International Friendlies

tflF · Aug 23, 2007

man Donadoni has no idea....he's very young and inexperienced...Italy are in danger.

acerвιc wιт · Aug 23, 2007

Gera, Vasko and Tozser were all very impressive for Hungary.

Besi · Aug 23, 2007

tflF said:
man Donadoni has no idea....he's very young and inexperienced...Italy are in danger.

It was friendly .. you will see other face of Italy when they will play vs France.. you cannot expect them to waste all the energy when in 3 days they have the 1st official match of the season..

tflF · Aug 23, 2007

i hope so...i really hope you are right my friend.

kats · Aug 23, 2007

I'm no fan of Materazzi, but wow - that was a strange injury. Who'd have thought that it was that bad?

A Wild Homosexual · Aug 23, 2007

zZ[-_-]Zz said:
Italy losin' 3-1 to Hungary... our Milan players were pathetic... namely Inzaghi & Pirlo...

I was hoping Pirlo will bring some of his Italy performance back 2 Milan but seems that he is doing the opposite.
Its only a matter if time b4 a smart coach will drop him , as I predicted.

radioactivenerd · Aug 24, 2007

Wild said:
I was hoping Pirlo will bring some of his Italy performance back 2 Milan but seems that he is doing the opposite.
Its only a matter if time b4 a smart coach will drop him , as I predicted.

hopefully donadoni will do that atleast, since we know ancelotti never will. thats going to motivate pilro to play better for milan to win his azzurri spot back.

Rex · Aug 24, 2007

radioactivenerd said:
lahm was playing in a very weird holding-midfield posn yesterday....he didnt have much effect ont he game, as england were running away with midfield posession till shneider found his feet.
I love the way germans always start off tournaments and games with a relatively unknown bunch of players, and end up becoming stars by the end of it all.

mertesacker, metzeldar, frings and pander come to mind. i doubt many people outside of germany knew too much about them before the world cup or this game.

Extra warning for England.

Even if they could make it to Swiss-Austria, they easily get kicked out of tournament. Mark my words.

German footballing's spirit under Loew is yet to change since predecessor Klinsi left the team. Keep on rockin'.

radioactivenerd · Aug 24, 2007

Rex said:
Extra warning for England.

Even if they could make it to Swiss-Austria, they easily get kicked out of tournament. Mark my words.

German footballing's spirit under Loew is yet to change since predecessor Klinsi left the team. Keep on rockin'.

And i see no reason to change that spirit. the german side klinsmann built was a work of art, seamlessly fusing the typical german efficiency with the sort of flair that any south american team would be proud of. i was never a fan of the germans, but i certainly wouldnt mind them winning something big in the upcoming tournaments.

acerвιc wιт · Aug 25, 2007

LOL obviously you randoms haven't been watching Italy play at all. Pirlo has been their most consistent and influencial player for the past 2-3 seasons. STFU and quit jumpping on the bandwagon.

Sasha · Sep 9, 2007

Brazil 1-1 USA HT...

Own goal by the US after a remarkable series of passes by the Brazilian squad, Kaka' took the shot. but the GK blocked it and it bounced off the big guy for an own goal...

So far Ronaldinho and Robinho are playing magically... But an idiotic dive by the kid inside the box (faked out 2 defenders, ran along the goal line... and dived)...

That's all my dormmate+girlfriend will let me watch because they want to see the NFL games... So can anyone keep me up to date with the updates?

censorthiis · Sep 9, 2007

FT USA 2-4 Brasil.

Not exactly a fair result on performances; I wish it had ended something like 3-3 instead. The ref was horrible on all fronts, missed several calls for both sides, including a clear penalty and a clear handball for the US.

The US played well, but lacked those crucial goals (wish Johnson replaced Wolff earlier)—not too unlike against Argentina in the Copa América. Unlike Argentina, however, were Brasil. Argentina outclassed the US, Brasil did not, I think. Weak performance by their standards and very lucky over all.

It was an excellent match though, and I'm frustrated with the ref but not terribly upset in general. The combination of Bradley and Feilhaber in the middle of the pitch makes me happy and Tim Howard playing on with a dislocated finger is ace—do wish Chris Seitz could've earned his first cap though; he was really magnificent in the U-20 World Cup.

Edit: It was lovely to see Kakà though.

Mystik · Sep 9, 2007

I thought Ronaldinho outclassed him though. Not to say he sucked but he wasn't an outstanding Kaka from UCL last season.

censorthiis · Sep 9, 2007

I thought it was a typical-day Ronaldinho: play pretty averagely with some flashes and tricks ("ooh" and "ahh") and end up on the score sheet via a dead ball anyway.

Kakà was frustrated and he didn't play particularly well, but he hasn't exactly been thrilling for Milan either, no? Yeah, those goals, but...

I thought Ronaldinho + Robinho linked up better than either Ronaldinho + Kakà or Robinho + Kakà.

Mystik · Sep 9, 2007

To me with that 4-3-2-1, Kaka doesn't play half as well as he can for Milan. But that however is for another thread.

