Round 16 and Beyond

[FaaipDeOiad]

What an absolute joke. Having penalties in the earlier matches might be a necessary evil, but for the final? France were the better side by a country mile, and had stars all over the field. Makelele, Zidane, Ribery, Henry etc all had wonderful games, and there's no way they deserved to lose, especially not in such a stupid manner.

On another note, Zidane's headbutt was pretty bad, and was certainly a red, but Materazzi's performance in going down like he'd been hit with a shotgun blast was pretty pathetic as well.

 

[adharcric]

Cut out the ****. Italy's second goal was wiped out on a botched offside call, so France shouldn't even have been in it. Oh, and that first penalty call for ZZ ... not such a certainty either. France outplayed Italy throughout the last 15 minutes and overtime because the latter were out of gas. No Henry, no Zidane, no Toni, no Totti, all sad ... but Italy deserved this baby.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Cut out the ****. Italy's second goal was wiped out on a botched offside call, so France shouldn't even have been in it. Oh, and that first penalty call for ZZ ... not such a certainty either. France outplayed Italy throughout the last 15 minutes and overtime because the latter were out of gas. No Henry, no Zidane, no Toni, no Totti, all sad ... but Italy deserved this baby.

The offside call was fine. The penalty wasn't a penalty, but there was another one later that was missed. As far as the last 15 minutes goes... well, I don't know what game you were watching. The first half was relatively even, but it was absolute dominance from there on by France, they just failed to convert it. In terms of general play and territorial advantage, it was no contest after half time.

Fair enough that you don't deserve to win if you can't score the winning goal, but you certainly don't deserve to lose on a toss of the coin.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Cut out the ****. Italy's second goal was wiped out on a botched offside call, so France shouldn't even have been in it. Oh, and that first penalty call for ZZ ... not such a certainty either. France outplayed Italy throughout the last 15 minutes and overtime because the latter were out of gas. No Henry, no Zidane, no Toni, no Totti, all sad ... but Italy deserved this baby.

Sorry, but all three Italian forwards were offside.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

On another note, Zidane's headbutt was pretty bad, and was certainly a red, but Materazzi's performance in going down like he'd been hit with a shotgun blast was pretty pathetic as well.

Huh?! Zidane had a run-up of a couple of yards and hit Materazzi right in the jaw. A boxer would have been sent down by that, let alone a footballer.

Anyway, France might have been better on the night, but Italy have been better over the course of the tournament. Perfectly worthy winners once Germany went out.

 

[Scaly piscine]

What an absolute joke. Having penalties in the earlier matches might be a necessary evil, but for the final? France were the better side by a country mile, and had stars all over the field. Makelele, Zidane, Ribery, Henry etc all had wonderful games, and there's no way they deserved to lose, especially not in such a stupid manner.

On another note, Zidane's headbutt was pretty bad, and was certainly a red, but Materazzi's performance in going down like he'd been hit with a shotgun blast was pretty pathetic as well.

Complete and utter sloblock. What did he do exactly? A few runs before passing the ball back to the keeper or getting a corner because his end product was nonexistent - the main factor when determining the performance of a forward. Didn't score, didn't do much with his chances, didn't set anyone up directly, went off because he'd have bottled a penalty anyway. For most of the game he made no runs whatsoever and just stood static between the two central defenders.

I can't say Ribery was that wonderful either and obviously ZZ got sent off.



Just to avoid having to say this later, I'm sure some dipstick will mention his header for the eventual penalty - but the header was just a standard flick on (that was too heavy, but going in the right general direction) which was only dangerous because the defender made a balls up (he was a good 3-4 yards ahead of attacker when the ball was knocked over him), shortly followed by the other defender making a balls up.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Man, WTF was Zidane thinking?! Everyone knows the bridge of the nose is the place for a butt...

In all seriousness, what a way to end a career. Silly, silly man.

The most average team to win a World Cup? I've seen average finalists before (Argentina in 90, Italy in 94, Germany in 2002) but never such average winners.

