WC 2006 Cup Game France Vs Italy
From Benny of Soccer-europe:
9 July 2006
ITALY 1-1 FRANCE
Materazzi 18 Zidane 6 (Pen)
In the 6th minute Malouda made the most of Materazzi's clumsy challenge to win
a penalty. Zidane took one step forward then chipped the ball against the
underside of the crossbar and fortunately for him and France it bounced over the
line. Materazzi, who was clearly rattled, almost doubled France's lead with a
poor header which had Buffon scrambling at his past. Italy began to take
control and equalised when Materazzi punished abysmal marking in the French box
to head in Pirlo's corner. From a throw-on Gattuso burst past two players before
giving the ball to Totti, Totti rode a tackle from Vieira as he ran inside the
box, Gattuso fed the ball to Toni and just as he shot Thuram slid in to clear.
That was the one moment of magic Italy provided in the entire match. From the
resulting corner Toni headed against the underside of the crossbar.
At the start of the second half Henry gathered a loose ball, ran through
Gattuso's tackle and darted between two defenders in the box but hit a weak shot
with Buffon easily saved. Pirlo flashed a free kick just wide of Barthez's left
post.
A fabulous move in which the French strung together 11 passes ended with Ribery
cutting inside Iaquinta and sliding a ball through to Malouda, who was flattened
by Cannavaro's heavy tackle from behind on the edge of the box, Ribery gathered
possession and a subtle feint took him clear of De Rossi but he dragged his shot
wide of a post. Seconds later he made way for Trezeguet. Another wonderfully
constructed move started with Gallas intercepting a Iaquinta pass and giving the
ball to Zidane, who was deep in his own half. The ball was worked down the right
through Zidane before he eventually passed out wide to Sagnol and ran into the
box where he met the defenders cross with a fantastic header which was matched
by Buffon's spectacular one handed save.
Early in the second half Wiltord came on for Henry who appeared to be struggling
with a minor knock. In an incident which will go down in World Cup infamy,
Zidane was sent off for head-butting Materazzi in the chest after the two
exchanged words when walking away from the Italy penalty area. This was similar
to the Rooney mess in that the ref missed the incident but on the advice of one
of the officials took action, well we assume that's what happened. In any case
it was a deserved red card and a sad way for Zidane to bring an end to a
glittering career. Despite their numerical advantage Italy couldn't put together
any meaningful attacks and the game went to penalties but without Zidane,
Henry and Vieira, who went off injured mid-way through the second half, the odds
were in Italy's favour.
Penalty Shoot-Out
Pirlo hits the ball high straight down the middle, awful penalty but Barthez
goes the wrong way
Wiltord blasts the ball into the bottom right corner, perfect penalty
Materazzi copies Wiltord by smashing the ball into the bottom right corner
Trezeguet crashes the ball against the underside of the crossbar
De Rossi. CRACKERJACK, top left corner, no chance for Barthez
Abidal sends the ball left of centre at a perfect height for Buffon who once
again dives early
Del Piero. I sure as hell thought he'd miss but he didn't thanks largely to
Barthez diving early
Sagnol hits the ball with extreme prejudice, poor height, poor placement, poor
goalkeeping, Buffon has been useless in this shoot-out
Grosso. Championship point. Top right corner, unstoppable. Great penalty
France were as good in the second half and extra-time as Italy were in the
first. The game was played at a painfully slow pace. Toni dived more in 120
minutes than Cristiano Ronaldo has in his last three matches. Pirlo reverted to
type i.e. kept giving the ball away, Totti was beyond useless and Cannavaro
didn't look anywhere near as assured as he has done in previous matches. Good
job Gattuso was off the charts, as he has been all tournament. IMO Malouda was
France's best player. Nothing Materazzi said can excuse Zidane's headbutt.
Zidane is no stranger to red cards.
France were the better side on the day but in the 2002 European Championship
final they came away with the silverware having been outplayed. What goes
around, comes around.
Italy survived the group of death, survived a cheap red card against Australia
(and got the break of a last second penalty) before crushing Ukraine and beating
an excellent Germany side in the game of the tournament. France peaked last
week, with their excellent victories over Spain and Brazil. It would have sucked
had they won the World Cup on the back of two dodgy penalties, they haven't
scored in open play since beating Spain. Anyway two World Cups for one
generation of players is beyond greedy.
I enjoyed this tournament far more than the last World Cup, largely because the
traditional powers made it to the knockout stages. Germany played the best
football, Gattuso was the best player.
England are edged out by Portugal as the worst team in the tournament. Both
teams played negative football, Portugal showed more imagination, in bursts,
but cannot be forgiven for their histrionics and I loath teams with second rate
players that punch above their weight.
Penalties are a stain on the face of humanity but nothing will change while the
current, corrupt regime are in charge of the game. Let's hope by 2010 either
Sepp Bladder is out of power or six foot under and someone who has actually
played the bloody game at a high level is in charge i.e. Beckenbauer and not
Bladder's stooge Platini.
Congratulations to Italy supporters everywhere and thanks to everyone for
reading. Stats will follow and enjoy your summer.
Italy win 5-3 on penalties
Attendance : 69,000
Red Card : Zidane 110 (France)
Assists : Malouda (won pen), Pirlo (fk)
http://soccer-europe.com
Rss feed : http://soccer-europe.com/RSS/News.xml
Contraversy still rages on this game.
