meazza Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 why would you not think he'd ever do that?? There's no way in hell Italy wanted to go to PKs....only made sense to try to prevent that from happening, and they did just that. 718372[/snapback] This is more a psychological thing than anything. Like I said, Italian soccer is very conservative. If this was 2002, he'd have loaded the field with defenders. PK is random. Putting on Del Piero, he had 3 solid PK takers. Pirlo/Totti/Del Piero rarely miss. I don't think Lippi expected the goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Congrats meazza.....I heard you yell all the way here in WV when that first goal was scored... That was a brilliant shot and no goalie in the world would have saved it. I hope France smashes Portugal...I am listening to XM radio now and they are blasting the tactics used by Portugal...... And today I was glad to see good refereeing.... 718374[/snapback] I think France is a tougher opponent that Portugal. France has the ultimate gamebreaker in Zidane. Hopefully Nesta will be fit to play. Materazzi looked shaky at times. Zambrotta utterly dominated Lahm today. Klose, Ballack were invisible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardy Pyle Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Congratulations Italian fans...that was a performance to be proud of. And wonderful defensive football when it was called for and great football up front. I've become a big fan of Pirlo who I didn't watch alot prior to the world cup. But heard good things about him at AC Milan. Italian football is wonderful when the team comes to play. Just wish we'd see it more often. And I can whip out my Del Piero jersey I bought years back when in Napoli. Nice to see the old stars still have the finishing touch on the old legs. Tough to know who to cheer for in the Final....the performance of the Italians may just get me to cheer for them a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Tough to know who to cheer for in the Final....the performance of the Italians may just get me to cheer for them a bit! 718412[/snapback] It really is....I'm just hoping for a great match tomorrow, and then I'll probably be cheering for the winner of that match against the Italians.....just cause it wouldn't be as much fun if Meazza and I were rooting for the same side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Congratulations Italian fans...that was a performance to be proud of. And wonderful defensive football when it was called for and great football up front. I've become a big fan of Pirlo who I didn't watch alot prior to the world cup. But heard good things about him at AC Milan. Italian football is wonderful when the team comes to play. Just wish we'd see it more often. And I can whip out my Del Piero jersey I bought years back when in Napoli. Nice to see the old stars still have the finishing touch on the old legs. Tough to know who to cheer for in the Final....the performance of the Italians may just get me to cheer for them a bit! 718412[/snapback] The players of 2002-2004 were actually better than they are now. It's not the players , it's the coach. Trappatoni is light years behind Lippi. Today he showed that he wasn't afraid to attack. I never thought this would happen and I'm still in some form of shock. I was sure that I was going to be down for the rest of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Player of the tournament is decided before the final. I'd say Cannavaro has been the best and most consistent player of this tournament. Barring a monster game by Zidane tomorrow, this should go to the Azzurri captain. Forza Italia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britbillsfan Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 The players of 2002-2004 were actually better than they are now. It's not the players , it's the coach. Trappatoni is light years behind Lippi. Today he showed that he wasn't afraid to attack. I never thought this would happen and I'm still in some form of shock. I was sure that I was going to be down for the rest of the day. 718416[/snapback] Told you my team was worse than your team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Only problem is that I never got any that were filled with fruit. I always just assumed that they were just supposed to have the powdered sugar and that was it. Well I worked with this off-the-boat Polish chick a few months ago and we started talking about it....she told me about the fruit too, and I didn't know why hers had it and mine didn't. I talked to my grandmother and asked her why the chick's paczki's had the fruit, and she told me it's cause my family couldn't afford both the fruit and the sugar....they had to pick one or the other, so they went with the sugar, lol. So, to this day, I've yet to actually have one with the fruit 718071[/snapback] I think the Dutch have something similar to the non-fruit version. It's called 'ollie bollen' (not enirely sure of the spelling --- that's just how it was pronounced by my grandparents when they used to make it over the stove). There's a mix of batter, to which they usually put in some raisins and it's rolled up in about meatball-sized balls and fried in oil. I think it probably does call for powdered sugar, but my grandmother has diabetes, so that means no one else can have sugar in their house either. I'll have to get that recipie. That was always a special day when they made those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 The players of 2002-2004 were actually better than they are now. It's not the players , it's the coach. Trappatoni is light years behind Lippi. Today he showed that he wasn't afraid to attack. I never thought this would happen and I'm still in some form of shock. I was sure that I was going to be down for the rest of the day. 718416[/snapback] Demonstrates how poor Sven Goran-Eriksson was for England and how his tactics, vision and management of England essentially let them down. Lippi has done extremely well to bring on a very average Italy team and help the over achieve so far. Anyway - I am done with the world cup. A few days space has only reconfirmed by view that the Portugese were cheasting a$$holes, and that the Argentine referee had it in for England. We weren't good - and that's Sven's fault for poor squad selection and tactics - but how can anyone perform against cheaters and biased referees? