Only one more spot to fill in the quarterfinals today, as Ivan and Sven battle it out for the right to get mauled by the Oranje juggernaut.
I can't tell you how upset I was yesterday watching everything fall into place for Italy. This team is just so lucky - but they are lucky every tournament, and I guess at some point I have to accept that teams make their own luck. Still, if not for Buffon making a silly save (sorry, bad grammar: looking silly while making a save - seriously Gianluigi, what are you wearing? a mock turtle jersey?), Italy would be out. And now I think they might get a rematch with the Dutch in the Semis.
The biggest losers in all of this are Spain, as P2010 has rightly pointed out. Does Spain have the steel and mental fortitude to play with Italy in a knockout game? What happens if there is a freak Italian goal early in the game - do you trust Spain to recover?
I think we all know the answers, even if we don't want to admit it. Besides, what has Spain really done this tournament? Outclassed a mediocre Russian side and snuck by a game Swedish side. They will probably thrash Greece today as well. So what? Spain still has it all to prove and they get a serious test in four days time.
Finally, a postmortem on Les Blues. France, you were terrible this tournament. Sure, you were without Vieira, and Ribbery went down early in your most important game, but this team never looked like it had a clue. Domenech has done nothing for this team. He panicked before the Italy game with his changes, and Abidal made him pay a high price.
1 point and 1 goal from the tournament is not good enough. Yes, maybe they were unlucky, but as I suggested earlier, teams often make their own luck. The French players were so anonymous against Italy, I can't even name half the team that played. I touched the ball almost as much as Toulalan yesterday, and more so than Govou (and poor Nasri, who might have the record for quickest and earliest sub for the sub). I truly expected better from this French team.
As we wrap up the group stages, let's try to keep everything in perspective. We have had some good games so far, from the class of Spain and style of the Dutch to the irrepressible spirit of the Turks, but the group stages are primarily for show. Now the real tournament starts...
I can't tell you how upset I was yesterday watching everything fall into place for Italy. This team is just so lucky - but they are lucky every tournament, and I guess at some point I have to accept that teams make their own luck. Still, if not for Buffon making a silly save (sorry, bad grammar: looking silly while making a save - seriously Gianluigi, what are you wearing? a mock turtle jersey?), Italy would be out. And now I think they might get a rematch with the Dutch in the Semis.
The biggest losers in all of this are Spain, as P2010 has rightly pointed out. Does Spain have the steel and mental fortitude to play with Italy in a knockout game? What happens if there is a freak Italian goal early in the game - do you trust Spain to recover?
I think we all know the answers, even if we don't want to admit it. Besides, what has Spain really done this tournament? Outclassed a mediocre Russian side and snuck by a game Swedish side. They will probably thrash Greece today as well. So what? Spain still has it all to prove and they get a serious test in four days time.
Finally, a postmortem on Les Blues. France, you were terrible this tournament. Sure, you were without Vieira, and Ribbery went down early in your most important game, but this team never looked like it had a clue. Domenech has done nothing for this team. He panicked before the Italy game with his changes, and Abidal made him pay a high price.
1 point and 1 goal from the tournament is not good enough. Yes, maybe they were unlucky, but as I suggested earlier, teams often make their own luck. The French players were so anonymous against Italy, I can't even name half the team that played. I touched the ball almost as much as Toulalan yesterday, and more so than Govou (and poor Nasri, who might have the record for quickest and earliest sub for the sub). I truly expected better from this French team.
As we wrap up the group stages, let's try to keep everything in perspective. We have had some good games so far, from the class of Spain and style of the Dutch to the irrepressible spirit of the Turks, but the group stages are primarily for show. Now the real tournament starts...
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