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making search engine work overtime, you know Italy vs France will not go down quietly.



I wonder if that old brit Soccer Steve of Edmonton would be interested.

From Benny of Soccer-europe:



9 July 2006



ITALY 1-1 FRANCE

Materazzi 18 Zidane 6 (Pen)



In the 6th minute Malouda made the most of Materazzi's clumsy challenge to win

a penalty. Zidane took one step forward then chipped the ball against the

underside of the crossbar and fortunately for him and France it bounced over the

line. Materazzi, who was clearly rattled, almost doubled France's lead with a

poor header which had Buffon scrambling at his past. Italy began to take

control and equalised when Materazzi punished abysmal marking in the French box

to head in Pirlo's corner. From a throw-on Gattuso burst past two players before

giving the ball to Totti, Totti rode a tackle from Vieira as he ran inside the

box, Gattuso fed the ball to Toni and just as he shot Thuram slid in to clear.

That was the one moment of magic Italy provided in the entire match. From the

resulting corner Toni headed against the underside of the crossbar.



At the start of the second half Henry gathered a loose ball, ran through

Gattuso's tackle and darted between two defenders in the box but hit a weak shot

with Buffon easily saved. Pirlo flashed a free kick just wide of Barthez's left

post.



A fabulous move in which the French strung together 11 passes ended with Ribery

cutting inside Iaquinta and sliding a ball through to Malouda, who was flattened

by Cannavaro's heavy tackle from behind on the edge of the box, Ribery gathered

possession and a subtle feint took him clear of De Rossi but he dragged his shot

wide of a post. Seconds later he made way for Trezeguet. Another wonderfully

constructed move started with Gallas intercepting a Iaquinta pass and giving the

ball to Zidane, who was deep in his own half. The ball was worked down the right

through Zidane before he eventually passed out wide to Sagnol and ran into the

box where he met the defenders cross with a fantastic header which was matched

by Buffon's spectacular one handed save.



Early in the second half Wiltord came on for Henry who appeared to be struggling

with a minor knock. In an incident which will go down in World Cup infamy,

Zidane was sent off for head-butting Materazzi in the chest after the two

exchanged words when walking away from the Italy penalty area. This was similar

to the Rooney mess in that the ref missed the incident but on the advice of one

of the officials took action, well we assume that's what happened. In any case

it was a deserved red card and a sad way for Zidane to bring an end to a

glittering career. Despite their numerical advantage Italy couldn't put together

any meaningful attacks and the game went to penalties but without Zidane,

Henry and Vieira, who went off injured mid-way through the second half, the odds

were in Italy's favour.



Penalty Shoot-Out



Pirlo hits the ball high straight down the middle, awful penalty but Barthez

goes the wrong way



Wiltord blasts the ball into the bottom right corner, perfect penalty



Materazzi copies Wiltord by smashing the ball into the bottom right corner



Trezeguet crashes the ball against the underside of the crossbar



De Rossi. CRACKERJACK, top left corner, no chance for Barthez



Abidal sends the ball left of centre at a perfect height for Buffon who once

again dives early



Del Piero. I sure as hell thought he'd miss but he didn't thanks largely to

Barthez diving early



Sagnol hits the ball with extreme prejudice, poor height, poor placement, poor

goalkeeping, Buffon has been useless in this shoot-out



Grosso. Championship point. Top right corner, unstoppable. Great penalty



France were as good in the second half and extra-time as Italy were in the

first. The game was played at a painfully slow pace. Toni dived more in 120

minutes than Cristiano Ronaldo has in his last three matches. Pirlo reverted to

type i.e. kept giving the ball away, Totti was beyond useless and Cannavaro

didn't look anywhere near as assured as he has done in previous matches. Good

job Gattuso was off the charts, as he has been all tournament. IMO Malouda was

France's best player. Nothing Materazzi said can excuse Zidane's headbutt.

Zidane is no stranger to red cards.



France were the better side on the day but in the 2002 European Championship

final they came away with the silverware having been outplayed. What goes

around, comes around.



