Sunday, November 18, 2007

After Thoughts on Italy's Soccer Victory over Scotland, 2-1

The ANNOTICO Report

 

(1) Sporting Life Rates the performance of each of the Players

(2) Scotland keeper Craig Gordon admitted "In the first half we got a bit of luck when they scored and it was ruled offside,"

(3) Scotland Manager Alex McLeish hit out at the late refereeing decision in which he argues that Italy's Giorgio Chiellini appear to impede defender Alan Hutton, but Spanish referee Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez awarded a free-kick against Scotland with the score at 1-1 in stoppage time.

 

SCOTLAND v ITALY PLAYER RATINGS

 

Sporting Life

ITALY

Luca Toni - Alert to score the opener after little over a minute played and caused the Scottish defence problems at set-pieces. 9

Gennaro Gattuso - Imperious in midfield and appeared everywhere in difficult conditions. Made way for De Rossi. 8

Andrea Pirlo - Cleared Weir's header off the line in first-half stoppage time and was a persistent threat from set-pieces. 8

Gianluigi Buffon - Had few saves to make and was strong when he needed to be. 7

Christian Panucci - Rarely troubled by his immediate opponent McCulloch and popped up for the winner. 7

Fabio Cannavaro - Confident apart from at set-pieces, notably at the equaliser. 7

Andrea Barzagli - Comfortable against Scotland's lone striker but exposed at the equaliser. 7

Gianluca Zambrotta - The Barcelona defender gave a fine demonstration of full-back play. 7

Antonio Di Natale - Set up the opener for Toni and unlucky when a second was ruled out for an earlier handball. 7

Mauro Camoranesi - An able deputy for Gattuso in midfield until he made way for Giorgio Chiellini. 6

Massimo Ambrosini - Started well but faded in the second half as Scotland enjoyed more possession. 6

Substitutes:

Giorgio Chiellini: Came on for Camoranesi and bolstered Italy's defensive efforts. 6

Vincenzo Iaquinta: Replaced Di Natale and proved less effective. 5

Daniele De Rossi: Came on for Gattuso and broke up attacks from a resurgent Scotland. 5

SCOTLAND

Barry Ferguson - Reacted brilliantly for the equaliser and looked Scotland's most assured midfielder. 8

Craig Gordon - Exposed by his defence for the opener but was strong at set-pieces until Panucci's winner. 7

Alan Hutton - Posted missing for Italy's first but recovered and won the free-kick which led to the equaliser. 7

David Weir - Saw a header cleared off the line in first-half stoppage time and was otherwise solid. 7

Stephen McManus - Stumbled to let in Toni for the opener but improved as match wore on. 6

Gary Naysmith - Unfussy display from the Sheffield United left-back but should have picked up Panucci when he scored the winner. 6

Paul Hartley - Did not give the back four the protection they might have expected but worked hard at a thankless task. 6

Darren Fletcher - Looked like a player lacking first-team action as the midfield battle passed him by for the first hour. Improved in the final quarter. 6

James McFadden - Looked isolated in the first half as Italy dominated midfield but his free-kick set up the equaliser. Should have scored Scotland's second. 6

Lee McCulloch - Caused Italy problems at set-pieces. Might have scored from an first-half corner but his shot was blocked. 5

Scott Brown - Rarely found the room to put his dynamic running to good effect and made way for Miller. 4

Substitutes:

Kenny Miller - A 74th-minute replacement for Brown and might have made a bigger impression with longer on the pitch. 6

Kris Boyd - A stoppage-time substitute for McCulloch with the game lost. 3

 

 

 

Gordon Philosophical In Defeat

 

Scotland keeper Craig Gordon remained commendably level-headed after a controversial injury time winner by Italy condemned his side to miss out on the European Championships in Switzerland and Austria next summer.

Goal, com

By

 

While the knee-jerk reaction of most of his countrymen was to scream bloody murder over the highly debatable call that led to Panucci?s 91st minute goal, Gordon was able to see the whole picture.

"In the first half we got a bit of luck when they scored and it was ruled offside,"  admitted the highly rated Sunderland shotstopper, who produced a world class save to deny Massimo Ambrosini in the buildup to that incident.

"We thought it might be one of those days when we would get a bit of luck and it took us until the last minute to prove us wrong,? the youngster added.

"We've done well in the section but when you look at the quality we were up against it was always going to take something special."....

http://goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=484196

 

Scotland's McLeish slams Italy's winner

 

Reuters                                                                                                                                                                     ;                                                                                        

By Kenny MacDonald 

Sat 17 Nov 2007

GLASGOW, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Manager Alex McLeish hit out at the late refereeing decision which led to Scotland's 2-1 defeat by Italy on Saturday and the end of his team's Euro 2008 qualifying hopes.

Italy substitute Giorgio Chiellini appear to impede defender Alan Hutton, but Spanish referee Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez awarded a free-kick against Scotland with the score at 1-1 in stoppage time.

Playmaker Andrea Pirlo picked out defender Christian Panucci for a looping header over keeper Craig Gordon and into the net which qualified both Italy and France from Group B.

McLeish told a news conference: "We didn't deserve to lose today, no doubt about that.

"But I am very disappointed with the decision for their second goal. It was bitterly disappointing and I cannot understand why he gave the free-kick to Italy.

"I've seen it on television and it's unbelievable."

Scotland surged forward in the nerve-shredding final stages and nearly snatched a winner when James McFadden to slid in to send a six-metre shot hurtling high and just wide of the post.

McLeish said: "In the last 10 minutes we had the Italians on the ropes and I really felt with McFadden's chance that my life flashed before me. I thought we were going to Austria and Switzerland.

"It is such a fine line. Italy are a good team and we wish them luck, but they got a little bit of luck today."

Looking back at Luca Toni's second-minute opener for Italy, he said: "The (first) goal that we lost, well, we were caught cold which is very unlike us. It knocked the stuffing out of us and gave Italy a good lift."

Scotland equalised in the 65th minute through Barry Ferguson, lining up a dramatic finish which left Scotland third in the group.

http://football.uk.reuters.com/uk/news/L17359245.php

 

The ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (and are Archived) on:

Italia USA: http://www.ItaliaUSA.com [Formerly Italy at St Louis] (7 years)

Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com (3 years)

Annotico Email: annotico@earthlink.net