MatchCentre: Northern Ireland v Italy Liveblog

I won't be able to see the game sadly (damn work) so if anyone finds a link after where I could watch it, that would be awesome. In any case, I think I speak for everyone when I say FORZA AZZURRI!

Forza Ragazzi!
Let's do it!

I dont fucking believe my eyes .. Pepe starts again. He must give great head or something. Absolutely rediculous.

does someone have a stream? please.

Where's Quagliarella?

We look crap…

http://www.atdhe.net/25467/watch-northern-ireland-vs-italy

I posted 3 streams but nobody has approved them .. sorry dude

If you have at&t as an internet provider or are on a college campus espn360 is doing a quality stream of the game

just missed the last 10 minutes of the first half but for the first half hour all I can say is that I already hate pepe, seriously why the fudge is he always starting he just ruins everything.

Cassano is giving some clever balls in, we just need someone to finish

Nice shot pepe you utter pile of turd.

wowy rossi gets 6 minutes .. nice prandelli!

New manager same old shit. Pick pepe again i will hunt you down and shoot u myself prandelli. Twat!

Pepe. vattene!

Serious? I had everyone on Unmoderated! not sure what happened sorry about the difficulties

Ugh. That game made me all sorts of angry. Our passing in the 2nd half was pathetic. And why is it a non-stop trend in Italian soccer that we only start thinking at the very end of games. Sub Rossi in with 7 minutes left? Are you freaking kidding me?

Few thoughts after todays game……

Prandellis substitutions were way too late. Pepe and Boriello should've been out at half time and are not international material. This team needs Giovinco and Balotelli. Most of the youth on this team needs much more time to develop. They're good enough to play but really not able to produce. I would really like to see Totti Cassano Pirlo Balotelli Giovinco on at the same time surrounded by youth. Given the time it will take for the youngsters to develop, I don't see anything wrong with Totti being included to try and take home a Euro cup.

Not a bad result considering Serbia lost. But this team is not gonna take home the Euro as is. Did I mention Boriello and Pepe should never be called up again.

:S bad game….even worse team…….we need more tottis, del pieros….we dont have them….

-Totti bringing home a Euro cup=bahahahaha.

-Cassano=does not have the consistency necessary to truly lead this Italy team.

Also, if you really think this team would be able to work with Totti, Balo, Gio and Cassano all starting at the same time…

-Any other suggestions apart from Totti to add a lot of flair?

-Cassanos been the most consistent player in the qualifiers so far. Had a bit of an off night tonight.

-A good manager can make those work, and should make those work. Really would be the best Italian attack we can offer at the moment.

Well, at least the babies all won. The U21 and U19 teams are doing just fine. Conceivably, some of those players will be available for the 2012 Euros. Maybe the Azzurri need to start looking to bring in the next generation.

paolo – the problem i see is that you are essentially advocating 4 playmakers for our attack (totti, cassano, giovonco and pirlo). we need guys who can also run in behind defenders to both get onto the service and allow a playmaker more space and time by opening up the d-line.

No idea how anyone can mock cassano .. he has been the best player every game he has been chosen so far. As for Totti? No way .. he is so out of form it isnt even worth a second of consideration. Pazzini would have got the job done if he got more time .. wtf was boriello on for so long? His shooting was pathetic.. pepe .. nothing needs to be said .. HE should not now or ever have warn an italy shirt yet he continues to .. whats bringing rossi on with 6 minutes to go going to do? Northern Ireland are crap .. lets face reality they are a below average team .. last time we met we thumped them 3-0 .. we were not good!

fraid so … no biggy.

…not to mention compensating defensive coverage. given our less than stellar defence, that would be suicide.

-Cassano, Balotelli and Giovinco would offer more than enough flair IMO. Put them behind a healthy Pazzini (he's had a shit start to his season also due to an earlier back injury) and up front Italy should be fine. Add GiuRo, Quags and Matri as subs.
Shit, if Prandelli is feeling risky, call up Fabbrini.

-I think Cassano's a quality player but he has so far played very well against Far Oer and Estonia…Today, against an equally weak team, he seemed out of it and was constantly trying to complicate things instead of going for the easy play.
He's more than good enough to start for Italy, not consistent enough to be considered an undisputed leader per se.

-Either way, this team will only get better like you originally mentioned. Prandelli now just needs to make a few necessary decisions (call up Balza and make him start once and for all) after experimenting a bit. Give this team the year and a half left until the Euro 2012 to gel and it should be a strong contender.

Saying “Cassano is a worthless player who fucking sucks” = ridiculing him in an ignorant manner.

Saying “Cassano is a quality player but has yet to prove he's consistent enough to lead this team forward” = fact.

@ Marco Congrats on being the c0-blocker

@ Paul wish you the best w/school and please drop in once in a while

@ Juilan, if you have access to espn3. you can see the match in reply.

and not really impressed w/Prandelli subs and enough alrreay with 433

time for diamond 442, where in Cassano would be more effective behind 2 strikers

.

pepe F***off Boriello crap Cassano needs to play in the center not out wide What the hell was prandelli on putting Rossi just for 6 minutes? Prandelli needs to take full responsibility for what happened in this match picking the wrong players,wrong tactics,and putting players out of positions absolute disgrace

While I can understand everyone's concern, if not concern, relatively speaking, I think they played fairly well. They seemed more balanced, comfortable and confident.

They didn't concede in a hostile environment historically hard on the Azzurri.

True, they should have buried their chances and the strike force is cause for some concern but they're three games removed from a disaster in South Africa. I think they have accorded themselves well and the idea that Italian soccer is “dead” has been proven wrong as witnessed by the quality they can select and field. The key for Prandelli is to find the right mix.

Personally, I think Rossi merits a start for a full game. We've seen Quagliarella, Boriello and Gilardino. Let's see Rossi again.

As for Cassano. He's been solid. But as I've said in the past, he's not the player that can take a team over the top. He's an important part of an overall program.

Ouch. Meant “if not frustration.” Sorry. I repeated the word “concern.”

Agree that Totti is not on form. But if he does gain that within two seasons, having him even as a sub will not cause a superstar to be dropped. Far from. A shit Totti is better than half the majority of guys anyone can think of.

I agree that having them all on at the same time would create havoc for our defense. But the way I see it we're not a stellar team up front, and not stellar at the back. There's no gamble hence the 0-0 tie. The possibility to be dominant up front is there (more so than at the back) and would like to see it , rather than be a mediocre team and just mediocre all around- which is what we are. The game works in time periods. You build and build a team so that they're good enough to win one world or one euro cup, if that doesn't happen, you're back to scratch. In a transition time (which we are still in) I don't see the hurt in calling up some of the old guys if they were superstars and still have some of that flair (totti del piero etc). Look at Blanco for Mexico in this WC. Still produced magic. I think a little more magic could not possibly hurt this team or exclude a much needed player.

http://www.football-italia.net/oct09c.html

“There is a great deal of regret at that incident, but I will learn from this mistake. After all, I have always scored goals.”

I hope something was lost in translation because that's a really cocky comment he really has no business making.