Italy survived the group of death, survived a cheap red card against Australia

(and got the break of a last second penalty) before crushing Ukraine and beating

an excellent Germany side in the game of the tournament. France peaked last

week, with their excellent victories over Spain and Brazil. It would have sucked

had they won the World Cup on the back of two dodgy penalties, they haven't

scored in open play since beating Spain. Anyway two World Cups for one

generation of players is beyond greedy.



I enjoyed this tournament far more than the last World Cup, largely because the

traditional powers made it to the knockout stages. Germany played the best

football, Gattuso was the best player.



England are edged out by Portugal as the worst team in the tournament. Both

teams played negative football, Portugal showed more imagination, in bursts,

but cannot be forgiven for their histrionics and I loath teams with second rate

players that punch above their weight.



Penalties are a stain on the face of humanity but nothing will change while the

current, corrupt regime are in charge of the game. Let's hope by 2010 either

Sepp Bladder is out of power or six foot under and someone who has actually

played the bloody game at a high level is in charge i.e. Beckenbauer and not

Bladder's stooge Platini.



Congratulations to Italy supporters everywhere and thanks to everyone for

reading. Stats will follow and enjoy your summer.



Italy win 5-3 on penalties



Attendance : 69,000

Red Card : Zidane 110 (France)

Assists : Malouda (won pen), Pirlo (fk)



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Contraversy still rages on this game.

FRom Benny:



8 July 2006



GERMANY 3-1 PORTUGAL

Schweinsteiger 56, 79 Gomes 88

Petit 61 (og)



Metzelder headed down a Schneider free kick and Kehl flashed a volley just wide

of a post. Simao dribbled from the half-way line and played in Pauleta with a

lovely disguised pass, Kahn covered his near post and like an idiot Pauleta shot

straight at him. Ricardo, trying to look busy for the cameras, made an

un-necessarily spectacular save from a Podolski free kick.



Ricardo, who is an accident waiting to happen, was beaten for the second time in

the tournament when he misjudged the flight of speculative shot from

Schweinsteiger. Five minutes later he was picking the ball of his net again when

Petit sliced a Schweinsteiger free kick past him. It took the Portuguese over an

hour to really trouble Kahn, Deco forcing the Bayern 'keeper into a superb two

handed save. Minutes after coming on as a substitute for Klose, Neuville sprayed

a ball out wide to Schweinsteiger, Petit backed off as the midfielder ran in on

goal, Schweinsteiger took a step inside and let rip with an amazing right foot

shot which arched away from Ricardo before nestling into the corner of the net.

Kahn was almost caught by a ferocious 40 yard Ronaldo free kick, deceived by the

flight of the ball he managed to make a split second adjustment and punch the

ball clear. Figo, in his last ever international appearance, and Gomes combined

to score a consolation goal. Gomes met Figo's outswinging cross with a brilliant

diving header.



That reprehensible cheating Ronaldo, who was once again booed unmercifully,

should have been booked for an outrageous dive in the box at the end of the

first half. He's in for a long season regardless of whether he stays at Man

United or leaves for another club.



Attendance : 52,000

Assists : Kehl, n/a, Neuville, Figo



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AFAIK, Christiano Ronaldo is a punk he should be tossed into the dunk!

From Benny:



5 July 2006



PORTUGAL 0-1 FRANCE

Zidane 33 (Pen)



The Portuguese defence got caught on a longball out of defence, Malouda,

probably because he was being shadowed by the brilliant Miguel, wasted the

opportunity by snatching at his shot. Barthez flapped at a tame Deco effort but

no one was on hand to take advantage. Just past the half hour mark Malouda

dribbled his way past a couple of Portuguese players before giving a reverse

pass to Henry and he made the most of Carvalho's clumsy challenge as he turned

inside the defender to win a penalty. Up stepped Zidane to blast the ball into

the bottom left corner. Henry wasted a good opening with a poor finish and

Ricardo, like slap-head Barthez, made hard work of a tame long range shot.



