Spain – Italy Friendly Liveblog

March 26th, 2008 | By: chris | 60 Comments »

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Spain 1 – Italy 0

Halftime.

Half the liveblog and some comments got deleted….ummm. Apologies.

And that’s that and, uh….who cares? Friendly. Not too much in either direction.

Game

94′ Free kick to Gattuso flicked into the box, bounced out.

Camo stuffs Torres, Matrix gives away possession. Thanks for WC06, but it’s time to go, buddy.

DDR to Grosso to Pirlo to ADT to Casillas. Nice buildup….Spain hits on the counter. Shot parried wide by Gigi. A LOT of Spanish counters.

3′ of stoppage.

Corner Spain…shot blocked. Spain holding possession…poor cross. Goal kick.

43′ Grosso foul on Xavi. Luca Toni has lost possession a few times, but he’s also playing so far back and out of his element. Azzurri really need to sustain some more possession and set up closer to the Spanish net.

41′ Phenomenal ball by DDR to Grosso, nothing works, Spain counter….Panucci defends it very well for a goal kick.

The Azzurri are the very definition of bend but not break right now. For all of Spain’s possession and chances, they haven’t been clear goal scoring chances.

38′ Azzurri with possession, but not being hugely effective with it. Spain counter….Matrix clears it.

Clusterfuck in the box, Gigi saves Torres, Perrotta and Canna stifled the rebound then cleared out of play. Sure goal it seemed for Spain. And there’s Perrotta’s influence in a nutshell.

36′ Cannavaro has been dusting off the 2006 boots today. Can we get him out of Spain, please.

34′ Cross from Toto to Toni gets fluffed, and then I’m pretty sure Perrotta kneed Albiol in the head. Spanish defenders are dropping like flies.

Marco Senna has delusions of grandeur, fires one towards the crowd from way out.

32′ Panucci sends a cross in looking for Tonigol but it’s snatched by Casillas. Set piece or cross seems to be the only way they’re going to get a goal at this point.

31′ Were it not for Spain’s collective choke during tourneys, they’d have to be a favorite heading in to the tournament. They have talent coming from places you wouldn’t expect.

28′ Andrea Pirlo just no look passed from his own box. He’s just that good.

26′ Fab Grosso doing much better since Sergio Ramos spent the first 20 minutes recreating the Pulp Fiction basement scene with him.

I feel like picking out individuals would be pointless. Nearly the entire Azzurri squad has been invisible. Back line is holding though.

25′ Fernando Torres is down. Stretchers coming on. Rafa just soiled himself. Came from a Burdisso-esque tackle by Matrix. He gets yellow.

24′ Hey, a Cesc appearance. He’s having a relatively quiet gamee.

21′ If I were Xavi I’d request that everyone call me “Chavs” phonetically. The pomposity matches his hair.

20′ Azzuri get stifled on the counter, Spain back to playing keep away again. Xavi shoots andd it goes wide.

Here are Spain’s tactics in a nutshell: Find Xavi, get it to Xavi, find Sergio Ramoss, get it to Sergio Ramos.

GROSSO MADE A TACKLE!!!! GROSSO MADE A TACKLE!!!!!!

16′ Puyol is coming off. Albiol coming on. Thanks for your 16 minutes, Carlos. Corner for Spain.

15′ Great chance for the Azzurri, offsides on Camo. And did you know “offsides” in turkish is “offsides”? Let that sink in. Your gratuitous nugget of knowledge for the day. You’re welcome.

14′ Spain get possession back, grabassing and whatnot. Pirlo gets taken down, another free kick for the Azzurri. Ramos takes it in the face.

I still have no idea why that goal was called back. Pirlo on a free kick.

Toni heads one into the net and Spain gets a counter.,….what the fuck just happened. Foul? Offside? And Spain just damn near scored. Good christ that was fast.

11′ Di Natala had a chance and a half to feed a through ball into the box, but gets hacked down by Ramos. Free kick upcoming, but Puyol has a booboo.

10′ Love these away jerseys, even if they look like tennis unis a bit.

Panucci gives up possession to Spain….great ball into the box from Camo, Iker has to come out and clear it away….corner…..headed back. Spain back into possession.

7′ HAB Ramos sends cross #472 into the box. What a mismatch for Spain that is.

6′ Spain wins possession again. I swear, it must be 90-10 right now. Canna made a nice swoop to clear Xavi from a 1v1 chance with the Giginator.

Headed out of the box…cross in, back out, Xavi shoots wide. Hey, here’s an idea: win possession.

5′ Spain just owning possession right now. Foul won just outside the box for the Spaniards. Grosso on the foul.

4′ De Rossi with a nice tackle in breaking up the Spanish attack. Looking very appropriate in that #10.

3′ Ball through the box for the Azzurri, winds up a throw in…..lose possession.

2′ Offside Torres. Why do I get the feeling he’s going to eat Canna and Matrix for lunch. Early candidate for Euro 2008 player of the tournament.

1′ They’re hoofing long balls up to Fernando Torres already. It’d be easy to criticize if it wasn’t effective because he’s such a monster.

Kickoff

There’s a lot of confetti on the field…..they know this is a friendly, right?

Game coverage starting….here we go. Maybe the drum guy will do a performance at halftime. Here’s to hoping.

I know they’re speaking Turkish, but I’m 99% sure this guy just said “Fuck Milan”. Clearly not a Donadoni supporter.

Alright, screw the game, I’m really getting into this Turkish guy playing the drums.

