Ouch…

The dutch should win this whole thing. They looked awesome today. Italy should forfeit and go home. What a disaster!

There are no words… Except for the profanities I was screaming at the television earlier, of course.

the italian team is to old, they look like dinosaurs in the pitch. Matrix and pinucci were horrible, where the fuck was de rossi and grosso? dona made bad decision picking the players for the game.

Donadoni is a fucking idiot, fielding Panucci Zambro and not putting Grosso from the start, starting Craperazzi who played like a deformed defender this season instead of Chiellini, where on EARTH was daniele de rossi and the midfield – geez, “i qualified for UEFA CUP” milan much?! gattuso was fucking invisible.

The whole team sucked today. THE WHOLE, FUCKING, TEAM. Except Del Piero.

I knew this would happen. No one believed me. Chris, where art thou? lol.

Dude, I was damn shocked. Donadoni should be sent to train some team in Seria F, he gets a failing grade. DI NATALE FOR FUCK’S SAKE ???? DI NATALE ?????? MATERAZZI ????????????? you have Chiellini, De Rossi, Perrotta on the bench ….. There was no midfield today, Donadoni should be fired.

We had better players on the bench than the field. De rossi in for Ambro. Cassano for di natale. Del piero in for Camoranesi.

forza olanda, what the hell are you talking about losers?? you lost to the most spectacular team in the history of soccer,thtis is what should’ve happened in 2000, the oranje is too good for the azzurri, go sleep losers!

Next game try the Roma Midfield

Well, that sucked.

The Dutch were absolutely brilliant. The side of me that wasn’t ready to throw up was completely awed and entertained. If they keep playing like this, they’re going to go really far.

Since I’m seriously not in the mood to think right now, I’m just gonna post my response from the Milan Offside:

Now that we’ve established that we were demolished…why is the question. I love Rino and Ambro, but they simply were not playing well today. Pirlo was lovely and did what he could considering he didn’t have much help. I admit, DDR should have definitely been given a go, could have given our attack that extra spark we so sorely needed. The Don’s subs were very puzzling. Should have started with Grosso, honestly, just wasted a sub by starting Matrix there, a sub that could have been used to bring in DDR.

Azzurri aren’t over by any means, but Lordy, is some major change needed in players and/or attitude. No inspiration today.

Im distraught!! The Dutch played very well, but what a ridiculous decision for RVN’s goal, maybe the outcome would have been a little different if Italy weren’t chasing the game from the first goal. Also I wasn’t happy with Donadoni’s selection, De Rossi should have been ahead of Ambrosini, and Grosso should have also started, also im not happy with Panucci starting and Barzagli looked a little suspect tonight. Oh well, looks like we could do with winning the next two games to be sure of qualification, im still confident of the Azzurri going through.

I like Holland… just not today. Actually, I was hoping to see Azzurri and Oranje get through to the next stages, and hopefully, it’ll still happen.

I can only look at our squad, and frankly, in a just world, Lippi will be standing over the Don’s bed tomorrow morning smoking a cigar and handing him walking papers.

On the other hand, though, it’s pretty evident that fielding fifth place is a bad idea. That hard-on for Rossonero has bitten us on the ass. A Roman midfield with some Bianconero support and tighter defense will make up for our typical slow start.

Ugh. My day is so fucked now.

There was an Italian player laying down behind the goal on RVN’s shot. He should have got back in the game instead.

the 1st goal was offside! I still love my team no matter what! Forza Azzurri!

donadoni sucked so did the whole team except for may be grosso who played with all he got …

who told me to eat my words when I told holland can be a dangerous opponent for italy?

anyways was the best match of the tournament so far, even though the score sux for italy.
i saw 2 teams work today, I loved it.

De Rossi, Grosso, Cassano and DP should all start against Romania, we need some attacking flair for the next game, drop Ambrosini, Camoranesi, Panucci. ARE YOU LISTENING DON?!

Things will change for the game against Romania, they will lick there wounds and recoup.

BUT

the coach needs a shot in the head, and make players work with each other…….!

I am sorry for our very popularand respected “Bayern Munich star” Luca Toni.
But his team was heavily underwhelming today.

Top favourites for the Cup thus far (okay, I know this is premature, but it’s such a nice game…):

1. Holland
2. Germany
3. Portugal

Posted from Germany

Starting XI against Romania:
Buffon
Zambrotta
Barzagli
Chiellini
Grosso
De Rossi
Pirlo
Aquilani
Del Piero
Toni
Cassano

If a similar lineup to today’s is started on Friday, I’ll be furious.

