Romania
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This post, my friends is going to be a mess. As long as you know that going in, we'll all be okay. Inside, we will break down each competing country's home and away jersey and file it into the categories Good, Bad and WTF. Pretty simple, huh?
For ease of my poorly HTMLing soul, I will only provide links to each shirt instead of trying to force them all into the Blogger template. Trust me, if you've seen how Blogger can
mangle posts by screwing up pictures, this is a good thing.
Onwards and upwards, my friends. Here we go.
Group A
Switzerland Home Away Switzerland wear Puma jerseys. In what will quickly become a theme in this post, Puma jerseys all look cookie-cutter. They have a template, switch colors where necessary, and affix the necessary badges. Boring. What I like about the Swiss shirt is the badge. That kind of artsy rendering of their national association where they also fit in the white cross. However, these are Puma jerseys, so the verdict is:
Home and Away: Bad
Czech Republic Home Away Plain. Boring. Go home. I do like the blue piping on the home shirt, and the Czech badge is one of the more interesting entries, full of history, for those into that. But it is simply not enough to overcome the crappiness of being a Puma shirt.
Home and Away: Bad
Portugal Home Away There is something wrong with the Portugal home shirt. We here at UF could not quite put our finger on it, but we hate it. It could be the wrong hue, or it could just be the too tight fit. We hated it all the same. On the other hand, we were much more sympathetic to the white shirt. It looks a lot better, but, in the end, we found it a little plain.
Home and Away: Bad
Turkey Home Away Now we're talking. It may still be a hangover from their unbelievable victory over the Czechs on Sunday, but these are both very nice shirts. The home shirt can look a little like a 'Boro effort, I'm sure, but it dazzles nonetheless. And that away shirt, my goodness. Two teams made solid use of baby blue accents this tournament, and Turkey is one of them.
Home and Away: Good
Group B
Austria Home Away A mixed bag. Once again, we are stuck with Puma templates, but Austria does something a little right here. It's not in the home shirt, really, though it should rate a "meh" instead of its final grade. The winner here is the away shirt. Menacingly black with a little flag flair thrown in at the collar.
Home: Bad; Away: Good
Croatia Home Away Did we even get to see the all-checkerboard shirt yet? I don't recall. You have to give them respect for sticking with such and irritating-to-the-eyes shirt for all of these years. As for the blue away shirt, man, I don't know. And for that, it perfectly fits the WTF category. Safe to say I would not want to sport either one of these walking around my town.
Home and Away: WTF?
Germany Home Away Poor Germany. Forever saddled with a white shirt that they are not entirely happy with, so they fuck around with it. This year's entry feels unbalanced. Too much black in the striping, not enough red or yellow. At least it keeps us away from the away shirt. Seriously, this is not a look for top tier international football. This is a training top. Even though I kind of like the gold stitching on the black background, I hope they never have to wear it.
Home: Bad; Away: WTF?
Poland Home Away Poland, the home of unattractive football. They never looked good playing in the Euros, and these shirts did not help. Blandest of them all.
Home and Away: Bad
Group C
Romania Home Away Romania's shirts this year felt like a throwback to USA '94. Sadly, the team did not perform in the same manner. The worst part of it all is that they totally rip off the New York Cosmos badge. Anyway, 14 years is too soon to do a throwback jersey. Well, I write that, but I can't hate on the home jersey. I like it.
Home: Good; Away: Bad
France Home Away I am not a fan of the extra crap going across the middle of the French home shirt. They do, however, get credit with me by having their flag pop up inside the adidas stripes on the arms. Throw in that nice, newish badge of the rooster and you have a winner. God help me, I like the garish red away shirt as well. Two winners.
Home and Away: Good
Netherlands Home Away The Dutch are always hard to figure out. They have to use that bright orange which pays homage to a royal family line that no one likes. Sometimes they pull it off, and sometimes it is painful. This tournament, they pulled it off, sometimes. The Dutch were the second team to tastefully use Nike's new baby blue accent by pairing the orange shirt with baby blue socks. And it totally worked. However, when they reverted to orange socks yesterday, it all looked horrible. Also, nice try, but you can't work in your flag on the collar without it looking like you won First Grade attendance medals. As for the away shirt, it divides us. But, I'm the one writing here, and I hate it. So, there you go. We do seem to be unified in liking the cyborg numbering though.
Home: Good, with qualifications; Away: WTF?
Italy Home Away Italy stick with the basics. Once again, this is a Puma top, but it's not quite as bad as the red and white ones. This gets a passing grade for the gold at the neck. The away jersey, though, is run of the mill and boring.
Home: Good; Away: Bad
Group D
Spain Home Away I think we were a bit undecided by these. The home jersey is nothing out of the ordinary, but it works well. That light gold away shirt, though, is rather atrocious. Hopefully, Spain will not be required to trot it out on their way to winning this year's tournament.
Home: Good; Away: WTF?
Russia Home Away These had potential, especially the away shirt, but the execution is off. I am all for integrating you nation's flag into the shirt. I don't like it when doing so means that I have to fill in the blanks for you. The white shirt loses the top stripe of the flag and the red shirt loses the bottom stripe of the flag. Why not go with a blue away shirt so that one can easily make out the flag running across the torso? Nike FAIL.
Home: Bad; Away: WTF?
Greece Home Away Thanks for coming and bringing the same kit from 2004. Did you think that would work? Okay, the sublimated flag print on the away shirt is nice, but no dice.
Home and Away: Bad
Sweden Home Away It's always tough to deal with the Swedish shirts. The combo of yellow and blue is a nice one, but they just use too much yellow sometimes. If only I could get a reason to really like a bunch of yellow Swedish shirts. Oh, here's one. The away shirt is a tough one. In some pictures, it looks black, which would be a bold move, but in others it looks navy, which is kind of boring. Still, since Swedish girls will wear them and get pictured in them, they are both winners.
Home and Away: Good
Written by Darkvader on June 18th, 2008 with no comments.
