Perrotta injured

Apparently, he was well enough to come on in the 74th minute for Pirlo during today’s friendly.

Posted from  United States

yea he did come on .. pitty he did nothing … on a more pleasing note .. italy drew (i think 1-1) with swizerland in a 1982 pre world cup friendly … so if you wanna look at it from that poin of view, nothing much to worrry then (but i mean if we play like we did, well we are in trouble !!!

Posted from  Australia

Did anyone actually get to watch the match? How did Totti play? Did the Matrix decapitate anyone? Was Grosso’s injury serious? Details!!!!!!!!

Posted from  United States

I saw on Setanta sports channel via directv that the Italy vs the Swiss match will be on June 11th, If im not mistaken. cheers sticky

Posted from  United States

i saw the match … titti really did nothing at all, touched the ball like 3 times… grosso was lipping bad, but i dont think its anythign major (lets hope not) iaquinta got hurt but was ok … i thought the 2 players that let down the team was materazzi and del piero (althought they only played in the first half) DP touched the ball like 10 times and every time either fell over or stuffed up and materazzi just kept on pumping the ball down the pitch and gave away possetion. The goal was good though .. i think italy needs to stop trying to hurt the opposition (e.g. De Rossi) and play the ball

Posted from  Australia

If one reads Lippi’s comments after the game, one would understand that this 1-1 draw is not something to be really worried about, except of course for the injuries picked up by Grosso and Iaquinta…Obviously, Italy went into the game to test the fitness of certain players, and instead met a Swiss team that did not spare any effort including hard tackling and dangerous play to achieve a good result…The Swiss keeper’s challenge on Iaquinta is just one example of this..

Here’s my personal views on the performance of Italian players tonight:

Buffon: made no mistakes, but perhaps would have tried harder to stop the Swiss goal had this been a WC game.

Zaccardo: Shaky and had to resort to fouls at times to stop the Swiss left wing. Improved when moved to center defence.

Oddo: Quick and solid, perhaps a better choice than Zaccardo for the right back position.

Cannavaro: The Italian captain was the best Italian player on the field. He read the Swiss plays before they happened and was always in the right position to intercept them.

Materazzi: I really hope we don’t have to use him in the WC. He was out of position when the Swiss team scored.

Grosso: Played a good game on the left until he was injured. His cross to Gilardino, which led to Italy’s goal, couldn’t be better.

Bonera: He’s really not part of the team going to Germany, but he’s a versatile player that would be useful to take now, especially if Grosso’s injury is bad.

Camoranesi: Did not get to play his usual game, especially with Italy having no real possession in the first half.

Pirlo: Very quiet, but perhaps because he was busy doing the defensive work. Should have done better on the free kick.

Gattuso: Good performance. Should be careful with his tackling.

Rossi: Good performance. Not shy to take shots on goal. I predict that we’ll see much more of him this WC. Also, should be careful from revenge acts against opponents.

Perrotta: Obviously he’s not injured.

Totti: Quiet and clearly not match fit yet.

Del Piero: Tried to launch counter attacks on the left wing. With Italy not having real possession in the first half, his efforts were wasted. Not sure if he’s in best form either.

Gilardino: Scored! Hopefully, this goal will be a good booster for him going into the WC.

Toni: Dangerous and caused more trouble than Gilardino to the Swiss defence. You could tell that he just needed one decent chance on goal to score.

Iaquinta: Not a bad performance by Iaquinta. Almost score was it not for the Swiss keeper horrible challenge.

Posted from  United States

Greetings, i honestly this is the weakest italian squad ever..There are no creative midfielders like Albertini, di biagio in the previous world cups..Ok maybe Pirlo…but he losses the ball too often to oppositions…

Posted from  Singapore

Beppe, is that really you? :p

Why didn’t you play in the ‘94 final, Beppe?

Actually, on a serious note, Albertini himself (whom you mentioned) seemed to think the match went OK. http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/may31o.html

Posted from  United States