England vs Italy

[bismarck]

What an effort...

[DaleRFU]

I have got to say you deserved to win it. our biggest mistake was letting Pirlo dictate the game. true pass master

[sprocky]

And soon it's time for you to go home as well - warm greetings from Germany!

Ok, the statistics show that Italy has won most of the games vs. Germany in the past - but only in Italy. Looking at the results outside of Italy they look well balanced.

[bismarck]

And soon it's time for you to go home as well - warm greetings from Germany!

Ok, the statistics show that Italy has won most of the games vs. Germany in the past - but only in Italy. Looking at the results outside of Italy they look well balanced.

Sorry but I've extensively searched on Google Earth and was not able to find any city in Italy called Dortmund or Madrid or Mexico City.....

BTW, here some "wise words" from the mythical Trapattoni (Sac, should be something like bag)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r48o-AvHhFw

[MIKE JG]

Not even this guy could help the English......

[sprocky]

Sorry but I've extensively searched on Google Earth and was not able to find any city in Italy called Dortmund or Madrid or ...

Hm, Madrid once belonged to the country. But at that time they called the country Roman Empire

[james84]

I don't care much (read: "at all") about football, but I had the chance to watch both teams play. I think Italian players are more "skilled" although sometimes seem to fall asleep. They deserved to win against England but were quite unlucky to score during the match. Germany instead is as strong and powerful as a Tiger tank and it's the only team that managed to win ALL the matches during the first phase. We'll soon know who will play the final against Spain (which I think is going to win against Portugal).
Whatever happens, it will be a total clash between superpowers!

[tango234]

strong and powerful as a Tiger tank

So they will break down/run out of fuel in the next match?

[james84]

I think it was the King Tiger/Tiger II to break down very often, not the Tiger I! We'll see!

[tango234]

The Tiger I suffered pretty badly from track problems, and breakdowns (it was relatively common for tiger-armed panzer units on the eastern front to be under strength before they even engaged the Russians due to breakdowns of one form or another). The Maybach engines were not particularly reliable, so the extent that the crews where trained to go slower than the tank's official max speed. The Tiger II and King Tiger were just as bad, and always susceptible to a Tiffy or two!

[sprocky]

Maybe he was referring to the Leopard tank.

But I am afraid he accidently chose the correct term

[tango234]

Indeed, but at least the Leopard can cross a river without a bridge...it does at least have that going for it.

Can't brew tea though, so as far as that most important of tank traits goes it certainly isn't great .

[bismarck]

OT....

[MIKE JG]

Well, Germany had their chances but they did not convert them. Italy did. It was as simple as that. They got Super Mario instead of Crazy Mario this time!

[bismarck]

[relfel66]

Balotelli was a beast today, nice showing for Italy. Hope the final is a classic!

[james84]

I did watch the match yesterday, and both teams started quite good, maybe at the same level. Italy played rather well this time, even better than against England, showing off much more determination and scoring those two goals in a bunch of minutes. Definitely a deserved win IMHO.
Let's see what happens against Spain... if Italy play like yesterday, I'm sure they will win!
However, Germany proved to be a very strong opposer as usual, full respect to them. Football and sports are also a question of luck, so Germany's time will come too. The World Cup will take place in just two years and talented young players such as Ozil and Khedira are just waiting for another chance to show their skills off, good luck to them!

[sprocky]

I did watch the match yesterday, and both teams started quite good, maybe at the same level.

I watched the match as well but maybe you saw a different one? I thought our team was playing pretty poor compared to previous matches. The penalty shot at the end was not really deserved. Congrats Italy! Your team was way better than ours. Except for our goalkeeper: Although he let in two shots he was performing much better than most of the team. Especially I liked that he tried to push forward in the last few minutes leaving his dedicated area. Well, as I feared of: we lost the match. But next match - next chance

[james84]

I did watch the match yesterday, and both teams started quite good, maybe at the same level.

I watched the match as well but maybe you saw a different one? I thought our team was playing pretty poor compared to previous matches. The penalty shot at the end was not really deserved. Congrats Italy! Your team was way better than ours. Except for our goalkeeper: Although he let in two shots he was performing much better than most of the team. Especially I liked that he tried to push forward in the last few minutes leaving his dedicated area. Well, as I feared of: we lost the match. But next match - next chance

So good luck!

[bismarck]

So , here we are...
Congratulations to Spain.
A team too strong for an Italy team too tired.
However, a good result for Italy, no one thought would come in the final, especially considering where it was two years ago, having played the worst World Cup ever.

Ciao.