I can’t believe how many chances Camoranesi missed, both passing and finishing. Pirlo and Toni missed their opportunities to provide a score as well, but what are the alternatives? Montolivo is not here. Time to field a younger squad against Romania. Too many players from 2006 in there today.

All too often, teams try to replicate past success by fielding the same squad, and it nearly always fails because the players are all older and less hungry.

there was no urgency. none.

first goal was utter b.s. however, the second one was a defensive lapse and the third was inevitable given the way we showed no bite.

Cassano got only 15 minutes and even with 15 minutes showed why he should be given a start next game. De Rossi on the bench is inexcusable, but not as inexcusable as no changes being made to the lineup out of the gate in the second half. Unreal. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Sure, Holland played a great game…however, the Italians beat themselves. It was just one of those days. Luckily, we have 2 games to rectify this against teams that hardly produced fireworks earlier today.

While Massimo wasn’t the only player on the pitch that shouldn’t have been out there i’ll ask again WHY WAS HE OUT THERE. Why was a player who couldn’t even make the squad 2 years (you know the team the won the World Cup) in the starting XI 2 years later. It’s not as if he’s gotten younger or better since 06.

Not a huge DP fan but the man is in form, De Rossi, Grosso, Cassano, DP and Aquilani should be in the starting XI next match.

Adam spot on that is has to be the starting lineup against Romania or it’ll be another embarrassing defeat.

“Top favourites for the Cup thus far (okay, I know this is premature, but it’s such a nice game…)
1. Holland
2. Germany
3. Portugal”

You mean like…the teams that have won their matches? Fascinating.

Haha, I’m kidding, I just thought it was amusing and probably the only one who thought so. Need something to pick me up. The teams on your list are all going to go far. It’s just that…who else would be on the list besides those teams considering recent performances?

First goal was NOT offside. There was an Italian defender behind the back line. The rules state that a defender can never put an offender offside by stepping over the back line. So the goal was correct. FORZA HOLLANDA!

Ship Materazzi back to Italy. Terrible.

Dude, Donadoni managed to make world champions look like shit, don’t they have a medal for that in Italy??? Don Donadoni, what a loser. Call Arrigo Sacchi.

starting the ac milan midfield was criminal! no ddr? what was donadoni thinking? even ancelotti, the real coach of ac milan, said he would start ddr every game. that being said, i dont think ddr would have single handedley made the azzurri win and i think the dutch more than deserved all three points. the italians looked lost

Italy Peeled Like Oranges

ok, the more i think about it, the more i get pissed. what does ambrosini bring to the field that de rossi doesn’t? someone please tell me. i really hope de rossi was hurt because that was the most idiotic decision EVER. donadoni i hope you get fired today.

Ok, I will explain this as simple as possible:

Panucci was off the play. Yes. BUT he was laying motionless. Had he been standing and refusing to get on (thus implying seeking an advantage) then the call was right. BUT HE WAS LAYING ON HIS BACK UNAWARE OF THE PLAY. Most of the time that is called back because the ref is unsure if the player is injured.

All I’ve read are one-sided superficial explanations.

NO BARZAGLI, NO MATERAZZI.

“There was no surprise. It’s you who assumed De Rossi would play. We didn’t make any last minute change in the formation.”

Well, then, Mr. Don, you need to resign.

Donadoni’s pure arrogance and blindness in the post-match comments are fucking astounding. The only thing he could do which would earn an ounce of respect from me would be to fall on his sword.

Is Carletto en route yet?

well, I think it is official. The Don is a complete and utter fuckhead for not starting De Rossi at least. He has been on form since october. How can you not start someone of his ability, or at least sub him in?

I swear to god, if I see another milan midfield against romania, I will fly over to swissaustria and throw donadoni in front of a bus myself.

To Hana:
I see your point.

My point is the momentary (!) degree of likelihood of the teams’ success.

See my point?

I hate to say this but does anyone think Gattuso is finished. I don’t think he has the legs to play at internationally anymore. Maybe he should just foucus on AC Milan. I’m not just blaming him for Italy lost. Italy realizes to much on Pirlo, at the last WC 06 Italy had Totti to help him out.
Adam I like your starting 11. Cassano first touch was more than what Cameronsei did in his 75mins.

To Mike:

Boahhhh… what a real SUPERGALAFRAGALISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS SUPER HERO
you must be ! I am really awe-struck, really.