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Italy 2-0 FranceAu revoir, mes enfants. You got the feeling it wasn't going to be France's day when Franck Ribery had to go off injured after just 8 minutes, having messed up his ankle in by getting tangled up with Gianluca Zambrotta. Ribery has been one of the few bright spots for France in this tournament, although I do think that Samir Nasri, who came on as his replacement, deserved more playing time as well.
And the poor kid was hauled off again 15 minutes later, after Eric Abidal was sent off for bringing down Luca Toni in the box. I've seen a few people arguing that Toni dived, and I think he may have gone down deliberately, judging from the way he trailed his leg back, but I also think that Abidal fouled him, because he was grappling with Toni from behind. So it was the right call by the referee. Andrea Pirlo buried the penalty for Italy, Jean-Alain Boumsong came on to replace Abidal for France (oh dear), and the game was virtually decided.
You really have to question Raymond Domenech's decision not to call up Philippe Mexes for France. Well, you have to question Domenech's decision-making for a lot of things, but especially that. Lilian Thuram and Willy Sagnol apparently asked to be dropped for this match based on their performance in previous games, which mean that Abidal had to be shifted to centre-back, where he looked distinctly out of place -- but when your only other option is
Boumsong, what else can you do?
France have looked shaky defensively all along, and it was the same in this game -- which is particularly galling considering that they're playing with two defensive midfielders to shield the back line. Italy could have been up by two or three goals by halftime, if it hadn't been for some abysmal finishing by Luca Toni. What the hell have they done to him in Germany? It's bizarre.
The other big problem for France is that they've failed to rejuvenate the team after making it to the World Cup final in 2006. There are a lot of players for whom this was one tournament too far, but Domenech apparently doesn't have enough faith in the youngsters to bring them in yet. Italy have a lot of the same issues -- a weak defence and a manager who doesn't seem to know what his best team is -- but this was a classic Italian performance in that they did enough to win regardless.
It helps that they've got the best goalkeeper in the tournament by a mile. Gianluigi Buffon saved their ass against Romania and made one especially good save again here in the 73rd minute, tipping Karim Benzema's shot just wide. But it was already 2-0 to Italy by that point, after Daniel de Rossi's free kick was deflected into the net by Thierry Henry on the end of the wall, sending Gregory Coupet diving the wrong way. I feel a bit bad for Titi for that, but not that much, considering he spent most of the game flailing in disappointment at his teammates. Way to be captainly there.
After that save by Buffon, the game sort of petered out, with France subsiding into existential crisis and the Italians trying to ensure that nobody else would get booked -- Pirlo and (surprise, surprise) Gennaro Gattuso picked up second yellow cards and will be on the bench for the quarter-final. They do have a variety of options in midfield, but I think their main concern will be getting Toni's mojo working again so he can properly threaten the Spanish defence. Oh, and, you know, figuring out how the hell they're going to cope with Villa + Torres. Should be a hell of a game.
Netherlands 2-0 RomaniaThe Netherlands second string cruised into the quarter-finals with a win over a Romanian team that may be limited and yet had previously managed to foil both the World Cup finalists. I think this makes the Dutch B-team slightly better than the Croatian B-team, for those of you who care about such things. Then again, when your B-team has players like Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie, that's kind of a misnomer.
The Netherlands dominated from the outset, but I don't think they were trying particularly hard. At least, it took them a while to find a way to cut through the Romanian defence, wasting several chances in the first half. They didn't take the lead until the 54th minute, from a right-wing cross that was flicked on by Orlando Engelaar for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to finish.
As for Romania, they just didn't look like they really wanted to win the game. Even after they went behind -- and knowing that Italy were leading against France -- they were still too defensively focussed, with not enough players pushing up to support Adrian Mutu in attack. (Poor Mutu, incidentally, must still be kicking himself for that penalty piss against Italy.) And their fate was sealed with a second goal for the Netherlands late on, Robin van Persie controlling a great diagonal ball from Demy de Zeeuw and slicing his shot past Bogdan Lobont at the near post.
This performance doesn't really tell us anything new about the Netherlands squad -- we already knew that they had an obscene number of gifted attacking players. But what I find interesting is that their supposedly shaky defence hasn't really put a foot wrong so far. I'm very curious to see what would happen if they come up against, say, Portugal, further along the line.
Next up: The Netherlands play the Group D runners-up (Russia or Sweden) on Saturday, and on Sunday, Italy will see if Spain choke yet again at the quarter-final stage
Bad hair of the day award: Fabio Grosso, for his white-boy fro. Fabio, Andrea Pirlo would like to teach you a few things about the proper use of conditioner.
Written by Jen on June 18th, 2008 with no comments.
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The Dutch rested 9. The French made 3 changes. The Romanians stood firm. The Italians mixed and matched a little.
Today was a day for drama and substitutes, for hasty tactical rearrangements and a formation shattered by a first-half red card. Regardless, every team earned their cash, and we enjoyed the treats.
Somewhere tonight, an astrological chart burns.
France 0
Italy 2 (Pirlo 25" pen, De Rossi 62")If I were Raymond Domenech, I simply wouldn't go home. I wouldn't run the risk of being mutilated and torn limb-from-limb by the croissant-chompers lying in wait at Charles de Gaulle airport. I would simply pull a Jason Bourne; burn my current ID, pull out a fake passport, cut my hair and add a fake moustache, and disappear into the night.
No note of apology, no note of sorrow and regret... just get the fuck out and start again. Barbados is looking for a coach, but even he might be a touch too New Agey for a country rooted in various spiritual traditions.
That being said, let's put Gallic castigation aside for a minute and look at these scrappy Italian feckers.
Did they wet themselves when examining the task at hand? No.
Did they complain at every refereeing decision? No, especially not the contentious red card for Thuram's understudy, Eric Abidal. It was a blatant, clumsy foul. No doubt whatsoever there. But a straight red? Is someone taking the term "professional foul" a little too seriously? Coupet was right there, although Eric was the last man.
Did they work hard in the second half to make sure the victory was theirs? Yes.
Did they make the most of what was good fortune and enterprise was thrown their way? Yes, with the exception of yet another dismal performance from lone frontman Luca Toni. (As the BBC liveblog noted, Toni and Mario Gomez combined for 43 goals this season in the Bundesliga. What the fuck is going on? Are they that bad, or is it the Bundesliga?)
