The World Cup Final
Well, I am in withdrawal today. The World Cup is over (as is Wimbledon and even baseball is at the all-star break). What the heck am I supposed to do with myself?
I thought it was a great final with plenty of twists and turns, and I won't even complain about deciding the World Cup with PKs (no it's not fair, but the players are so worn at the end of 120 minutes, I don't think more open play is a better option.)
France grabbed the lead after the somewhat questionable PK call on Malouda's run (watching live I thought it was definitely a penalty - less so on the replays, but felt like Malouda had a legitimate shout for one in the 2nd half anyway, so it evened out.)
After Zidane had drilled his PK hard left against Portugal, I saw comments by people pointing out he almost always goes that way. With that backdrop, and Buffon guessing the same, I thought it was a great PK, despite Zidane almost chipping it too high.
Immediately following the goal, France went into their "1-0 lead shell." Italy seized control of the midfield led by Pirlo, who was everywhere in the 1st half. The Italians swarmed the ball, pressuring Veira, Zidane and Makalele into giveaways and refusing to allow Ribery any space on the right. Ribery always had his back to goal and was forced inside repeatedly, robbing France of any width down the right side.
France's tactics finally came back to bite them, when Materazzi leveled with a great header over Veira from a perfect Pirlo delivery (Every Italian set piece looked like it would end in a goal.) I was thinking France would be thrilled to get in to halftime tied 1-1 (Italy was now a bigger favorite on a betting exchange than they were at 0-0 pre-game).
Zambrotta was running wild again down the right side, and Italy controlled everything, despite Totti laying another egg and Camaronesi largely doing nothing. Henry, suffering from a concussion early in the match, did wake-up but still looked a step slow to me, especially on a dangerous through ball from Zidane. France did escape the half level thanks only to the crossbar saving a Toni header and a terrific sliding tackle by Thuram, who again had a solid match.
I did not like France's chances going into halftime, but they came out of the break with renewed confidence, immediately reasserting themselves, particularly in the midfield. Italy looked exhausted after their 120 minute marathon semi against Germany, and Pirlo and Camaronesi were having trouble completing the simplest of passes.
Ribery, sprung by a deft Zidane touch in the midfield, finally broke loose and ran at the Italian defense down the right side. The ball eventually found Malouda on the left, who was taken down in the box as he was about to shoot. I don't think the ref wanted to call another PK and, like the first one, it was a tough angle to see clearly. He let it go.
I thought Viera's injury and replacement by Diarra in the 55th minute might signal another shift in the game. But France continued attacking - Pirlo made a key block on a Zidane volley from the top of the box.
Italy remained flat on attack and Lippi deicided to not only bring off the ineffective Totti, but a quiet Perotta as well, bringing in Iaquinta and DeRossi. Immediately, Toni looked to have headed the Azzuri ahead from a set piece, but was whistled for offsides. But after that, the Italians produced few opportunities (I think France ceded only 1 more corner kick through the 2nd half and both periods of ET.)
Well, the big talking point of ET was the Zidane assault on Materazzi. A couple of thoughts:
1) It didn't change much in the game - there were only 10 minutes left until PKs and I don't think either team was going to score at that point. Yes, France would have liked Zizou for the PKs, but there is no guarantee he would have scored (or replaced Trezeguet as a shooter - think he might have replaced Sagnol.)
2) Though people were pointing out Zidane's violent history (like his red card cleating of a Saudia Arabian player in the 98 Cup), he doesn't do stuff like this very often any more. The only thing that makes sense to me is that Materazzi made a racist comment - this is pure conjecture, but nothing else makes sense to me.
3) Great head butt. Didn't know the sternum was even an option.
Zidane still won the golden boot for best player at the Cup, while Christiano Ronaldo was robbed of the Best Young Player award, apparently due to his lack of fair play. Seems odd, and I still think Cannavaro deserved the award. Even if he didn't really distinguish himself in the final all that much, he didn't make any mistakes, and I thought he was clearly the best player in the Cup from start to finish. I thought they would give to Buffon if not Cannavaro - Buffon came up huge in the ET on a vicious Zidane header. Over the whole tourney, Buffon gave up 2 goals - 1 was an own goal, the other from a PK.
So it came down to a few inches on Trezeguet's PK that decided the World Cup winner - I think on balance France deserved to win, but there was little separating these sides.
