’t be offside when when of the last 2 defense leaves the pitch which occured with Panucci when he clashed with Buffon and rolled off the field.

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The first upset of the tournament occured today when an innefective and deflated Italian side were battered by the highly energetic, tactical Netherlands. Italy’s missed a few chances which may have turned the fate of the game around, but lady luck was definitely shining on the Dutch. Holland destroyed Italy 3-0 over teh 90 minutes, but it was during a 5 minute period in the 1st half which brought them the victory. Italian keeper Buffon also made some terrific saves and Italy did have their chances, but today it was all orange.

Holland are in pole position to qualify after France’s impotent draw with Romania, but World Cup holders Italy - even in defeat - suggested they can still go through from this tough group.