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a time to make friends or enemy? world cup germany
italy vs australia
in my humble opinion, the italy-australia game was much more than the need to qualify for the second round. it went deeper for the team and the fans. there was so much at stake for the azzurri compared to the aussies who got nothing to lose, really. so the pressure was all on them. if the azzurri won, they would be able to exorcise the ghost that had been haunting them since WC2002 - Guus Hiddink and of course to get to the quarter final.
i was not happy that the azzurri had to meet australia in the second round because the team was an unknown factor. i have to admit that i didnt watch any of the game involving australia except when they met japan. but i could sense that italy would be in trouble because the aussies coach is one very talented Dutch who has managed to turn underdogs into something special.
much as i hate to admit it, the italian team was not that spectacular. i really dreaded this meeting and i almost didnt watch the game because i couldnt bare to watch italy being knocked out of the championship so early. but still my finger refused to press the button on the remote control.
i watched the italian line-up with such a heavy heart. materazzi was in instead of nesta. i know it's not his fault that he was injured but he had been injured during WC2002 too when the team needed him the most. he was injured when he made his debut in the WC98 if you want to go a long way back in the history of Nesta' s world cup experience. sheesh! i sounded so cynical, sorry nesta. but materazzi wasnt the best choice because he had more brawn than brain and bound to do stupid mistakes. and he proved his critics right when he made that stupid lunged that could have hurt both the australian player and zambrotta. stupid man!
i watched with horror when del piero made the first eleven when inzaghi did not. i sighed with relief when i see no sign of zaccardo on the pitch. i've started to hate luca toni and gilardino and that's dangerous. i hate lippi for his so bloody arrogant attitude for refusing to bring in inzaghi and preferring iacquinta instead. my only saviour was cannavarro, pirlo, zambrotta and gattuso.
between gilardino and toni, they could have easily scored three or four goals but the fact that they squandered chances after chances after chances made me really furious. no doubt the close man marking by the australian defenders didnt help any but that was no excuse. i f they are really talented, they would find ways to score. sorry, im not in a forgiving mood right now, not even for my beloved azzurri.
the aussies had more possession in the first half but fine, i dont really care about posession but it was cannavarro who was the unsunghero. if it wasnt for him, the aussies would have scored a few goals. he has been brilliant in all three games. u know, when the azzurri first made him captain, i was sceptical but he had proven that he is great enough to be the azzurri's Il Capitano.
i tell you if it wasnt for the defence, italy would have been forced to go back early with their tails between their legs. but at times, the australian defenders were far more skillful than the azzurris except for canna that is. that guy, chipperfield and neill were really impressived, babe. i am totally impressed with them. they could teach the italian defenders a few tricks too. that blocked by chipperfiled was a beauty. if i were a team manager, i would have wanted these two defenders in my team, hello, benitez, ancelotti, took notice please.
i think the azzurri was lucky that kewell wasnt in the team because he was the ultimate creator, the playmaker. actually, the azzurri's midfields were outplayed, outwitted and outrun by the australian and they had even managed to pass through the italian defenders several times but then there was always buffon as the last man standing. IMHO, buffon is still the best goalies in the world and not peter chech but hey what do i know. if FIFA said chech is the best keeper in the world, well than, let's just say that one man's meat is another man's poison.
i dont understand why lippi gave del piero the most important role. i can understand that totti wasnt fit enough to play the full 90 minutes against such strong physical team like the australian but i prefer you play camoranesi than alex cause he was useless and invisibled most of the time and slow. camoranesi may not be elegant but he can run really fast and could have at least create some kind of chaos in the opponent's penalty area.
as for gilardino, one would have thought that with his size, it would be tough for defenders to take him down but he really has jelly feet. he should know that diving was such an ugly trick and it was something that would follow you forever. just ask inzaghi, it took football fans a long time to forgive him for being such "prolific" diver. my sympathy went to both inzaghi and lippi, inzaghi for having such an ass coach and to lippi for not recognising how valuable or influential inzaghi is to the team.
i could go on and on about the game but i dont have enough time to write long review anymore not like the old days where i can take my sweet time reviewing about lots of teams' performances.
anyway, cannavarro was definitely my man of the match. he was the rock. his unhurried poise generally suffices to smooth over the deficiency of the rest of the italian defenders. a defender with extraordinary skills. and just imagine if he and a fit nesta combined, the defence would be out of this world man! like i told mr azman, catenaccio rules!
i guess, lady luck was smiling on the italian players. grosso fall may or may not be legitimate but to the fans (who the hell cares!) hahaha. to the australian players, it is a lesson to learn: dont play-play, ok. i mean, it was obvious that the australians came into the game looking for extra times and penalty. i guess the mighty guy (hiddink) had fallen. never-never underestimate the italians. the italians were used to playing with 10 men. remember euro2004 (italy vs holland). to the azzurri, if all else fails, there is always the catenaccio to fall back to.
ok, totti may have not done much but that was a cracking penalty shot, beautifully executed. u could say that the italians were lucky but football is about luck, dont you think so? if you dont believe me, asked johann cruyff - the Holland legend.
forza azzurri! forza nesta!
errr, mr azman, surely now mr van basten would realise that defence are part of football, ok. and perhaps he would realise that at a crucial game like that, maybe an experience clarence seedorf would make a difference. u can use young players yes but never forget the old one. they may be useful to the team. eh!
to unsunghero, thanks for asking about the review. i never thought that anybody cares to read them. hehehe...
last modified Jul 12, 2006 at 19:15
Congrats  ...
I can just imagine your reaction when Italy won hehehe
*lama dah nak ucap...tapi danchan asyik demam je...*
...SitiNesta, kini saya menanti ulasan perlawanan akhir Itali-Perancis. pasti banyak yang mahu anda coretkan. pasti banyak yang terbuku di hati yang mahu dibicarakan. ayuh, saya nantikan ulasan itu...
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