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Azzurri & Les Bleus: Destinies Intertwined with Oranje… and Biscuits

Monday, June 16th, 2008

For all those of you who understand a bit of Italian (at least enough to scan through headlines of sports websites), the big boot’s topic of conversation these past few days gravitated around a Dutch-Romanian “biscotto”. Huh? Biscotto? Doesn’t that mean “biscuit”? Indeed it does, but in the language of Dante Alighieri it also has a secondary meaning.

The Fantagrumo blog has an excellent explanation, which I’ve translated below:

“Biscotto” is an Italian colloquialism often employed in soccer (or other sports), used to describe a result secretly agreed upon in advance by two athletes or teams. It is practically synonymous with the French word “combine”, which can be translated in English as “trick”, “scheme” or “fiddle”. A “combine” is a close pact made to fix the result of a match before it actually takes place, usually in exchange for money (essentially, we are talking about corruption). “Biscotto” is more specific in the sense there need not be an exchange of money, because the secretly-agreed-upon result is of mutual benefit to the agreeing parties.

Actions taken in result of a “combine” or “biscotto” may vary: from losing a game deliberately, allowing an opponent to tie the game, or intentionally failing to man-mark an opposing striker. The direct result of the secret agreement naturally damages a third party, which is usually a direct opponent of those involved in the scheme.

The word “biscotto” derives from the latin root bis-coctum, which litterally means “cooked twice”: effectively, two teams are gaining an advantage while damaging a third (or a fourth). One could even be using the expression “killing two birds with one stone”.

The Azzurri’s history in the Euro championships already bears witness to a “biscotto”. During Euro 2004, Italy had tied its first two matches against Denmark and Sweden, and was left with the obligation to beat Bulgaria on matchday 3, all the while hoping that Denmark vs. Sweden would not end in a tie (a result which would have sent both Scandinavian teams to the quarter-finals). What do you know? The match ended 2-2.

In the case of Netherlands vs. Romania, the term “biscotto” is being used because both teams would benefit from a Romanian victory: Romania would qualify to the quarter-finals as 2nd-ranked, Netherlands would simultaneously get rid of two title favorites Italy and France (which, in case you didn’t notice, could potentially play Holland again in the Semi-Finals).

That’s for the Italian etymology lesson. With that said, everyone in Italy (and in France I guess) can only hope that Netherlands will be good sports and play their last match to win (despite the fact they will undoubtedly field many reserve players).

Gazzetta tells us more about it:

MOEDLING (Austria), 14 June 2008 – And now it’s France-Italy. Rather, it’s Netherlands-Romania. Just like four years ago in Portugal, the scary shadow of a “biscotto” (an unspoken agreement) hangs over the fate of the Azzurri. And over that of their French neighbours. Michel Platini, UEFA President, will be sitting next to FIGC President Giancarlo Abete in the stands at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich. It’s a common fate.

MARCO AND FATE – Hitting the nail right on the head… What will Holland do? What will be their starting line-up? Will they give Romania the green light? Those are all valid questions. William Gaillard, UEFA spokesman, stated that “no one can impose a specific line-up on a coach.” Especially when the team has already qualified for the next round. It’s a gargantuan dilemma in other words, but Roberto Donadoni doesn’t have doubts.

“I know Marco Van Basten quite well” says the Italian coach. “He is an honest, fair and competent man and these qualities are already a guarantee.” The Don trusts his friend, whom he hasn’t seen in six months except for the sad circumstances on Monday in Bern. The Azzurro coach considers the Oranje’s so-called ’second team’ to be very interested in proving their value, both to their coach and to the first team. And he gives an example: “In the group round of Euro 2000, we had already qualified but we beat Sweden 2-0 with many ‘reserves’” (indeed, Dino Zoff made eight changes for that game).

DIFFERENCE OF OPINIONS – The opinions run high in the Dutch camp. Giving away the match? “We always play to win“, reassures Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar. This opinion is shared by Arjen Robben, one of the Oranje’s stars against France: “It will be a game where we can have fun, but we are playing to win; I always play to win.” Ruud van Nistelrooy has a different opinion and honestly admits: “These matches are tackled differently when you don’t have to worry about qualifying.”

