Italy v Australia

[diver]

Crap.

[goldorak]

Well, the Australians deserved to loose.
They had a numerical superiority on the field and were incapable of scoring a goal.
In a direct elimination match you have to attack, attack and attack with 80% of the players, moreso in the last minutes of the match.
All things that the socceroos obviously didn't do.
So Totti chastised them.
Now bring on switerzland or ucraine and then Brasil.

[Egan]

Forza Azzurri!

Sorry to see Australia go out but with superiority in numbers they should really have tried more. To be honest, when I saw Materazzi was down to play I thought Oz would have put their fastest players up there. Old Marco has little in the way of pace these days and thats the way to get him. All academic anyway, I guess, with him getting sent off.

Ah well, perhaps Totti can begin to get somewhere near his potential in a major championship.

Luca Toni - what a star. Always a great buy for me in 'Football Manager.'

[joea]

WTF? That was bloody poor sportsmanship by the Italians.

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by joea

WTF? That was bloody poor sportsmanship by the Italians.

No, the Australians have only themselves to blame.
Its not Italy's fault that the socceroos lack tactical finess.

[Skybird]

I had to work all day today and had not opportunity to watch this game. Only customers occaisonally told me the Aussies really set up a fight and the Italiansin first half were standing with their backs at the wall..!?

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I had to work all day today and had not opportunity to watch this game. Only customers occaisonally told me the Aussies really set up a fight and the Italiansin first half were standing with their backs at the wall..!?

Yep, sort of.
The Aussies were pressing a lot, but that was to be expected.
Unfortunately for them, they don't have players that can score goals even when they were in numerical superiority.

[Frenssen]

The Italians showed some cunning tactics. When they were down to 10 men they let Australia have possession and they had control in defence (mostly). Then in added time, just when the Australians were mentally prepared for extra time Italy attacked with tempo and many players and caught the Aussies totally off guard. And when Grosso got the chance to get am IMO legitimate penalty he took it. 99% of the players in the WC would go for a penalty in that situation.

[mog]

Italy were unlucky not to score in the first half, but the bottom line is that the game was settled by a soft penalty which Italy did nothing to earn. This just goes to show how it is the referees that determine the outcome of games far more than the efforts of the players. Soccer at this level is fundamentally flawed.

[diver]

Anybody who does this...
doesnt deserve to win
Look, he gets his leg down perfectly, and the other one clears the defender, then he throws them in the air to play hurt. That's equal to cheating, just like you Italians do in Serie-A, last night was not a victory for you, it was another disgrace that Italy have chalked up for world football.

[retired1212]

Originally Posted by diver

Look, he gets his leg down perfectly, and the other one clears the defender, then he throws them in the air to play hurt. That's equal to cheating, just like you Italians do in Serie-A, last night was not a victory for you, it was another disgrace that Italy have chalked up for world football.

He took the advantage of a mistake, situation and moment at the right time.

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by mog

Italy were unlucky not to score in the first half, but the bottom line is that the game was settled by a soft penalty which Italy did nothing to earn. This just goes to show how it is the referees that determine the outcome of games far more than the efforts of the players. Soccer at this level is fundamentally flawed.

You got to be kidding.
During the second half it is true that australia had much more ball possession, numerical superiority but they did nothing, absolutelty nothing to take advantage of that.
The italians even in 10 attacked something like 10 times against the 2 times of australia.
From a purely agonistic point of view Italy deserved to win hands down.
Now as to regard to the penalty kick, this is were world wide experience comes in.
The italian player didn't simulate the fall in the small area.
If he did he would have gotten the red card directly. However he took advantage of a defensor's mistake (something any world class forward would have taken advantage of) and this my friends is were you distinguish world class players from "newbies" such as the socceroos.
You may not like it, but thats how it is.

[diver]

Originally Posted by Oombongo

He took the advantage of a mistake, situation and moment at the right time.

So cheating at the right moment is okay?

[mog]

Originally Posted by goldorak

The italian player didn't simulate the fall in the small area.
If he did he would have gotten the red card directly. However he took advantage of a defensor's mistake (something any world class forward would have taken advantage of) and this my friends is were you distinguish world class players from "newbies" such as the socceroos.

No, it's how you distinguish good sportsmanship from shameful misconduct. It is indeed unfortunate that taking dives is so widespread in soccer that you would call it 'world class' instead of cheating.

You may not like it, but thats how it is.

You are right, that's how it is. That is why I said the game is fundamentally flawed compared other codes of football.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by goldorak

In a direct elimination match you have to attack, attack and attack with 80% of the players.

As the Italians did.
They won because of the referee. It was aclear swalbe.