Lineup:

Buffon;
Panucci, Canna, Materazzi, Grosso;
De Rossi;
Camoranesi, Pirlo, Perrotta, Di Natale;
Toni.

Materazzi starting is a slight surprise, other than that the expected. Zambro’s not starting because every time he gets a whiff of impending Azzurri action lately he gets injured. Donadoni is keeping him locked in a rubber room until June 7th.

Right now the stream is coming from some Turkish channel, which has fantastic quality, but has nothing to do with footy. Come for the world champs, stay for a bunch of dudes playing percussion in the background while some guy says shit in Turkish.

When: Wednesday, March 26th 2200 local, 1700 EST.
Where: Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero

Groups

Spain (D): Greece, Russia, Sweden
Italy (C): Netherlands, Romania, France


Squads


Spain:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Valencia), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Juanito Gutierrez (Real Betis), Raul Arbeloa (Liverpool), Fernando Navarro (Mallorca), Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona)

Midfielders: Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona), Albert Riera (Espanyol), Andres Iniesta (FC Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), David Silva (Valencia), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Ruben De La Red (Getafe), Marcos Senna (Villarreal)

Forwards: Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia), Daniel Guiza (Mallorca), Luis Garcia (Espanyol).

Italia:

Portieri: Buffon (Juventus), Amelia (Livorno).

Difensori: Barzagli (Palermo), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Grosso (Lione), Materazzi (Inter), Panucci (Roma), Oddo (Milan), Zambrotta (Barcellona).

Centrocampisti:
Ambrosini (Milan), Aquilani (Roma), Camoranesi (Juventus), De Rossi (Roma), Gattuso (Milan), Perrotta (Roma), Pirlo (Milan).

Attaccanti: Borriello (Genoa), Di Natale (Udinese), Iaquinta (Juventus), Quagliarella (Udinese), Toni (Bayern Monaco).



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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 60 comments.

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Username By Gabriella (ASR) | March 26th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
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lol I disabled the images so I didnt see the code first… lol
I want to see Aquilani now … probably in the place of Perrotta. I havent seen him much in the first half (all heads are either a yellowish or brownish patch)

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Username By Bonnie | March 26th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
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Who’d Gattuso come in for, Simone?

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By Gabriella (ASR) | March 26th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
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cornercorner

Borriello is on as well, no?

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Username By Bonnie | March 26th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
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cornercorner

David Villa in for Spain, this makes me happy.

Borriello is on as well and has a shot saved by the crossbar!

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By Gabriella (ASR) | March 26th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
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cornercorner

great shot! but it was Como I think

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Username By Bonnie | March 26th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
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cornercorner

Ok, it was Camo off the crossbar, Borriello just trying to get the rebound.

Loving the Don’s decision to swap Materazzi for Barzagli, mostly so I don’t have to see his horrible lumbering tackles in a freaking friendly. And it was Pirlo off for Gattuso, so Simone’s still on.

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By Mika | March 26th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
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cornercorner

Who did David Villa come in for?

Posted from Australia Australia

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Username By Bonnie | March 26th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
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Yeah, Xabi Alonso is on!

Great freekick by DDR. And Grosso is looking mighty skinny, like, SuperPippo skinny.

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By Sterling | March 26th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
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cornercorner

King Alberto in the house!

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Gabriella (ASR) | March 26th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
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I know! although my stream is 2 minutes behind so I havent seen it yet

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Username By Bonnie | March 26th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
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“There are bags floating around the field. What is this, high school?”

Chris, you had bags flying around at your high school?

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By Gabriella (ASR) | March 26th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
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we look solid

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Username By Sterling | March 26th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
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I’m convinced that Gigi’s genes have been spliced with housecat. It’s the only possible explanation.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Gabriella (ASR) | March 26th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
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Camo is playing well … actually everyone is fine

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Username By Bonnie | March 26th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
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Gattuso lucky not to get called on that tackle in the box.

And Spain just got a little less pretty with Arbeloa on for Sergio Ramos. And Iaquinta comes of for Toto.

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By Sterling | March 26th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
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Ugh. 1-0. Just as my head’s turned to explain the tension of the game to my co-workers. :(

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Bonnie | March 26th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
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Well, Spain got a little less pretty with Arbeloa, but apparently a little more talented as it was his shot headed away by Canna but then put in the net by David Villa.

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By Ryan | March 26th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
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What a goal by Villa! Golazo!

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Bonnie | March 26th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
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Capdevila is so badass.

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By adam | March 26th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
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overall the entire team played an average game. cannavaro had a a poor clearance that led to the goal. Buffon was amazing and can harflybe blamed for the goal. matrix and gattuso should stay on the bench.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By adam | March 26th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
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harflybe = hardly
lol i dont know how the hell it came out like that.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By chris | March 26th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
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Sorry for everyone’s comments which were deleted, I’ll try and figure out why.

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Username By Sterling | March 26th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
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Entertaining to watch in a small window, but frankly, Camoranesi had the best game out of everyone. He was absolutely on fire. Otherwise, if Italy survives the Group of Death, we’ll have to rethink how we come out against Spain in the semis. They’re going to clear that group for sure.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By tonigol | March 26th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
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Donadoni needs to go. I mean italy played alright, but not great … his line up was not very good … and his sub wee poor

Villas goal wa all class … however, itay had a legit disallowed goal and hit the crossbar

anyway, don really needs to pick up his game, as he has no idea what hes doing

Posted from Australia Australia

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Username By Irishdownunder | March 30th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
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Where’s Sunny from Slough, Jane from Japan, Josh & others

Posted from Australia Australia

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