As already mentioned, WHY wasn’t there any changes made at half time??? the line up was simply not working! Yes, and why the hell Ambrosini? he seems to have come from nowhere, DDR is younger and IMO a better defensive midfielder, some serious changes need to be implemented for the Romania game! Can we still do it fellow tifosi??

typical start for italy. i see romania being a stressed filled draw, and it will come down to a must win against france, who will, hopefully, lose to the dutch.
The Dutch score nice goals huh? thats how it is when you havnt been anywhere though, nothing to lose, all loosy goosy. italy, always nervous, all worried about the headlines.

i really think the dutch were fortunate with the gift goal. changed the game. they were able to relax and absorb and do their fancy counter attacks….fuck them. 0 titles to 4. they suck.

Arminius sorry that I am pissed that the coach of my team started defective chimp(ambro) in midfield instead of one of the best midfielders in the world, De Rossi.

god forbid I show a little anger after a game that we clearly cannot just sit there and accept.

“If De Rossi had played then I would’ve been further up the field, but there are 23 of us in the squad and the Coach makes his decisions.”

That’s Pirlo throwing Donadoni under the bus. Along with the Milan midfield.

The technical ability was just not on show for us against Holland today, the Azzurri looked a fragment of what they showed us in 06. Not much in the way of creativity for me until Cassano and DP got the nod.

This is not Donadoni’s fault or anyone in particular, but the swedish linesman ruined the whole game with the clearly wrong decision. Under the new rules, Pannucci could not be considered in an active position since he was clearly injured and on the ground and not even looking to see what was going on behind him. This totally wrong decision changed the whole game and Italy had to chase the game the entire time and got caught on a couple of counter-attacks, which ironically started from really promising Italian moves at the other end. In the first, the ball was cleared off the dutch goaline, and the second came after a great save by van der sar.

Having said all that, there’s no denying that we have huge problems in defence. The midfield can be fixed and so can the attack. But there’s nothing Italian about the defence without Cannavaro, especially the two center backs who were awful.

Agreed, Chris. Donadoni’s refusal to admit we played abysmally today is ridiculous. Obviously there’s no chance he’s going to resign, even though he blew it today, but at least admit it. He was arrogant and defensive “This wasn’t our worst game” (uh, can’t think of a worse scoreline) and all pissy about DDR. At this moment, except for maybe the Don, there is no one in Italy who thinks Ambrosini should go instead of De Rossi.

bravo andrea! i think cassano needs to play too. he is unpredictable in all sorts of ways… screw donadoni, its gonna be up to the players to dig themselves out of this hole.

Yes Neo the defence looked very shaky indeed, that is my biggest concern, With Canna out the back isn’t looking good, im not a huge Panucci or Barzagli fan and Matrix always makes me nervous!

Agreed evaldo I think the players should pick the next squad!!

Holland win. and with beautiful football.

The Dutch Flare is Alive and well.

Forza Nederaland

Thank you Italy for a great match. Now all my Italian girls know I am the best.

Smile today, Oranje faithful!

Neo,

There was a point in the game in which a penalty could’ve been called in favor of Holland. Regardless of bad ref choices, Italy played like shit today, and the tactical choices of the Starting XI were superlatively suspect.

Even if RVN’s goal was disallowed, we controlled fuck-all in midfield, and our defense was open like legs in the Red Light District. I have little doubt in my mind that not only did the Dutch deserve a victory, we defeated ourselves today. Ironic, since I hear that from so many Holland fans about their own squad.

Nickt, (Italy were outplayed) true but that is not something your hear often, thats why im so pissed! 1-0 would have been so much easier to take.

if italia had to lose to anyone aren’t you glad it was holland and not france or romania???

No offense, but all sore losers need to shut up. The first goal was valid as hell and Italy just got pwned bigtime. Holland has a world fucking class attack, better realize this.

Nickt, I have to disagree as well. If a goal in the first 20 minutes doesn’t change the outcome of a game, what does? especially when it’s absolutely garbage..think about what that goal did psychologically to the players…in fact, perhaps with the exception of Zambrotta, all the players who were on the field during the first half continued with a below-average performance throughout the game..

and it’s easy to use words like “outplayed’ with a 3-0 scoreline, but Italy had two or three very good chances and things could have been much different with just a bit of luck..

shocking result..shocking line up. At least we suffered a defeat like this early in the tournament, there’s still time to fix this mistake..i hope.
The inclusion of Ambrosini is excusable. Just makes no sense at all. I also think we need to have an extra man in that midfield, we’re too tight in the middle at the moment.
Fabio Grosso was astounding and Cassano’s pass to Toni was one of our best moves.
I just hope the Don was watching!
Still glad i’m Italian at the moment and not French though! Bad start for those boys. It Could help us out. I’ll be cheering on the Dutch when thy take on Les Blues next, that’s for sure.