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Euro 2008: Group C Qualification Scenarios (Italy, France, Romania)

Saturday, June 14th, 2008

Man don’t you just hate this? Being forced to ask the “what if” question repeatedly and make calculations, in order to find out your team’s chances of qualifying? And to think that all could be avoided simply by winning the first two group games.

Alas for the Azzurri, we already know that ship has sailed. Let’s see if they can catch up with Netherlands with a late flight or something…

.

Matchday 2: Group C Standings

First let’s start with the group standings after matchday 2. Here’s the situation:

Rank
Team
PTS
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
1
Netherlands
6
2
2
0
0
7
1
+6
2
Romania
2
2
0
2
0
1
1
0
3
France
1
2
0
1
1
1
4
-3
4
Italy
1
2
0
1
1
1
4
-3

As you can tell from the table, Netherlands have already clinched their qualification and are mathematically guaranteed of ranking 1st. Romania, France, and Italy are therefore left to contend 2nd spot.
.

Straight from the rulebook…

First, let’s make the rules & regulations clear for everyone. The following is straight from the “Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship” document, article 7.07:

Equality of points after the group matches

Article 7.07

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of all the matches in their group, the following criteria will be used to determine the rankings in the order given:

a) number of points obtained in the matches among the teams in question;
b) goal difference in the matches among the teams in question;
c) numbers of goals scored in the matches among the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points);
d) goal difference in all the group matches;
e) number of goals scored in all the group matches;
f) coefficient from the qualifying competitions for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and 2006/08 UEFA European Football Championship (points obtained divided by the number of matches played);
g) fair play conduct of the teams (final tournament);
h) drawing of lots;

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Group C Qualification Scenarios

Ok, so now that we’ve established tie-breaking criteria, let’s look at win/draw/loss scenarios for the last two group games:
.

Netherlands
vs.
Romania
France
vs.
Italy
2nd-ranked
……Tie-breaker
.
.
.
.
NETHERLANDS
FRANCE
FRANCE
(points)
.
.
NETHERLANDS
by 2 or less
scoreless draw
ROMANIA
d) Goal difference in all the group matches
.
.
NETHERLANDS
by 3-0 or more
scoreless draw
ITALY
f) FIFA/UEFA coefficient
.
.
NETHERLANDS
by 4-1, 5-2, etc.
scoreless draw
ROMANIA
e) Nº of goals scored in all group matches
.
.
NETHERLANDS
draw with goals
ITALY
c) Goals scored in ROM / ITA / FRA matches
.
.
NETHERLANDS
ITALY
ITALY
(points)
.
.
draw
FRANCE
FRANCE
(points)
.
.
draw
draw
ROMANIA
(points)
.
.
draw
ITALY
ITALY
(points)
.
.
ROMANIA
FRANCE
ROMANIA
(points)
.
.
ROMANIA
draw
ROMANIA
(points)
.
.
ROMANIA
ITALY
ROMANIA
(points)
.
.

.

Scenarios 2, 3, 4, and 5 deserve some further explanation.

Netherlands beat Romania by 2 goals or less, Italy vs. France ends 0-0
In this scenario, Romania, Italy, and France end up with 2 points each and with identical goal differences and goals scored (when considering only the France vs. Romania, Italy vs. Romania, and France vs. Italy matches). Thus, the 4th tie-breaking criterion (d) applies and ROMANIA qualifies based on their better global goal differential.

Rank
Team
PTS
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
1
Netherlands
9
3
3
0
0
9
1
+8
2
Romania
2
3
0
2
1
1
3
-2
3
Italy
2
3
0
2
1
1
4
-3
4
France
2
3
0
2
1
1
4
-3

.

Rank
Team
PTS
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
1
Italy
2
2
0
2
0
1
1
0
1
Romania
2
2
0
2
0
1
1
0
3
France
2
2
0
2
0
0
0
0

.
Netherlands beat Romania 3-0, Italy vs. France ends 0-0
Once again Romania, Italy, and France end up with 2 points each and with identical goal differences and goals scored (when considering only the France vs. Romania, Italy vs. Romania, and France vs. Italy matches) and also identical goal differences and goals scored globally in group C. Thus, the 5th tie-breaking criterion (f) applies (FIFA/UEFA coefficient from World Cup 2006 and Euro 2008 qualifying campaigns: points obtained divided by the number of matches played), which sees ITALY ranked higher than Romania and France.