Back to Ronaldinho though, yeah I guess he wasn't *brilliant* but he did more for Brazil that match than Kaka did. Held possession better and gave Kaka a nice pass before the own goal. Kaka's been playing pretty average this season so far. Really doesn't try too much and for me a man of his skill should be a little more adventurous at times.

GreatKalu · Sep 10, 2007

Kaka's more of a no-fuss, direct player than the likes of bucky and Robinho. And the most effective players have been just that. Wonder if we were compare accomplishments now?

Mystik · Sep 10, 2007

I like the fact that Kaka isn't the flashy type of player and I actually prefer him to Ronaldinho. I'm just saying that he's a guy who's a match winner and could try something adventurous every once in a while.

Beemer · Sep 10, 2007

Well, our bellyflop against Brazil marked our fifth loss of '07. Congrats. :rolleyes:

Bob Bradley will probably have to hit the sleeping pills pretty soon if he's going to get any shuteye at night.

censorthiis · Sep 10, 2007

It's really not as bad as it seems on paper. It was eleven straight wins before the Copa América, no? The squad wasn't exactly ace material there; the three losses were disappointing, but not unexpected. The one against Sweden was only 0-1, fair enough. Brasil...well, I've already expressed how deceptive I find the scoreline.

Honestly, I think the future is bright...ish for the US. Have hope, anyway; I love the kids.

acerвιc wιт · Sep 12, 2007

Argentina 1-0 Australia

Not a bad result for us. Bresciano was terribly unluckly haha you guys have to see it. Messi was brilliant as was their GK Abbondanzieri. Valeri, who came off the bench for Australia impressed. He was a young bloke that Inter snapped up a few seasons back. In the end, their class prevailed but nonetheless we put up a good fight.

Good to see the likes of Messi, Tevez, Zanetti... make the trip out.

Az. · Sep 12, 2007

Germania 1-1 Romania @ half time.Nice game by both teams,hope we kick some german ass

censorthiis · Sep 13, 2007

FT Mexico 1-3 Brasil; only caught the second half, but it was exciting from what I saw. Glad Brasil won because I would've been disappointed if Mexico didn't lose. :tongue:

(Vani,) is there somebody on the Mexican National Team named 'San Siro' or something similar? I was watching on Telemundo so the commentator spoke Spanish and I didn't catch a lot except for 'San Siro...San Siro...'

Edit: Oops, never mind. I checked Wikipedia for current squad and I'm pretty sure I was actually hearing Salcido now.

vani_pirlo_21 · Sep 13, 2007

lol yeah Salcido... but he's nicknamed Salcita :tongue:

I also only watched the second half till Kaká was subbed, not bad game...

acerвιc wιт · Oct 18, 2007

Rosina had a brilliant debut for the Azzurri. Montolivo and Gamberini also looked at ease. Foggia started off in sensational fashion but as the match wore on he was up and down but nonetheless a positive performance. Lucarelli had an excellent second half. He struggled a bit in the first half but when Donadoni introduced Gilardino in the second half it opened up more space for the Azzurri and both he and Gilardino carved up. Gilardino hit the post and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet with his brilliant chest down and cross foot shot (off his first touch!).

Bonera was untroubled at the back. Composed performance by him. Had one slip up which almost resulted in a goal but he was very reliable.

For mine Dossena, Udinese's left back, made an unexpected HUGE impact. The bloke was deadset sensational. It was a left field decision to call up him for the Azzurri but well done to Donadoni for putting his trust in the lad. Definately one to keep tabs on.

De Rossi made a great performace with the captain's armband. Also Gilardino was handed the captain's armband when De Rossi was subbed so congrats to Gilardino! :star:

Sasha · Oct 18, 2007

How did Canna's little brother play? I'm glad he got to play, although it was just a friendly. Glad to see the future of the Azzurri De Rossi and Gila get to wear the armbands. :proud:

acerвιc wιт · Oct 18, 2007

Paolo Cannavaro didn't play.

edika_kaka · Oct 18, 2007

did anyone have brazil highlight

Sasha · Oct 18, 2007

San Paolo said:
Paolo Cannavaro didn't play.

He got called up though right? I thought I saw P. Cannavaro on YahooEurosport.com. Weird.

EDIT: You're right, he didn't. But I could have sworn I saw his name on the field.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/international-friendlies/2007-2008/italy-south-africa-217913.html

crazy4milan · Oct 18, 2007

Dossena + Rosina were the best of the new guys. Hopefully, Rosina will get more noticed by Donadoni now. Gila looks miles better than a month ago, first of all he looks alive, which is always a good sign, and then he looks more secure, his ball control is much better (much better), he even made some classy touches, and lastly he was able to find some spaces, and was unlucky to not get the goal (and hopefully getting the captain armband-even when this shouldn't mean anything for this game-helps his confidence even more). His appearance helped Lucarelli who was the worse man on the field till then.

Bonera still has to get more confident in his abilities, he has quality in him but he always has to make a mistake per game, which shouldn't be.

Montolivo was the one that dissapointed, but hey, it's his first azzurri game, so forgiven.

GreatKalu · Oct 18, 2007

Just thought I'd pop in and say this was the same South African side who got trashed in their own backyard 3-1 by Chipolopolo

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