 

[adharcric]

Anyway, France might have been better on the night, but Italy have been better over the course of the tournament. Perfectly worthy winners once Germany went out.

Well said.

 

[Scaly piscine]

The offside call was fine. The penalty wasn't a penalty, but there was another one later that was missed. As far as the last 15 minutes goes... well, I don't know what game you were watching. The first half was relatively even, but it was absolute dominance from there on by France, they just failed to convert it. In terms of general play and territorial advantage, it was no contest after half time.

Fair enough that you don't deserve to win if you can't score the winning goal, but you certainly don't deserve to lose on a toss of the coin.

Err no, the referee got those right. Also Italy at least shaded the first half because they were so dangerous from set plays.

 

[steds]

Huh?! Zidane had a run-up of a couple of yards and hit Materazzi right in the jaw. A boxer would have been sent down by that, let alone a footballer.

His jaw!? Wasn't within half a foot of his jaw!

 

[BoyBrumby]

His jaw!? Wasn't within half a foot of his jaw!

Looked very much like his chest from where I sat.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

The most average team to win a World Cup? I've seen average finalists before (Argentina in 90, Italy in 94, Germany in 2002) but never such average winners.

Brazil '94 were pretty dire.

And Italy's back four + Gattuso wasn't exactly average, either. Won't argue about the strike force, but that doesn't win football games any more.

 

[adharcric]

The offside call was fine. The penalty wasn't a penalty, but there was another one later that was missed. As far as the last 15 minutes goes... well, I don't know what game you were watching. The first half was relatively even, but it was absolute dominance from there on by France, they just failed to convert it. In terms of general play and territorial advantage, it was no contest after half time.

Fair enough that you don't deserve to win if you can't score the winning goal, but you certainly don't deserve to lose on a toss of the coin.

France definitely had better control over the game as you say, but Italy produced the goods. For once the refs didn't fall for too many fake dives, just the first one where Zidane ended up with a score.

 

[steds]

Looked very much like his chest from where I sat.

Indeed.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Huh?! Zidane had a run-up of a couple of yards and hit Materazzi right in the jaw. A boxer would have been sent down by that, let alone a footballer.

We must have been watching different incidents. Zidane obviously attempted to headbutt him in the face, and that's a red card, but he missed by some distance. Not that you'd know it from the way Materazzi went down.

 

[adharcric]

The most average team to win a World Cup?

Buffon? The best keeper in the tourney. That backside with Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Gattuso, etcc.? Definitely better than average. Toni, Totti, Materazzi, Pirlo may not have the talent of a Henry or Ronaldinho, but they sure do get the job done. More like a very balanced team.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

We must have been watching different incidents. Zidane obviously attempted to headbutt him in the face, and that's a red card, but he missed by some distance. Not that you'd know it from the way Materazzi went down.

Saw it again now. It's not the jaw, but it hits the chest. Could have taken the breath out of him.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Brazil '94 were pretty dire.

And Italy's back four + Gattuso wasn't exactly average, either. Won't argue about the strike force, but that doesn't win football games any more.

The final was dire, but they beat a very decent Dutch team in the Quarters in a great game of football.

Italy's back four has been great, but they're a very uninspiring team. Adjectives that come to mind are "well organised", "solid" & "defensively sound".

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

The most average team to win a World Cup? I've seen average finalists before (Argentina in 90, Italy in 94, Germany in 2002) but never such average winners.

Yeah, certainly in the World Cups I've seen, this Italian side is the worst. Some wonderful defenders and a top class keeper, but not much elsewhere.

Funny too, because up until the half-time in extra-time mark, this was the best final I've ever seen. I didn't see '86, and every final since then has been somewhere between average and quite bad, whereas this one was a very fine game. Shame about how it finished.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Buffon? The best keeper in the tourney. That backside with Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Gattuso, etcc.? Definitely better than average. Toni, Totti, Materazzi, Pirlo may not have the talent of a Henry or Ronaldinho, but they sure do get the job done. More like a very balanced team.

They're not a bad team. But you tell me a worse one to win the World Cup.