Italy can sneak it. Just look at the Spanish shaking already

[Guv007]

Both countries are the same and are welcomed to kick the $#% out of each other.

[Globero]

When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.

Dude, first of all Barca could'nt have gotten a pk since the foul was NOT in the penalty box .

Secondly, unless Elexus means FIFA in your native language, why oppose the ref for following the rules of the game ? Besides, the foul prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity regardless of whether it was egregious or not !

[omey2k4]

no wonder they always lose out at this stage. how can u be scared of ur opponents? these guys have already lost even without kicking the ball. it will be a monumental upset if Spain gets past Italy on saturday.

When you have not beaten an opponent for nearly 90 years, why wouldn't you be scared? Now they have got Torres and Villa spearheading the attack. If Spain cannot do it this time, then it may take another 100 years to do it.
Italy had used every trick in the book to qualify. They claimed the referees had ganged up against them, cleverly and conveniently ignoring the fact that a Spanish referee gave them a penalty in the very last kick of extra time at the world cup in Germany to overcome an impressive Australia. Italy were on their way home against Australia especially as they were reduced to ten men.
Yesterday, the referee awarded a penalty against the French and at the same time expelled Abidal. I thought the penalty was justified but not the expulsion. When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.
HOw is it that Italy are almost always awarded a penalty in a crucial match? Italy were awared a penalty when reduced to ten men against Nigeria, awarded a penalty when reduced to ten men against Australia, awarded a penalty against Germany in Euro 1996 while facing elimination.
It may all be mere coincidences, but Italy should be the last to complain about referees.

JESUS CHRIST ON NAZARETH!!!! NO BE LIE OH,ITALY DEY ALWAYS GET PK'S

[omey2k4]

When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.

Dude, first of all Barca could'nt have gotten a pk since the foul was NOT in the penalty box .

Secondly, unless Elexus means FIFA in your native language, why oppose the ref for following the rules of the game ? Besides, the foul prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity regardless of whether it was egregious or not !

tHIRDLY aSSENAL 4 LIFE u FORGOT TO ADD THAT EWU

[Globero]

When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.

Dude, first of all Barca could'nt have gotten a pk since the foul was NOT in the penalty box .

Secondly, unless Elexus means FIFA in your native language, why oppose the ref for following the rules of the game ? Besides, the foul prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity regardless of whether it was egregious or not !

tHIRDLY aSSENAL 4 LIFE u FORGOT TO ADD THAT EWU

Sorry, Omey, did'nt mean to dissapoint u !

.... Arsenal for life !

[felarey]

When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.

Dude, first of all Barca could'nt have gotten a pk since the foul was NOT in the penalty box .

Secondly, unless Elexus means FIFA in your native language, why oppose the ref for following the rules of the game ? Besides, the foul prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity regardless of whether it was egregious or not !

Who asked you? I'm with Elexus on this one, the ref would have been a bigger man if he allowed Abidal to stay on the pitch. Poor Abidal.
As per the topic, if Spain play their game the way they've been playing, they should be able to beat Italy. The italians can break under a fast paced, passing game. They even struggled against a very determined Scottish side playing with heart.

[Globero]

When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.

Dude, first of all Barca could'nt have gotten a pk since the foul was NOT in the penalty box .

Secondly, unless Elexus means FIFA in your native language, why oppose the ref for following the rules of the game ? Besides, the foul prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity regardless of whether it was egregious or not !

Who asked you? I'm with Elexus on this one, the ref would have been a bigger man if he allowed Abidal to stay on the pitch. Poor Abidal.
As per the topic, if Spain play their game the way they've been playing, they should be able to beat Italy. The italians can break under a fast paced, passing game. They even struggled against a very determined Scottish side playing with heart.

who asked you to ask me "who asked you ? " ?

[felarey]

When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.

Dude, first of all Barca could'nt have gotten a pk since the foul was NOT in the penalty box .

