Italy v Georgia
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1-0 Italy at half time. Goal from a Pirlo free kick on 43 minutes.
It was a tale of missed chances in the first half. As expected, Georgia were sitting back and were very compact in defence and for long periods of the first half they were hard to break down. Then the play started to get a little wider and as they were being stretched the chances started to come. We have Di Natale and Quagliarella as the two sort of wingers in the 4-3-3, but what I like is that they are playing more in the box, leaving plenty of space for Grosso and Oddo to overlap. And even at times Gattuso and Ambrosini (who started instead of De Rossi) have been able to get outside of Quag and Di Natale.
The captain has not had a save to make yet and has hardly had a touch of it. One nervous moment was whejn Panucci gave the ball away and there was a 2 on 1 situation with the Georgian attackers vs Barzagli but Panucci got back before they could get into the box and danger was averted. Other than that there has been nothing for Georgia.
Toni hit the post and also had another header just flash over the bar. Di Natale snatched at a chance from the penalty spot, which should have been buried and just after he scored Pirlo had another free kick which was well tipped over. So there have been chances and it is one problem I have with Quagliarella and Di Natale. For the most part they are not clinical enough in front of goal. But the relief was evident once the free kick went in. Knowing what Scotland and France have done in their matches there can be no room for error. Getting that first goal was vital and before half time was a great time to score. It was an odd one. Pirlo was about 25 meters out and hit it with no curl but the keeper moved to his left and then slipped so it went into virtually an empty net.
We should go on with it here.
It was a tale of missed chances in the first half. As expected, Georgia were sitting back and were very compact in defence and for long periods of the first half they were hard to break down. Then the play started to get a little wider and as they were being stretched the chances started to come. We have Di Natale and Quagliarella as the two sort of wingers in the 4-3-3, but what I like is that they are playing more in the box, leaving plenty of space for Grosso and Oddo to overlap. And even at times Gattuso and Ambrosini (who started instead of De Rossi) have been able to get outside of Quag and Di Natale.
The captain has not had a save to make yet and has hardly had a touch of it. One nervous moment was whejn Panucci gave the ball away and there was a 2 on 1 situation with the Georgian attackers vs Barzagli but Panucci got back before they could get into the box and danger was averted. Other than that there has been nothing for Georgia.
Toni hit the post and also had another header just flash over the bar. Di Natale snatched at a chance from the penalty spot, which should have been buried and just after he scored Pirlo had another free kick which was well tipped over. So there have been chances and it is one problem I have with Quagliarella and Di Natale. For the most part they are not clinical enough in front of goal. But the relief was evident once the free kick went in. Knowing what Scotland and France have done in their matches there can be no room for error. Getting that first goal was vital and before half time was a great time to score. It was an odd one. Pirlo was about 25 meters out and hit it with no curl but the keeper moved to his left and then slipped so it went into virtually an empty net.
We should go on with it here.
A comfortbale 2-0 win in the end. Fabio Grosso scored the second goal in the 83rd minute. They were a side that proved difficult to break down until late in both halves. They are coached by former Bayer Leverkusen man Toppmuller, so they have a capable coach at the helm and they continued to play a pressing game, trying to crush the game in midfield. It was a largely uneventful second half although Pasquale Foggia made his azzurri debut with 20 minutes to go. Grosso scored a with a delicate little chip over the on rushing goalkeeper and the game was safe and the job done.
The performance wasn't top notch but I think in this situation, knowing that Scotland and France had both won the result was the main thing and there wee no slip ups. We did control the game, again it was a just a case of missed chances with the game not being sown up at half time like it should have been. Great that Foggia made his debut and I hope he starts against Spouth Africa on Wednesday. Probably the worst player was Quagliarella.
The performance wasn't top notch but I think in this situation, knowing that Scotland and France had both won the result was the main thing and there wee no slip ups. We did control the game, again it was a just a case of missed chances with the game not being sown up at half time like it should have been. Great that Foggia made his debut and I hope he starts against Spouth Africa on Wednesday. Probably the worst player was Quagliarella.
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Missing Post Count
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- Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 1:54 pm