For Italy, this was a fine way to bounce back from two terrible performances earlier in the group. They now stumble into the quarter-finals to face Spain, with the grim reality of continuing to toil without Cannavaro, and now losing Pirlo and Gattuso to 1-game suspensions after their yellows this evening.
For France, a long trip home and plenty of time to reflect. Why didn't Thuram play? Why did Ribery have to overextend on that meaningless, innocuous foul early in the game? Why did Domenech flirt with using Nasri, only to pull him after the red card instead of the listless Toulalan (who's been absolute crap in Euro '08)? Why did Henry toil alone up front? Why is Coupet not in line for the French presidency?
All these questions can be answered rather simply: Domenech is a useless son of a bitch. I eagerly await his termination and subsequent replacement, who is facing a Herculean task to turn around this old, tired squad that's horribly imbalanced towards the aged and tenured.
I just hope for Estelle Denis' sake that Raymond makes a better husband than manager (Else, I'll happily offer my services as a replacement).
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Netherlands 2 (Huntelaar 54", Van Persie 87")
Romania 0
Poor Romania. Even with 9 changes to the Dutch XI that fisted France and Italy, they still couldn't get it done. Of course, in lieu of finding actual constructive criticism, the Bucharest press will surely just call for Mutu's head after his penalty miss against Gianluigi Buffon.
But in reality, Romania simply wasn't good enough today. Despite the waves of possession and half-chances, you always had the feeling that the clog-hoppers were going to walk away unscathed, and two moments of class were enough. Huntelaar's finish was decisive from Afellay's cross, and Van Persie surprised our UF liveblog peanut gallery in playing the entire match and even bagging the late goal with an emphatic close-range effort.
Shame for the Romanians, but they're history now.
Regarding Holland, do we join the bandwagon and anoint them as the tournament favourites heading into the quarter-finals? On performances alone, they've been the most impressive by far. They've enjoyed clear victories over a darkhorse and two pre-tourney frontrunners, and now they're looking at a dinner date with either Russia or Sweden, two equally-dull and dismal sides to watch.
Beyond that, a mouth-watering semi with either Spain or Italy, and then who knows?
Of all the teams to make it this far, none other has shown the consistency of character or victory, but they all have their strong points. I wrote at length of the Dutch ability to waste talent in my team preview, and perhaps it's all downhill from here. At least they've shown us some entertainment in the group stages.
(ps. I'm still picking Spain to shake their pretender shackles and emerge victorious, even though Total Football appears to have, gulp, returned)
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Links Roundup
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Meet Aragones, your new Fenerbahce manager [Soccernet]
Madagascar fire their manager, who was UNDEFEATED in qualifying! [Yahoo! Sports]
Soccer means less people go to the opera? I'm stunned! [AP]
Jens Lehmann with some advice on how to stop Portugal. I'm worried, considering he couldn't stop Birmingham [International Herald Tribune]
Germany's bright young star might jump to the Jewish club of North London. Good/bad idea? [The Daily Telegraph]
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Top 10 US Players who deserve to see the pitch (seriously, get rid of Donovan) [THE YANKEE HOOLIGAN]
An inside look at Chelsea's propaganda machine [Pitch Invasion]
Remember this? Well, they've been found guilty! Elder brother Shaun must be so proud! [BBC News]
Written by Darkvader on June 18th, 2008 with no comments.
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Italy 1-1 Romania
I know there were some people out there who picked Romania as the dark horse candidates for this tournament — not me, sadly, but it looks like those people were pretty smart.
After the embarrassment of their defeat against the Netherlands, Roberto Donadoni made a number of changes to the Italian lineup, bringing Daniele de Rossi and Simone Perrotta into midfield alongside Andrea Pirlo, giving Alessandro del Piero a start and rejigging the back line with Fabio Grosso and Giorgio Chiellini. Another loss would have eliminated them from the tournament, so they desperately needed to pick up at least a point here.
It was a good open game in the early stages, with Romania not playing quite as ultra-defensively as they did against France. Italy looked better than they did in their first game and had a few decent chances, but they seemed to be lacking the belief that they could win — that attitude from 2006 that said “We’re going to win this thing, and everyone else can go fuck themselves.” Romania had a few chances of their own, but I think they were a bit shaken up when Mirel Radoi had to go off partway through the first half with a broken nose and fractured cheekbone after a collision with a teammate.
Just before halftime, after a good spell of pressure from Italy, the first controversial incident: A corner for Italy, sent out to the edge of the box and chipped back in, where Luca Toni scored only to have it ruled out for offside. It was a very close call, but I’m pretty sure the linesman got that one wrong, and the Italians were justifiably aggrieved (cue much impassioned gesturing).
Things got worse for Italy early in the second half, when Romania took the lead. From a long free kick, Gianluca Zambrotta attempted to head the ball back to the goalkeeper, only for Adrian Mutu to pounce and slice his shot over Gianluigi Buffon and into the net. But the Italians responded almost immediately, with a corner that was headed back across the goal and turned in at the post by Christian Panucci.
Italy made a series of changes in the final half-hour of the game, trying to get that valuable winning goal, but were unable to break down the Romanian defence. Instead it was Romania with the chance to win the game, after they were awarded a penalty for a foul by Panucci on Daniel Niculae. (The Italians whined about this one too, but the referee got it right.) Adrian Mutu stepped up, but his shot was miraculously saved by Buffon — although it was hit fairly close to the keeper, he still had to react brilliantly to stop it with first his trailing arm and then his leg. Mutu looked like he was about to cry, and had to be subbed off soon after to stop him having a tantrum on the pitch.
So it ended 1-1, which means both teams are still clinging to life. Romania, actually, are in a slightly better position, because they have one point more, although they’ll have a few players suspended for their final game against an already-qualified Netherlands. Italy will survive if they can beat France, but they’re going to need a much better performance from Toni — it really wasn’t his day — and, of course, to sort out that defence.
