Forza Italia

[GTNavyNuke]

In futbol, for me there is only Italy, Brazil and Argentina for pure beauty of the game in passing.

I'll pull for the US and Italy. Anyone else have a favorite?

Italy 2, England 1. But as they say in football, it wasn't as close as the score. That second goal by Italy where the Italian player faked a kick and let the ball go through his legs to a team mate was pure beauty.

 

[OldJacketFan]

Fun game to watch, though Rooney, Gerrard, Sturridge and Banes ALL missed the net on shots that the Italy goalie would have had zero chance of saving

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Fun game to watch, though Rooney, Gerrard, Sturridge and Banes ALL missed the net on shots that the Italy goalie would have had zero chance of saving

Your point?

There's a reason the Pope is inside Italy.

 

[OldJacketFan]

Your point?

There's a reason the Pope is inside Italy.

Point taken, wasn't it Italy that was the beneficiary of the "golden hand" a few World Cups ago?

 

[OldJacketFan]

How bad was the injury to the best striker in the world, Luis Suarez, for Uruguay to sit him today?

 

[forensicbuzz]

Italy 2, England 1. But as they say in football, it wasn't as close as the score.

I agree with above. England dominated the game and should have won by 2-3 goals. There were two beautiful goals by Italy (the 2nd one a bad play by England).

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Point taken, wasn't it Italy that was the beneficiary of the "golden hand" a few World Cups ago?

Argentina. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Maradona

Hand of God is what I'm thinking of. Like I said, the Italians, Brazilians and Argentinians play the game with a passing beauty that even I can appreciate. I had to break habit today and drink Chianti for the game ...... in the Italia shirt from the last World Cup.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

I agree with above. England dominated the game and should have won by 2-3 goals. There were two beautiful goals by Italy (the 2nd one a bad play by England).

Did you listen to the ESPN3 feed with the English announcers? They sounded like GT fans / engineers looking for ways that their team would lose. It all gets back to "Networks" (Italy) versus "Hierarchies" (England). The Italians were so much more free flowing. The English played like Germans.

 

[OldJacketFan]

It was nice to see England being the aggressor for most of the match, you can see the influence of the Dutch and South American teams that has come through the EPL. For decades England was a defensive minded, attack only when you had a clear advantage team. Watching Sturridge, Baines, Sterling today you see a strong future for England.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

I agree England played well. They had a 91% passing rate - highest ever for them in a World Cup game.

Italy had a 93.2% passing rate - the highest of any World Cup game since 1966. http://www.firstpost.com/sports/number-cruncher-incredible-stats-from-england-vs-italy-1571351.html

England just had a lot of shots go wide and appear out of control. The ball design allows for a lot of spin / english {tic}. Looking at the shot chart at http://www.cbssports.com/world-cup/matchtracker/WCS_20140614_ITA@ENG , England had more shots, but they weren't quality shots. And I agree with the comment at 77 minutes "77' -- I do believe Wayne Rooney just unleashed the worst corner kick in the history of soccer."

I still love the first goal at 34' (not second like I said earlier) where the Italian let the ball go between his legs to his team mate. The CBS game summary is really quite good. I looked for TOP, but couldn't find it.

And as for the weather, 81F and 73% humidity isn't bad. Who cares if it's in a rain forest. They should try playing in the South in August.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I'm not a soccer (read: futbol) aficionado at all, so much of the nuance of the game is a struggle for me. I enjoy watching excellent play in soccer like I do in hockey. Watching either of these sports makes me understand why people say baseball is boring. It's because they truly don't understand what is going on. To me, baseball is one of the most exciting games played; it's a chess match.

My comments above were based solely on the eye-ball test. What I saw was England pressing the advantage much more than Italy, and some really excellent shots on goal for England. There were some tough breaks and then some really lousy final shots. I laughed out loud when Rooney shanked that corner. The free kick by the Italian at the end of the game was sick (that's for whomever it was that said they didn't like the use of "sick") and the goal keeper didn't have a chance.

 

[cyptomcat]

U S A
U S A
U S A

 

[GTNavyNuke]

2-1 USA!!

 

[OldJacketFan]

Congrats USA futbollers!!!!!!!!!! WTG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Costa Rico?? Italy looked awful from the last 20 minutes I got to watch.

Redemption can come through Uruguay Tuesday at noon.

Hopefully the US beats Portugal tomorrow. But they aren't the predominant favorite like Italy was......

 

[GTNavyNuke]

And it's over for Italy. 0-1 to Uruguay.

All I saw was the ESPN highlights, three bad calls by the refs. Worst was Suarez from Uruguay biting the Italian and the Italian getting the card. Usually can't beat the other team when it includes the refs. I got home and they didn't have the replay till 3AM....... so anyone thinking about watching the ESPN replay of the US-Germany match better DVR it!

Four years from now Italy will be back

 

[OldJacketFan]

Nuke, horrible officiating. Someday soon someone's going to take out Suarez' teeth, that was the 3rd time he's bitten someone in competition. Does he think he's Dracula????????

 

[GTNavyNuke]

At the least Suarez should be banned from further World Cup play this tournament. Period. I'd like a lifetime ban, but that can wait till later. It was very clear as his head went down to bite the Italian and that action is what initiated contact. ...... Never happen in football where two players would grab the QBs legs and pull them apart after the play ........

Bad officiating is part of many games. It especially hurts in soccer where the games are so low scoring that there seems to be more randomness. I don't have a good feeling about the US game, but I think we go through. I'm going to post something over there.

 

[OldJacketFan]

I saw some FIFA clown afterward saying "he didn't see the play". Well were you drunk, stupid, blind or all of the above? Between the IOC and FIFA I'm not sure who's more corrupt!

It's too bad the Italian player's elbow wasn't thrown a with a little more authority and better aim!

 

[GTNavyNuke]

He probably also works for the NCAA. Intentionally stupid. Bottom line though, Italy didn't play well enough to deserve to go on.

Uruguay should also have to play a player down for the rest of their tournament. At least in futbol there is the ability for the refs to yellow card someone who is acting hurt or whatever. I wish we had that in our football games.