Spain – Azzurri: A Friendly Friendly

Spain 1 – Azzurri 0

It wasn’t a good game, it wasn’t a bad game. It was just sort of….eh. A performance befitting a meaningless game. No great revelations either, except that maybe kinda sorta perhaps Marco Materazzi isn’t starting material anymore (he was thisclose to a red in fricken friendly for throwing his hand at a ball in the box); the guy isn’t exactly the king of good decision making. Other than that, no real spectacular performances in either direction. Though a few guys were good (if some of this is off – blame it on the liveblogging, it’s nearly impossible to judge a game accurately while popping back and forth):

Cannavaro: In the first half he was very good, and really held that back line in check throughout a ton of pressure. However, the poor clearance is what led to David Villa’s goal, which isn’t good. Actually (Milan fans should skip the rest of the section), it quite reminds of that poor clearance Paolo Maldini had in the derby which led to Cambiasso’s goal. Old men can’t do headers, I guess.

Grosso: Sergio Ramos had a field day on the left for the first 20 minutes of the game before Fab Gross settled down and really made an impact going in both directions.

De Rossi: Well more evident in the second half when Pirlo was on the pine and he took over as the playmaker sitting back with Ivan. Long range left footer to Di Natale and the one-two with Camo for highlights. Filled that 10 shirt well.

Buffon: Alright, someone did have a spectacular game, but that’s his norm. So, you know. No way at fault for Villa’s goal.

Camoranesi: His engine ran for a full 90 minutes, especially in the last 15, when he won numerous spot kicks seemingly on will alone. Hiwever, he really should’ve scored that point blank chance. In real games, those can be decisive.

Other than that, little to discuss. Luca Toni’s goal was apparently canceled because of a Canna foul, which is quite lame. There were obviously few (or no) tactical subs, and most were basically like for like (with the glaring exception of Pirlo’s yin for Gattuso’s yang). Marco Borriello looked good in stretches and seemed on the verge of being the difference maker a few times, so that should help his case as the vice-Luca when Swissaustria comes rolling around.

Chances are the next friendly will look nothing like this one, so it was a good watch and that’s about that.

Highlights

When available