Netherlands 4-1 France
The Netherlands, unlike Romania, don’t get to be a dark horse team. When you’ve played two games and handily defeated both World Cup finalists in the process, I think you have to be labelled as one of the favourites. They’ve clinched top spot in the group with this win, which means they could rest some players and take it easy against Romania in the final game; my only concern would be that if they do lose, it could mess with their usually fragile mental balance.
Anyway, Marco van Basten stuck with his winning lineup for this game, while Raymond Domenech changed things up in an attempt to inject some attacking flair into his team, moving Franck Ribery to a more central position and demoting Nicolas Anelka and Karim Benzema to the bench in favour of Thierry Henry as the lone striker (that, right there, would be the flaw in the plan, yes?).
So, yeah, that didn’t work too well for France. The Netherlands scored first in the 10th minute, with Dirk Kuyt’s header from a corner. And even after taking the lead, rather than sitting back to defend, they were brave — or wise — enough to continue pressing forward. France were struggling to hold onto possession, or at least to do much with it, with the Dutch players hustling to close them down. The French got better after the first half-hour or so, with Ribery — as expected — the source of just about everything good, but the Netherlands just kept playing their pretty triangles. In fact, they got even more offensively focusses, bringing on both Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie.
It was Van Persie who scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the 59th minute, after a fantastic bit of team play. From a throw-in deep in the Dutch half, Ruud van Nistelrooy did a sort of Zidane turn around the defender (I swear, I don’t remember him doing that sort of thing for United) and set Robben free down the left wing. He crossed the ball to Van Persie, who hit a great first-time volley. Beautiful football.
Thierry Henry scored for France 10 minutes later to bring it back to 2-1, connecting with a right-wing cross from Willy Sagnol. But Robben restored the Netherlands’ two-goal lead almost immediately from the kickoff, finishing off another mesmerizing passing move with an amazing finish from an almost impossible angle. That was pretty much game over for France, and I think the players might have just given up. And the Dutch rubbed their noses in it, Wesley Sneijder adding a fourth goal in stoppage time with a fine shot from the edge of the box.
So, France versus Italy in their final group game is not only a World Cup final rematch but also a battle for survival. That result won’t matter at all if Romania beat the Netherlands, but both teams have to go for the win (if Romania lose and the other two draw, then I think it’s decided on goal difference). If I had to pick a winner in that game, I’d say Italy, because France looked apathetic once again, while Italy were mostly just unfortunate.
Next up in Group C: France v. Italy and Netherlands v. Romania, both at 2:30 pm on Tuesday. Set your VCRs, y’all.
Bad hair of the day award: Sebastien Frey, France’s back-up keeper. No, he didn’t actually play, but his double-decker sideburns are bad enough to deserve a mention.
Written by Jen on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
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Italy VS Romania Group C match
Friday 13 th June 2008 - Match # 13
The world champion Italy shared heir points with Romania as they had a draw of 1-1 with Romania.After a goalless first half two goals game in an interval of just 1 minute in second half. Adrian Mutu scored for Romania in the 55 th minute but Cristian Panucci returned the goal in 56 th minute. Also the goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon
Written by Sudip Kafle and Sujan Kafle on June 13th, 2008 with no comments.
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Welcome to the liveblog for the Italy - Romania match. As always, the model comparison:
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Carla Bruni-Sarkozy: Even in an Italy-Romania match, I manage to work in a French connection.
Catrinel Menghia: She wins the Internets.
Once again, join me after the jump for line-ups and live-bloggisms.
Italy starting XI:
GK - Buffon
DEF - Grosso; Chiellini; Panucci; Zambrotta
MID - Camoranesi; DeRossi; Pirlo; Del Piero (C); Perrotta
ST - Toni
Note: This means that Donadoni has made some significant changes to the line-up that started the match against the Netherlands. Most importantly, the Anti-Christ (Materazzi) is on the bench.
Romania starting XI:
GK - Lobont
DEF - Contra; Tamas; Goian; Rat
MID - Radoi; Petre; Codrea; Chivu (C)
ST - Niculae; Mutu
Note: Coach Victor Piturca has replaced Cocis (MID) and Nicolita (ST) with Petre (MID) and Codrea (MID), indicating that Romania may be happy with a tie in this situation, which could be dangerous for them.
Centre official - Tom Henning Ovrebo (Norway)
Assistant referees - Geir Age Holen (Norway); Jan Petter Randen (Norway)
4th official - Ivan Bebek (Croatia)
Stadium - Letzigrund; Zurich, Switzerland
00:00 - I'm here early. Are you?
00:00 - Julie Foudy with the brilliant comment that it is "unusual" for the Italians to change 5 players from last game to this game. God kills a kitten.
00:00 - Mike establishes his bonafides as a heterosexual male by requesting less skin in future liveblogs. To be fair to me, there are no naughty bits showing, so maybe Mike needs a new job.
00:00 - Boy, Sugar Ray is singing the Romanian national anthem with some gusto. I farted just as it began - bad sign for the Romanians.
00:00 - The Fan's Attic has joined the 21st century and is now viewing the footy in HD. Good news for all of us later as he liveblogs France - Netherlands match (I recused myself from that match, as a heart attack suffered during the game would interfere with a liveblog).
00:01 - And we're off!
00:33 - Quick start for the Romanians as a cross into the box is headed wide by Mutu.
02:11 - Nice brief run from Camoranesi, but he ends up dispossessed by Tamas.
02:58 - Rat turns the ball over after a run to the midfield, but the Italian counter-attack is stopped by Goian.
03:20 - On the other end the quick Romanian counter results in an offsides call on Mutu.
04:20 - The game's first corner results from a nice run by Del Piero, but the Romanians play it out safely.
Derek Rae informs us that Italy have never lost 2 matches "on the trot", as opposed to Tottenham, who lost 4th place in the EPL because they "had the trots." HI-OH!
06:18 - A long ball over the top from Tamas is slightly too long for Mutu to reach, and Buffon eats it up.
07:50 - Free kick for Italy is struck by Pirlo directly at Chivu, and the ball ends up over the touchline for a throw. The Italians waste the opportunity.
08:58 - The Italians get the best chance yet. The ball is dropped onto Del Piero's foot, and comes out to Perrotta, who plays it back inside, only for Del Piero to head it wide.