Rank
Team
PTS
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
1
Netherlands
9
3
3
0
0
10
1
+9
2
Italy
2
3
0
2
1
1
4
-3
3
Romania
2
3
0
2
1
1
4
-3
4
France
2
3
0
2
1
1
4
-3

.

Rank
Team
PTS
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
1
Italy
2
2
0
2
0
1
1
0
1
Romania
2
2
0
2
0
1
1
0
3
France
2
2
0
2
0
0
0
0

.
Netherlands beat Romania by 4-1, 5-2, etc. (i.e. Romania lose by 3 goals but score at least one), Italy vs. France ends 0-0
In this scenario, Romania, Italy, and France end up with 2 points each and with identical goal differences and goals scored (when considering only the France vs. Romania, Italy vs. Romania, and France vs. Italy matches). Thus, the 5th tie-breaking criterion (e) applies and ROMANIA qualifies based on their higher global number of goals scored.

Rank
Team
PTS
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
1
Netherlands
9
3
3
0
0
11
2
+9
2
Romania
2
3
0
2
1
2
5
-3
3
Italy
2
3
0
2
1
1
4
-3
4
France
2
3
0
2
1
1
4
-3

.

Rank
Team
PTS
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
1
Italy
2
2
0
2
0
1
1
0
1
Romania
2
2
0
2
0
1
1
0
3
France
2
2
0
2
0
0
0
0

.

Netherlands beat Romania, Italy vs. France ends in a draw with goals
In this case, Romania, Italy, and France end up with 2 points each and with identical goal differences (when considering only the France vs. Romania, Italy vs. Romania, and France vs. Italy matches). However since Romania vs. France ended 0-0, and because of the goal they already scored vs. Romania (on matchday 2), any goal scored in the match vs. France (matchday 3) puts ITALY above the lot for the 3rd tie-breaking criterion (c).

Rank
Team
PTS
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
1
Netherlands
9
3
3
0
0
8
1
+7
2
Italy
2
3
0
2
1
1
2
-1
3
Romania
2
3
0
2
1
1
2
-1
4
France
2
3
0
2
1
2
5
-3

.

Rank
Team
PTS
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
1
Italy
2
2
0
2
0
2
2
0
2
Romania
2
2
0
2
0
1
1
0
3
France
2
2
0
2
0
1
1
0

.

Phew! That burnt a few brain cells…

I’d just like to say I spent a fair amount of time researching this, so technically I should have gotten everything right. However feel free to point out any mistakes and/or ask questions if you need further explanations.

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Posted in Azzurri, Euro 2008 | 6 Comments »

Post-Dutch Debacle: Roberto Donadoni Speaks

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

(From La Repubblica): Monday night’s 3-0 loss to the Netherlands was Italy’s worst defeat in an European Championship. Ever. Needless to say, the mood wasn’t exactly jovial in Tuesday morning’s press conference at the Azzurri training ground, and plenty of criticism was reserved for the big man in the dugout. Among the Don’s charges: bad tactical choices, underestimating the extent of Italy’s humiliation, inability to read the game, and inadequate fitness preparation for his players. With his usual calmness and politeness, Roberto Donadoni however defended his choices and declared not to be surprised at headlines calling for the return of Marcello Lippi. “I was expecting it“, said Donadoni. “I’m not foolish enough to think people would not have made the comparison. This defeat however does not alter my convictions“.

The main focus of the journalists’ questions this morning was targeted at the choice for Italy’s starting eleven, and the embarassing performance of a wide number of players (the backline in particular). “Based on Monday’s final result, one could say the formation was completely inappropriate, but there are no means to verify the alternative. In my view tactics weren’t the mistake. The mistake was not scoring with the chances we obtained and conceding on our defensive errors. Different players and tactics don’t guarantee you avoiding missed chances or making mistakes.” Regarding the two center-backs (the most heavily criticized part of the starting eleven), Donadoni backed up his initial choice. “I envy those telling me that during practice, they noticed Barzagli and Materazzi out of shape” said Donadoni sarcastically. “My choice was based on the current roster availability and the experience I have had with these players in the past 2 years. Did Barzagli always play poorly? I don’t think so, it may happen that he will play one match poorly, but this doesn’t cancel all of his previous performances“.

