Euro 2008

[sanblaster]

Originally Posted by stimpee

Of course, Spain have never beaten Italy in a competition match, unless you count a 1-0 win in the 1920 Olympics.

*ejem*Sidney2000*ejem*



:P

[big screen satellite]

italy will not reach the final

not sure who will - Germany are marching on though, so i reckon they will face the Dutch in the Final... unless Turkey are this years Greece - which would be funny

[matt]

Originally Posted by big screen satellite

italy will not reach the final

what makes you say that?

apart from the romania game they've played pretty well so far - they were impressive against france and should really have been 3 goals up before the penalty was awarded.

and the 3 nil scoreline was a bit harsh in the dutch game as they hit the woodwork a few times and were hit by 2 (admittedly brilliant) counter attack goals after they'd almost scored themselves. so on another day that game could have had a totally different outcome.

i'd love to see spain progress personally as a spain-holland semi final would be a mouth watering prospect of attacking football. however, as sweden showed, spain don't operate as effectively against teams that close them down in midfield and, a la portugal, their defence can sometimes be a little bit suspect, especially at set pieces

should be an interesting few days...

[big screen satellite]

Originally Posted by matt

what makes you say that?

apart from the romania game they've played pretty well so far - they were impressive against france and should really have been 3 goals up before the penalty was awarded.

and the 3 nil scoreline was a bit harsh in the dutch game as they hit the woodwork a few times and were hit by 2 (admittedly brilliant) counter attack goals after they'd almost scored themselves. so on another day that game could have had a totally different outcome.

well i think they have flattered and faltered, i think they should have lost the Romania game - they were lucky, and the Dutch were awesome and Italy's defence was the reason they lost the two dutch goals, Spain are free scoring and free flowing so i reckon they will get totally outclassed...

just my opinion, but i really don't think that they have played well at all... and they beat a very weak, poor french side that had only 10 men...

they probably will get through as teams that scrape the groups often do, like the bloody Germans... but i'd like to see a team that has played well and won three games get to the final, like Holland or Spain - so i'm hoping that this year the trend of a shity lucky team doesn't do so well, and a team that plays well actually wins the tournament....

[Winston]

Doei, Holland doei!!

[m.g.]

Russians were really impressive yesterday... I have no idea if Spain or Italy will win (even if I'd bet on Italy...), but I'd say it'll be a Germany - Russia final & Russia wins...

[matt]

¡Viva España!

[matt]

justice actually prevailed for once and the team that was actually trying to win the game during the 90 minutes progress to what looks like a mouth watering semi-final against russia...

[cured]

I'm not sure if Italy had much choice to play other than they played (no Cannavaro, Gattuso, Pirlo)...they still produced a few good chances and (for most of the match) kept Spain from the interior of the box. Granted, a penalty could have been called on them in the first half but they really frustrated Spain into taking shots from 30+ yards away.

The match against Russia should be really, really good. Russia's defense has been pretty solid and they have a couple of playmakers who should provide Spanish fans with plenty of heart attack-inducing moments. It'll be interesting to see if Spain can crack the Russian defense and really open up the game.

[sanblaster]

w00T!!!!!!!!!


*opens la gazzeta dello sport*