In all honesty I could write a 5 page report on all the things that Italy and that moron of a coach Donashit did wrong. In summary,

Ambrosini – out…for God’s sake your a defensive midfielder why were you attacking and wasting our time…

Mattarezi – OUTTT….i dont think i need a reason

Barzagli – OUTTT….crap defending…and when he does defend he clears the ball straight back into the dutch attack or midfield’s hands…

Camo – OUTT….shoots when he should pass…passes when he should run and shoot…instead of trying to create chances for the target man Camo seems to think his job is to either shoot useless shots or just kick the ball to poor Toni who is surrounded by 4 dutch players…

Pannucci – OUTT…why is a 35 year old who was slightly injured playing???? Created absolutely no chances!!! Defensively did nothing. Italy started getting chances when Grosso came on!!

CASSANO AND DE ROSSI BETTER PLAY!!!! I would field Gamberini-Chiellini anchored by De Rossi playing right infront of them Pirlo can move up and act as the real playmaker and derossi and get some effective clears and plays in the transition from defense to attack…I’d rather field Borriello in defense than those two center back morons that showed up for Italy today!!!

I still think Di Natale should start…and bring in at the half…

I think we can beat Romania, Mutu is the only dangerous striker in the squad and the Azzurri know him very well, and France aren’t looking good, not the team of even 06. Its all in our hands and at least we now know what we need to do, rather than say beating the dutch today and then becoming complacent against Romania, something that the Azzurri are sometimes capable off. Forza Italia!!

Yeah Jelle, I bet it would be valid if Italy had scored that…

As painful as the game was to watch, and as horrible a non-call as the first goal was (that one will be debated for ages), we just played badly and the Netherlands played really well. It looked like we weren’t prepared from the start, and it just kept getting worse and worse. I’m gutted, and just hope that this serves to light a fire under their collective arse for Friday. But if Donadoni chooses a similar lineup, what chance do we have? If he’s that arrogant to think he didn’t do something wrong with the players he chose today, what chance is there he’ll do anything differently? I can’t bear to think about it…

btw Jelle I dont think anyone is being a sore loser…i think everyone will admit Holland deserved to destroy the azzurri tonight…whether or not the first goal was offside is irrelevant…honestly Van Nistleroy had the class to keep his balance when Buffon tackled him…if he fell it would have been a penalty…Italy deserved to lose 4-0…and btw did anyone realize the average age of the starting eleven was like 32…the youngest 4 on the bench…those 4 also happen to be the most creative, on form and technically superior of the whole team…experience is one thing..but fielding the oldest players except DP is the stupidest thing especially against the most fast paced team in the tournament!!!

i wanna be very objective, some of you said fuck holland and stuff like this.first of all this is not nice.
second of all just remember how lucky you were in 2000 against holland!!!!!!!!!!!!!
third of all you’re complaining about the refree and other stuff, come on guys you lost 3-0 not 1-0 when the loss is big like this you can’t complain about small episodes.
4th:holland has always offered the most beautiful and attractive soccer, so don’t be very surprised!
5th:just remember in 2006 the “non existing” penalty agianst australia, and later on, the penalties against france to win the cup. so don’t be very arrogant, your soccer is not attractive, you play defense to win and when the opponents score early against you, you guys lose it. did you see the second half you weren’t able to dominate? world champions?? your road to the final was against australia, and ukraine, meanwhile france played against portugal and brazil and spain, big difference in the roads to the finals!
so please be objective and learn from this dutch lesson of soccer!! netherlands is always the real taste of world soccer!

Jelle, no, we don’t need to shut up. Holland didn’t win, Italy lost. And it wasn’t because of an inferiority in our team, it was because the coach is a complete fucking idiot.

Enjoy your semifinal finish and continued lack of real silverware.

Alaa, if you’re being objective, you might want to beat yourself over the head. At the world cup, Italy played a 4-3-1-2. Not too defensive. We also had like 8 players from the team score, including 4 goals from defenders. We were playing a 4-3-3 today, so don’t give me that “Italy plays defensive” horseshit.

Just looking into their eyes during the inno made me feel sick, something didnt seem right BEFORE the game.