Other attacks toward Donadoni included his of the midfield trio (Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini), made up exclusively of AC Milan players aka the most disappointing team of the season, while the protagonists of one of AS Roma’s best seasons ever (De Rossi, Aquilani, Perrotta) were left on the bench. “If I reasoned that way” replied the Italian coach, “I should have left everyone from AC Milan at home. We are talking about quality players here. You are free to say that De Rossi, Chiellini, and Aquilani should have all played. However that’s a little over-simplistic“.

Despite defending his choices, Donadoni is open to making changes in the Azzurri’s next match. “Changing things” he says” is in the natural logic and order of things. We will have to evaluate the physical recuperation of the boys, something which will have to wait until tomorrow. Everyone went to sleep at 4am last night, and this doesn’t give us the opportunity of making a clear assessment.” As far as what changes lie ahead however, that’s still an open question. Truth be told, the Azzurri’s second half Monday was not as dramatic at the first, and many are wondering whether a tactical change involving Del Piero and Cassano supporting Toni would be an indicated solution. Perhaps coupled with the other “consoling factor” of Monday night’s performance, namely the utilization of Christian Panucci in lieu of an embarassing Marco Materazzi, and the confirmation of a super-fit Fabio Grosso on the left wing.

“I was satisfied with the performance of our substitutes in the second half, and using those tactics against Romania, with Del Piero playing as a second striker just like he likes to do, could be the right choice” said Donadoni. “However, we must also take into consideration that at that point, Holland started focusing on defense in order to avoid taking risks, and that allowed us to push up more freely.” The Don declared that Italy’s formation could also change, perhaps to the 4-1-4-1 that has worked so well on other occasions: “We might use that formation, but there are plenty of other options. Playing with 4 midfielders leaves us the problem of finding someone to play the left-wing role, as we don’t have a specialist in the squad“. Indeed, the player which could probably fill those shoes best is Simone Perrotta, who is right-footed and plays more towards the center. Not the most ideal solution.

In other words, the Don was on the defensive but there were a few issues that, much like the Oranje on Monday, caught the Italian coach wrong-footed. For instance, the fact that on top of Holland deserving their victory, they also dominated the Azzurri in ball possession, passing accuracy, and shots on target. Or the fact that Gigi Buffon himself admitted this was “the national team’s worst match in the past 12 years”. “I won’t comment what Buffon declared to the press. He didn’t say that to me. Playing one match poorly happens, but this doesn’t cancel all past and previous performances. We lost 3-0, badly, and it might even have been our worst match in the past 2, 12, or 22 years. The only thing left to do now is to bow our heads down and start working, pick up and move forward to prevent it from happening again. We must archive this match and roll up our sleeves.”

Editor’s note: It is interesting to note that, just like every bit of news in general, declarations can often be subject to interpretation. I chose to present La Repubblica’s report here because it is far more optimistic towards our future than… say La Gazzetta’s (in English).

Below you can find bits of the press conference (in Italian).

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Netherlands 3-0 Italy: The Aftermath

Monday, June 9th, 2008

After a match like this, one would normally do well to take a night’s rest to carefully analyze the situation, see what went wrong, and what can be done to correct it. That is undoubtedly what Roberto Donadoni and his players will be doing over the next few days, to make sure that this debacle isn’t repeated vs. Romania.

I, on the other hand, have the luxury to live in timezone where a night’s rest isn’t necessary: at 7′o clock in the evening I can attempt to take a preliminary guess at why (oh why) Italy conceded 3 goals tonight, without scoring any.
.

Culprit nº1: The Defense (in particular the center-backs)

When a team concedes 3 goals, it’s pretty obvious: it is either the defense’s fault, the goalkeeper’s fault, or both. When you have someone like Gigi Buffon, you’re pretty much covered goalkeeping-wise. Gigi’s clearance on Van der Vaart’s cross may not have been impeccable (he could have played it safe by deflecting the ball into corner), you can’t really fault Italy’s nº1 for the 1-0.

Materazzi-Barzagli now… that’s a whole other story. Before tonight, these two had played together competitively only once (and that was over a year ago). After tonight’s performance, it seems fairly obvious that that one match wasn’t enough: cohesion, covering, and man-marking were all horribly off the mark today. No one without exception thought Cannavaro’s injury would be easy to overcome, but to think that his absence would weigh so heavily onto a team which, over the years, has made of defense of their strongest weapons, was absolutely unthinkable. Over the next few days, Donadoni’s biggest efforts will have to be focused on this problem, because a solution is needed. Fast.

