Lithuania 0-2 Italy

Juventino · Post by **Juventino** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 6:24 am

I wasn't too happy with the first half, we gave Lithuania a lot of the ball and some goalscoring opportunites, which were well saved by Buffon.

Far better second half, we didn't give Lithuania any of the ball for long periods and they didn't have the chances they enjoed in the first 45 minutes. Pirlo had a great second half, controlling the tempo of the game. Inzaghi was a bit off up front, he missed a few chances. De Rossi didn't really get into the game, and came off 15 minutes into the second half for Gattuso. Di Natale missed a few brilliant chances in this match, just as he did against Scotland. I think he is trying a little too hard to score and it is not falling for him right now. Oddo had a great second half, getting up and down the right hand side and putting in some good crosses. All the subs were decent, Gattuso tenacious as always, Del Piero displaying some nice skills and he almost created a chance for himself but slipped at the critical moment. Ambrosini did well out wide on the left.

Both goals beautifully taken by Fabio Quagliarella, that is now 3 caps, 2 goals. Second goal was scored on a great counter attack. Lithuania had a free kick which was powerfully hit (unfortunately for them it went straight at Buffon, anywhere else and it was a goal), Buffon released it quickly, the ball went down the field and Quagliarella finished with a great volley.

What I really like about Italy right now is the depth and versatility. On the bench we had Gattuso, Del Piero, Ambrosini and the unused subs Barzagli, Lucarelli, Amelia, Gamberini, Tonetto. A lot of depth in this squad. And this is forgetting Totti, Nesta (but he may be retired), Toni, Gilardino, Cassano.

A lot of versatility in the team, We started like this -

---------------------------Buffon--------------

Oddo-----Cannavaro-----Materazzi----------Zambrotta

--------------De Rossi---------Pirlo---------------------

Quagliarella-----------Perrotta-------------------Di Natale

------------------------------Inzaghi------------------------------

And with the subs, it changed to a 4-4-2, but we did not loss any momentum or start to play badly.

---------------------------Buffon--------------

Oddo-----Cannavaro-----Materazzi----------Zambrotta

Quagliarella------Gattuso----------Pirlo-----Ambrosini

----------------Del Piero--------------Inzaghi---------------

So that was quite promising.

I believe Italy, along with Argentina, are the best ball playing sides in world football. Especially that second half, Lithuania were chasing shadows. Quick one touch passes, little triangles, longer through balls, balls in the air, whatever it is, Italy are superb at it. We can play out way out of trouble and cntrol the tempo of the game trhough the middle of the park. With someone like Pirlo orchestrating the flow of the game and the passing, it is very hard to stop us. Then at any time the tempo can lift, one ball into space and we can be free down teh flanks or free in the middle. It is a great aspect of Italy's football and France will have to deal with it in September.

So, a good win, congratulations to Quagliarella on his first and second goals for Italy and now its time to beat France and Ukraine and consolidate first spot on the table.

Quagliarella 0-1
http://www.d1g.com/video/show/?id=1068714

Quagliarella 0-2
http://www.d1g.com/video/show/?id=1068727

Aldo Serena · Post by **Aldo Serena** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:18 am

Great to see a young Nap on the scoresheet for Italy!

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:53 am

GOOD ON YA QUAGLIARELLA!!

That second half team looks like juve in the late 90's...

buffon, pippo, ale, zambro, canna...

getborn · Post by **getborn** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:07 am

Aldo Serena wrote:Great to see a young Nap on the scoresheet for Italy!

great strikes, especially the second.

thesoupnazi · Post by **thesoupnazi** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:43 am

hey getborn when will we see you back on the track anytime this season?

diegom · Post by **diegom** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:47 am

They were both fricken crackers, well done young Napolitano

sepultura · Post by **sepultura** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:48 am

we do have an embarrassement of riches.

i loathe the french.

the wanna be americans of europe.

getborn · Post by **getborn** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:51 am

thesoupnazi wrote:hey getborn when will we see you back on the track anytime this season?

no. knee reconstruction on june 19.

diegom · Post by **diegom** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:52 am

getborn wrote:
thesoupnazi wrote:hey getborn when will we see you back on the track anytime this season?
no. knee reconstruction on june 19.

Poor bloke, Good luck with it mate

delfino_1936 · Post by **delfino_1936** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 11:12 am

absolute cracker jack goals from Quagliarella....good to see Italy's future star getting a chance to prove himself on the international stage

King Henry Returns · Post by **King Henry Returns** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 12:31 pm

Scudetto8990 wrote:GOOD ON YA QUAGLIARELLA!!

