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Seeing Red

May 26th, 2006 | By: Josh | 7 Comments »

Rinaldo recently noted his concern about not having a replacement for Camo on the right. I wondered to myself, why, is that because he’ll be first to be red-carded?

I then wondered if there were betting odds on such (given the notoriety of WC dismissals : remember Beckham & Zizou in ‘98, and then Totti’s famous sending off in ‘02). But I was surprised to find no odds in this category (I suppose it would be all too easily “fixed,” especially by us Italians…hehehe).

Any predictions on who sees red first (if anyone)? I would have to go with my instincts and pick Camo just because of his contemporary petulance. But if the goonish one (Materazzi) is playing, then hands down I go with him just because he plays like he looks, if you dig.

Worldwide, my next pick would have to be the Danish dude who headbutted a waiter in a restaurant after Denmark were sent home last time, and if not, then Walter Samuel. Wait a second…. What do you mean they won’t be there???? Is FIFA cleaning up the game?

Tags: Azzurri, Beckham, Denmark, Italy, Walter Samuel, Zizou

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Comments

By Jay | May 26th, 2006 at 2:04 pm

First Italian to see red? Hmmm. Perhaps Gattuso for an over-enthusiastic “professional foul”? Matrix will never see the pitch, otherwise, certainly it would be him.

First person from any team to see red? I hate to say it, but the way the US luck has gone lately I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone on that squad totally lose it.

Perhaps we should call Roy Keane to get his opinion, since he’s not doing anything.

Posted from United States

By marco DeMichele | May 26th, 2006 at 9:28 pm

Yea definetly gattuso or canavaro .. as they both have bad reps .. also with totti and his red card, i remember ther ref stated after the match that when he gave him hi second yellow he forgot that he had already given him one (which was clearly bull crap as the korians fixed all the matches)

Posted from Australia

By rinaldo | May 26th, 2006 at 9:28 pm

hehehe…nah i didn’t think about the red card (!!!). I am just concerned about the fact that we have five central mids and only one winger. But i guess barone can also play wide, and we also have the wing-backs, so lippi should know what he’s doing…

First italian to see red? Probably Buffon (no particular reason, just a guess)

Posted from India

By mcvc | May 28th, 2006 at 3:46 am

hahahah marco. you’re right. korea totally fixed all of that trash.

Posted from United States

By Vin | May 30th, 2006 at 3:09 pm

Don’t even get me started on the Koreans. Don’t worry about them this time around though - they are to far from home to cause any mischief. Japan will be the beast from the east this year - NOT Korea.

This all comes back to the current calcio scandal. As I said before, I think the refs will be (subconsciously or consciously) especially hard on the Azzurri. Actually, it’s one of my biggest concerns.

I have faith in our guys, but I do not have faith in the officials.

Posted from United States

By Paolo Rossi | June 5th, 2006 at 1:33 pm

Just found this site…awesome!

I have a feeling Reno Gattuso will be the man who will feel the wrath of the refs, if the Milan-Juve disaster from March has any bearing.

Remember the magical diving of Nedved throughout the match that earned Reno his 2 yellows? I’m a Juventino and embarrassed by Pavel’s form last season.

Prediction:
Final: Italia 1 - Czech Republic 0 (yes, they’ll meet twice, same scoreline both times )

I will be in Berlin for the final and will have pics to show!!!

Posted from United States

By Lang | June 5th, 2006 at 2:08 pm

Paolo, first of all, welcome! If they stay healthy, I think that the Czechs will be a real force in this tourney, and frankly, they frighten me. I’m not sure why so many people consider Group C the group of death this year. I personally have no faith in Holland (though I do have plenty in Ruud) and I think that Ghana is probably every bit as good as the Ivory Coast. In my opinion, if you are going to have one or two world-class players in an entire squad, the best place to have them is in midfield (like Ghana) rather than in the back or upfront (like Ivory Coast). I also think that the US, though out of form recently, always has the capacity to upset teams. In fact, they were robbed in 2002 against Germany and may well have advanced to the last 4, and once there, perhaps the final against Brazil.

But, to the point, I fear that Totti will be frustrated by his lack of fitness and do something that he (and we all) will regret. Of course I hope he proves me wrong. I say we need to start him against Ghana. Let him go for a while and bring on De Rossi for the last 60 if we are ahead. Totti needs to be 100% by the end of the group stage.

Posted from United Kingdom