Materazzi’s match (much like his season this year) was mediocre at best. My guess is that he just doesn’t have reliability anymore, he has lost his place as a starter. Barzagli wasn’t all that better to be honest, but at least one step higher than his Inter colleague. Unfortunately, alternatives aren’t exactly abundant in the Azzurri camp. Giorgio Chiellini had a phenomenal season with Juve in this role, but his recent test-match with Barzagli during practice ended with his team conceding five goals. Not the greatest of omens. Christian Panucci did a little better as he reverted to center-back during today’s match, but not by a great stretch. However, Fabio Grosso’s rising match-form (both during training and vs. Netherlands) would make this solution the most likely choice for the match against Romania.
.

Culprit nº2: The Offside

You can say whatever you want about the Azzurri’s performance: they didn’t play well, they made too many mistakes, Holland deserved their win, blah blah blah. The fact of the matter is that, at the end of the day, the pivotal point in this match was Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s 1-0 goal. Was it offside, was it not offside? The key element to consider here is Panucci’s position at the time of Van Bronckhorst’s shot. There is absolutely no question that RVN was a good 2-3 yards past Andrea Barzagli at that time, so the question is: did the linesman base his call by considering Panucci was in fact in play, or is he just fu**ing blind as a bat?

No doubt UEFA will come up with some kind of statement in the next few days to clear this up, but my take on the matter: Panucci was out of the playing field, not participating in the play, and therefore cannot be considered as keeping RVN onside. Big fu**ing mistake by the linesman in my opinion.
.

Culprit nº3: Roberto Donadoni

Well, undoubtedly the coach is going to get some blame for this. Ultimately a few of his choices directly led to the Azzurri’s defeat today, but the question is: would anyone have done differently?

Starting from the Materazzi-Barzagli pick, it was undoubtedly a mistake that backfired, but in all honesty and in Donadoni’s defense: I would have chosen the exact same men. Materazzi had the experience, the reliability with the Azzurri shirt, and seemed the most ideal candidate to replace Fabio Cannavaro. Recent tests made with Chiellini-Barzagli hadn’t exactly been promising (see above), so the only other viable alternative was to put Panucci in the center and Grosso on the left. Something which, given the Lyon wing-back’s limited contribution to the defensive effort, Donadoni was probably not ready to risk.

By the same token, the Don’s choice at picking Massimo Ambrosini over Daniele De Rossi can be defended with the same arguments: “playing it safe” vs. “taking a chance”. Ambrosini gives more to the defensive effort than DDR, and his entente with AC Milan teammates Pirlo & Gattuso gives plenty of reliability (usually) to Italy’s midfield. Faced with a tough opponent like Holland, my guess is that Donadoni wanted to play the containment card early, leaving the ace of creativity to the likes of Pirlo, Di Natale, and Camoranesi. Given how things have turned out today, this was obviously the wrong choice but once again, crucifying Donadoni for it would be unjustified.

Now with that said, let’s leave the Devil’s advocate vest on the coat hanger and look at what Donadoni did do wrong (and should take blame for). Firstly the substitutions: they came too late. Had the score been only 0-1, one could have understood the Don not wanting to take too many chances just yet. However, the Azzurri were already two goals down at the break and considerably suffering in both defense & midfield. Changes were necessary to inject some creativity and at least attempt to turn things around. Grosso’s insertion for Materazzi was a good move, but was leaving Daniele De Rossi off the bench wise? Shouldn’t have more defensive players like Gattuso or Ambrosini made way for Serie A’s best midfielder this year, perhaps even for Alberto Aquilani? Finally, was keeping Cassano on the bench till minute 75 really a good idea?

The answer to all those questions, looking at tonight’s final result, is obviously no.
.

Minor culprits: The Midfield and Luca Toni

Now I now what you’re going to say… “don’t you fu**ing dare touch Luca Toni, what else could he have done?!” Notice I put our beloved Bayern Munich striker in the “minor culprit” section. And the answer to that previous question is… something more. This wasn’t, by all accounts, Toni’s finest performance. He did his share for a while but at some point, collectively collapsed mentally like the rest of his teammates. That missed re-directed header for Di Natale in minute 8 and that missed shot over van der Sar in minute 75 also raise questions… you’re much better than this Luca!! We need our goalscoring machine.