That second half team looks like juve in the late 90's...

buffon, pippo, ale, zambro, canna...

buffon (first season 2001) & canna (first season in 2004!) didnt play for juventus in the 90's and zambrotta's first season for juve was the 1999/00 season if im not mistaken.

So im not too sure what ur talking about..

the 2nd half team looks more like the current milan squad,pippo,ambro,gattuso,pirlo,oddo

aussie_ascoli · Post by **aussie_ascoli** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 12:52 pm

I think we must all thank aussie_ascoli for Quagliarella's greatness

. If it wasn't for aussie_ascoli the castel mare di stabia youngster, wouldn't of had the courage to score his first Serie A goal against Treviso. lol. Anyways the goal i witnessed was very similar to his first goal but on his right foot.

He is currently the worlds GREATEST outside the box shot taker BY FAR.

Juventino · Post by **Juventino** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:51 pm

France 18
Italy 16
--------------
Scotland 15
Ukraine 12*
Lithuania 7
Georgia 6**
Faroe Islands 0**

*played 6 games
**played 8 games

delfino_1936 · Post by **delfino_1936** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:18 pm

Lithuania 0-2 Italy: Quagliarella double

Two superb strikes from Fabio Quagliarella on his first start gave Italy a 2-0 win over Lithuania in a Euro 2008 Group B qualifier on Wednesday.

The result keeps the Azzurri in second spot as they head towards September's home clash with leaders France.

Sampdoria striker Quagliarella lashed home from the edge of the penalty area with his left foot in the 31st minute after cutting inside from the right wing.

The 23-year-old, only a late substitute in his previous two appearances, then scored with a delightful dipping effort on the stroke of halftime to settle Italy's nerves after a difficult start.

'I tried to pay back the faith shown in me by the manager and my team mates,' Quagliarella told Rai television.

Lithuania, who drew 1-1 in Italy in September, had matched the world champions in the early stages but lost their way after going behind.

'Since the other match (against Lithuania), the team has grown a lot and last time we were not in the right condition,' said Italy coach Roberto Donadoni.

He made several changes from Saturday's laboured 2-1 win in the Faroe Islands and his side looked more dangerous throughout, although it took Quagliarella to really liven them up.

Donadoni stuck with three up front when attacking and five in midfield when defending but brought in Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale as the wide forwards in place of Alessandro Del Piero and Lazio striker Tommaso Rocchi.

Filippo Inzaghi, who scored both goals in the Faroes, continued as the lone striker while the midfield included Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta instead of Gennaro Gattuso and Aimo Diana.

At first the system was again ineffective with the wide forwards looking unaccustomed to their positions but eventually Italy asserted themselves after resisting some good pressure from the home side.

Marius Stankevicius was the pick of the Lithuania side, hitting a freekick just over before almost pushing Gianluigi Buffon back into his goal with another fearsome effort which the Italy goalkeeper did well to get behind.

The Italians came closest to scoring more goals, however, with Udinese's Di Natale losing his composure and missing two clear-cut chances either side of the break.

Inzaghi almost continued his excellent scoring form when he lifted the ball over advancing Lithuania keeper Paulius Grybauskas only to see it dribble past the post.

NB:

1. Lithuania defender Marius Stankevicius applies his trade for gun Serie B outfit Brescia

2. Only 700 people attended the match (from what i saw on TV the stadium looked as if it help around 1-2k)

the lorax · Post by **the lorax** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:36 pm

top drawer goals. good to see them having long range digs and not trying to walk the ball in.
how did zambrotta play? Think he should go back to juve?

by the way where did the footage come from? love the commentary, bad luck it was in arabic or whatever it was - maybe it was the Nap dialect

lol

Juventino · Post by **Juventino** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:45 pm

Zambrotta did well, considering he was coming back from injury which caused him to miss the game at the weekend. He didn't get up and down the touchline as much as usual, but it didn't matter, Oddo was doing that on the right hand side.

As for going to Juventus, it would be great to see him wearing the black and white again, but I think we must be going through a rebuilding phase, and we have Cheillini and Balzaretti for that left hand side. But I think he wants to remain in Spain anyway.

Al Jazeera tv station usually show Serie A and B matches, so I assume it is from that channel.

Juventino · Post by **Juventino** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:07 pm

These videos show a bit more buildup to the goals.

