Italy played some delightful football tonight - the way the game should be played.

I hope to god they murder the waiters.

Surely the food the waiters serve can't be that bad?!

It's rancid and out of date.

Groan! All we'll hear now is that England weren't that bad after all.

Well I think you garnered 2 tongue in cheek replies plus one in earnest

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Groan! All we'll hear now is that England weren't that bad after all.

Well I think you garnered 2 tongue in cheek replies plus one in earnest

England certainly have a better back 4 than Germany, their defence tonight was woeful.

 

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Mario Balotelli - "The reason I don't celebrate my goals is because it's my job. The postman doesn't celebrate posting letters." LOL!!

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Groan! All we'll hear now is that England weren't that bad after all.

Well I think you garnered 2 tongue in cheek replies plus one in earnest

England certainly have a better back 4 than Germany, their defence tonight was woeful.

 

I watched the Germany v Greece QF last Friday night, and even though it was a very comfortable victory for the Germans in the end (should have scored a lot more than 4 goals IMO), I did think at times during that game that the German defence looked less than sure of itself. I can remember a couple of occasions in the first half where they nearly let the Greeks in and then when Samaras equalised early in the second half, I thought their defence looked a little dodgy.

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Groan! All we'll hear now is that England weren't that bad after all.

Well I think you garnered 2 tongue in cheek replies plus one in earnest

England certainly have a better back 4 than Germany, their defence tonight was woeful.

 

I watched the Germany v Greece QF last Friday night, and even though it was a very comfortable victory for the Germans in the end (should have scored a lot more than 4 goals IMO), I did think at times during that game that the German defence looked less than sure of itself. I can remember a couple of occasions in the first half where they nearly let the Greeks in and then when Samaras equalised early in the second half, I thought their defence looked a little dodgy.

Germany actually did OK in midfield and attack last night and could of easily scored first. But as soon as they conceded you could see the fear and doubt in their play. The amount of space they gave Balotelli for both goals especially the second goal was shocking you will never win a tournament defending like that. If not for poor finishing Italy should have scored 4 or 5.

 

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Congrats to Italy, and a great game to watch.

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Hodgson blasts Capello's 'cheap' shot at Rooney

Capello appears to have been angered by Rooney's perfectly legitimate pre-tournament observation that communication within the England dressing room was better because Hodgson had a perfect grasp of the language.

Indeed, having now seen Rooney underperform at yet another major tournament, Capello pointedly argued that "he only understands Scottish", underlining the 26-year-old's best displays have come for Manchester United.

Having backed Rooney to the hilt throughout both the build-up to Poland and Ukraine, and the tournament itself, for which the forward missed the opening two games through suspension, Hodgson is hardly likely to change his stance now. And, speaking to talkSPORT, he took Capello to task for his comments.

"Capello is entitled to his opinions, I suppose but I always think it's a bit cheap to kid on a player who was so anxious to do well," he said.

Questions have been asked about Rooney's conduct prior to the tournament, particularly a very public holiday in Las Vegas with former Red Devils team-mate Wes Brown. Hodgson has already dismissed this - and defended his decision to give Rooney an extra week off in the build-up, which meant he missed the friendly win in Norway.

That move could now be interpreted as a mistake given the forward looked so short of match fitness when he did eventually enter the tournament fray against Ukraine. Hodgson is having none of it though, and has revealed he stopped Rooney pushing himself too hard at England's Krakow training base when the United man wanted to do additional work.

"His attitude was magnificent," said Hodgson. "He was putting in extra work because he was concerned he was behind the others having missed the first two games through suspension.

"His desire to do well was enormous and we were trying to put the brakes on. In the final game he, along with one or two other players, didn't play to the level he can but that's what football is about.

"If every player was a robot and played at the same level in every game then football would be very simple and we wouldn't need coaches."

 For England that may well be the norm (not playing well) however other teams don't seem to have that problem.

It would seem that England having a coach hasn't really helped.

Rooney did seem to not play very well, IMO he shouldn't have started, in his first game anyway, not too mention the second.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/hodgson-blasts-capellos-cheap-shot-152931053.html

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Groan! All we'll hear now is that England weren't that bad after all.

Well I think you garnered 2 tongue in cheek replies plus one in earnest

England certainly have a better back 4 than Germany, their defence tonight was woeful.

 

I watched the Germany v Greece QF last Friday night, and even though it was a very comfortable victory for the Germans in the end (should have scored a lot more than 4 goals IMO), I did think at times during that game that the German defence looked less than sure of itself. I can remember a couple of occasions in the first half where they nearly let the Greeks in and then when Samaras equalised early in the second half, I thought their defence looked a little dodgy.

Germany actually did OK in midfield and attack last night and could of easily scored first. But as soon as they conceded you could see the fear and doubt in their play. The amount of space they gave Balotelli for both goals especially the second goal was shocking you will never win a tournament defending like that. If not for poor finishing Italy should have scored 4 or 5.

 

Indeed. To be honest, some of Germany's defending last night reminded me a little of England's defence when they faced the same German team in the last World Cup, and it was the same very poor defending by England on that occasion that led to the Germans putting 4 past them. As you say, the Italians could easily have scored 4 or 5 goals last night had they taken all their chances.

