24/06/12 - Euro 2012 Match Day Moments

Yea also off topic but is it just me or has nobody seen the new battersea stadium designs submitted by cfc i think it looks pretty smart and would be pucker if it could happen

Trouty_Killer... I am sure most people have seen it, it's been floating around the internet, featuring on many sites.

That reads like a bad Omen! - JT and AC leading the charge!! especially as they are defenders!! - Maybe its because England pass back to their own Gk so often you`ve confused them with Strikers! ;-)

Its going to be a tight affair today and the key battle will be in the midfield. Gerard/parker vs pirlo/de rossi. Looking forward to cheering for Ash & JT.

Chelz Akamz... I'll be interested to see if De Rossi even plays in the midfield. He has spent most of the tournament in the back three, almost as a sweeper. Marchisio has also been great.

Hmm, any good enough centre forward in the Spanish team to trouble Terry? I reckon that Di Natale may be hard to mark with his movement. But Balotelli and Cassano should be bread and butter for him. As for their defence, Rooney will have to be very well partnered to break down that defence. As for the midfield, that should be interesting. I'm really looking forward to how Parker & Co. will cope with Pirlo. Interesting match, I just hope both will go for the win. It would pi$$ me off if both teams' game plans are defending.

I would play Steve G. behind Rooney with [Milner-Parker] in the pivot and [Baines-Young] on the wings. There is no need to use 2 strikers in this type of game as England will need all the help they can get in midfield. Rooney,Gerrard,Baines,Young, Milner and Parker will compress the midfield and make it hard for Pirlo to spread the ball. Baines is disciplined, skillful and fast, he will put in accurate crosses for Rooney to score. Young will help Johnson in defence and put in crosses for Rooney from the RW.

I think italy will win,i just cant see england winning the midfield battle...But i wil be glad if england wins it.

yash_blue... You want Andy Carroll to start over Wayne Rooney? Just wanted to verify that.

*or else it will be down to penalties.

Lol @YashBlue but i think Rooney must start, England need his drive and spirit on the pitch.

Young starting against italy might not work as ita�0„5ly are too physical for his style..They need caroll against italy.But they need rooney too

surprisingly england is better than Italy in defence.!!!! @samex i just cannot stand those urinated scums..!!!He actualy stole gerrards goal n got all the aclaim.!!!wtf.!!!! m supporting england for cole and JT

half hour to kick off, not nervous in the slightest, after all its not CHELSEA is it!

C'MON ENGLAND!!!

whaoooo.... great save by Buffon, I already shouted goal... a pulsating start for this....

I'm loving Montolivo's play... great passes and movement....

pirlo's still quality,reminds me a bit of modric.

Exciting match so far ... and can only get better

Interesting first half.. Dont think Wellbeck has done anything wrong, his movement has been decent... How on earth did we let Millan get Montolivo, why are we not after him instead of wasting our time over Modric???....

Some people will come here soon to call the match boring, I wonder what some people here want from or look out for in football matches these days...

The Italian midfield play is so compose here, de Rossi, marchisio and pirlo have been brilliant

C'mon England!!!

good substitutions there by Roy, Milner and Welbeck off

PIRLO is an absolute MONSTER. What a class of a player

parker is a poor passer, terry is key to dat defence

Great match ... set to continue :-)

God I was hoping it would‘nt come to this. Fraking extra time!

Lotsa Guts from England ... but the chances are mostly Italy's.

Great match.... Hope extra time produces a winner and no need for shoot out, the winner of this match will meet Germany and have just 2 days of rest while Germany will have 4 days.... Not too fair..

Wow Zeenut. Standing around your 18 yrd biox and putting only 2 players up front. That takes a lot of courage...

If only England could press when the Italians have the ball, the space Pirlo and his men are having is enormous.

The funny thing is Italy are playing like England of old while England are playing like classic Italy.

England just trying to hold on ... sigh

And Penalties it is !!

I'm picking Hart to carry Engand through.

Yes !!

C'mon Cole

Well thats that.

Well, great game, England fought really hard, not a poor loss... So Italy moves on...

Now the press need to give Chelsea the credit we deserves, If you wanna win it 'the Chelsea way' you must be efficient and effective in front of goal and that includes penalty kicks.

Passion & Grit .... i agree. Better team selection might have helped to.

Oh please Raybell so much for the so called “Chelsea way“. Who knows naybe if Hart used the Grobellar spaghetti legs he might have saved Pirlo‘s penalty. I really hope this is the last time Chelsea is assosiated with ultra defensive football.

