Italy - As Good As It Gets !
Three months ago, at a bar in South Kensington, I declared my hidden support for Italy. It was then, that I predicted that Italy would win the World Cup. Well, they haven’t won the cup as yet, but today’s semi-final has left me spell bound. I haven’t seen Italy play like that in the whole of last month !!
Italy knew they could not afford to take on Germany in a penalty contest. In FIFA World Cups German efficiency does not permit failure from 12 yards – they have come out on top in every penalty showdown they’ve contested while Italy have known only suffering: three defeats in three. So if the Azzurri were going to march on to Berlin on 9 July they had to do the business before the 120 minutes were up.
The clock inside Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion showed 119 minutes when they struck. There was barely time for Germany to respond. But just to make sure, Italy broke away and scored again. The hopes of a home nation who have contributed so much to making this a successful FIFA World Cup were reduced to dust and carried away on the night air.
Commentary : Interesting to notice is the resurgence of both Italy and France. The way both these teams have played in their most recent encounters leaves me wanting for more ! And, if you have taken a lesson here .. Football is a team game .. no individual however good can beat a team which gels well as Italy did today. The back flips, the short passes, run downs along the line, and the all important finishes … ooohh my god .. I can just go on and on !
Tomorrow should be a good game as well, but for me .. Its Italy, Italy all the way !
[tags]FIFA world cup, Italy wins semis, Germany 2006, football [/tags]
P.S. Kedar, what did I tell you … It had to be Italy !
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2 Comments so far
Kedar
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Dude… Italy played really well in the first half and the extra time (what did they eat?). But the game never looked one-sided. So you can’t really say, “It had to be Italy!”
It was a very good match though. But their winning the world cup is still a debatable point. Zidane and team are suddenly alive, and playing mind-bogglingly good. I say it’ll be a return of the 1998 winners.
July 5, 2006
- world cup 2006 Germany - daily update news
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July 5, 2006
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