10:48 - First appearance of the Magic Spray for Tamas.
11:35 - Free kick to the Italians as Petre blows on Luca Toni. The ball is played in too close to the Romanians, and Mutu clears the ball.
12:20 - On a quick turn-around, Camoranesi plays the ball into Toni, who is slightly too short.
13:21 - Yet another corner for Italy, but it floats across the box all the way to the opposite touchline.
14:40 - Brilliant through ball for Mutu, but Buffon absolutely stones him.
15:57 - Pirlo to Zambrotta to Gross to Toni, who heads it over the bar yet again. The Italians are passing beautifully and have had 4 legitimate chances on goal to no avail.
17:08 - Free kick for Romania, and it's a rocket taken by Tamas, forcing a good save in the corner from Buffon.
19:00 - Another free kick for Romania, and it's taken by Chivu, who hits the post (after a deflection of Panucci). The Italians clear.
19:51 - Radoi and Rat clashed while they were both going for a header, and are still down on the pitch.
21:10 - Radoi has to come off after the collision, and is replaced by Cocis (who started Romania's last match).
22:30 - Clever run Contra, with a back-heel pass returned from Petre. The ball is served in to Niculae, but the ball is cleared. The resulting corner is cleared again by Camoranesi.
22:40 - The second corner goes right to Buffon, who plays it long to Zambrotta. He is dispossessed by the Romanians, who immediately turn it over to De Rossi.
25:00 - CORRECTION. Radoi had not been replaced yet. His substitute now comes on, and it's Dica.
25:50 - Grosso plays the ball through to Del Piero, who almost gets a boot in the face for his trouble. The ball continues through and is over the endline.
26:30 - Camoranesi plays the ball into Toni in the 6-yard box, but it is headed wide yet again.
28:00 - The ball is played through the midfield for Romania, and Rat gets off an absolute cracker which goes wide of a diving Buffon. Unfortunately, it also goes just wide of the post for a goal kick.
29:01 - Mutu is offsides by 25 yards.
29:38 - The Italians turn the ball over, but Chiellini deals with the Romanian counter-attack. The ball comes out to Del Piero, who is fouled by Petre for a free kick.
30:19 - The Italian free kick is taken by Pirlo, who does shite.
31:07 - Zambrotta plays in an excellent ball to Toni, who is fronted by Tamas, and the ball is headed wide again.
31:35 - The Romanians turn over the ball and Contra fouls Del Piero at 20 yards for a dangerous free kick.
32:00 - The free kick is taken by Del Piero but is well wide and high.
33:22 - Turnover at midfield, but the Romanians fail to take advantage, playing a ball through directly to Buffon.
35:10 - Ball played through by Rat, but it goes well wide of Buffon and the goal.
37:22 - Nice ball movement by the Italians goes nowhere as Chivu steals the ball and plays it out for an Italian throw-in in their own half.
38:40 - A clusterfuck in front of goal after a cross from Zambrotta is knocked down by Toni to Perrotta's feet. The resulting corner forces a save from Lobont. The second corner is headed goal-bound by Toni but Lobont makes a brilliant save.
40:00 - The third corner for Italy is also headed goal-bound and Lobont makes a beautiful diving save which is then played out by Tamas.
41:10 - DeRossi plays a long ball too close to Lobont, who makes an easy save.
42:20 - Pirlo is fouled by Mutu, who is shown the yellow card. Sugar Ray sales dip precipitously.
43:34 - Camoranesi plays a great ball through to Del Piero, but he's offsides.
45:00(+00:15) - Nice ball movement by the Romanians results in a botched shot from Contra. The ball comes out to Chivu, who has his shot blocked. In the ensuing chaos, Del Piero fouls Mutu.
45:00 (+02:00) - NO GOAL! An Italian corner resulted from Rat playing the ball out. The corner comes in to Toni (who looked onside as the ball was played), who heads it in. Goal disallowed.
HALF-TIME - Lingering Bursitis' pick for Lobont as the MotM is looking prescient (look it up). It's so astounding, even people in Mike's office are talking about him.
45:00 - And the second half is underway!
47:00 - Italy quickly on the attack for a corner, but it results in nothing because Toni was naughty.
48:00 - Ball in from Dica to Mutu, but Buffon gets there first.
50:05 - Throw-in for the Romanians is cleared by Pirlo, but it goes right back to the Romanians.
50:31 - The Italians counter-attack, but Contra touches the ball away from Del Piero as he was readying to shoot.
51:43 - Camoranesi fouls Rat by looking at him wrong, but the resulting free kick is played to an offsides Niculae.
53:09 - Mutu gets off a nice shot but Buffon smothers it.
54:10 - GOAL! Romania 1 - Italy 0. Petre is fouled, and off the ensuing free kick the ball is played through, and Zambrotta attempts to head it to Buffon. Mutu is there, and he blasts it past Buffon.
55:50 - GOAL! Romania 1 - Italy 1. The Italians play the ball to the far post off a corner kick, and Chiellini heads it back across for Panucci to finish.
57:30 - Chivu receives a yellow card for coming through from behind.
58:21 - The Romanians press again, but the Italians clear.
58:49 - Nicolita on for Petre for Romania. UF favorite Cassano on for Perrotta for Italy.
59:30 - Yellow card for Pirlo, for knocking Nicolita off his feet.
62:46 - The ball is poked through to Toni, but he is unable to get on the end and it crosses the endline.
63:54 - DeRossi blasts a shot towards goal, but it hits Del Piero, who was offsides.
64:42 - Another ball through for Toni, but Lobont makes an excellent save. Toni was offsides anyway.
66:25 - Romania with a very long ball for Niculae, but it is too far and Buffon picks it up. The ball comes back and Toni heads the ball directly to Lobont.
69:19 - More solid midfield play from the Romanians results in a ball to Dica, which is deflected to Niculae, but the Grosso plays it out. No corner given.
70:10 - The Romanians get good pressure from Mutu to Chivu to Nicolita, but the ball is played back into the midfield. The Italians counter and win a corner off a Tamas header. The corner is played to the midfield, and a long range shot is held by Lobont right on the goal line. The Italians claim that it was over.
