Serbia 1, Italy 1: Welcome to the Jungle

October 7th, 2011 | by: elaine | Comments Off

In keeping with Gadsby’s ‘80’s classic hair band hits theme, tonight’s match truly felt like trudging through the jungle. At times, we made good time, other times, we got caught in the quicksand or tangled up. Overall, it was a bit of a rough trek and the draw was perhaps a bit lucky. Also, now I know why I’m not a jungle explorer. Not my cup of tea.

If you did not watch the match, please watch this, it will give you a feel for what you missed. If you saw the match, no need to watch, you’ve been tormented enough already.

The match started off with a jolt – Serbia’s Kolarov had a shot on target in the first minute, which was aptly saved by Buffon. Italy took advantage of this and scored on the counter attack on a goal by Marchisio in the 56th second (or thereabouts, my feed didn’t even have the clock up yet!) It was a sweet chip forward from Rossi, and Marchisio just stepped out of a virtual wall of 5 Serbian defenders in a line to shoot it straight over the goalkeeper as if he wasn’t even there. Just like taking candy from a baby.

Serbia looked like school children, surprised by their own first shot, they were disorganized and chaotic in their play at first. They allowed an Italy free kick and a nice shot by Rossi in the 8th minute before they started realizing that they actually did know how to play. So Buffon was tested again in the 11th, and he would be busier than we would like on this night. Serbia steadily improved their organization and play, even if it was slow and not exciting to watch. Whereas Italy started off well enough, but drifted in and out of organization and determination.

Pirlo had another free kick in the 13th, as Cassano would absorb a few fouls and win free kicks as his major first half contribution. But for this and other free kicks, he faced the green laser pointers to the face treatment from those Serbian hooligans. Considering last year’s match and all they did to cost their team 3 points and 84 minutes of playing time, I suppose the laser lights could be tolerated.

I was wondering when Serbia would release the Krasic, and that came in the form of a shot in the 16th that I believe Pirlo cleared. The Serbian and Juventus midfielder did well enough throughout the match, his explosive runs and shots giving me worry lines. In the 22nd it was funny to see him and Chiellini battling for the ball, teammates for club, enemies for country.

In the 17th, Jorgacevic, the Serbian keeper, was injured by Maggio or his own teammate, or maybe a combination of the two. But he was able to play through the rest of the match, which he was probably grateful for when Serbia equalized on an Ivanovic goal that was assisted by Tosic. I can’t attribute this to anything but a defensive error. With the injuries, our 4 man backline was a patchwork version of our starting defense. I am not at all convinced that Chiellini belongs on the left, but our only other realistic option would be to play the young Ogbonna, who plays in Serie B. This is only his 2nd callup to the national Team, and he has never featured, so I think Prandelli made the right call in this match.

It was also funny to see Stankovic and Cassano arguing in the 27th. Enemies by both club and country, this seemed more natural. Also, Stankovic probably was the most capable Italian speaker for Serbia, particularly since Juventus fans know Krasic still struggles with the language.

In the 28th, Maggio earned himself a yellow card for “unsporting behavior” with a foul on Kolorov. In the 33rd, Pirlo’s free kick went straight to the keeper and was saved. Montolivo’s first half contribution was a nice ball into the box in the 34th, but the eventual shot was saved.

De Rossi was called for a small foul in the 40th, and seemed to want recognition for not using his elbows. He then dropped Krasic in the 44th, but the referee said play on, probably because De Rossi got the ball first. And the half ended shortly after a Stankovic free kick for Serbia. Keep in mind that this was the exciting half.

Serbia kicked off the second half with a substitution of Petrovic on for Fejsa. And in the 47th, a Kolarov free kick forced Buffon into a great save, perhaps his best on the night. They traded a shot a piece before the 55th, when Ivanovic (no, Gadsby, not Ana) fouled Chiellini and earned himself a yellow card for it.

The 57th and 59th saw a beautiful Rossi cross wasted and a Serbia free kick go over the wall but just wide. This led to more sloppy defending on our part, more Krasic danger, and then in the 64th an Italy shot sandwich: Montolivo blowing a chance in the box, Serbia on the counter attack, and a shot by Cassano. In fact, Cassano squeezed in another shot right after that, possibly having seen that Giovinco was waiting to come in, or finally waking up, I’m not sure. Either way, he was substituted immediately after his back to back shots for Giovinco.

The Atomic Ant brought a couple of things to the match that Italy had been deficient in for most of the time: hustle and motivation. And when Marchisio had a foot injury in the 70th and Nocerino subbed on for him, he echoed Giovinco’s level of determination. In hindsight, they may have done well to start, but hindsight is always 20/20, or so they say.

Stankovic cramped up in the 74th, but it was Krasic who was subbed off in the 76th for the lumbering 6’7 ½” (2.02 m) tall Zigic. How many players can dwarf Chiellini? Then Giovinco fouled Tosic, and Stankovic fouled Giovinco and earned himself a yellow card. Apparently jealous of the violence, Chiellini clotheslined Pantelic, who then seemed to be having breathing troubles or was ready to vomit, I’m not sure. But after treatment, he was able to play on.

In the 82nd, Aquilani came on for Montolivo, a sub I personally feel may have been 82 minutes too late. Aquilani immediately made an impact and was helpful in connecting the ball and getting forward to Giovinco, who may have been shut down in the 83rd, but got a decent shot off in the 85th that was simply off target.

In the 87th, Stankovic was finally subbed off for Jovanic and received the applause of the crowd for his efforts. But then Tosic earned himself a yellow for dissent  in the 88th. And to top off the unpleasantries, Zigic got a yellow card for ‘unsporting behavior’ in which he first took De Rossi down with multiple kicks, then grabbed at him and shoved him into a teammate. What a lovely way to end the match.

Some of you may be surprised to hear me say that I thought Maggio played quite well today. He was solid going forward and also perhaps our best defender. Buffon was called upon  plenty of times and was his usual gallant self. Pirlo, De Rossi, and Marchisio individually had decent performances, but didn’t always link up well to maintain possession or move the ball forward. Rossi was good, I think he needs better support to create more chances, and I already hinted that Cassano wasn’t at his best.

Considering injuries and a Serbian team who were both scrappy and hungry, I really do feel like a draw was to be expected. Many of your comments suggest the played for the draw, but I would suggest another theory: We cancelled each other out. We have always drawn when playing in Serbia, and tonight, the possession was 50/50. We had 8 shots, but 5 on goal, they had 9 shots but 4 on goal. We each had 11 fouls.

While you would think as 4 time World Champions, this should easily be our match, I am not so sure. Their fans were great, a 9.5 to them out of 10, only losing points for the laser pointers. Certainly, Italy could have played better. And should have. But even if they are not World Cup contenders, I don’t think Serbia will ever be a team for us to trounce. And tonight, they had more to lose and more to gain than we did, I think that made a difference mentally. They also had the advantage of feeling right at home, whereas Italy were probably plagued with extra security and fears based on what happened last year.

Whatever the reason, we are still undefeated in Euro qualification. We are absolutely qualified, and we have now given up a whopping 2 goals in all qualification matches, meaning that even with today’s performance and missing pieces, we still have the best defense of anyone in Euro qualifying.

Serbia, on the other hand, must win over Slovenia next week just to get a playoff spot, as Estonia beat Northern Ireland 2-1 to finish of their campaign. They wanted the win tonight to assure their 2nd place finish, but even on a not so great day for us, we denied them. We survived the jungle, a little worse for the wear, and earned the point. Not thrilled, but I’ll take it. Let’s see if our boys can dazzle us at home against Northern Ireland on Tuesday.