0-1
http://www.zshare.net/video/2169925f1d5f66/

0-2
http://www.zshare.net/video/2169949e585bba/

aussie_ascoli · Post by **aussie_ascoli** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:26 pm

Rigoni 10 wrote:Lithuania 0-2 Italy: Quagliarella double

Two superb strikes from Fabio Quagliarella on his first start gave Italy a 2-0 win over Lithuania in a Euro 2008 Group B qualifier on Wednesday.

The result keeps the Azzurri in second spot as they head towards September's home clash with leaders France.

Sampdoria striker Quagliarella lashed home from the edge of the penalty area with his left foot in the 31st minute after cutting inside from the right wing.

The 23-year-old, only a late substitute in his previous two appearances, then scored with a delightful dipping effort on the stroke of halftime to settle Italy's nerves after a difficult start.

'I tried to pay back the faith shown in me by the manager and my team mates,' Quagliarella told Rai television.

Lithuania, who drew 1-1 in Italy in September, had matched the world champions in the early stages but lost their way after going behind.

'Since the other match (against Lithuania), the team has grown a lot and last time we were not in the right condition,' said Italy coach Roberto Donadoni.

He made several changes from Saturday's laboured 2-1 win in the Faroe Islands and his side looked more dangerous throughout, although it took Quagliarella to really liven them up.

Donadoni stuck with three up front when attacking and five in midfield when defending but brought in Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale as the wide forwards in place of Alessandro Del Piero and Lazio striker Tommaso Rocchi.

Filippo Inzaghi, who scored both goals in the Faroes, continued as the lone striker while the midfield included Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta instead of Gennaro Gattuso and Aimo Diana.

At first the system was again ineffective with the wide forwards looking unaccustomed to their positions but eventually Italy asserted themselves after resisting some good pressure from the home side.

Marius Stankevicius was the pick of the Lithuania side, hitting a freekick just over before almost pushing Gianluigi Buffon back into his goal with another fearsome effort which the Italy goalkeeper did well to get behind.

The Italians came closest to scoring more goals, however, with Udinese's Di Natale losing his composure and missing two clear-cut chances either side of the break.

Inzaghi almost continued his excellent scoring form when he lifted the ball over advancing Lithuania keeper Paulius Grybauskas only to see it dribble past the post.

NB:

1. Lithuania defender Marius Stankevicius applies his trade for gun Serie B outfit Brescia

2. Only 700 people attended the match (from what i saw on TV the stadium looked as if it help around 1-2k)

And Danielavicius (sp) plays in italy

It was more like 4-5000 people there they have the stadium side full.

delfino_1936 · Post by **delfino_1936** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:28 pm

yeh thats y i found it weird the attendance said 700

Piola · Post by **Piola** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:53 pm

where will Quagliarella most likely be playing next season? Last week I heard Arsenal want him.

delfino_1936 · Post by **delfino_1936** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:55 pm

Laziale wrote:where will Quagliarella most likely be playing next season? Last week I heard Arsenal want him.

yeh thats what i was hearing but i found no source of information about it

where did you hear about that Laziale??

Piola · Post by **Piola** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:59 pm

Rigoni 10 wrote:
Laziale wrote:where will Quagliarella most likely be playing next season? Last week I heard Arsenal want him.
yeh thats what i was hearing but i found no source of information about it

where did you hear about that Laziale??

i think it was on tutto mercato web but im not 100% sure

aussie_ascoli · Post by **aussie_ascoli** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:11 pm

Laziale wrote:
Rigoni 10 wrote:
Laziale wrote:where will Quagliarella most likely be playing next season? Last week I heard Arsenal want him.
yeh thats what i was hearing but i found no source of information about it

where did you hear about that Laziale??
i think it was on tutto mercato web but im not 100% sure

Thats the best website for news TMW, been using it for years. I love the speculation, but nothing is official until its highlighted in red, lol.

delfino_1936 · Post by **delfino_1936** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:15 pm

aussie_ascoli wrote:
Laziale wrote:
Rigoni 10 wrote:
Laziale wrote:where will Quagliarella most likely be playing next season? Last week I heard Arsenal want him.
yeh thats what i was hearing but i found no source of information about it

where did you hear about that Laziale??
i think it was on tutto mercato web but im not 100% sure
Thats the best website for news TMW, been using it for years. I love the speculation, but nothing is official until its highlighted in red, lol.

yeh its class....thats where i usually get all my Pescara news from