John Simkin Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Italy still have a great defence (based around Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro) but will they score enough goals. England has problems with the fitness of Michael Owen. Italy has a similar problem with Francesco Totti. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesca Akhtar Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Italy still have a great defence (based around Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro) but will they score enough goals. England has problems with the fitness of Michael Owen. Italy has a similar problem with Francesco Totti. I will be supporting Italy in the world cup - hope that this time they can do it. On eof th emain problems for mewith them in the past is that they don't score enough goals. Of course they are renowned for their defence but it has annoyed me in past performances that they will score one goal and often 'sit on it' thinking that will be enough to get through and haven't attacked enough. Korea 2002 being a prime example. I was disappointed with Totti in Euro 2004 he has never seemed to perform as well at a national level as he does in Serie A. Del Piero also hasn't performed that well imo in the last world and european cup. I think his age is starting to show now compared to the younger players. I will be very interested to see the new members of the squad It is a quite different squad than last time with many new names. Hopefully players such as Luca Toni, the top scorer in Serie A (of Fiorentina) and Albert Gilardino,(of AC Milan) will make an impact and score some goals. I'm also looking forward to seeing Cristian Zaccardo play. Although a defender, he has proved a good scorer too. Be interesting also to see how Lippi manages the team as opposed to Trappatoni who I had great hopes for, leading the national team but he greatly disappointed me in Euro 2004. Think he picked the wrong players. I just hope that Italy win the group. If they come second they could end up playing the sworn enemy Brazil which usually ends badly for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted June 18, 2006 Author Share Posted June 18, 2006 Surely the most controversial match of the tournament to date.Chances galore, three players ordered from the field, several others departing on a stretcher, the bench threadbare, an amazing display of histrionics by US coach Bruce Arena and an incredible goalkeeping performance by US 'keeper Kasey Keller. Who said soccer was boring? Once again a contender for the title has found it difficult to score against an average side who get a lot of men behind the ball. So far only Argentina and Spain have successfully dealt with this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 The Italy v Germany match last night was an excellent advert for European football. Both teams made a real attempt to play attacking football and I thought it was played in a very good spirit. Italy deserved their victory and Germany can take considerable pride in their performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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