The French should have finished off Portugal on the break early in the second

half but Zidane screwed up a pass to Henry with the striker open in the box.

Les Blues made no concerted attempts to attack probably confident in the

knowledge that Portugal's strikers would have problems scoring in the MLS &

J-League let alone in the World Cup but with prize clown Barthez in goal there's

always a chance. He dropped an almighty bollock when he scooped a Ronaldo free

kick high in the air with both hands but Figo bailed him out by heading over. In

injury time Thuram fell under a challenge from Postiga when they battled for a

longball but Meira smashed it into row Z.



After last night's classic both teams served up a magnitude of shite. As far as

Portugal are concerned good riddance to bad rubbish. One goal in three games

in the knockout stages speaks for itself and their part in the disgraceful match

against the Dutch cannot be overlooked. I expected more from Scolari, especially

given the way Brazil played in 2002 and Portugal in 2004 but I guess, given the

abysmal quality of the squad he had to work with, surely one of the worst teams

to ever play in a World Cup semi-final, he did well to get them this far.



Ronaldo was unmercifully booed by the French, presumably because people thought

he was disingenuous in his comments over the Rooney red card and because he

continues the long tradition of simulation that plagues Portuguese players

(Greeks and Turks are equally as bad). Ronaldo and Postiga should have been

booked for diving in the box.



Zidane looked exhausted after 60 minutes, as did many of the other players which

makes Sunday's midfield battle all the more intriguing. Gattuso and Pirlo can

keep going for 90 minutes and beyond, can Vieira and Makelele? Unfortunately for

Italy Saha is out of the final having picked up his second yellow of the

knockout stages which means Trezeguet will play some part and we all know what

happened last time he played against Italy.



Attendance : 66,000

Assist : Henry (won pen)



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SO Saturday Germany and Portugal and the BIG game:



France versus Italy. In Euro 2000 France 2 Italy 1



ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!

From Benny



4 July 2006



GERMANY 0-2 ITALY

Grosso 118

Del Piero 120



Totti chipped a delightful pass to Roma team-mate Perrotta but a poor first

touch was the invitation Lehmann needed to come off his line and smother the

ball. Germany's forwards tore through the heart of the Italian defence with a

rapid series of one-twos but as Klose played the ball out wide to Schneider the

imposing figure of Buffon had advanced off his line to close down the angles and

Schneider blazed over.



Early in the second half Klose gathered a pass 30 yards from goal and headed

straight from the centre of the box and showed tremendous strength to hold off

Gattuso then probably became the first player in this tournament to beat

Cannavaro but Buffon rushed off his line and kicked the ball clear. Schneider

dropped a ball between Grosso and Gattuso, Podolski rolled Materazzi as he

turned before drawing a good save from Buffon and Friedrich snatched at the

rebound.



With the spectre of penalties looming Italy made an aggressive start to extra

time. Metzelder fell on the right edge of the box as he battled with Gilardino

for a loose ball, Ballack arrived to cover, as Gilardino got to the by-line he

cut inside Ballack only to see his shot come back of Lehmann's post, shades of

Milan vs Barcelona. A minute later Zambrotta rattled the crossbar after Pirlo's

corner was only half cleared. Late in first half injury time Podolski, who did a

tremendous amount of work in midfield, wasted what was arguably Germany's

clearest opening. As Grosso backed off from the jet heeled Odonkor the

midfielder floated a super deep cross to the back post and Podolski headed yards

wide.