9 July 2006
ITALY 1-1 FRANCE
Materazzi 18 Zidane 6 (Pen)
In the 6th minute Malouda made the most of Materazzi's clumsy challenge to win
a penalty. Zidane took one step forward then chipped the ball against the
underside of the crossbar and fortunately for him and France it bounced over the
line. Materazzi, who was clearly rattled, almost doubled France's lead with a
poor header which had Buffon scrambling at his past. Italy began to take
control and equalised when Materazzi punished abysmal marking in the French box
to head in Pirlo's corner. From a throw-on Gattuso burst past two players before
giving the ball to Totti, Totti rode a tackle from Vieira as he ran inside the
box, Gattuso fed the ball to Toni and just as he shot Thuram slid in to clear.
That was the one moment of magic Italy provided in the entire match. From the
resulting corner Toni headed against the underside of the crossbar.
At the start of the second half Henry gathered a loose ball, ran through
Gattuso's tackle and darted between two defenders in the box but hit a weak shot
with Buffon easily saved. Pirlo flashed a free kick just wide of Barthez's left
post.
A fabulous move in which the French strung together 11 passes ended with Ribery
cutting inside Iaquinta and sliding a ball through to Malouda, who was flattened
by Cannavaro's heavy tackle from behind on the edge of the box, Ribery gathered
possession and a subtle feint took him clear of De Rossi but he dragged his shot
wide of a post. Seconds later he made way for Trezeguet. Another wonderfully
constructed move started with Gallas intercepting a Iaquinta pass and giving the
ball to Zidane, who was deep in his own half. The ball was worked down the right
through Zidane before he eventually passed out wide to Sagnol and ran into the
box where he met the defenders cross with a fantastic header which was matched
by Buffon's spectacular one handed save.
Early in the second half Wiltord came on for Henry who appeared to be struggling
with a minor knock. In an incident which will go down in World Cup infamy,
Zidane was sent off for head-butting Materazzi in the chest after the two
exchanged words when walking away from the Italy penalty area. This was similar
to the Rooney mess in that the ref missed the incident but on the advice of one
of the officials took action, well we assume that's what happened. In any case
it was a deserved red card and a sad way for Zidane to bring an end to a
glittering career. Despite their numerical advantage Italy couldn't put together
any meaningful attacks and the game went to penalties but without Zidane,
Henry and Vieira, who went off injured mid-way through the second half, the odds
were in Italy's favour.
Penalty Shoot-Out
Pirlo hits the ball high straight down the middle, awful penalty but Barthez
goes the wrong way
Wiltord blasts the ball into the bottom right corner, perfect penalty
Materazzi copies Wiltord by smashing the ball into the bottom right corner
Trezeguet crashes the ball against the underside of the crossbar
De Rossi. CRACKERJACK, top left corner, no chance for Barthez
Abidal sends the ball left of centre at a perfect height for Buffon who once
again dives early
Del Piero. I sure as hell thought he'd miss but he didn't thanks largely to
Barthez diving early
Sagnol hits the ball with extreme prejudice, poor height, poor placement, poor
goalkeeping, Buffon has been useless in this shoot-out
Grosso. Championship point. Top right corner, unstoppable. Great penalty
France were as good in the second half and extra-time as Italy were in the
first. The game was played at a painfully slow pace. Toni dived more in 120
minutes than Cristiano Ronaldo has in his last three matches. Pirlo reverted to
type i.e. kept giving the ball away, Totti was beyond useless and Cannavaro
didn't look anywhere near as assured as he has done in previous matches. Good
job Gattuso was off the charts, as he has been all tournament. IMO Malouda was
France's best player. Nothing Materazzi said can excuse Zidane's headbutt.
Zidane is no stranger to red cards.
France were the better side on the day but in the 2002 European Championship
final they came away with the silverware having been outplayed. What goes
around, comes around.
Italy survived the group of death, survived a cheap red card against Australia
(and got the break of a last second penalty) before crushing Ukraine and beating
an excellent Germany side in the game of the tournament. France peaked last
week, with their excellent victories over Spain and Brazil. It would have sucked
had they won the World Cup on the back of two dodgy penalties, they haven't
scored in open play since beating Spain. Anyway two World Cups for one
generation of players is beyond greedy.
I enjoyed this tournament far more than the last World Cup, largely because the
traditional powers made it to the knockout stages. Germany played the best
football, Gattuso was the best player.
England are edged out by Portugal as the worst team in the tournament. Both
teams played negative football, Portugal showed more imagination, in bursts,
but cannot be forgiven for their histrionics and I loath teams with second rate
players that punch above their weight.
Penalties are a stain on the face of humanity but nothing will change while the
current, corrupt regime are in charge of the game. Let's hope by 2010 either
Sepp Bladder is out of power or six foot under and someone who has actually
played the bloody game at a high level is in charge i.e. Beckenbauer and not
Bladder's stooge Platini.
Congratulations to Italy supporters everywhere and thanks to everyone for
reading. Stats will follow and enjoy your summer.
Italy win 5-3 on penalties
Attendance : 69,000
Red Card : Zidane 110 (France)
Assists : Malouda (won pen), Pirlo (fk)
http://soccer-europe.com
Rss feed : http://soccer-europe.com/RSS/News.xml
Contraversy still rages on this game.
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