Onto a “less controversial” issue: the midfield. Today, it was quite simply terrible. Not as bad as the defense mind you, but when your opponents manage to beat you in ball possession, speed, and technique quite so vividly, something’s not working right. With Ambrosini, this should have been a “contain” type of midfield. It turned out to be quite the opposite (and the defense didn’t help). Common sense suggests Daniele De Rossi should be making a start vs. Romania in 3 days’ time.

My predictive guess for Italy’s formation in the next match?

Buffon
Zambrotta, Panucci, Barzagli, Grosso
Gattuso, Pirlo, De Rossi
Camoranesi, Toni, Di Natale

And I’d say the odds of Di Natale & Del Piero are about 60/40 right now…

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Euro 2008: Netherlands 3-0 Italy – Azzurri Crushed in their Tournament Opener, Or: Cannavaro Where Art Thou?

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Netherlands 3-0 Italy. The Azzurri’s adventure at Euro 2008 could not have started worse. 3 goals like the 3 words which can be used to describe today’s match: offside, counter-attack, and defense (or lack thereof).

Why offside? The pivotal point of the match (Italy’s poor performance aside) was without question the controversial non-call on Ruud van Nistelrooy’s opening offside goal. Why counter-attack? The Dutch were absolutely lethal at scoring, right after their opponents had failed to do so: two out of the three goals were on a counter. Why defense? The goals conceded by Buffon today (offside excepted) can in large part be blamed on the Azzurri defense, a defense which at its first test without iconic leader Fabio Cannavaro, completely fell apart under the Oranje pressure.

At the end of the day, today’s crushing 3-0 defeat hangs like a big sword of Damocles directly over Roberto Donadoni’s head. The next match vs. Romania will be “do or die” for Italy. And yes, it’s only match 2 of the tournament.

 

Tactically, there were two big question marks in Donadoni’s match eve: who to pick for his midfield and who to pick for the defense. Regarding the former, the Don stayed faithful to his pro-AC Milan convictions and decided to opt for Massimo Ambrosini (over Giallorossi Alberto Aquilani/Daniele De Rossi). Ambro had been on fire during training lately and with the added contribution of Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo, would form a defensive dam in the center designed to contain the creativity & verve of the Oranje’s playmaking trio (Van der Vaart, Sneijder, and Kuyt). Regarding the defense, the blow inflicted by Fabio Cannavaro’s injury still wasn’t fully digested, but common sense seemed to point out towards Andrea Barzagli’s and Marco Materazzi’s confirmation (hoping that Matrix would strike a line through his mediocre 2007-08 campaign with Inter, and return to his WC2006 goal-scoring form).

At least that was the plan.

Things started off rather well for the Azzurri, who only took 3 minutes into the game to send a clear message to van der Sar & colleagues: we’re out here, we’re hungry. Antonio Di Natale got rid of his marker on the right wing and was in a good position to provide danger, but his cross towards Luca Toni was too deep and ran harmlessly across goal. 10 minutes later, LucaBomber put his 1m94 to work and got his noggin to a Rino Gattuso cross. Wide. If only Toni had seen Di Natale’s run in the middle, completely unmarked…

That, essentially was the last bit of evidence that Italy was “alive” in the first half. The ensuing half-hour until the break was  all to the benefit of Marco Van Basten’s men, able at exploiting a greater ball possession and the speed & technique of their wing players. In minute 18, a through ball by Kuyt for Van Nistelrooy found the Real Madrid man in the clear, but the presence of Buffon destabilized the Dutch striker just enough to send him to the side and mistime his cross. Had he tumbled to the ground (Buffon had a slight touch rushing out), the Dutch would have had serious claims to a penalty. 5 minute later, RVN was into the heart of the action again, as he narrowly missed connecting with a Wesley Sneijder free-kick (Materazzi was key in deflecting the ball just enough). Italy were under pressure.

Too much pressure. In minute 26, the goal: free-kick from the left to the far post, Buffon punched the ball (falling over Panucci in the process) and the ball arrived to Van Bronckhorst. The ex-Barcelona wing-back went for the half-volley, and found Ruud Van Nistelrooy comfortably placed at the second post to deflect the ball in. The only problem? RVN was a good 2-3 yards offside and no, Panucci wasn’t keeping him on (not by lying motionless a good 6 yards out of the field). Regardless, 1-0 Netherlands.