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicot Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Demonstrates how poor Sven Goran-Eriksson was for England and how his tactics, vision and management of England essentially let them down. Lippi has done extremely well to bring on a very average Italy team and help the over achieve so far. Anyway - I am done with the world cup. A few days space has only reconfirmed by view that the Portugese were cheasting a$$holes, and that the Argentine referee had it in for England. We weren't good - and that's Sven's fault for poor squad selection and tactics - but how can anyone perform against cheaters and biased referees? 718434[/snapback] If England has scored any of the numerous good chances they had in that game then there would have been no need for sour grapes about cheaters and biased referees. Stamping on someone's crotch is a straight red offence. Maybe Rooney didn't mean it, as he claims, but given his history of indiscipline I wouldn't be suprised if he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 What a genius this coach. What a mother!@#$ing genius. 718354[/snapback] Yeah, it takes a real mother!@#$ing genius of a coach to teach his team to dive like Greg Louganis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewPort71 Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 I think France is a tougher opponent that Portugal. France has the ultimate gamebreaker in Zidane. Hopefully Nesta will be fit to play. Materazzi looked shaky at times. Zambrotta utterly dominated Lahm today. Klose, Ballack were invisible. 718402[/snapback] Frings's suspension hurt the German team far more than they will acknowledge...His absense caused Ballack and Klose to be invisible...< along with the tremendous defense of the Azzurri.... I too concur that France would be a stronger opponent...As I watch the Portugese play all I can think is that Greg Louganis must be a national hero....that and the 'crybaby' attitude of the Portugese makes me say "viva la Bleu..." (AT least for today)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 If England has scored any of the numerous good chances they had in that game then there would have been no need for sour grapes about cheaters and biased referees. Stamping on someone's crotch is a straight red offence. Maybe Rooney didn't mean it, as he claims, but given his history of indiscipline I wouldn't be suprised if he did. 718436[/snapback] he was not sent off for the accidental 'stamp'. He was sent off for the push because Ronaldo sprinted accross the field to get in the refs face about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 allez le Bleu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicot Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 he was not sent off for the accidental 'stamp'. He was sent off for the push because Ronaldo sprinted accross the field to get in the refs face about it. 718479[/snapback] Nope. The ref told Eriksson that he was sent off for the stamp. He also said that Ronaldo's actions had nothing to do with it. "I then went to the referee's room for a private chat and, when I asked him whether it was a red card, he was 100% sure. I asked him where the player [Carvalho] had been hit and the referee pointed exactly where. So, no complaints. I have seen it on television and I couldn't complain about it." Eriksson's statement In any event, there's no guarantee that England would have avoided penalties even had Rooney not got sent off. They hadn't managed to score against Portugal with 11 men, even though Portugal had 2 of their best players missing. The plain fact of the matter is that England were not good enough. They were overhyped from the very beginning. Best group of players for 40 years? Hardly. Look at the way they qualified - they narrowly won their qualifying group ahead of a dismal Polish team. The media built them up into world beaters when the reality was somewhat different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Nope. The ref told Eriksson that he was sent off for the stamp. He also said that Ronaldo's actions had nothing to do with it. "I then went to the referee's room for a private chat and, when I asked him whether it was a red card, he was 100% sure. I asked him where the player [Carvalho] had been hit and the referee pointed exactly where. So, no complaints. I have seen it on television and I couldn't complain about it." Eriksson's statement In any event, there's no guarantee that England would have avoided penalties even had Rooney not got sent off. They hadn't managed to score against Portugal with 11 men, even though Portugal had 2 of their best players missing. The plain fact of the matter is that England were not good enough. They were overhyped from the very beginning. Best group of players for 40 years? Hardly. Look at the way they qualified - they narrowly won their qualifying group ahead of a dismal Polish team. The media built them up into world beaters when the reality was somewhat different. 718489[/snapback] no argument on the second point. and that's down to Sven and his poor tactics. the ref might have said he sent Rooney off for the stamp - but it was clear to me and the rest of england that the ref was giving a free kick for the challenge on carvalho until rooney pushed ronaldo. so despite what the ref and sven said, there is little doubt in england that he was covering his butt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Yeah, it takes a real mother!@#$ing genius of a coach to teach his team to dive like Greg Louganis. 718438[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicot Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 no argument on the second point. and that's down to Sven and his poor tactics. the ref might have said he sent Rooney off for the stamp - but it was clear to me and the rest of england that the ref was giving a free kick for the challenge on carvalho until rooney pushed ronaldo. so despite what the ref and sven said, there is little doubt in england that he was covering his butt. 718512[/snapback] Heh I live in Liverpool (Gerrard for captain!). I'm just not that fanatical an England fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Demonstrates how poor Sven Goran-Eriksson was for England and how his tactics, vision and management of England essentially let them down. Lippi has done extremely well to bring on a very average Italy team and help the over achieve so far. 718434[/snapback] I wouldn't say average. Italy's national team is the most expensive roster in the WC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 I wouldn't say average. Italy's national team is the most expensive roster in the WC. 718541[/snapback] In other words, you wouldn't say "average". You'd say "average and overpriced". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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