The defense was disgusting. Barzagli, whom I love, gave me almost as many heart attacks as Doni of Roma gives me. The Matrix was an old slow turd on the field. Panucci was OK, and Zambro gave his 110% like always.
Gattuso was simply too slow and tried to make up for it with clumsy challenges. Ambrosini was terrible, he would be back on defense, then it took him 10 minutes to make it up field to attack. Pirlo, thank god, had a great game I thought.
Di Natale had some good looks on goal, not terrible. Camoranesi did shit. Toni was Toni. Just didnt have enough help.
Subs: Grosso was good! Did many great things again. Del Piero was OK, looked like he could have scored with more time. Cassano had little time, but that one pass was superb.

Need to shake shit up for Friday:
Buffon
Zambrotta (RIGHT!) Chelini/Panucci Barzagli Grosso
DDR! (WHY DIDNT HE START!?!) Pirlo Aquliani
Cassano Toni Di Natale

Look, you cant change the WHOLE team, but some of these changes should have been done BEFORE this game. Don has a peanut for a brain, maybe he’s just fucking up so Lippi has to come rescue the integrity of the team at the 2010 WC.

Alaa,

Unless Donadoni is the new way to say “Holland” in English, I don’t think too many people were saying “fuck Holland.”

To alaa, yeah getting Zambrotta sent off after 34 minutes is realllllly lucky!!! and you’re obviously objective when you write stuff like “your soccer is not attractive, you play defense to win and when the opponents score early against you, you guys lose it” Just say you hate Italian soccer and be done with it and don’t pretend you’re doing any of us a favor by your objectivity.

“In the second half with Grosso and Zambrotta we got to the byeline a bit more. We probably should’ve had them on earlier, considering the way the game went, but it’s easy to say in hindsight,” continued Pirlo.

Is there anyway we can somehow have Andrea coaching and playing at the same time? I’m not joking. Give him Donadoni’s suit now.

ilcapitano, i agree. barzagli doesn’t deserve another game though. horrible positioning, etc. should be panucci-chiellini in the center, ddr should cover for either gianluca or fabio when they move forward.

Wrong formation 4-3-3 instead of 4-2-3-1.Wrong Personel in the wrong spot,Zambrotta at left back? Camoranesi at right wing?Starting an ailing Materazzi and then wasting a substitution for him with Grosso?Pirlo was asked to run and run and run in the 4-3-3. Put him in the hole like Lippi did and flank him with two pitbulls like Gattuso and Camoranesi.Get Derossi behind the three of them and lets suffocate the middle of the pitch.

Alot can be learned.Hopefully we get the formation,personel and tactics right.Its not all lost.Donadoni cant play checkers while everyone else is playing chess.

Forza Italia,Forza gli Azzurri
Pep

“Alaa,

Unless Donadoni is the new way to say “Holland” in English, I don’t think too many people were saying “fuck Holland.””

Amen, Sterling.

I concur with Sterling and Hana. Everyone is criticizing Donadoni. I salute Holland for destroying Italy. I’m pissed. But not at the Dutch. At Donshit. At least now everyone knows whats weak in the Italian side and what they did wrong. HAHA you know even with a 3-0 defeat Donshit doesn’t seem to get the hint. Imagine the Dutch didn’t make use of those perfect opportunities to score and the scoreline with 1-0….Donadoni wouldn’t have changed anything…at least now it hurts so bad you have no option but to make the necessary adjustments that were supposed to be done in the first place..Again honestly thank you Holland for showing us how stupid Don is and how bad our center backs and midfield is…

How many times does Italy get dragged back into the “catenaccio” days of yore. The last coach to employ that style of play at the national team level was Trap and we all know where that went. Other than that, we’ve played an attacking style of football since, and the results have backed that up. That’s like me claiming that all Dutch wear wooden shoes…

The Dutch are fooling themselves if they want to talk about luck. Luck is not missing penalties, what, 4 times? Please, that’s just called pathetic. And let’s go on about the “easy route” we had to the WC final. We were in the group of death then too. Seriously, the stupidity eminating from these Dutch fans is astounding at best, and annoying at the very least.

So, PLEASE, stop “preaching” to a team with FOUR STARS ON THEIR JERSEYS compared to your LACK OF THEM. This ain’t a beauty contest…go “preach” to Greece if it is.

Barzagli, who I thought would be fine, just disappointed me. So many clearances that well, didnt clear the defense and went straight to Holland players.