5 minute later, another turning point of the match: a corner-kick by Pirlo found a deflection in the box, and was saved off the line by Van Bronckhorst. The Dutch defender was having quite a day today: assist provider, goal saver and (as we will see later), also goalscorer. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, the counter: Holland in possession and out to the opposite side, Van Bronckhorst (him again) provided a long cross towards Kuyt (left to right), and the Liverpool striker’s re-directed header turned into a great assist for Wesley Sneijder (completely forgotten by the center-back pair). The birthday boy (turning 24 today) offered himself the perfect gift, and got his foot on the Oranje’s second goal of the game. 2-0 Netherlands, the Azzurri’s morale in tatters. 2-0 could even have become 3-0 before the half ended, had Gigi Buffon’s miraculous foot save on RVN (through on goal once again, forgotten by Materazzi) not kept today’s Azzurri semi-hopes alive.

Outplayed and outscored (albeit with some rather bad luck on the first goal), some drastic changes were necessary at the break for the Azzurri to turn this one around. Instead, Roberto Donadoni confirmed his 11-man line and operated the first substitution only 9 minutes into the half. A rather lost Marco Materazzi left his place to Fabio Grosso, thus shifting Zambrotta to the right side and moving Christian Panucci to the center. A change which brought back some stability in the Azzurri back-line, if only for a short while. However what was really lacking in the Azzurri today (unbelievable as it may seem) was some fighting spirit, an inherent desire to say “we will not stand by this scoreline”. Zambrotta’s blast wide in the 53rd (after a lovely dribble on Kuyt) and Toni’s weak effort in the 60th were signs some new life had to be injected into the Azzurri attack.

Trying to find just that, Donadoni inserted Alessandro Del Piero (on for Di Natale) and then later Antonio Cassano (on for Camoranesi). The Juve captain immediately got into the match, dribbling, shooting, obtaining fouls. His good effort in minute 66 was saved by Van der Sar, then Cassano gave his contribution by looping a perfect ball for Luca Toni just five minutes later, setting up the Bayern giant completely in the clear. Incredibly, LucaBomber failed the impossible and made a mess of his shot (over and wide). It seemed as though Italy were “back in it”, if not by the scoreline at least mentally. Edwin van der Sar had to summon his best goalkeeping talents to keep a Fabio Grosso 6-yard finish and a 25m Andrea Pirlo free-kick out of his goal.

The previous 10 minutes were only a glimpse though, because the Dutch midfield was just having a field day on the other end, cutting through the Azzurri defense like butter. Stemming from Pirlo’s parried free-kick, the Dutch counter-attack proved once again lethal for Gigi Buffon: the Italian nº1 did what he could on Kuyt’s mid-range effort, but on the ensuing cross Giovanni van Bronckhorst was left all alone (again) by the back-line, and comfortably added insult to injury to the defence’s nightmarish night. 3-0 Netherlands, that’s a wrap folks!

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Royal Netherlands Football Association (Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond or KNVB) NETHERLANDS-ITALY
3-0
[Match Highlights]		 Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
GOALSCORERS: 26’ Van Nistelrooy (N), 31’ Sneijder (N), 79’ van Bronckhorst (N)
NETHERLANDS (4-2-3-1): Van der Sar – Ooijer, Boulahrouz (77’ Heitinga), Mathijsen, van Bronckhorst – de Jong, Engelaar – Kuyt (91’ Afellay), van der Vaart, Sneijder – van Nistelrooy (70’ van Persie). (bench: Timmer, Stekelemburg, de Zeeuw, Robben, Melchiot, Bouma, de Cler, Huntelaar, Vennegoor). Coach: Marco van Basten
ITALY (4-3-3): Buffon – Panucci, Barzagli, Materazzi (54’ Grosso), Zambrotta – Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini – Camoranesi (75’ Cassano), Toni, Di Natale (64’ Del Piero) (bench: De Sanctis, Amelia, Chiellini, Gamberini, De Rossi, Perrotta, Aquilani, Quagliarella, Borriello). Coach: Roberto Donadoni.

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Netherlands 3 – 0 Italy Euro 2008 – MyVideo

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