Tuesday,
June 17, 2008
Italy
Wins!!!! Through to Quarter Finals vs. Spain
Italy vs. France was not a classic, or a
piece of art. Italy had a
man advantage after the 25th minute, and Frenchman Thierry Henry accidentally
redirected a Free Kick into French Goal, but Italy's 2-0 win was only good, not
impressive.
At
the same time, Holland rested its first string,
which raised the concerns of both the Italians and French, who thought the
Dutch were taking a dive, in order to knock BOTH the top teams out of the
Euros, but the Dutch even with second stringers beat Romania 2-0
Pirlo and Gattusso both will be
unavailable vs. Spain
because of being carded
French Sent Packing As
Italy Set Up Spain Classic
Italy 2-0 France
Italy qualified for the Euro 2008 quarterfinals with a
2-0 win over ten-man France,
courtesy of an Andrea Pirlo penalty and a deflected
Daniele De Rossi free-kick....
Goal.com
Tuesday, June
17, 2008
Roberto Donadoni's men were the superior side and deserving of
their victory, but Raymond Domenech and France were
not afforded any luck by the footballing Gods this
evening in Zurich.
Star man Franck Ribery went off injured just 10
minutes into the game, and a fairly soft but technically spot-on penalty
decision was awarded to the Azzurri minutes later, with Eric Abidal
dismissed for denying Luca Toni a goal-scoring opportunity and Andrea Pirlo hammering home the spot-kick.
Italy could and should have added more but France, to their credit, came back
fighting in the second half as Italy invited them on, but the game was killed
around the hour mark when Daniele De Rossi's driven free-kick taking a cruel
deflection off Thierry Henry beyond Gregory Coupet.
The result sent Italy
through, with Romania losing
2-0 against the Netherlands,
and France
finis hing bottom of the group.
First Half
With France having more of the possession in the first few minutes, it was
Italy that had the first chance on goal, when Giorgio Chiellini's
high ball forward was not dealt with by Eric Abidal
and Luca Toni was allowed in behind. The Bayern Munich hit-man took his chance
perhaps earlier than he needed to and pulled it wide of the near post.
It was a huge chance, but France's
lifeline was not to last long, with Franck Ribery
picking up an achilles
injury after an innocuous coming together with Gianluca Zambrotta,
having to be replaced by Samir Nasri
less than 10 minutes into the game.
Italy
came close moments later, when Andrea Pirlo swung a
corner into the box and Christian Panucci's header
was cleared off the line by Claude Makelele.
Karim Benzema registered France's first
shot after quarter of an hour when Karim Benzema cut in from the right hand side and drilled a low
shot on his left foot wide of Gianluigi Buffon's near post.
Controversy struck midway through the half when a Pirlo
ball over the top was taken down well by Luca Toni, only for Eric Abidal to clip him from behind and not only concede a
penalty, but as the last man denying a clear goal scoring opportunity, he was
also sent off by the letter of the law. Andrea Pirlo
stepped up and rocketed the penalty into the top-left
hand corner to give Italy
the lead.
Samir Nasri, who had been
on for 15 minutes in place of the injured Ribery, was
the unfortunate man to be withdrawn for a defensive substitute, Jean-Alain Boumsong.
The Azzurri proceeded
to pile on the pressure, with Daniele De Rossi rifling a shot just over the bar
from the edge of the area, before Luca Toni then spurned three chances in as
many minutes.
Antonio Cassano slung a ball into the box from the right hand side, and despite
it being behind Toni, the towering forward attempted to flick it with the back
of his heel into the far corner, but it went just wide. Pirlo
chipped a delightful ball over the top just a minute later, but Toni miscued a
first time, left-footed volley that missed the target. His third chance came on
the half hour mark, when Simone Perrotta's deft touch
allowed Toni to turn and shoot from the edge of the area, but his effort went
wide.
France had a chance to snatch an equaliser against
the run of play when Jeremy Toulalan played in
Thierry Henry between Italy's two defenders, and from a fairly tight angle, the
Barcelona
forward's shot went wide of the far post. Les Bleus began consolidating
but could not fashion attempts on goal, and it was Italy who had
the next close shave from a free-kick, just before half time.