The Ambrosini thing pissed me off the most. His main down fall was DDR’s biggest plus. “DDR is a box-to-box midfielder” as Chris ALWAYS SAYS! Ambro was dying running back and forth since hes a 30+ year old piece of shit.

The whole “Italy’s a bunch of old men” thing pissed me off, but it was true. The guys on the pitch were sooo old, but like someone else said, our more creative, and youngest (ironic huh?) players were on the bench (DDR, Aquliani, Cassano)

Easy road to WC?? We came out of a group like this one. USA- Ranked 5, Czechs- 2, Ita- 7. And freaking Ghana made it out with us!
Germany was definitely the 2nd best team in the WC, and we beat them.

And after reading those interviews, PIRLO FOR COACH!

damn…can Donshit be fired at this very day,
I can’t stand to watch him handling the team for another match.
Chellini should start> damn Matrix
Grosso is better option than Panucci
DE ROSSI as a deep midfield
Can we instantly buy a flight tickets back to Italy for Ambrosini & Cammo (i don’t know what shit donishit told him before the game, I couldn’t even understand what position he played), so they can accompany/take care of Donishit – YOU ARE OFF… MAN

Only Pirlo deserve my compliment.
4-1-3-2 is better.

Buffon: “I have spoken to all the players and we all agreed to apologise to the Italy fans. We honestly didn’t expect this to happen.”

Two wins in the next two games would do nicely, thanks.

Just to finish one discussion here: according to article 11.4.1. of the rules, the first goal is NOT offside, because the defender is not allowed to leave the pitch to put an attacker into offside position. Clearly in this situation, it was unlucky for Italy…nevertheless a correct goal.
One thing that Italy fans are missing here with their Donadoni comment is: they had chances to score before the 3-0. 2-1 might have put some more pressure on the Dutch…and who knows, it’s Italy after all. But the way Toni, Grosso and Del Piero missed was pathetic…and the coach can hardly be blamed for that.

I think if we start the next game with a backline of zambrotta, panucci, chellini, grosso we will be fine. I have much more confidence in panucci when he plays in the center against younger and/or faster teams. We need that experience in the center, and I think that he could offer it.

thats just my two cents.

So this is what I’m praying for to happen on Friday and Tuesday:

Italy – Romania 1-0
France – Holland 0-0

Italy – France (draw or win for Italy)
Holland – Romania (don’t care, Italy would qualify with any result)

That goal is going to be debated for a million years, and no one’s going to change anyone’s mind about it. Each side can quote rules to support his/her position – here’s a rebuttal in support of it being offside:

“There was also a great deal of controversy over the opening goal, as Ruud Van Nistelrooy was considered to be onside because Panucci was off the field injured.

“However, under new laws this is only classified as an active position if the player is standing off the field of play by choice. This situation certainly did not apply to Panucci, who was on the ground in clear pain following a collision with Gigi Buffon.”

But it kind of doesn’t matter whether that goal was offside or not, really. That goal alone wasn’t the problem. If the game had ended 1-0, it would have been. That 1st goal may have changed the tone of the match, and is apparently why Toni got carded (he was pointing up at the big replay screens later in the match that kept showing the 1st goal over and over), but Italy didn’t have it today. The Azzurri have bigger problems than whether that goal was really offside or not.

Well, lousy start for you azzuri; your defense and esp. Mazzerati was a drama; no use to try catenaccio with this tired old bunch. Tip for Donadoni: put all the substitutes in the lineup next time.
The dutch were amazing, but guess everybody agrees on that.

Adrian, can you copy and paste the rule in here? because I think you’re missing one key word and that is “deliberately” — now did Panucci “deliberately” leave the pitch to put Van Nistelroy in an offside position — the clear answer is NO — he was down and injured!!

Ilcapitano, it wasn’t true. Del Piero, Buffon, Zambrotta, and Grosso all played well, and they are all up there in years. Also Barzagli was awful, and he’s plenty young.

Concentrating on the Offside call is counter productive guys. Good or not, Italy still has a mountain to climb.

Ambrosini clearly didn’t cut it out there and Antonio Di Natale needs to remain a big fish in a small pond and leave us Azzurri fans alone.

How do you go from Nesta-Cannavaro to Barzagli-Materazzi ? I hate to say this but Chiellini and Panucci are the 2 BEST Central defenders on the Italy squad. It pains me just typing it…

Forza Azzurri !