I thought it was a great final with plenty of twists and turns, and I won't even complain about deciding the World Cup with PKs (no it's not fair, but the players are so worn at the end of 120 minutes, I don't think more open play is a better option.)
France grabbed the lead after the somewhat questionable PK call on Malouda's run (watching live I thought it was definitely a penalty - less so on the replays, but felt like Malouda had a legitimate shout for one in the 2nd half anyway, so it evened out.)
After Zidane had drilled his PK hard left against Portugal, I saw comments by people pointing out he almost always goes that way. With that backdrop, and Buffon guessing the same, I thought it was a great PK, despite Zidane almost chipping it too high.
Immediately following the goal, France went into their "1-0 lead shell." Italy seized control of the midfield led by Pirlo, who was everywhere in the 1st half. The Italians swarmed the ball, pressuring Veira, Zidane and Makalele into giveaways and refusing to allow Ribery any space on the right. Ribery always had his back to goal and was forced inside repeatedly, robbing France of any width down the right side.
France's tactics finally came back to bite them, when Materazzi leveled with a great header over Veira from a perfect Pirlo delivery (Every Italian set piece looked like it would end in a goal.) I was thinking France would be thrilled to get in to halftime tied 1-1 (Italy was now a bigger favorite on a betting exchange than they were at 0-0 pre-game).
Zambrotta was running wild again down the right side, and Italy controlled everything, despite Totti laying another egg and Camaronesi largely doing nothing. Henry, suffering from a concussion early in the match, did wake-up but still looked a step slow to me, especially on a dangerous through ball from Zidane. France did escape the half level thanks only to the crossbar saving a Toni header and a terrific sliding tackle by Thuram, who again had a solid match.
I did not like France's chances going into halftime, but they came out of the break with renewed confidence, immediately reasserting themselves, particularly in the midfield. Italy looked exhausted after their 120 minute marathon semi against Germany, and Pirlo and Camaronesi were having trouble completing the simplest of passes.
Ribery, sprung by a deft Zidane touch in the midfield, finally broke loose and ran at the Italian defense down the right side. The ball eventually found Malouda on the left, who was taken down in the box as he was about to shoot. I don't think the ref wanted to call another PK and, like the first one, it was a tough angle to see clearly. He let it go.
I thought Viera's injury and replacement by Diarra in the 55th minute might signal another shift in the game. But France continued attacking - Pirlo made a key block on a Zidane volley from the top of the box.
Italy remained flat on attack and Lippi deicided to not only bring off the ineffective Totti, but a quiet Perotta as well, bringing in Iaquinta and DeRossi. Immediately, Toni looked to have headed the Azzuri ahead from a set piece, but was whistled for offsides. But after that, the Italians produced few opportunities (I think France ceded only 1 more corner kick through the 2nd half and both periods of ET.)
Well, the big talking point of ET was the Zidane assault on Materazzi. A couple of thoughts:
1) It didn't change much in the game - there were only 10 minutes left until PKs and I don't think either team was going to score at that point. Yes, France would have liked Zizou for the PKs, but there is no guarantee he would have scored (or replaced Trezeguet as a shooter - think he might have replaced Sagnol.)
2) Though people were pointing out Zidane's violent history (like his red card cleating of a Saudia Arabian player in the 98 Cup), he doesn't do stuff like this very often any more. The only thing that makes sense to me is that Materazzi made a racist comment - this is pure conjecture, but nothing else makes sense to me.
3) Great head butt. Didn't know the sternum was even an option.
Zidane still won the golden boot for best player at the Cup, while Christiano Ronaldo was robbed of the Best Young Player award, apparently due to his lack of fair play. Seems odd, and I still think Cannavaro deserved the award. Even if he didn't really distinguish himself in the final all that much, he didn't make any mistakes, and I thought he was clearly the best player in the Cup from start to finish. I thought they would give to Buffon if not Cannavaro - Buffon came up huge in the ET on a vicious Zidane header. Over the whole tourney, Buffon gave up 2 goals - 1 was an own goal, the other from a PK.
So it came down to a few inches on Trezeguet's PK that decided the World Cup winner - I think on balance France deserved to win, but there was little separating these sides.
posted by the idiot at 9:46 AM
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