Italy vs. France (2-0, Pirlo, 25′(P), De Rossi, 62′)
This was THE MATCH to look out for as the tournament began, but under different circumstances. The French and Italians were thought of as the class of the group, but turned out to be the bottom feeders vying for the last spot in Group C against Romania. The Italians and French both had identical losses – boring matches against the Romanians resulting in ties, and a drubbing at the hands of the Dutch. With the rain pouring down, one team looked to break out, and early on, it was end to end football. That is, until Franck Ribery went down with an apparent knee injury tracking down Andrea Pirlo to his half of the field. He was in obvious pain, and had to be immediately substituted for Marseille starlet and Arsenal recruit Samir Nasri, and once that happened, the match immediately started to take another shape. The French lost their zest, and the Italians started to attack and counter, until the breakthrough – a long ball by Chiellini leading to a red card by Eric Abdial on a horrible challenge in the box – well deserved for the penalty. Pirlo stepped up and drilled it for a 1-0 lead. From then on, the Italians played with brimming confidence, while the French looked old and lethargic, something I didn’t expect, despite having the oldest team in European Championships history. Moreover, the French had to re-substitute Nasri for a central back to replace the sent-off Abidal. They went with Newcastle reject Boumsong, and he held up the fort well. The second half involved much of the same – frustrating the French to no end. The evening was capped off with a blistering shot by De Rossi on a free-kick around 35m out, deflected by Thierry Henry for a 2-0 lead. Knowing the Dutch were ahead 1-0 against the Romanians, the Italian fans started to celebrate, and that’s how the match basically ended. The French had no attack and looked listless without Ribery, which sent the Italians through to the next round.
Goalkeepers – Buffon was stellar, as usual. In keeping a clean sheet, he also proved why he’s one of the best players in the world, saving a nice curling shot by Karim Benzema in the first half. He commanded his area and saved his defenders when they were stranded. Coupet just had an unlucky match. He had no chance on Pirlo’s penalty (let’s be frank – most goalkeepers wouldn’t have gotten close to it) and De Rossi’s free kick sent him one way, while Henry’s deflection sent him the other. His save on Fabio Grosso’s free kick in the first half was one of the saves of the tournament, in my opinion.
Defenders – The French defense is old, and they need to move into the next generation. Thuram didn’t perform up to expectations and got benched, but with no adequate replacement, the French stuck Adibal at central defense, and that killed them. Clerc is good at club level, but not ready to contribute to the French set-up internationally. The Italian makeshift defense performed much better today, and weren’t really bothered by the French offense, after RIbery went down early on.
Midfielders – The Italians ran the match from the midfield. Gattuso and De Rossi were brilliant, completing over 90% of their passes, while Pirlo struck his penalty kick and Perotta supported Toni in attack. On the other side, the French were just cold after Ribery got carted off. Nasri came on and made no difference and had to be re-subbed after Abidal got sent off. Toulalan continued a very unimpressive tournament, even though he could still be the holding midfielder of the future for the French. Finally, Govou looked totally out of place on the right, away from his preferred striker position. For the Italians, the only downer were two yellows, one to Gattuso and one to Pirlo, making them ineligible for their next match, against the Spaniards in the quarter-finals.
Attackers – Toni had his chances, but he created them all himself with his height and his power. Cassano didn’t help him enough, and I think they’ll need to look elsewhere for Toni’s strike partner. Henry looked lethargic and even though he was quite the captain, him and Benzema just looked off. I was impressed by the quality of Benzema’s play, however. He’ll progress nicely at Lyon.
Man of the Match - Daniele De Rossi. My lasting image of De Rossi (since I don’t watch Serie A) was the incident where he bloodied up Brian McBride in WC2006. He apologized, and I knew he was a good man soon after that. Not only that, but today he confirmed he’s quite the player. He and Gattuso partnered to stifle the French and effectively run the midfield. And finally, his shot did help to seal the deal for the Italians. A vintage performance by an up-and-coming midfielder playing his club football at Roma.
Dud of the Match – Eric Abidal. First of all, to give him the benefit of the doubt, he’s a natural left back playing central defense for the French, who went without Lilian Thuram. He looked shaky early, and after Chiellini lobbed in a nice ball on the counter and Abidal whiffed on the header, the rest was history. He got sent off, Pirlo scored the penalty, and sent the Italians on their way.
Holland vs. Romania (2-0, Huntelaar, 54′, van Persie, ‘87)
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=232277&league=UEFA.EURO&cc=5901
Group C Final Table -
1. Netherlands (Advances as the winner of Group C)
2. Italy (Advances as the runners-up in Group C)
3. Romania (Eliminated)
4. France (Eliminated)