I only got one thing to say 3 – 0 hahahahahahaha We Won THE DUTCH LIONS ARE LOSE WATCH OUT

ALAA i love it you are so right my friend nomatter what they say we didnt win but Italy lost what ever WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFIE Alessio you are so for Italy but you live in the STATES duh!!!!!
ALAA how can i get your email so we can chat and party on our VICTORY agains Italy Iam hungry think iam gonna have some spageti

I am hungry feel like having spageti now ALAA love your remark keep up the great job how can i get you email so we can chat about our VICTORY

NO NO NO Dutchies…..scientifically, a true messurment of greatness is an average taken from many past performances and acheivments so, Holland is poorly poorly out classed…..oh, and thats just soccer.

enjoy this tiny acheivment…bye bye.

I think some people are taking the whole thing a bit to seriously. Lighten up! Italy has to defeat Romania and France, they should have no problem with them, seeing how those two played today. Italy wasn’t playing bad, Holland just played better. What difference does it make how each team played at other EC’s and WC’s, I’m Dutch and it was absolutely disappointing to lose by penalty’s to Italy in 2000, but that’s just how the game is played. Ofcourse luck influences the game to some degree, but today our team beat Italia because we were better, Italia got enough chances to score and they couldn’t do it. That’s what counts. If for example a player gets hurt and goes out of the field for treatment, the game continues with 21 players and goals count just as well. That’s football! If you don’t like the rules, don’t watch it. ‘Spremuta d’Orange’, yeah, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Who knows, maybe Holland and Italia will meet again in the final

Adrian, can you copy and paste the rule in here? because I think you’re missing one key word and that is “deliberately” — now did Panucci “deliberately” leave the pitch to put Van Nistelroy in an offside position — the clear answer is NO — he was down and injured!!

Yep, thats why he got up after the goal and started complaining. We won, end of story, not by 1-0 or 2-0 but 3-0. You were lucky van nistelrooy wasnt in form , because he could, or should have added another 2 goals to his account. We even hit the crossbar just before time. Just accept the loss, and support your team during the next 2 matches. I hope you guys get through, i always love to see your team play. But then again, i am dutch.

Everyone that thinks class comes from something that happened over past decades, comfort yourself with that thought. But in every tournement, even in life, it matter what you do at that exact moment, not what you achieved or what your elders achieved for your country.

You may have woon 2006 wc, great performance, but you cant rest on memorys….

Holland IS life

“Luck is not missing penalties, what, 4 times?”

Exactly.. It’s called bad luck, or so I thought.

“Please, that’s just called pathetic.”

What to say? We can talk long and hard about the psychology of penalties and whatnot, but I prefer not to. I’d rather just sit here and giggle like a schoolgirl about your naughty commment(s).

:points and laughs:

“And let’s go on about the “easy route” we had to the WC final.”

Let’s!

“We were in the group of death then too.”

…

:tumbleweed:

Que? Where? Which one?

The one with Argentina, Cote d’Ivore, Serbia & Montenegro and the Netherlands, group C? IIRC, this was dubbed the group of death of the previous WC, not group E.

“Seriously, the stupidity eminating from these Dutch fans is astounding at best, and annoying at the very least.”

Elementary, my dear watson!

PS: please think of your blood pressure, step away from your pc/tv if this is what happens after a loss. It might just happen more often.. Learn to deal with it. Seriously..

“So, PLEASE, stop “preaching” to a team with FOUR STARS ON THEIR JERSEYS compared to your LACK OF THEM.”

Halleluja.

“This ain’t a beauty contest…”

lol, it isn’t? Could’ve fooled me when I saw all those Italians running on the field in their gucci and prada designer clothing..

“go “preach” to Greece if it is.”

No way man. Their gods will smythe me. I’m too scurred..

Proud to be an DUTCHIE more today then ever with a big bowl of spageti greeting from Aruba my friend cheer up ita all about having fun we have had our downs we stayed quiet now we are having our ups let us enjoy it you did in 2000 didnt you now its our turn and believe me we are enjoying every second of it CHEERS HUP HOLLAND HUP

Right above this chat box there is an advertise for soccer shirts what the first shirt you see and tell me with is the last i am a lil color blind can someone help me please

you make me laugh bunchapooha, nice comebacks on everything LorenzoRosanero said, and i totaly agree with you

Nice bunch a comebacks indeed. Really addressed all the points now, didn’t you?

