Posted on 07/01/2016 10:33:18 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Italy are the team who have impressed me most at Euro 2016.
They don’t really have any star names but they’ve already seen off two sides packed with them — Belgium and Spain — and face another on Saturday.
The key to their success is their formation — and how well it is executed. Playing three at the back has often been dismissed as old hat in recent years, but we are beginning to see more teams flirt with the idea.
And when you see a team like this employ it to perfection, who can blame them?
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Penalty shootouts lost in official tournaments:
[7] ITALY
[6] Argentina, England, Iran, México
[5] Brazil, Netherlands, Uruguay
That was the most horrendous penalty shootout I ever witnessed.
To quote Portugal: We get criticized a lot but we don’t care because we are in the semifinals.
Buffon almost got the Hummels pk that went slightly over his outstreched hand.
On the game winner by Hector, it looked like
Buffon adjusted his dive to possibly get a hand on
a high shot, but alas, it went under him: unlucky.
Nine times out of ten, Buffon makes that save.
Someone said, Chiellini faked injury at the end of that game right before the penalties were to be taken so as to get Zaza in and look how that happened. I don’t know if this is true and happened at the 120th minute but I am going to try to watch that segment of the match.
Buffon did not start against England in their World Cup match in 2014: http://us.soccerway.com/matches/2014/06/15/world/world-cup/england/italy/1220089/ But started against Costa Rica and Uruguay. So, I was trying to find out if there was a time when he was not considered Italy’s starting goalkeeper.
Pirlo may be 37 years old I think; but one wonders how he might have played in such a match.
Wales decisively won their quarter-final. Thank you for that.
Shoot-outs may be essential but a horrible way to decide a match. Really.
Okay, Buffon was sidelined in that first match of the World Cup. http://us.soccerway.com/matches/2014/06/15/world/world-cup/england/italy/1220089/
I believe Buffon has already said he’s going to try to be in Russia 2018 and that was his decision before the match vs. Germany.
I see what you did there. Schnellinger!
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