Seconds after Del Piero wasted a good opening by getting the ball caught in his

feet the Germans poured forward on the break through Kehl and Odonkor, Kehl's

angled pass took Podolski wide of Cannavaro but his shot was brilliantly saved

by Buffon. Gilardino laid off Iaquinta's delightful back heel to Del Piero but

he slashed his shot horribly wide. Iaquinta helped setup another chance with a

volleyed pass infield to Pirlo, he took advantage of Kehl's slip to unleash a

shot from 25 yards which Lehmann tipped out for a corner. Kehl didn't get enough

on Del Piero's corner, clearing the ball as far as Pirlo who was standing inside

the D, he took four steps forward (and three defenders with him) before slipping

a disguised pass to Grosso who struck a fantastic, first time left foot shoot

into the bottom left corner of Lehmann's net, queue Marco Tardelli style

celebrations from the Palermo defender. Cannavaro headed out a deep Ballack

cross then burst out of his box to follow up as Podolski intercepted, Cannavaro

headed the ball down and continued to run forward before Totti took the ball off

him and sent Gilardino racing down the left, Gilardino turned off the pace as he

approached the box and stepped past Metzelder before playing in the galloping

Del Piero with magnificent reverse pass, the Juve forward curled the ball first

time into the top corner of the net and seconds later the ref blew for full

time.



Klinsmann consoled his players after the match. He has proved all his critics

totally and utterly wrong and took the German football back 2 decades, back to

when the team played an aggressive brand of direct, attacking football. They

have a bright future with him as coach.



One of the all time great football matches played in a wonderful spirit by two

adventurous teams matched by Mexican referee Benito Archundia's officiating.

High on precision, high on flair and composed defending, especially from the

Italians. In extra time Italy were playing with three forwards (Gilardino,

Iaquinta and Del Piero) in addition to Totti and Pirlo. Pirlo and Gattuso were

outstanding and there aren't enough superlatives to describe the level of

performance of Fabio Cannavaro.



"Some foreign critics have too negative a view of Italian football. No top level

Italian club for example play the old-style man-marking game. Our football

has evolved." - Marcello Lippi, World Soccer April 2006



"This team often plays with three men up front, we play an attacking game and

one that calls for me and the other strikers to help out in midfield too. It

calls for the whole side to be involved all the time and it a long way from the

old catenaccio label that people like to stick on us."

Alberto Gilardino, World Soccer April 2006



Attendance : 65,000

Assists : Pirlo, Gilardino



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So Germany in Saturday's Games and Italy in Sunday's Game.



Today determines the other halp with Portugal vs France

From Benny's Report on Quarterfinals Day 2:



1 July 2006



BRAZIL 0-1 FRANCE

Henry 56



Ronaldo passed up what was by most forwards standards a great chance from a

Ronaldinho free kick but then in the air he's about as useless as Henry. On the

stroke of half time Zidane received possession on the edge of his box and burst

forward, pushing the ball wide of Lucio's despairing sliding tackle and leaping

over Gilberto's dangerous challenge before threading a pass through the heart of

the Brazil defence but Vieira's run was cynically brought to an end by Juan.



Early in the second half another chance went begging for Vieira when he headed

an immaculate Zidane free kick wide of a post. However it seemed only a matter

of time before the French would make their dominance count and in the 56th

minute they broke through. Zidane, standing on the left touchline, floated a

free kick towards the back post and the unmarked Henry slammed the ball into the

roof of the net, Zidane's first ever assist to Henry in a France shirt. Ribery

mugged Lucio on the left touchline, rolling the ball away from the powerful

defender before firing the ball across the face of goal and as Juan tried to

clear he almost sliced into his own net. Dida saved at the feet of Ribery on a

Henry lead counter attack. Govou and Saha wasted chances on the break and it

would have been a travesty had Ze Roberto equalised in injury time but he

volleyed substitute Cicinho's driving low cross well wide of a post.



A magnificent performance from a France side in which Zidane was at his

enchanting best. Vieira and Makelele absolutely massacred the Brazilian midfield

with an awesome display of power. France should have won by a larger margin and

playing football of this quality who would begrudge them a second World Cup?



It's ironic to see Brazil repeat the EXACT same mistake as France did 4 years

ago by continuing to field past it's like Cafu, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo

(record of nor record) with better alternatives on the bench (Gilberto, Cicinho

and Fred) and more left at home.