72:16 -Goian picks up a stupid yellow for kicking the ball away, which means that he will miss the next match as it is his 2nd yellow for this round.
72:50 - Free kick for Italy is taken by Pirlo, and it is immediately headed back out to him. The Romanians clear.
74:20 - Cassano to Toni to DeRossi but Lobont makes yet another incredible diving save.
75:11 - Mutu with a shot that is deflected out for a corner. The resulting kick is cleared but only out to Rat, who puts in a weak shot.
76:05 - Del Piero is out, Quagliarella in for Italy. Captain's armband to Buffon.
77:32 - A clever back-heel by Cassano is played back into the middle, but is chested down by Lobont. The Italians are immediately back in and Zambrotta plays the ball across the box to be cleared. The resulting corner is take well by Lobont.
79:12 - Dica receives the ball in the box, but DeRossi plays it away before he gets off a good shot. Mutu takes the corner and Niculae is taken down in the box for a PK.
80:27 - Brilliant save on Mutu from Buffon on the PK! Abso-fucking-lutely brilliant save!
82:00 - After an Italian free kick skies over the bar, we get a close-up of Mutu looking like he's about to cry.
83:27 - DeRossi with a nice challenge on Nicolita to dispossess him, and the ball comes into the 6-yard box from Grosso. The Romanians clear.
84:20 - Ambrosini on for Camoranesi for Italy.
85:10 - Cassano plays a ball into the box and Toni goes down, appealing for a PK. None given, and the ball rolls over the endline.
86:31 - Ball played forward to Cassano (who was offsides, but not called). Toni goes down in the box and grabs the ball, screaming for a PK. None given.
87:44 - Cocis on for Mutu for Romania.
88:51 - Long ball over the top for Cassano, who serves in a miserable pass (or takes a shitty shot).
89:30 - Long ball over the top flicked on to Quagliarella, who is offsides. He goes down anyway, and appeals for a PK.
90:00 (+00:59) - Gross dribbles into the box and goes down in a ridiculous flop. The ball comes out to the other hand and DeRossi is awarded a yellow for a foul on Contra. Free kick for Romania from 35 yards, but Tamas puts it wide.
FULL TIME - Romania 1 - Italy 1.
This was actually the best possible result for France - take care of business and you're in, boys!
Written by Darkvader on June 13th, 2008 with no comments.
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Netherlands 3-0 Italy
And the answer to the question of how Italy would cope without Fabio Cannavaro is: Not well at all. I can’t remember the last time they lost this badly. Maybe they should have just put Cannavaro out there anyway, crutches and all.
The game turned to shit for Italy in the 25th minute, with Ruud van Nistelrooy scoring a goal that at first appeared to be blatantly offside. The problem is that Cristian Panucci had gone down in a heap on the far side of the goal line after a collision with Gianluigi Buffon, and apparently if you read the fine print of the offside rule, he counted as the second defender playing van Nistelrooy onside. Now, if the referee and linesman knew this at the time and that’s why they let the goal stand, then well done to them, but I kind of suspect that they didn’t see that Van Nistelrooy was behind the rest of the defenders and therefore blew the call — although it ultimately turned out to be right.
Anyway, if you’re going to be nit-picky, the Netherlands maybe should have scored earlier in the first half, when van Nistelrooy was played through on goal only to be caught by Buffon and ultimately lose possession. The contact was minor, but if he’d gone down rather than staying on his feet and trying to score, he probably would’ve got the penalty.
The controversy over van Nistelrooy’s goal aside, the Dutch thoroughly deserved the win. I realize you can’t completely discount that opening goal, since it meant that Italy had to push forward more and try for an equalizer, leaving openings at the back. But even so, they were being picked apart far too easily on the counter-attack.
The second Netherlands goal was the best one of the game. It started with an Italy corner that was cleared off the line by Gio van Bronckhorst, who was involved again later in the move with a great cross-field pass to Dirk Kuyt as the Dutch counter-attacked. Kuyt headed the ball down for Wesley Sneijder, who somehow managed to hook the ball past Buffon at the near post at a near-impossible angle. Van Nistelrooy could’ve made it three before halftime, after a through ball from Rafael van der Vaart that split the defence, but this time Buffon managed to block his shot. (Despite giving up three goals — he even apologized to the fans after the game — Buffon really did play well, as did Edwin van der Sar at the other end.)
Roberto Donadoni made a series of substitutions in the second half, attempting to get his team back into the game, but it was ultimately futile. First Fabio Grosso came on for Marco Materazzi to re-jig the defence, and then Alessandro del Piero and Antonio Cassano. The offensive changes did have an effect, although not enough to actually score, while the defenders still managed to give up another goal. The Netherlands had also brought on some fresh legs, and van Bronckhorst added a third goal after yet another counter-attack in the 80th minute — Buffon blocked Kuyt’s shot but not Van Bronckhorst’s follow-up header.
Italy’s most obvious problem was the lapses at the back — I think they missed Cannavaro not only for his defensive talents but also for his ability to organize the rest of the back line. In his absence, Andreas Barzagli was mostly invisible, while Materazzi was notable mostly for being crap. But they also needed more protection from midfield. I think the Milan-based trio of Gattuso, Pirlo and Ambrosini were just too worn out after a draining season; maybe they could’ve used Daniel de Rossi in there to shore things up instead. And up front, Luca Toni did his best but should have taken a lesson in goal poaching from Ruud van Nistelrooy.
As for the Netherlands, it was a bit of redemption for Marco van Basten and his tactics. Despite their supposedly suspect defence, they did a good job of snuffing out the Italian attacks, and held on to possession well as they looked for opportunities. The bottom line for them is that cliche about attack being the best form of defence.
So, what next? The Netherlands will be boosted by picking up not only three points, but also their first win over Italy in 30 years. The Italians, meanwhile, need to use this defeat to fire themselves up for their next two games. Back in 1994, they lost their first game and still went on to reach the final, so it could happen again. But the Dutch are definitely the favourites to get out of the group right now.