Daniele De Rossi's roving run towards the penalty area drew a foul from Toulalan to the right of goal. With Pirlo
and Fabio Grosso over the ball, it was Grosso, the man who scored the winning
penalty in the World Cup final , who took the
free-kick, attempting to place it into the far corner, and Gregory Coupet did extremely well to tip it onto the post.
With the French then looking to break, Perrotta was
down in the box having injured himself attempting to pounce on the rebound, Pirlo fouled Benzema and received
a yellow card, which will rule him out of the quarterfinal clash against Spain.
Second Half
A cagey start to the second
half saw France go close five minutes in, when Jeremy Toulalan's
persistence down the right hand side saw him squeeze out a cross, with the
clearance being spooned as far as Benzema, who struck
a sweet volley just off target.
France proved the more imaginative in the early stages as Italy seemed content
to hit on the break, with Roberto Donadoni resorting
to withdrawing goal scorer and creative lynchpin Andrea Pirlo
for Massimo Ambrosini to add strength to the
midfield. It did not look like aid ing the Azzurri, as they failed to defend with any great
composure, and surrendered possession far too often.
Just after the hour mark, Italy
grabbed their second, though not without a hint of fortune. A free-kick over 30
yards from goal was drilled by Daniele De Rossi and took a deflection off
Thierry Henry, looping past a helpless Coupet into
the back of the net and putting the game beyond les Bleus' reach.
The game lost nearly all its life thereafter and became a cagey midfield
battle, with Italy
fashioning the next chance on 72 minutes when a cross into the box towards Luca
Toni saw his header deflected out by William Gallas.
There was time yet for Buffon to make a wonder-save moments
later, when Karim Benzema
attempted to bend an effort into the top corner, only for the Juventus shot-stopper to tip it wide for a corner.
Italy
kept the ball well from thereon and a few bookings - some needless, others
harsh - were given to either side amidst a scrappy end to the encounter.
Toni had yet another chance to grab his goal deep into injury time, with
Cassano playing him through, but he rocketed his shot
just wide of goal.
Sulmaan Ahmad
http://www.goal.com/en-US/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=740634
PLAYER RATINGS
De Rossi: 9 An absolute
colossus in the centre of midfield. This was the De Rossi who was the best
player in Serie A last season. Scored a fortuitous
goal, but he deserved this luck. A beast.
Pirlo: 8 Simply on
another planet in the first half. Scored the penalty, dictated the play, and
one through ball to Perrotta was pure genius. Also
got booked and will be a big miss against Spain.
Buffon: 8 Confirmed his status as
the best goalkeeper in the world with a simply magnificent fingertip save from Benzema.
Zambrotta: 7.5 Bombed up and down the right flank,
particularly in the first half. Back to something near his best following his
mistake against Romania.
Grosso: 7 Not as
impressive as in his first two games, but still did very well, and almost
scored when his free kick crashed off the post.
Gattuso: 7 Surprisingly
good in the first half, he was simply more up for the game than the French. Tired as the match wore on. Booked and will miss the quarter
final against Spain.
Cassano: 7 Drifted in an out of the game, but had
his moments, including one stunning back heeled through ball to Zambrotta. Will need to bring some more
effectiveness into his game, even if he is clearly a better choice than Del Piero.
Panucci: 6.5 A calming
influence in defence. Offered some
tactical organisation in the absence of Cannavaro. Almost scored with a
header too.
Chiellini: 6.5 Another
committed display from Chiellini, who showed his
typical leadership qualities. Made one mistake in letting Henry through but he
was not made to pay.
Toni: 6.5 Held the ball up well,
and won the penalty, but he could have had a double hat-trick tonight so awful
was his finishing. I have never seen a striker scuff so many shots in one game.
Looked exhausted at the end - could the long season have taken its toll?
Perrotta: 6 A little off the pace, but once again he
provided some much needed balance to the Italian midfield.
Substitutes
Ambrosini: 6 Slightly
bemusing decision by Donadoni to bring him on for Pirlo, but it seemed to work in quelling France's
strong start to the second half.
Camoranesi: 6 Never really got
into the game during his limited time on the field, although he had one shot
deflected wide.
Aquilani: N/A No time to make an impact.
Carlo Garganese
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