Italy-Spain: Old Europe, New History?

2008-09-10T06:59:35-04:00

2008-06-22T09:48:11-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:33-04:00

2008-06-23T19:31:51-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/436/805/thumb/chargers218_51441.jpg 155 MS

Notorious O.T.T.

Hattiesburg 437245

actually go back and watch the france v. romania or any game involving greece to see the ugliest game of the tournament. 2048293

2008-06-22T17:49:40-04:00

Guy with an accent

New Albany 389883

Agree, no_tr.... 2039800

2008-06-22T17:35:25-04:00

275

no_trolling_please

No City 128849

worst game of the tournament so far. Italy played like Italy and Spain played like a lowest level german amateur club (Kreisliga). A total disgrace. All players involeved should be ashamed and stop playing football. I hope that the journos took a lesson today: big names mean nothing. Big names are created by PR and journos. Villa? Sucked. The whole italian team? Sucked. The only player who did not suck today was the the spanish goal keeper. Germayn vs Portugal - that was an exciting, a good game. Russia vs Dutch - at least the Russians played football. Spai vs Italy? An insult! They should give the fans the money back - and take it from the players. Congratualitions to spain for its first victory against Italy in how many years? 50? 70? 80? But the 'how' is simply horrible. I hope everybody involved keeps their mouth shut. 2039789

2008-06-22T17:35:12-04:00

Guy with an accent

New Albany 389883

ok, Sanguine Teddy. Whatever. 2039788

2008-06-22T17:32:38-04:00

116

Hador

No City 24628

So Grant finally got one right ;) Anyway this definitely the ugliest of all the quarter final games. Russia - Spain should make for an interesting semi, two offensively minded teams with rather shaky defenses. I doubt Spain will have it as easy as in the first match but I still think they are the favorites in this one. 2039783

2008-06-22T17:25:00-04:00

ExMax

Big northern country 442690

OK. Russia - Spain again. Real Deja Vu 2039693

2008-06-22T16:38:03-04:00

SanguineTeddy

Jackson Heights 413749

The Italians (in the first half, anyway) were hacking away at the Spanish players' legs! Clear fouls! Not common contact at all. I agree with Davidglenn completely. 2039652

2008-06-22T15:52:35-04:00

Davidglenn

Saint Paul 438773

The Italian defenders through the first half have been getting away with murder, including in the penalty area. Spain should have had at least two penalties by now, and anywhere in their defensive third Italy have been unafraid of hacking and jarring at the Spanish because the referee can't find his whistle. This officiating has been pretty poor so far, and the Italian side has really profited from it. 2039558

2008-06-22T15:40:38-04:00

Guy with an accent

New Albany 389883

Hi Sanguine Teddy, you may not follow soccer much. Those are very common contacts in the penalty area that no referee would ever sanction with a penalty. If the Spaniards stopped diving like thay had been shot, may be they would get some calls. Italy had to stop two fastrbreaks to help the "injured" Spanish players. That been said, Spain is playing better and there is no way Italy can score playing like this. Donadoni needs to put Camoranesi or Di Natale in for Aquilani, who looks completely lost... 2039491

2008-06-22T15:29:25-04:00

SanguineTeddy

Jackson Heights 413749

a THIRD one! ugh, this is really bad. 2039488

History shouldn’t matter in international soccer, should it? I look at the players who will take the field for Spain against Italy today in the Euro 2008 quarterfinals (2:45 p.m. ET, ESPN), and I think: these Spanish players—supremely talented, meticulously prepared, forged in the world’s toughest leagues—have nothing to do with the Spanish players who lost to Italy in the 1994 World Cup quarterfinals. In turn, these Italian players have nothing to do with that ’94 team—or with any of the other Italian teams that have beaten Spain in every official competition in which they’ve faced each other since the 1920 Olympics. History shouldn’t matter, right? And yet the stereotypes of Spanish and Italian soccer are known even to most casual American followers of the sport. Spain looks great in the group stage and loses its mojo once it hits the knockout rounds. Italy starts slowly, barely survives the group stage and turns into a world-beater when the games really matter. Stereotyping by nationality, of course, should offend the intellectual sensibilities of everyone who does it. But then you see all the evidence in this case and start to wonder again. Before the World Cup two years ago, I spoke with a Boston University professor and sports psychologist named Leonard Zaichkowsky, who had been hired by the Spanish national team to work with its players on positive thinking before and during World Cup ’06. He didn’t shy away from the notion (prevalent among Spanish fans) that La Furia Roja has a Boston Red Sox-style curse on it. “We’ve tried to talk about that from day one,” Zaichkowsky told me. “My position is I had a lot of training in Boston with the whole business of curses and you can’t win the big one. It’s virtually identical to Spain. There’s a curse on us. Certainly they have highly skilled players. You’ve got to emphasize from the get-go that they’re a different group of highly talented individuals led by a good coach. You’re different.” In the end, that Spanish team was no different after all. It breezed through the group stage only to be upset in the second round by France. And so here we are again. Spain has bagged three straight wins in group play on the shoulders of David Villa, the leading scorer of Euro 2008. Italy has sputtered, losing its first game (to the Netherlands), barely scratching out a tie against Romania (thanks to a late penalty-kick save by Gigi Buffon) and beating France to somehow survive until today. Its top goal-scoring threat, Luca Toni, has not found the net yet. Nor do the on-the-field circumstances favor the Azzurri. Their most creative midfielder, Andrea Pirlo, is out on yellow-card suspension, as is roving pitbull (and Dolce & Gabbana underwear pitchman) Gennaro Gattuso. Injured World Cup heroes Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi have been out as well, forcing Italy to put together a makeshift backline. Italy’s most important player today may well be Pirlo stand-in Daniele De Rossi, whose claim to fame (at least in the U.S.) is that he maliciously broke the face of Brian McBride in the last World Cup. Spain, meanwhile, has a lot going for it: rested players, the tournament’s most dangerous front line (Villa and Fernando Torres), a technically masterful midfield (led by Xavi and Andrés Iniesta), a scary bench (Cesc, Xabi Alonso, Dani Güiza) and one of the world’s best goalkeepers (Iker Casillas). The Spanish haven't lost in 19 games, and they have won nine in a row. If Italy wins this quarterfinal, I’ll have to finally accept that history matters much more than I think it should in world soccer. But curses have to end at some point, right? Even the Red Sox won the World Series. Deep breath: Spain 1, Italy 0. Who do you like today? Please post your thoughts below and come back after the game for the next edition of the Euro 2008 Blog ... 1316 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615