Romania 0-0 France
Ok, I was dead tired yesterday to start with, but that game just about put me into a coma. I think the spectators were as bored as I was, because it was pretty quiet in the stadium. Hardly surprising, when you see stats like there being a grand total of one shot on goal in the entire game (that dubious honour goes to France, by the way).
Romania, I think, may turn out to be the Greece of 2008. They’re well organized defensively — they actually had six defenders on the pitch, with two of them nominally playing in midfield — but there’s not a whole lot else going on. Adrian Mutu had some flashes where he looked good, but I suspect he’s a bit distracted by the issues in his personal life right now. And anyway, this whole approach worked for Greece last time, so who knows.
France, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to turn this from the group of death into the group of soul-crushing ennui. They’re desperately missing the kind of creativity they used to get from Zinedine Zidane. I’m not sure that playing two defensively minded midfielders was really necessary against a team like Romania — not that starting Patrick Vieira instead would have helped that much, but Samir Nasri probably should have come on much earlier. Franck Ribery just can’t do it all on his own. Nicolas Anelka was even more useless than Thierry Henry usually is in big games, and next to him up front, Karim Benzema was mostly shooting over the bar from 30 yards out. At least he was trying. The defenders didn’t have a whole lot to do, but I think the fullbacks could’ve gotten forward more to beef up the attack.
Still, this could turn out to be like the last World Cup, when France limped through their group but made it all the way to the final — or it could be like 2002, when they went out at the group stage without scoring a single goal.
Next up in Group C: Italy v. Romania and France v. Netherlands, both on Friday
Bad hair of the day award: Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, for that bizarre headband thing and the ensuing mushroom ‘do. (Poor Gigi, it just wasn’t his day.)
Written by Jen on June 10th, 2008 with no comments.
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Hello hello folks, I trust you're all staying cold and inebriated on this fine summer's day. I am still a little shaky from yesterday's day-long bender/US v. Argentina match, but I'm up and running now.
Join me after the jump for lineups and a rather sardonic, perverted liveblog of the festivities. It's two teams I couldn't give a toss about.
Feel the excitement!
Lineups:
ROMANIA
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Lobont -- Contra, Tamas, Goian, Rat -- Cocis, Radoi, Chivu -- Nicolita, Niculae, Mutu
FRANCE
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Coupet -- Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal -- Ribery, Toulalan, Makelele, Malouda -- Anelka, Benzema
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So that's exciting. Will Ribery light up the international stage like he burns the Bundesliga? Will Mutu earn back some of that cocaine money he owes Chelsea? Will Benzema live up to the crippling level of expectation being placed upon him?
3:00 -- so far, so quiet. Cagey opening, although France are making their strategy known: attack down the wings, so help me God. For that to work, they'll need a lot better production from Malouda than he manages in the EPL.
7:00 -- Malouda coughs up the ball tamely on the flank. Tommy Smyth's voice makes me want to strangle a retiree with my bare hands.
8:00 -- A brief flourish of action: a chance for Romania on the edge of the box is smothered, Maginot-style by four frogs in blue shirts, and then a speculative long ball down to Anelka (ostensibly acting as a lone striker) results in a volley high over the bar from Nicolas on the right side of the box.
10:00 -- Smyth confirms this hypothesis. Benzema and Ribery are coming from deep, and Anelka is expected to hold the ball up for them in possession. Doesn't Domenech know that Anelka is absolutely incapable of playing this way? The guy will shoot from anywhere. As selfish as they come. If only Trezeguet were in the squad...
12:00 -- Rat is an effective defender against Ribery thus far. It's not a good sign that both commentators are showing their open excitement for the next game when this one is still very much in its infancy.
15:00 -- nice slick move by Romania set up by the long ball, which is probably the best strategy they could use against these vertically-challenged French. The deep pass is flicked back infield for Niculae, who blasts a sharp volley not far wide of the left post. Best opportunity for either side thus far.
18:00 -- minor panic in the Romanian box as Lobont comes out slowly to clear a (surprise, surprise) long ball, but the ensuing clearance amounts to nothing. Are both teams content to hoof all day? I'd like to think not...
23:00 -- Makalele gets away with yet another studs-first challenge. He loves to tackle clumsily, doesn't he? This game is dismal thus far. The aging French backline is not really being troubled, and I've yet to hear Ribery's name mentioned by Tommy Smyth. Then again, that could simply be due to his pronunciation troubles.
25:00 -- I am falling asleep. No, really, it's true. Both teams are hampered significantly by "Last Touch" disease, a delightful ailment whereby the final pass is absolutely awful. Mutu gets clattered by Toulalan, and it comes to nothing. The French get a sniff when Malouda marauds down the left flank, but his cross is to no-one and the Romanians clear.
26:00 -- Daniel Niculae sees yellow for a handball in the box after a good cross is whipped in from the left and Gallas gives him the elbow from behind while in mid-air. As Smyth correctly posits for once, you really don't see yellow cards for handballs when you're attacking. Gonzalez thought it was intentional, and it goes into the book. Most exciting moment so far. Coupet and Lobont have had plenty of time to relax and shadow box as the sun pours across the pitch from right to left.
29:00 -- Lots more passing without venom or serious intent from the French, although Ribery gets clipped and earns a free kick 30 yards out in dead center. The dead ball is promptly drilled right into the bottom of the wall and the Romanians clear.
31:00 -- A mazy run from Ribery releases Sagnol on the right, and he wastes no time in blasting the cross high and wide of everyone. Has he been taking crossing lessons from Jermaine Pennant?
33:00 -- Best chance of the match is squandered by Nicolas "PK" Anelka. A French corner from the left is taken short to Ribery, whose cross bounces in the box and while the defense hesitates, Anelka has a free header that he pops over the bar.
38:00 -- My internet is failing a little, but thankfully, the two teams literally wait for me to return before doing anything remotely exciting. The French defense has been untroubled this entire match, which is odd for them, historically-speaking. And just like that, Cosmin Contra gets a yellow for some rather childish unsportsmanlike conduct. France win a throw-in, and as Abidal saunters over to grab the ball to take it, Contra flicks it away. Petulance is apparently a universal character trait.