Attendance : 48,000

Assist : Zidane (fk)



ENGLAND 0-0 PORTUGAL



Lennon came on for the injured Beckham on 51 minutes and manufactured the games

first genuine chance. Running inside from the right flank, he skinned Valente,

took the ball past Carvalho and Meira, let it roll to Rooney who miss-kicked

horribly, the ball fell to Cole and he ballooned high over the bar. TWAT. Rooney

stamped on Carvalho's bollocks after the defender wrestled him to the ground. He

appeared to be sent off after Ronaldo had a word with the ref, which was

irrelevant as he deserved to go. The Portuguese, who were even less of an

attacking threat then 10 man England finally drew a good save from Robinson when

Figo almost caught him out with a clever first time shot. A minute later

Portugal's joke of a 'keeper Ricardo (yes he's good on penalties but he's

hopeless at everything else) parried a Lampard free kick up into the air but

substitute Lennon's weak follow-up was easily saved. Miguel made a fantastic

clearance as Crouch, who was climbing all over him, was about to head in a

Gerrard cross.



Penalty Shoot Out



Simao drills the ball low into the bottom corner



Lampard. What did I say about the player most likely to miss a penalty?

Telegraphed, low, right of centre and not hit with enough pace



Viana strikes the outside of a post



Hargreaves strikes a firm penalty low to the left, in off a post



Petit goes to the left and, just like Viana, hits a post



Gerrard. Despite shouts of 'Come on Gerad you bastad' from my 2 year old (don't

let toddlers in the room when watching shoot-outs) Liverpool's captain hits an

awful penalty too centrally and at a poor height, no challenge for a penalty

expert like Ricardo



(Benny teach you children some manners!!)



Postiga sends Robinson the wrong way. Robinson is FAT and needs to go on a diet



Carragher scores but has to re-take as the ref hadn't blown his whistle.

Predictably his second effort is saved



Ronaldo curls the ball over Robinson who finally tries something different by

actually diving but misses completely



Portugal win 3-1 on penalties



England bottled it and despite playing with ten men had the chances to win the

match, well two of them. I was disappointed in Scolari's negative approach but

that isn't going to work against France. What must be galling for England is

that this is a decidedly average Portugal team who were missing their best

player (Deco) and they still couldn't take advantage. Typical of the

limp-wristed performances we have come to expect of England under Eriksson. On

the bright side they've sparred themselves a through thrashing from the French

in the semi-finals and Hargreaves was great.



Attendance : 52,000

Assist : n/a



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End result, France vs Portugal

From Benny's QF Day 1 Report:



30 June 2006



ITALY 3-0 UKRAINE

Zambrotta 6

Toni 58, 69



Camoranesi had already gone close for Italy before Zambrotta hit the back of the

net. He started the move with a ball into Totti, the Roma captain returned it

with an extravagant back heel as Zambrotta cut in from the right flank, he ran

unchallenged towards the centre of the box he let rip with a left foot drive

from 25 yards which found the bottom corner via Shovkovsky’s left hand, he

probably should have done better.



Having failed to show up in the first half Ukraine came out fighting in the

second. Buffon was almost KTFO when he collided with a post when saving Gusin's

point blank header. Milevsky turned onto a miss-hit shot and played in Gusev

with a superbly weighted pass, Gusev hit the ball with everything he had, Buffon

parried and Tymoshchyuk's follow-up was chested off the line by the outstanding

Zambrotta. Less than a minute later Toni broke his duck. Totti worked a short

corner with Grosso before whipping a teasing cross to the back post and despite

Gusin's concerted attempts to concede a penalty for shirt pulling, the giant

striker headed low into the net. Italy had another escape when the unlucky Gusin

headed a free kick against the crossbar. Zambrotta capped off a stunning

performance by laying on the third goal. Grosso volleyed a pass inside Gusev, a

sharp turn took Zambrotta away from Vashchyuk and he poked the ball forward to a

delighted Toni.



Italy have a fantastic record against Germany and won't be too concerned at the

prospect of playing underdogs. They seem to be peaking at the right time of

course if it goes to penalties Italy are doomed.