Secondly, unless Elexus means FIFA in your native language, why oppose the ref for following the rules of the game ? Besides, the foul prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity regardless of whether it was egregious or not !

Who asked you? I'm with Elexus on this one, the ref would have been a bigger man if he allowed Abidal to stay on the pitch. Poor Abidal.
As per the topic, if Spain play their game the way they've been playing, they should be able to beat Italy. The italians can break under a fast paced, passing game. They even struggled against a very determined Scottish side playing with heart.

who asked you to ask me "who asked you ? " ?

Who asked you to ask me who asked me to ask you? But honestly at club level, I would have been with the ref all the way but the penalty should have been enough considering the occassion and what was at stake. He gave Italy an almost certain goal then assisted them for the rest of the game with a send off. He just threw the books at Abidal...actually he threw the library at him.

[Globero]

When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.

Dude, first of all Barca could'nt have gotten a pk since the foul was NOT in the penalty box .

Secondly, unless Elexus means FIFA in your native language, why oppose the ref for following the rules of the game ? Besides, the foul prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity regardless of whether it was egregious or not !

Who asked you? I'm with Elexus on this one, the ref would have been a bigger man if he allowed Abidal to stay on the pitch. Poor Abidal.
As per the topic, if Spain play their game the way they've been playing, they should be able to beat Italy. The italians can break under a fast paced, passing game. They even struggled against a very determined Scottish side playing with heart.

who asked you to ask me "who asked you ? " ?

Who asked you to ask me who asked me to ask you? But honestly at club level, I would have been with the ref all the way but the penalty should have been enough considering the occassion and what was at stake. He gave Italy an almost certain goal then assisted them for the rest of the game with a send off. He just threw the books at Abidal...actually he threw the library at him.

felarey, I actually do agree with you in one sense, but I also think Abidal deserved to be sent off because his tackle showed a sense of naivity as oppose to a simply mistimed tackle.

I think FIFA has to do more to give more lead way regarding the rule itself rather than us trying to blame the ref for imposing it !

[txj]

For those who are quick to write off the Azurri I say remember 1982 and how Italy barely scraped past Cameroon in the 1st Rd.

So far Italy is yet to play well, yet she has scored three goals, won and drawn one game...So far Luca Toni has not played well...Luca needs just one goal and it wil all change...

Forza Azurri!

[Waffiman]

For those who are quick to write off the Azurri I say remember 1982 and how Italy barely scraped past Cameroon in the 1st Rd.

So far Italy is yet to play well, yet she has scored three goals, won and drawn one game...So far Luca Toni has not played well...Luca needs just one goal and it wil all change...

Forza Azurri!

Therein lies my worries for Spain. If Toni finds his shooting boots, and sod's law might deem it time to do so in the Spain game, then Spain with their weak defence could be in serious trouble.

However, Spain have a lot going for them this time around. IMHO, they are not as weak as they once were mentally. They have Torres and Villa and Italy do not have Nesta and Cannavaro in CD.

[Cristao II]

I want to see Spain vs Portugal -Italy and Germany must fall!!

[Kabalega]

The problem with Spain is that they have no spine and stomach for a fight which is why Italy will punk them out again...

This may be true about previous Spanish teams, but not entirely correct about the current side. Puyol is prepared to go toe-to-toe with Tyson. Marcos Senna is around now to even the bruise count and El Nino Torres is no shrinking violet. That is the spine of the team - from defence through to attack.

What makes football great is that no one really knows how this one will pan out. On current form, the Spanish attack should be able to drive a trailer through an Italian defence that chopped 3 goals against Holland. But the pressure is on Spain and Italy can play with the freedom of a team that knows it was given a second lease of life.

The Spanish defense lacks mental stamina. They lose concentration at the end of games. This will be punished by decent teams.

[Kabalega]

no wonder they always lose out at this stage. how can u be scared of ur opponents? these guys have already lost even without kicking the ball. it will be a monumental upset if Spain gets past Italy on saturday.