It’s nice to see we made their tournament after one victory…might be the only thing they get to celebrate.

ok its just like this i never saw italy play worst then this.it was a joke against this cheap holland.yes holland was better but thats because italy was that bad.di natale is a great player with potential.but del piero is a brilliant player with skills to pay the bills but it is not so much with players on the field it is more about the strategy how they played!i never see italy play that bad and never seen that shit like defense from the best defence of the world.i am italian but it was a disgrace of a life time.why did lippi quit??????if he was still coach we had won 3-0 and with respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!but we looked like we where san marino out there.thank donadoni!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!you where a great player but a shit coach

Look at this way, not many teams that have won the Euro Championship have gone on to do well in the following World Cup, which is the more prestigious tournament. 2 of the past 4 Euro Cup winners didn’t even qualify for the following World Cup, and 1 that did qualify, France, didn’t even score a goal. Perhaps it is a bit of bad luck to win this tournament and it may be better if Italy bows out early. Remember 2004, Italy didn’t make it out of their group but went on to win the World Cup.

Being born in Holland of course makes this result very sweet for me but I also have to say that this was in many ways easily the most entertaining game so far. I don’t think the Italians will not come out of the group. Everything went right for us but the quality of the game the Italians put on was not only much better but also much more entertaining than what I saw of the French and the Romanians. Anyone calling the Italian play negative should have a look at what those teams put up or for that matter the Czechs or the Croats. This was a battle of two good teams where timely goals and a few great saves turned the momentum of the game. Mostly it was just great soccer to watch. A relief after several snoozefests.
Good luck the rest of the way; I would much rather face the Italians again than have to deal with the truly negative soccer some of the other countries have come up with.

Like all Italians after the match I just went and angrily shuffled round the house, throwing darts into a poster of Materazzi, but once I calmed down, I realized it’s not so bad…
Firstly, the Dutch were playing beautiful and I have a lot of manlove for Van der vaart and Sniejder, and I can’t help but feel this defeat might be one of those good/bad things where the team takes heart and delivers a much-improved, determined performance in the next match.
Or we might just suck again XD
Anyway, lets Romania and France. Fanno Schifo
AZZURRI PER SEMPRE

I’m 35 y.o. it’s the first time i see azzurri beaten this way. well it must happen sooner or later. It’s not that bad being an italian football fan.
Holland outplayed Italy ok, let’s learn something from it, let’s put some heart on the next matches we can get out the hole we fell in.

This Match EndScore is to good to be true.
People did Black Magic ( VOODOO ) on ITALY, because they are jealous that Italy is World Champion.
Captain Cannavaro get injured and cannot play, also by Black Magic.
And the Referree was very generous to Holland, also because of Sneijders birthday, so he gave them this match as a present, also by giving Italy the yellow cards instead of Holland.
This is the first time in history that Holland got this onrealistic miracles score of 3-0 against Italy.
So this miracle is definitely the cause of Black Magic !

LorenzoRosanero, atleast we won a game, you still have to manage and see if you win any of the games this tournent has to offer

hmm well martijn at least we won 4 world cups, you still have to manage and see if you win any of the world cups future has to offer

“Nice bunch a comebacks indeed. Really addressed all the points now, didn’t you?”

Thanks and nah, that wasn’t really my “point”..

Just a little jolting. C’mon now, don’t be so gloomy. You Italians know why we Dutchies are reacting the way we are. We won from the holding world champions in one of the most memorable matches of the last few Euro championships. Talk it down all you want, but it brought back memories of 88′, 74′ and 78′. We Dutchies are simply proud of our team bringing back the concept of total football, last time I’ve seen a Dutch team perform this well was in in 98′, so yeah, let us be for a little longer..

“It’s nice to see we made their tournament after one victory…might be the only thing they get to celebrate.”

Ouch. Uhm, that hurt..?

Remember, it might also be the only thing you guys get to celebrate! Your only highlight of the tournament, failing miserably against the dutch, wooptidoo.

j/k

everyone here has readily admitted that the Dutch deserved the three points. Italy was outplayed. We’ve already talked about that more than enough. What is upsetting is the tactical choices made by the coach that doomed us to start with. I admire the Dutch, I really do. The result is what it is, but the scoreline is deceiving…

They have a chance to right this ship on Friday.

Bunchapoo: Why don’t you use all the positive energy of seeing your underdogged oranje team beat the mighty World Champions and go celebrate this very rare moment. Go on your fellow oranje fan blogs and be happy.

Personally,I’d rather celebrate than be a little bitch

A wise advise Marco, thanks. But nothing’s won yet. We just played nice and attractive. We still have to win a game or 5 before te celebrations start.