Attendance : 50,000

Assists : Totti, Totti (ck), Zambrotta



GERMANY 1-1 ARGENTINA

Klose 80 Ayala 49



I'm not sure of the intention of the teams in the first half. Maybe they were

conserving energy for the second half because they did nothing with the ball,

Argentina especially who had most of it. Ballack had the only chance following a

superb counter attack but headed wide.



Ayala, who but for Cannavaro would be this tournaments outstanding defender,

gave Argentina the lead with a spectacular header from a Riquelme corner. The

game began to open up. Crespo intercepted Lahm's hospital pass, Tevez tried to

dribble past the German defence but spotted Rodriguez in a better position free

on the right of the box, the midfielder lashed wide. Germany won a throw in near

goal. Borowski flicked on Ballack's cross and Klose got in front of Sorin to

header into Franco's bottom corner (Abbondanzieri went off with a injury in the

first half). Rodriguez was booked for diving in the box two minutes from time,

with team-mates in the centre waiting for a cross, match point.



Extra time was... thirty minutes of my life I won't get back.



Penalty Shoot-Out



Neuville's kick is at a good height for Franco but hit with too much pace



Cruz smashes the ball into the top left corner



Ballack sends Franco the wrong way



Ayala hits an awful, power puff shot which Lehmann saves with ease



Podolski drills a low shot into the bottom right corner



Rodriguez is only a fingertip away from seeing his penalty saved



Borowski's penalty is almost a carbon copy of Podolski's



Cambiasso's strike the ball wide of centre and at mid-height, Lehmann takes a

step off his line before saving



As the Germans were celebrating Cufre, who was an unused sub, kicked Metzelder

square in the balls, sending him rolling to the ground in agony and a bench

clearing scuffle ensued. Heinze had to be restrained from getting to Bierhoff

and Maxi Rodriguez leapt over a posse of bodies to slap Schweinsteiger in the

back, pussy.



Pekerman's decision to substitute Riquelme and replace him with DM Cambiasso

on 72 minutes is one of the all time moronic and arrogant decisions in World Cup

history, as was taking off Crespo on 78 minutes and replacing him not with Messi

or even Saviola but Cruz. Pekerman resigned in disgrace minutes later, and so he

should.



Germany win 4-2 on penalties



Attendance : 72,000

Red Card : Cufre 120 (Argentina)

Assists : Riquelme (ck), Borowski



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Pekerman closed up shop too early.



Semi-Final Germany vs Italy, and the Italians will fee the German heat.

From Benny's Report on the last day of the Round of 16



27 June 2006



SPAIN 1-3 FRANCE

Villa 27 (Pen) Ribery 41

Vieira 83

Zidane 92



France failed to clear a corer and as the ball was played into Pablo, Thuram

stamped on the back of his right ankle, penalty. Barthez guessed right but

Villa's spot kick had too much pace. Spain's naive, high offside trap was bound

to get them in trouble sooner or later especially against a French side

featuring Henry who is an absolute master at using the 'not interfering with

play' nonsense to his advantage. Henry and France's DMs combined for the

equaliser. Makelele turned away from Raul and passed to Ribery, Ribery played

the ball into Vieira and as he turned he skipped away from Pablo's sliding

tackle and looked at Henry, who was standing yards offside on the left, before

playing a disguised pass through to Ribery on the opposite flank, Ribery left

Pernia and Puyol for dead, rounded Casillas and rolled the ball into an empty

net.



Vieira and Zidane combined to create a chance for Malouda, the Lyon midfielder

forcing Casillas into making a spectacular one handed save with an equally

acrobatic volley. Aragones made two early, brave substitutions 10 minutes into

the second half. Joaquin replaced the non event that was Raul (he should never

have started) and that thumb sucker Luis Garcia came on for the static Villa.

Joaquin skinned Abidal on the edge of the box but dragged his shot wide of

Barthez's near post. That was as close as Spain got in open play all match.

Henry tried to get Puyol a second yellow card by clutching his face after the

defender's elbow brushed against his chest when they chased down a ball.

