Italy V Germany (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter sateeh
- Start date
nice game buddy.
Italy humbled Germany in Florence on Wednesday with a 4-1 win over World Cup hosts Germany. Alberto Gilardino started the scoring with Luca Toni, Daniele de Rossi and Alessandro del Piero scoring the others before a late Robert Huth half-volley flattered the visitors in the final stages.
With the countdown to the World Cup now well und truly on, the German national team suffered the worst possible setback as they were torn apart by a rampant Italian team.
The Azurri forwards, and there were three of them, had a field day against the disorganised defence that faced them.
They had all scored before the end of the first hour of the game was over, but by that stage, the contest was.
FAST START
The home team had made their mark on the game within minutes of the starting whistle.
After just four, Del Piero flighted a delightful free-kick into the area and after Jens Lehmann parried the first goal-bound flick, Gilardino was in the right place at the right time to blast into the net from close range.
Just three minutes later Italy had doubles their lead after a lightning attacking move saw Gilardino set clear down the right. The Milan forward then squared to an unmarked Toni in the centre who made no mistake rolling the ball past Lehmann who by this time had been pulled out of position.
JITTERS
After such a calamitous start, the German defence looked tentative and nervous, and liable to ship more goals at any moment.
Although they tries to get a foothold in the game by slowing things down and passing the ball laterally, even the simple things seemed to fail the Germans and the hosts seemed hungry to capitalise on any mistakes.
As the half drew to a close, Italy settled the result beyond any reasonable doubt.
As a corner was cleared, the ball was pumped back into the box where the diminutive Mauro Camoranesi was able to lose his marker and head the ball across goal to the equally unmarked De Rossi, who had no trouble nodding the ball past the exposed Lehmann.
DISORGANISED
You would think that things couldn't have got any worse after the break, but they did for the travel-sick Germans.
Barely ten minutes into the half, Gilardino was again able to pick out Camoranesi at the far post, and another header back across goal found Del Piero in place to finish from close range.
With the damage complete, Italy sat back on their lead, happy to give away territory and live on the break with the game already won.
The Germans were able to dominate possession for the final half hour, but a lack of cutting edge up front with Michael Ballack subdued and ineffective, saw Gianluigi Buffon have the easiest of nights in the Italian goal.
The Juventus stopper did leak a goal in the closing stages, when a defensive lapse saw Huth able to half-volley home from close range, but the headlines were already written.
PRIDE AT STAKE
Italy have impressed in their matches since clinching qualification for the World Cup in the summer, while Jurgen Klinsmann faces mounting pressure from the press in Germany.
With time running out, the former international marksman needs to find a winning formula quickly to avoid potential embarrassment in their relatively weak first round group.
With the countdown to the World Cup now well und truly on, the German national team suffered the worst possible setback as they were torn apart by a rampant Italian team.
The Azurri forwards, and there were three of them, had a field day against the disorganised defence that faced them.
They had all scored before the end of the first hour of the game was over, but by that stage, the contest was.
FAST START
The home team had made their mark on the game within minutes of the starting whistle.
After just four, Del Piero flighted a delightful free-kick into the area and after Jens Lehmann parried the first goal-bound flick, Gilardino was in the right place at the right time to blast into the net from close range.
Just three minutes later Italy had doubles their lead after a lightning attacking move saw Gilardino set clear down the right. The Milan forward then squared to an unmarked Toni in the centre who made no mistake rolling the ball past Lehmann who by this time had been pulled out of position.
JITTERS
After such a calamitous start, the German defence looked tentative and nervous, and liable to ship more goals at any moment.
Although they tries to get a foothold in the game by slowing things down and passing the ball laterally, even the simple things seemed to fail the Germans and the hosts seemed hungry to capitalise on any mistakes.
As the half drew to a close, Italy settled the result beyond any reasonable doubt.
As a corner was cleared, the ball was pumped back into the box where the diminutive Mauro Camoranesi was able to lose his marker and head the ball across goal to the equally unmarked De Rossi, who had no trouble nodding the ball past the exposed Lehmann.
DISORGANISED
You would think that things couldn't have got any worse after the break, but they did for the travel-sick Germans.
Barely ten minutes into the half, Gilardino was again able to pick out Camoranesi at the far post, and another header back across goal found Del Piero in place to finish from close range.
With the damage complete, Italy sat back on their lead, happy to give away territory and live on the break with the game already won.
The Germans were able to dominate possession for the final half hour, but a lack of cutting edge up front with Michael Ballack subdued and ineffective, saw Gianluigi Buffon have the easiest of nights in the Italian goal.
The Juventus stopper did leak a goal in the closing stages, when a defensive lapse saw Huth able to half-volley home from close range, but the headlines were already written.
PRIDE AT STAKE
Italy have impressed in their matches since clinching qualification for the World Cup in the summer, while Jurgen Klinsmann faces mounting pressure from the press in Germany.
With time running out, the former international marksman needs to find a winning formula quickly to avoid potential embarrassment in their relatively weak first round group.
This was, by far, the best Azzurri game that I've seen in a looong time !!!
Everything we did worked !! We were all over them from the start, and never really took our foot off the pedal until later in the second half.
This offense we have is amazing, and I was shocked as to how well everyone played together, as if they practice and play as a team week by week.
I am happy for the entire team, but I am even more happy for DP...with all the ppl who have written him off (many here), its good to see he is ready to fight tooth and nail for the Azzurri ala Roberto Baggio
We really didnt miss Totti out there today, it is nice to know that if he isnt 100%, or cant play in the WC that we have alternatives that will still see us to victory
The only downside to the game that I noticed- its more than just mere coincidence that Germany scored when MaterazCRAP was out there !!
ops
Everything we did worked !! We were all over them from the start, and never really took our foot off the pedal until later in the second half.
This offense we have is amazing, and I was shocked as to how well everyone played together, as if they practice and play as a team week by week.
I am happy for the entire team, but I am even more happy for DP...with all the ppl who have written him off (many here), its good to see he is ready to fight tooth and nail for the Azzurri ala Roberto Baggio
We really didnt miss Totti out there today, it is nice to know that if he isnt 100%, or cant play in the WC that we have alternatives that will still see us to victory
The only downside to the game that I noticed- its more than just mere coincidence that Germany scored when MaterazCRAP was out there !!
ops
Vinman said:
This was, by far, the best Azzurri game that I've seen in a looong time !!!
Everything we did worked !! We were all over them from the start, and never really took our foot off the pedal until later in the second half.
This offense we have is amazing, and I was shocked as to how well everyone played together, as if they practice and play as a team week by week.
I am happy for the entire team, but I am even more happy for DP...with all the ppl who have written him off (many here), its good to see he is ready to fight tooth and nail for the Azzurri ala Roberto Baggio
We really didnt miss Totti out there today, it is nice to know that if he isnt 100%, or cant play in the WC that we have alternatives that will still see us to victory
The only downside to the game that I noticed- its more than just mere coincidence that Germany scored when MaterazCRAP was out there !!ops
Everything we did worked !! We were all over them from the start, and never really took our foot off the pedal until later in the second half.
This offense we have is amazing, and I was shocked as to how well everyone played together, as if they practice and play as a team week by week.
I am happy for the entire team, but I am even more happy for DP...with all the ppl who have written him off (many here), its good to see he is ready to fight tooth and nail for the Azzurri ala Roberto Baggio
We really didnt miss Totti out there today, it is nice to know that if he isnt 100%, or cant play in the WC that we have alternatives that will still see us to victory
The only downside to the game that I noticed- its more than just mere coincidence that Germany scored when MaterazCRAP was out there !!
ops