When you have not beaten an opponent for nearly 90 years, why wouldn't you be scared? Now they have got Torres and Villa spearheading the attack. If Spain cannot do it this time, then it may take another 100 years to do it.
Italy had used every trick in the book to qualify. They claimed the referees had ganged up against them, cleverly and conveniently ignoring the fact that a Spanish referee gave them a penalty in the very last kick of extra time at the world cup in Germany to overcome an impressive Australia. Italy were on their way home against Australia especially as they were reduced to ten men.
Yesterday, the referee awarded a penalty against the French and at the same time expelled Abidal. I thought the penalty was justified but not the expulsion. When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.
HOw is it that Italy are almost always awarded a penalty in a crucial match? Italy were awared a penalty when reduced to ten men against Nigeria, awarded a penalty when reduced to ten men against Australia, awarded a penalty against Germany in Euro 1996 while facing elimination.
It may all be mere coincidences, but Italy should be the last to complain about referees.

How do you caution a player for a foul in the box and not give a penalty? In the IFAB rule book that was a penalty. The color of the card is left to the ref. to decide.

[phantomjournalist]

All this postulating, but the fact remains that the Spanish have a sh*t defense. Same old story, conceding very cheap goals time and time again.

[cchinukw]

When I think of Italy I remember Cameroon. A country know for ruggedness, no finesse yet always winning somehow somehow.

[quickie]

When Barcelona played against Arsenal in the final of the champions League, Lemans committed almost the same foul against Eto'o. Lemans was expelled but no penalty was given. Referees should not do both unless the infringement is egregious. They can award a penalty and allow the player to stay or expel a player and not give a penalty. Had Abidal played, I believe the French would have come back.

Dude, first of all Barca could'nt have gotten a pk since the foul was NOT in the penalty box .

The thing taya me o!

...and who be Lemans btw?

Q

[Scipio Africanus]

Italia are going home. This is the tournament of reversals. Holland had not beaten Italy since 1978, until this tournament. Russia had never beaten Sweden before, until this tournament.

[PapaK]

If I was Holland's coach, there's no way in hell I would give Italy a 2nd chance. They should have lost 0-1 to Romania and eliminate both Italy and France. What they have done by beating Italy 3-0 and then beating Romania 2-0 is like bruising a snake without beheading it. Whenever it recovers, it can become very dangerous.
Italy are known to be slow starters. I remember very well that at USA 94, Italy finished 3rd from their group (best losers - all of them in the group had 4 points each), they eliminated Nigeria in the 2nd round, Spain in q/final, Bulgaria in the semi and lost in the final on penalty shoot-out to Brazil. In 2000, when Holland hosted Euro 2000, they were beating everybody red, blue and orange until they met a not too fantastic Italy in the semi-final. Holland dominated from the first blast of whistle till the final minute. But all that didn't count because they just couldn't find a way to get one goal. They had a penalty in the first half, Toldo saved Frank de Boer's kick (by the way De Boer was usually very reliable from the spot). They had another penalty in the 2nd half, Kluivert beat Toldo but not the goal post. After extra time, they went to penalty shoot-out. Holland lost 3 of their kicks and Italy found themselves in the final. They faced world champions France and despite all of Zidane's brilliance and Italy's lacklustre performance Italy led 1-0 until 89 minute when Wiltord's shot miraculously missed sea of legs to cross over the line. It took a Trezeguet's over-time golden goal to deny Italy an unlikely trophy.
In short, watch out for Italy because they will eliminate Spain and then eliminate Portugal/Germany. They will surely play the final and I hope Holland wont come back to regret not eliminating them at the preliminary round

[Waffiman]

