EURO 2008: Group C

[Olly NZ Frestyle]

a bit early to be talking about this match adi. because netherlands vs italy tonight and france vs romania (tough group)

but when the game does come i predict a 2-1 win for france  :thumbsup:

[Olly NZ Frestyle]

i bet Italy holland will be a stalemate.  probably 0-0.  Italy is so slow on the attack.  If someone does manage to score i think it will be holland

i agree italy are more of a defensive team so i cant see them conceding in this match but i also cant see them scoring, i think toni will be a dissapointment. just my opinion  :thumbsup:

[Jane(not really)]

Anybody know anything about that alleged Sneijder and Van Persie fight on training?
Watched France-Romania and must say that the Frenchman have disappointed me,even more than Croatia... I'm eager to see how will Holland and Italy play.I know they are not teams who score or concede many goals but it's time that we see more than two goals in one match  :biggrin:

[2zef^^]

Nederlands 2-0 half time  :cheers:
V,Nistelrooy and sneijder

[Jane(not really)]

Nederlands-Italy in 45 minutes better than all matches on Euro together  :rockit:
hope Nederlands will continue playing so good...

[BigMac]

I haven't posted on the forum lately but as it is the euros i am back and this time in the football section.

I have been watching bits and parts of matches and today i had the chance to watch romania and france properly and it was as i expected....Boring.

Romania didnt want to play, they sat back and just built a wall that France could'nt get past. Saying that France didnt look like they wanted to!

They played two holding midfielders, why? Against an attacking team fair enough, but Romania?

None of the players shined and the they were slow passing the ball, the whole game was slow. Romania and France won't progress, Romania cant go through on 0-0 draws and i think Italy and Holland can beat them anyway. As for France they really need to think about the way they are playing, they are in the 'group of death' and a point against Romania just isnt good enough.

 

[2zef^^]

OLE  :cheers: :cheers:
3-0!!!!!!!!!!!
final score

[Adi]

I meant to make this about the Italy vs. Holland game. Got the matches all twisted up. Sorry... I'll merge this with the Group C thread.

[Adi]

France vs. Romania: 0-0

Pretty boring game as someone mentioned. I really expected a bit more. Ribery was the only life source of that game. When the ball went through him, something happened. He set up the two biggest chances for France, one for Anelka and one for Benzema. Speaking of Benzema, his finishing was very poor today. He could have broken out in this game with one or two games, but instead he came out looking worse than he did before the tournament. He needs to shake it off and come back strong next game.

Holland vs. Italy: 3-0

I didn't see this coming either. Nice first half by Holland. They dictated the tempo and made the most of their chances. Sneijder and Ruud were sensational. On the other hand, Italy looked much better in the second half but they couldn't score to safe their lives. Grosso and Toni should have had a goal each. Next game, Italy needs to change a few things. Most importantly, Del Piero should be starting. I would also take Ambrosini out and start either Grosso or De Rossi.

[BigMac]

Italy vs Holland.

Boring game.

Hahaha, no! Awesome game, the dutch were just fantastic especially in the first half with their counter attacks i think Italy were stunned for the first 45 minutes or something. Ok Holland got lucky with a few of their goals, especially the offside one, how did they get away with that?

Second half Italy came back a bit, even though they got beat 3-0 they will go through, they didnt exactly play bad.

Also it was nice to see two teams going for it instead of being cagey and trying not to put a foot wrong at the back rather than attacking.

I am looking forward to the Romania vs Holland game, should be plenty of goals there for the Dutch.

As for who is going to win the group i would say Holland but then again who knows, Italy are a very good team.

[TheGodEmperor]

If France beats holland then it is all up in the air again

[Adi]

Hahaha, no! Awesome game, the dutch were just fantastic especially in the first half with their counter attacks i think Italy were stunned for the first 45 minutes or something.

I think Italy was really missing Cannavaro to lead and organize the back. Barzagli was OK but there were just too many gaps in there. With Nesta, Cannavaro, and Materazzi, their defense was always solid and hard to break down. Mistakes were rare. That's not the case now.

I also think that playing 3 in the midfield hurt them. Holland is the strongest and most talented in the middle. With that being the case, it makes no sense to only play 3 players in the middle against them. There was too much space to exploit which put the defense in disarray trying to make up for the gaps in the midfield.

Ok Holland got lucky with a few of their goals, especially the offside one, how did they get away with that?

That goal was quite a mess. You can interpret the offside rule in a few different ways for that situation. The player was pushed off the field but he was technically still in play since the referee never signaled for him to get off the field. Taking that into consideration, Ruud was not offside.