| both teams played very strong games that night.had the game ended before that penalty call,i would have said that to say one deserved the win more than the other would not be right, but that call really riled me up. like i said before, i totally agree the red card was not a justified red card, and someone had said to me "the ref probably realized he made a mistake for that, and so made up for it with the foul penalty call' - which is a bunch of ****. u cannot make up for one mistake with another, and those are 2 very different calls.
We can say tho that the aussies did not deserve to go out like that. and THAT was what got me angry. Coaches, players and even the Italian fans didn't consider that to be a true penalty. so when people say it was cruel, that it really is.
Let them battle it out in extra time, that would have been the fair way to judge who was the winner of that match. Both teams deflected goals which would have been awesome goals had they gone in, and so in turn were amazing saves. And both teams created really great attacking opportunities and defense tactics. But to say that teams arent deserving of beating another team just cos they are or have been world champions, is not a fair argument, and disses the efforts and great display of football those teams have shown.
Everyone's time comes and ends sometime down the line, and that game was, to almost everyone, looking very close to be the end of the line for Italy's 2006 run, and for Australia to come up and shock the world. Italian fans still had hope of course, as did aussie fans for their victory, but it seemed thats the direction the game was headed in.
I think the aussies can be proud regardless, cos they still did manage to impress the football fans out there. and to hold up so much more of the posession than teams considered to be more skilled is also very impressive. when i heard that australia was in the world cup i was like what?? they play football? but watching the team this year, my respect for them has shot up tremendously. Their defense is amazing, and their ball handling skills and delivery are on point. I thought they played a more colourful game than italy, but unfortunately (which i hope they work on more for 2010) their attack wasnt as strong as the rest of their game.
This was the case for the Brazil game too, which in the 1st half they looked as if they had a shot at beating the current world champs.
Harry Kewell was missing in italy's match, and i think that may have made a very big difference to the game.
They need to concentrate just as hard on getting at least that first goal in, possibly early, so that one conceded goal late in the game will just take them back to square one, and not zero. I wonder if they can get Hiddink back as coach, or if not, remember his teachings, cos they seem to feel alot of their confidence is owed to him. And if they can hold on to that, then they have a shot at going at it again next time.
Had the game gone on to extra time, again..who knows what the result might have been. but it did seem true that Italy looked like they were getting tired, and the Australians seem to have a lot more stamina than many other teams, because even against Brazil they were seeming fresher. At the same time tho, there was no way Shwarzer was stopping that penalty. He read the direction, but wasn't gonna have the reach. Im not a Totti fan, but that was a great penalty shot by him, and i guess he's kinda redeemed himself to his coach and fans.
but overall i have to say that i am more impressed by Australia's performance than Italy's because, using the argument of great football nations, u EXPECT great play from them, so when you see anything less, or see those teams resort to dramatics, that's when the disappointment starts rolling in, and u start wondering if they really are deserving of the titles.
When you see the "smaller" teams go out there fighting and sweating for their win, and then see a "great" team being awarded offside goals, or diving penalties, or having an air of arrogance around them, it does turn things sour. I feel that that hint of fear in everyone, no matter how big or small, makes for a more compelling game, cos in the end, u really never know what might happen.  |