Match in Mind 1, by Shadiq A-H. Free of Charge.
Italy 3-1 Portugal
International Friendly
6/2/08
8.30pm
Letzigrund Stadium, Zurich
Intro: I previously said that the match I'll review is another one, not this one. But I woke up 15 minutes late for that other match, so decided to watch this match (which started 10 mins after I woke up) instead. And why not? Both these teams will (almost..) undoubtedly be contenders for this June's Euro 2008, unless they screw up really badly. And, both teams have centre midfielders who I really adore, Italy's Andrea Pirlo and Portgual's Deco.
Tactics: Both teams started with unsurprising formations. Italy in their normal soaking-up-the-pressure-in-defence-before-hitting-them-once-and-for-all style and Portugal in their 4-3-3-changing-so-effortlessly-to-4-5-1 formation. They did this for the 1st half, which was well balanced. Portugal kept attacking, but couldn't score. Italy tried creating chances and right at the end of the half, got a goal through Luca Toni. 2nd half was a surprise, though. Portugal shifted to a 4-4-2, and Italy played very attack-minded. VERY untraditional for both teams. Italy got a 2nd goal through Pirlo, Portugal got one back through Quaresma, and a min later, Italy made it 3-1 through Quagliarella. And, Italy actually looked good in this attacking style! A sign of things to come?
Tactics: Both teams started with unsurprising formations. Italy in their normal soaking-up-the-pressure-in-defence-before-hitting-them-once-and-for-all style and Portugal in their 4-3-3-changing-so-effortlessly-to-4-5-1 formation. They did this for the 1st half, which was well balanced. Portugal kept attacking, but couldn't score. Italy tried creating chances and right at the end of the half, got a goal through Luca Toni. 2nd half was a surprise, though. Portugal shifted to a 4-4-2, and Italy played very attack-minded. VERY untraditional for both teams. Italy got a 2nd goal through Pirlo, Portugal got one back through Quaresma, and a min later, Italy made it 3-1 through Quagliarella. And, Italy actually looked good in this attacking style! A sign of things to come?
My Man of the Match: Raffaele Palladino (Italy). Yes, i know.. u're going "who?". I was thinking the same thing too. It's only his 2nd match for the senior national team but looked really good. He's 23 and plays for Juventus. In this match, caught my eyes because..
1. I've never heard of him before
2. started on the left wing, and the other team's left winger was.. that Ronaldo boy.
3. had some really good touches on the ball. Was very unlucky not to score his first int'l goal, after his shot in the 65th min was well saved by Ricardo.
So, this guy really caught my eyes.
"What the..?": The only such moment in this match, i think, was when Italy changed their style in the 2nd half. If u cant see why this surprised me, picture this: 5.11 becoming a completely quiet, hostile class with no frisbees (Jon Ong..) in it. Shocked?
Commentator's memorable quotes: The commentator was quite boring, actually. haha maybe i'm jus too used to those excitable English commentators. This one had an Italian accent. I didn't catch his name, though. "That was Quaresma on the ball, not Ronaldo, I'm sorry." - Commentator
Implications/Expectations: If Italy could pull off their NEW (maybe its only temporary, though..) attacking style against Portugal and win 3-1, they are one of the favourites for Euro 2008. Their group, though, is extremely tough on paper. France, Holland, Italy, Romania. But as we all know, football isn't played on paper. Italy look like they've got a really good chance at Euro 2008, though.
End.
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