40:00 -- I repeat: nothing is happening. They might as well not be playing. It's action manifested with non-action.
44:00 -- Holy fuck, Lobont had to make a save. Tricky work by Benzema on the left forces the goalie into action. Then Goian hip-checks Ribery and earns Romania their third yellow of the half. Two Romania corner in quick succession amount to nothing.
45:00 -- Why is Domenech not forcing the issue more? By sitting your two best players deep in midfield, you're isolating an already-useless Anelka against 4 burly, irritated Eastern European defenders, and there's never a chance for the midfield to catch up to the attack. It's dour to watch, and Romania are quite comfortable to sit back and let this bluster and passing to happen aimlessly well away from their goal. Lobont's kit is still as pristine as it was before the national anthems.
Domenech is an idiot, and now we get the glory of the ESPN in-studio team to ease us into the second-half. I might have to go and euthanize some kittens to create some modicum of excitement in my living room.
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Ugh, let's continue this baloney again. I feel dirty watching this. It's dour, dour stuff. Thierry isn't playing thanks to failing a fitness test earlier today, and Anelka is playing like absolute pants. With every touch of the ball, Roman Abramovich sheds a tear for the amount of money wasting on this legendary malcontent.
47:00 -- Ribery is clattered to the turf by Goian, already on a yellow card, but no free kick is even given. Domenech is pissed that his mercurial midfielder is getting bullied so far today.
Second-half questions:
- Will Tommy Smyth say something exciting? Will someone score a goal? Will I say something humorous?
49:00 -- It appears that Question #2 will be the first to get an answer. Malouda works hard on the left to turn his marker inside out, only to blast his shot well into the stands. It is fast becoming the trademark of this match: tons of effort exerted amounting to no real consequence. Wasn't it a law of physics that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction? If that were the case, either this match would be tied 4-4, or everyone would be dead.
61:00 -- I just got back from taking a rather painful dump, as my body finally shed the beer, bourbon, burgers and general neglect from yesterday's festivities. It took longer than usual, but I'll be damned, I didn't miss a fucking thing. This is poor from France; while Romania are hardier than most at the back, this Bleus squad is chock-full of flair, panache, elan, brio, and other words we probably stole from the French vocabulary. They should be carving through the Cocis and Contras of the world, should they not? It brings to mind the hype and excitement they carried into World Cup '02, only to be knocked out in the opening round without scoring a single bloody goal.
As I type this, Benzema creates some space for himself at the edge of the box, nudging the ball past a prone Chivu only to scuff his shot weakly wide of the left post. Manchester United wouldn't even offer a box of baseball bats for him at this rate. Sighs, wolf-whistles, and general discontent echo around the boxy stadium.
66:00 -- Still, the French press (lol, inadvertent coffee joke) but find all their shots blocked or deflected away from danger. The longer this game goes goalless, the more I honestly believe that a simple Romanian counter-attack will bring them the winning goal.
71:00 -- can either team give me anything worth writing about? Covering this game is akin to writing book reports in school: you end up bullshitting your way through 2000 words because there's simply nothing to say.
Nicolas Anelka takes an early seat, subbed off for the pacy, dreadlocked force that is Bafetimbi Gomis. Bold prediction: he won't score either.
75:00 -- Abidal intercepts a half-hearted clearance and shoots from 40 yards. Not a bad shot, mind you, but after a dull match like this, did we really think that the left-back was going to bread the deadlock?
77:00 -- I'm close to turning this one off. Benzema is subbed off for Samir Nasri. One bright young thing for another. Karim covered 9.76 km, apparently, and had three shots. Question for you Yanks amid the commentariat: does km covered really mean anything to anyone?
Romania make a change too, as the coke fiend Mutu yields his spot to Marius Niculae.
78:00 -- Simply dismal shit. Domenech is a cunt who needs his head rearranging. Coaching tip for the second group game: you have talent in abundance. I suggest you use it instead of planting the perennial tower of sulk that is Nicolas Anelka. The moment that summed up Anelka best today: a nice bit of skill releases him on the right flank, and instead of crossing to Benzema, he hammers a shot in from the touchline instead. He's fucking terrible. Shame on you for picking him in the squad ahead of the rumored cuckold David Trezeguet. Trez at least knows how to pass. Cunt.
83:00 -- I'm done. I need to take another dump (damn cheap beer giving me stomach troubles the day after). This game has been a triumph for mediocrity, a tribute to wasted talent, and a glimmer of hope for Romania in this difficult group. I realize I am tempting the soccer gods by signing off early and expecting the result to stand, but not even Zizou could revive this limp-dick French side. Domenech.... only taking 1 point from Romania will make it nigh-on impossible to advance from this group.
Feel free to lambast me for packing up and going home early in the comments. I bet I'll now miss a Toulalan hat-trick or something. Is he even still playing? Is this a dream? Is this match actually being written in the annals of history?
Corner to French. Mange le merde, Raymond.
Adieu, le monde. I'm jealous of Precious who has a much better game in the offing soon.
Written by Darkvader on June 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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Match 5 : France VS Romania, Group C
Date : Monday 9th June, 2008
Venue : Zurich - Letzigrund
Time : 18:00 (local)
You can watch the video, highlights and descripton of the France Vs Romania match as soon as the match finishes. Just open this page and highlights of this Euro 2008 match will appear.
For now, note the time, date from above and you can watch it live either in your computer or in
Written by Sudip Kafle and Sujan Kafle on June 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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Watch the Live streaming action of France VS Romania match on EURO 2008 on your TV and PCMatch 5 : France VS Romania
Group C
Date : Monday 9th June
Venue : Zurich - Letzigrund
Time : 18:00 (local)
France is going to play its first match on the EURO 2008 against Romania. France and Romania are both on Group C with Italy and Holland. The group seems to be the tightest one since two finalist of
Written by Sudip Kafle and Sujan Kafle on June 8th, 2008 with no comments.
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For ease of my poorly HTMLing soul, I will only provide links to each shirt instead of trying to force them all into the Blogger template. Trust me, if you've seen how Blogger can mangle posts by screwing up pictures, this is a good thing.