If I was Holland's coach, there's no way in hell I would give Italy a 2nd chance. They should have lost 0-1 to Romania and eliminate both Italy and France. What they have done by beating Italy 3-0 and then beating Romania 2-0 is like bruising a snake without beheading it. Whenever it recovers, it can become very dangerous.
Italy are known to be slow starters. I remember very well that at USA 94, Italy finished 3rd from their group (best losers - all of them in the group had 4 points each), they eliminated Nigeria in the 2nd round, Spain in q/final, Bulgaria in the semi and lost in the final on penalty shoot-out to Brazil. In 2000, when Holland hosted Euro 2000, they were beating everybody red, blue and orange until they met a not too fantastic Italy in the semi-final. Holland dominated from the first blast of whistle till the final minute. But all that didn't count because they just couldn't find a way to get one goal. They had a penalty in the first half, Toldo saved Frank de Boer's kick (by the way De Boer was usually very reliable from the spot). They had another penalty in the 2nd half, Kluivert beat Toldo but not the goal post. After extra time, they went to penalty shoot-out. Holland lost 3 of their kicks and Italy found themselves in the final. They faced world champions France and despite all of Zidane's brilliance and Italy's lacklustre performance Italy led 1-0 until 89 minute when Wiltord's shot miraculously missed sea of legs to cross over the line. It took a Trezeguet's over-time golden goal to deny Italy an unlikely trophy.
In short, watch out for Italy because they will eliminate Spain and then eliminate Portugal/Germany. They will surely play the final and I hope Holland wont come back to regret not eliminating them at the preliminary round

I hear you.

This is why the Spanish paper Marca said:

"The same old Italy; the Italy that never plays football but always wins. Champions of the world and champions of luck".

[cic old boy]

When I think of Italy I remember Cameroon. A country know for ruggedness, no finesse yet always winning somehow somehow.

Nna, I don't know about this o!

Cameroon are known as the "Germany of Africa". Finesse was invented in Italy, from classic cars like Ferrari, to the style of Armani, Gucci, etc, to elegance and style from a long line of classy players such as Gianni Rivera, Roberto Bettega, Giancarlo Antognoni, Bruno Conti, Gaetano Scirea, Antonio Cabrini, Robby Baggio, Gianfranco Zola, Paulo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Nesta, etc. Even the current team has solid ballers like Pirlo, Fabio Grosso, Zambrotta, etc.

Italians have always blended the finer points of the game with hardness.

[Ipe Grams]

When I think of Italy I remember Cameroon. A country know for ruggedness, no finesse yet always winning somehow somehow.

Nna, I don't know about this o!

Cameroon are known as the "Germany of Africa". Finesse was invented in Italy, from classic cars like Ferrari, to the style of Armani, Gucci, etc, to elegance and style from a long line of classy players such as Gianni Rivera, Roberto Bettega, Giancarlo Antognoni, Bruno Conti, Gaetano Scirea, Antonio Cabrini, Robby Baggio, Gianfranco Zola, Paulo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Nesta, etc. Even the current team has solid ballers like Pirlo, Fabio Grosso, Zambrotta, etc.

Italians have always blended the finer points of the game with hardness.

So time wasting, diving, feigning injuries and conning the ref is hardness?

[txj]

CIC,
Thank you bro...Folks come here and mouth off without enough knowledge of the subject...

There is a fine art to the concept of defense and the Italians have mastered it...This team may not be the classic Italian vintage of say 1982, but it has the potentials to redefine Italian football..All that is left is for Luca to find his range....

When I think of Italy I remember Cameroon. A country know for ruggedness, no finesse yet always winning somehow somehow.

Nna, I don't know about this o!

Cameroon are known as the "Germany of Africa". Finesse was invented in Italy, from classic cars like Ferrari, to the style of Armani, Gucci, etc, to elegance and style from a long line of classy players such as Gianni Rivera, Roberto Bettega, Giancarlo Antognoni, Bruno Conti, Gaetano Scirea, Antonio Cabrini, Robby Baggio, Gianfranco Zola, Paulo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Nesta, etc. Even the current team has solid ballers like Pirlo, Fabio Grosso, Zambrotta, etc.

Italians have always blended the finer points of the game with hardness.