He only got a free kick but it enough to win the official, FIFA sanctioned,

Diving Twat of the World Cup (TM) Award. Zidane's delivery was pure evil, just

above head height, an utter nightmare to defend, Xabi Alonso tried but failed

miserably, heading straight to the back post and Vieira thumped a low header

into the bottom corner off Ramos. The hungry French weren't finished, Zidane and

Wiltord mugged Cesc on the half way line, Govou gathered the ball and as Cesc

approached, passed to Wiltord, Wiltord chipped the ball first time out wide to

Zidane on the left, Zidane controlled a high bounding ball with his right thigh,

took two touches as he cut inside Puyol, ran through the defenders outstretched

leg, passing up a stone wall penalty, and fired a low shot past Casillas.

MAGNIFICENT, and I don't even like Zidane.



Premature ejaculation. After handing out a 4-0 thrashing in their opening game

Spain were suddenly among the favourites, despite past history. Doesn't anyone

ever learn? Vieira, Zidane, Ribery and Makelele were off the charts. Vieira, who

was made to look like a tired, old man by Cesc in Juventus' Champions League

clash with Arsenal, turned the tables with an intimidating, imposing

performance. Spain's young pretenders were totally and utterly schooled. It's

taken France 8 years to turn in a performance that made them the best, the most

feared side in the World and on this showing Brazil are in for one hell of a

game. Best match of the World Cup so far and it was an absolute privilege to

watch some of the greats of the modern game rise to the occasion, apart from

Henry whose two notable contributions were standing still and feigning injury.



Attendance : 43,000

Assists : Pablo (won pen), Vieira, n/a, Wiltord



BRAZIL 3-0 GHANA

Ronaldo 5

Adriano 46

Ze Roberto 84



In their three group matches Ghana defended deep and defended hard so I would

love to hear Ratomir Dujkovic's explanation for playing a high offside trap

against of all teams Brazil who in Kaka' have the best counter attacking player

in the World? The only feasible explanation is that he is a complete IDIOT.

Kaka' gathered a pass from Lucio and rarely misses an opportunity to have a run

at a defence only he didn't have a defence to run at, they were all on the

halfway line, so he hit an angled pass through to Ronaldo and he rounded

Kingston and tapped into an empty net to claim himself a piece of history as the

World Cup's all time leading scorer (15). Adriano should have made it 2-0 as

Brazil once again tore through Ghana's shambolic offside trap but dived over

Kingston, earning himself a well deserved yellow card. Slack marking allowed

Mensah a free header in the box but he headed down at Dida's feet and the

'keeper slashed clear. Ghana were sort of threatening before they were suckered

on the break. Gyan played a one-two with Appiah on the edge of the box before

running into Lucio then theatrically falling down, Juan took possession before

Appiah flattened him with a superb tackle, Lucio ran onto the loose ball and

charged to the half way line before flicking the ball out wide to Kaka', who had

an overlapping Cafu in support, Kaka' pushed the ball to Cafu, he swung a cross

to the back post and Adriano, who was offside twice (when Lucio passed and when

Cafu centred) put the ball into an empty net with his knee.



Ghana had Brazil chasing shadows in the second half but despite their pace,

power and excellent technique, everything broke down in the final third.

Gyan got a second yellow for diving. Ze Roberto punished Ghana's offside trap

for a third time to complete a slightly flattering victory.



Ronaldinho was even more useless than Adriano in this match. Still I figure he's

good for at least one blockbuster performance.



Attendance : 65,000

Red Card : Gyan 81 (Ghana)

Assists : Kaka', Cafu, Ronaldinho



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From Benny's Post Round of 16 Day 3



26 June 2006



ITALY 1-0 AUSTRALIA

Totti 94 (Pen)



In the second minute Toni wasted a superb Del Piero cross, heading wide from

6 yards out. The Fiorentina striker headed down a cross to Gilardino, he took

the ball high off his chest and struck an acrobatic volley which Schwarzer

parried with ease. His save on another Toni effort was considerably more

impressive. Pirlo chipped a ball into the box, Toni rolled his maker, Grella,

and hit a low shot which Schwarzer sliced clear with his left foot, the less

said about Gilardino's 'header' on the rebound the better. It took the Aussies

half an hour to get a shot on target. Chipperfield shot straight at Buffon

following a mix-up in the Italian defence on a set piece. Toni missed another

sitter, Perrotta helped on a Pirlo cross but the giant striker headed over the

bar. Moore was lucky not to be sent off for a lunging foul on Toni, he escaped

without a booking.