What happened last night makes me think all the more that England were extremely fortunate to take the Italians all the way to penalties last Sunday night, because just as was the case against Germany in last night's game, had Italy's finishing been better there probably wouldn't have even been the need for extra-time on Sunday night, let alone penalties.

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Very true we rode our luck. i just see that compaired to the shambles of two yearsago were got just a little pride back :)) . i look farward to world cup qualifiers whereas i was not as interested in the first few euro qualifiers

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Very true we rode our luck. i just see that compaired to the shambles of two yearsago were got just a little pride back :)) . i look farward to world cup qualifiers whereas i was not as interested in the first few euro qualifiers

 

We have to wait untill Tuesday September 11th 2012  ENGLAND -UKRAINE....

                                  Friday  October  12th 2012  ENGLAND-SAN MARINO

Very true we rode our luck. i just see that compaired to the shambles of two yearsago were got just a little pride back :)) . i look farward to world cup qualifiers whereas i was not as interested in the first few euro qualifiers

 

We have to wait untill Tuesday September 11th 2012  ENGLAND -UKRAINE....

                                  Friday  October  12th 2012  ENGLAND-SAN MARINO

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So the final. im going to go for italy. 🙂. just because they have the luck at the mo. simple as that 😉

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Drum roll fanfair. Italy v Spain . i hope italy get most of the ball.


Spain coach Vicente del Bosque must decide whether to stick with Alvaro Negredo after the striker started the semi-final win over Portugal.

Cesc Fabregas is favourite to start if Del Bosque opts against selecting an out-and-out forward.
Italy's Ignazio Abate should be fit after missing the semi-final against Germany
 with a hamstring injury.
Strike duo Antonio Cassano (twisted knee) and Mario Balotelli (cramp in the semi-final) are both expected to start.
Midfielder Daniele De Rossi completed 90 minutes against Germany, and appears to have fully recovered from a sciatic nerve problem.
With Abate missing against Germany, Federico Balzaretti shifted from left-back to right-back. If Balzaretti returns to his regular position, Giorgio Chiellini would move inside to centre-back, with Leonardo Bonucci dropping to the bench.
Napoli wing-back Christian Maggio is back from suspension but is likely to be named on the bench.MATCH PREVIEW
"Shameful Italy… One of our ugliest national teams ever… the end of a generation and an illusion... we were champions of the world and now are the laughing stock of the world."
The Azzurri's exit to Slovakia at the 2010 World Cup was, Italian newspapers agreed, their biggest humiliation since losing to North Korea at the 1966 tournament.
On that occasion the squad were pelted with rotten tomatoes when they returned home, but just two years later they were crowned European champions. Could history repeat itself on Sunday or will reigning world and European champions Spain break new ground by clinching a third consecutive major title?
Transformed under the refreshing tutelage of Cesare Prandelli, Italy have generated real momentum as they go to Kiev in search of their sixth major title.
In previous rounds the Azzurri took heart from their track record against England and Germany, and it is a similar story against their Mediterranean neighbours. The Spanish did beat them on penalties at Euro 2008, but, excluding shoot-outs, you have to go back to the 1920 Olympics to find Spain's only competitive victory in this fixture; irrelevant ancient history or enough to sow seeds of doubt?
Germany's Miroslav Klose admitted on Thursday "perhaps the fact that we had never beaten Italy was in the back of our minds."
It's a sign of how things have changed that free-scoring Germany are admitting to mental frailties while Spain continue to grind out results relentlessly. The semi-final win against Portugal may not have been their greatest display, but it certainly leaves Vicente del Bosque's side on the verge of greatness. A hat-trick of titles would be unprecedented in the modern era; the strongest competing claim actually belongs to Italy, who won the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, plus Olympic gold in Berlin in 1936.
West Germany are the only other side to reach three successive World Cup or European Championship finals, winning the first two before losing to Antonin Panenka's chipped penalty for Czechoslovakia in 1976.

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Italy have been a relevation and have played some real entertaining football the suprsie team of the tournament, which says a lot how Italy have slipped over recent years.  Will be a fascinating game.. Would like Italy to win tho Spain will probably keep the ball off the Italians for long periods. I will try my hand at 1-1 and into extra time Spain winning 2-1

May the best team win...Especially the Italian team....

They might be dull but it would be a real achievement if Spain win 3 tournaments in a row. But I have a feeling its going to be Italy tonight. Super Mario again!

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Euro 2020 could have 12 host countries. Sounds like a fairly sensible idea from Platini which is unusual.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18657633

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12 countries theres a lot of travell there. not bad . i would imagine that would have 4 teams in each. ..spain would be an atchievement but i like italy for we could boast going out to the winners in any case. imho.

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Euro 2020 could have 12 host countries. Sounds like a fairly sensible idea from Platini which is unusual.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18657633

Can't ever see it working to be honest. Imagine the amount of travelling that everyone would have to do! Quite a lot was made in the press about the amount of travelling that the England squad had to do during the current tournament to and from their games, all of which were played in Ukraine, back to their base in Poland. Also, what if there were any issues with problems with transport, especially air and rail? Much better idea to have it held in either one or two countries IMO.

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