I hope this is the last time Chelsea is associated with England. Chelsea beat Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli, Benfica, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. England drew with France (overrated team), beat Ukraine and Sweden (not top European teams). Tonight, they got saved by the cross bar twice, got a lucky call and had Balotelli, De Rossi and Nocerino missing easy chances my grand mother could have put away. England didn't really get tested till today and they got exposed. Relying on the defense of Chelsea to take you to the finals is not enough. Your attack has to do their work and England quite frankly possess a bunch of useless/overrated attackers and midfielders - Carroll, Milner, Walcott, Welbeck, Young, and Downing. Not sure any team in the Euros possess a bunch of average footballers in attack like England. If JT was injured from day one, most likely England would have not made it past the group stages. They better pray he is not found guilty and banned from the international squad because they should kiss their 2014 hopes goodbye. The ***** teams Greece, Ireland and co were knocked out in the group stages. The overrated teams have been knocked out in the qualification stage. Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo Pirlo. Forza Italy.

Chelsea played too much defensively in some games but the team took its chances at the moment that matters that, the press never gave the team credit for, they likened any team that plays very defensive to chelsea. @traykidd i was more or less saying there is nothing like 'Chelsea way' really.

I think England and Italy are just on same level in terms of attack prowess or quality and productivity of attackers, especially in today's game, the edge Italy had was midfield, the combo of Pirlo, Montolivo and De Rossi was too strong for England to handle, they had all the possession and did all the playing...I feel England could have probably gotten a goal if with more possession but the midfield couldn't provide the possession... Only the big boys are on now, England/Italy were the weakest quarter-finalists anyway and I dont see Italy beating Germany....

If you watched Pirlo today and still think Raul and Lamps are good enough for the deeplying role next season, then something must be wrong somewhere.

Well @Kaku... I feel the Italy vs Spain game wasn't a real test for Italy, the tournament was just starting then and the false 9 idea made the job easier for Italy. Italy's attack has not done too well so far, 1 goal and at most 2 goals is the best they've done, England has gotten more goals than Italy, Italy's only win and 2 goals was against Ireland, the worst team. I don't see their attack as efficient so far and I don't think Borini, Di Natale and Giovinco can do much better, not against England's defense and certainly not against Germany. A win against Germany will come as a big surprise for me... though Italy sometimes appear as silent killers in tournaments and just go through, I don't see it happening this time. I personally wasn't expecting them to get to the semi's, I feel England gave them too much freedom and the match against Germany will be their bus stop....

The Germany - Italy game will be a cracker, the key will be who wins the midfield battle Bastian-Ozil-Khedira vs DeRossi-Pirlo-Marchisio-Montolivo.

The English pl is a very demanding league and i think that affects the national team in major tournaments. englang barely touched the ball in the second half of extra time, they were too tired! rooney lacks match fitness, Gerrard was visibly tired and struggling with cramp, cole & johnson couldn't take advantage of italy's narrow midfield because they just didn't have the energy to bomb forward when england had the ball (despite having plenty of space to run into), quite a few of their players (jt, parker, cole, johnson) were carrying injuries. and if they had somehow made it past italy to play a well rested (and rotated) german side, they would have had their behinds handed to them! the germans pass the ball around much more quickly than italy and they have width and creativity in the final third. that being said, blue has always been the color for me! FORZA AZZURRI !!!!!!!!

from what I've read (was never going to watch England vs Italy) Italy had 30 shots at goal, 62% possession and 8 shots on target (not bad for a naturally defensive team) yet England (representing the best League in the world) had 8 shots at goal, 1 (ONE, UNO) SHOT on target and 38% possession...

They*

England were very wasteful in the game.

Italy were the better team and deserved their semi final berth. when we were linked with pirlo 2 yrs before every one was angry for chasing a old player but this is what a player like pirlo can give to any team. Form is temporary and class is permanent. he is a class above every one in this tournament. If not for ballotelli pirlo could two or three assists in this match itself. i still wish chelsea bid for Pirlo because he is like scholes has 4 or 5 yrs of good period more. his penalty was insane. that penalty showed his overall performance in that match.

@spanishblue : Most teams we face in the pl park the bus, force us to play sideways n then hit us on the break. Pirlo would have been the perfect solution for that as he operates from deep and stretches the opposition with his range of passing. Alonso was a big hit for liverfool and pirlo is a class above him.

Of which Italy are experts in doing that.