Euro 2008: Italy vs. Netherlands

What a demonstration of good football!
Only sore point of the match was the extremely obvious (to everyone but the linesman) offside. Time for the equivalent of the 3rd umpire?

Anyways, Italy's fate was sealed by the statistic of more than half the squad being over 30. The Dutch, by contrast had enough fresh blood to make a blue whale feel rejuvenated. Until Del Piero appeared, the absence of fine talent was painfully visible to anyone watching. Luca Toni didn't get enough passes and Dinatale despite trying hard was alone in his efforts. Other than Del Piero, Zambrotta was the only one who was trying hard and looking threatening. The rest were as if they were nursing hangovers.

And the likes of Materazzi and the rest of the defence played like schoolkids learning to play football. When was the last time you saw 6 guys chasing 2?!

The Dutch with new, young players demonstrated a fantastic brand of football - fast accurate passes and incredibly quick counter attacks - 1 of which yielded the best goal of Euro 2008, so far. Both Wesley Sneijder & Ibrahim Afellay demonstrated energy, skill and speed. The Italians demonstrated lack of coordination, old age and sluggishness. Hope they recover from this. Maybe Buffon should rest. He has been speaking too much and working too little. After the defence failed on the 1st 2 goals, the attack left more Italians in the Dutch half for more time than in theirs in a rush to attack, resulting in a silly lapse and another goal.

Where art thou Paulo?!