Materazzi scythed down Bresciano on the edge of the box and he made sure the ref

noticed by rolling over four times. Materazzi's foul was no different to Moore's

challenge on Toni in the first half, in fact that was arguably worse, but the

ref showed Materazzi a red. Despite their man advantage the Australians failed

to put the Italian's under a great deal of pressure and Hiddink waited until the

80th minute before bringing on Aloisi, Lippi had already introduced Totti and

Iaquinta. In the last minute Iaquinta missed an absolute gift. Perrotta had run

into traffic in a packed penalty area, when attempting to smashed the ball

clear, a defender kicked it against Iaquinta, it bounced off Iaquinta,

against Moore and back to Iaquinta again but he shot straight at Schwarzer.

Grosso burst down the right flank and turned inside Bresciano before running

into the box, Neill went in with a sliding tackled, Grosso turned away from him,

hooked his left foot over the defender and took a dive and the ref pointed to

the spot. Totti smashed the ball into the top left corner. It was hard luck on

Neill who had been outstanding all match but he only has himself to blame.



Attendance : 46,000

Red Card : Materazzi 50 (Italy)

Assist : Grosso (won pen)



SWITZERLAND 0-0 UKRAINE



During a brief spell in the first half this was shaping up to be a decent game,

despite telling a friend this had penalties written all over it. Wicky

intercepted Tymoshchyuk's square pass and let fly with a shot from the edge of

the box which Shovkovsky made an unnecessarily theatrical save. Shevchenko

clipped top of the crossbar with a diving header from Kalinichenko's free kick.

Frei rattled the crossbar with a ferocious free kick.



Gusin shaved a post with an excellent flick header from a corner. The remainder

of the second half was a complete non event. In extra time Gusin made a

fantastic block tackle to deny Streller when the forward was sent in on goal.

There were two notable substitutions in extra time. Milevsky, on for Voronin,

gave an instant spark to the Ukraine attack though I'm not sure what taking off

Frei and bringing on Lustrinelli was supposed to achieve.



Penalty Shoot-Out



Shevchenko sends the ball low to Zuberbuhler's right but it's saved. That's one

thing Milan won't miss.



Streller's kick is delayed by his own goalkeeper Zuberbuhler, who is standing on

the right hand side of the box, the ref tells him to walk off the pitch.

Streller, who looks nervous as hell, hit's a weak shot towards the centre which

Shovkovsky saves with ease.



Milevsky who looks like a cross between a rock star and Thor the God of Thunder,

does a Panenka. He takes a few steps before chipping a gorgeous right foot shot

which starts curling towards the right hand post before dropping towards the

centre of goal, a prostrate Zuberbuhler watches the ball hit the back of the

net. Brilliant penalty, so good I'm putting on DVD.



Barnetta rattles the crossbar with violent shot.



Rebrov with an awful penalty, poor height, poor placement but Zuberbuhler dives

the wrong way.



Cabanas hits the ball just right of centre but Shovkovsky maintains his policy

of diving at the last second and saves.



Match point to Gusev and he doesn't let his team down, slamming the ball

into the bottom left corner.



I've given Shovkovsky hell in the past but he came up big today. The Ukraine

probably deserved to win but in truth neither team showed much ambition.



Milevsky has already been dubbed the new Shevchenko and from what I have

seen at the U21 European Championships and briefly in this match he's got

tremendous potential.



Ukraine win 3-0 on penalties



The weekend football died, yes I know it's Monday. To those who were complaining

about how the first round, are you satisfied now?



Attendance : 45,000

Assist : n/a



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Did Neill impeded the attacker?