Euro 2008 - Day 7: Italy on Life Support as They Draw 1-1 Against Romania
June 13th 2008 23:14
Despite the low score, this was a fairly entertaining game with end-to-end action and both teams determined to win the match. After losing their first match against the Netherlands, Italy had no place for mistakes as World Cup champions and tournament favorites but Romania also had something to prove as their first game against France was nothing short of mind-numbingly boring.
The Italians had a little more jump to their during the first half and the play was a lot more open than in both teams' previous games. Despite Italy's forays into the opposite camp, it was Romania who had the first real scoring opportunity when Adrian Mutu emerged on a one-on-one against Buffon at the 16th minute. The goalkeeper came out on top of the challenge to keep the score at 0-0. Italy's offense was definitely flowing better than the previous game even though Pirlo was a little bit erased from the play during the first half. Del Piero's presence alongside Luca Toni brought a definite improvement over the Di Natale-Toni pairing of the previous game as Juventus' striker could also act as a playmaker, setting up several times both Toni and Simone Perotta while also taking chances himself. After relentless pressure on Romania, Italy finally scored on a corner kick right before half time but the goal was disallowed because of an offside position. Replays of the set-piece clearly showed that Luca Toni was onside but the linesman seemed to have confused him with Del Piero who was offside but didn't participate in the play.
Although the disallowed goal provided a lot of disappointment on the Italian side, their resolve only hardened at the start of the second half where they picked things up right where they left off. Pirlo was more involved in the play as he dished several long passes to either Fabio Grosso on the left wing or Luca Toni in the box. But it was Romania who scored the first goal after a mistake from defender Gianluca Zambrotta. As a Romanian clearance made its way to him, the veteran defender decided to head the ball back to his goalkeeper. The header was too soft however, and became a pass to Adrian Mutu who was lurking right behind Zambrotta. The striker didn't look back as rifled a strike in the top-left corner of the net despite Buffon's best attempt to stop him. With 35 minutes left to play, the Italians found themselves down 1-0. Instead of crumbling under the pressure, Italy struck right back one minute later via Christian Panucci as he tapped Giorgio Chellini's header in the net after a corner kick. Still, Italy wanted to win the match, not walk away with a draw. One minute later, Donadoni replaced Perotta by Antonio Cassano. Although Sampdoria's striker made some nice plays in and around the box, no one could connect at the other end of his passes, leaving Donadoni with no choice but to change things up some more. At the 77th minute, he took out Del Piero and replaced him with Fabio Quagliarella. The move didn't really bring anything to the table except allowing Cassano to move further forward next to Toni but that wasn't the solution for Italy. Defensively though, the Italians were a lot calmer under pressure especially Panucci who showed a lot of sang-froid in several occasions.
Panucci's calmness was nowhere to be seen at the 80th minute when he pulled down Daniel Niculae in the 18-yard box causing a penalty for Romania. After much protesting to the referee on the Italians' part, it was Adrian Mutu who walked up to the spot to take the shot. One minute later, the World Cup champions exhaled a huge sigh of relief as Buffon stopped the shot with both his hand and foot. After his failure to put his team in the lead, Mutu completely disappeared from the game no doubt disappointed in himself prompting Victor Piturca to replace him by midfielder Razvan Cocis at the 88th minute. The Italians tried for one last time to mount an offensive strategy with Ambrosini replacing Camoranesi at the 85th minute but it was not to be. They are now last in their group alongside France, with both teams having one point each.
Although the Italians were much more alive in this game, they missed to connect several times on dangerous balls. When they could connect, Bogdan Lobont was up to the task, echoing his counterpart's performance at the other end. The one thing missing in the Italian squad right now is the mental strength and vision of their captain, Fabio Cannavaro. He is on the bench, trying his best to support his team, but the squad really needs him in the center defense to bring order and discipline among the ranks. Right now, Italy is surviving because of Buffon's performances. That will not be enough to send them to the next round.
My man of the match: Gianluigi Buffon. The man kept his team alive plain and simple. He's probably the only one on this team living up to his reputation as the world's best.
Honorable mentions:
- Bogdan Lobont. He would be the man the of match if Buffon hadn't made the save on the penalty kick. Superb performance by the goalkeeper who denied Italy's strikers several times.
- Christian Panucci. He scored his team's goal and was the best defender despite committing the foul that led to the penalty kick.
- Paul Codrea. The midfielder kept a tight leash on Del Piero as he blocked several shots from the striker.
The Italians had a little more jump to their during the first half and the play was a lot more open than in both teams' previous games. Despite Italy's forays into the opposite camp, it was Romania who had the first real scoring opportunity when Adrian Mutu emerged on a one-on-one against Buffon at the 16th minute. The goalkeeper came out on top of the challenge to keep the score at 0-0. Italy's offense was definitely flowing better than the previous game even though Pirlo was a little bit erased from the play during the first half. Del Piero's presence alongside Luca Toni brought a definite improvement over the Di Natale-Toni pairing of the previous game as Juventus' striker could also act as a playmaker, setting up several times both Toni and Simone Perotta while also taking chances himself. After relentless pressure on Romania, Italy finally scored on a corner kick right before half time but the goal was disallowed because of an offside position. Replays of the set-piece clearly showed that Luca Toni was onside but the linesman seemed to have confused him with Del Piero who was offside but didn't participate in the play.
Although the disallowed goal provided a lot of disappointment on the Italian side, their resolve only hardened at the start of the second half where they picked things up right where they left off. Pirlo was more involved in the play as he dished several long passes to either Fabio Grosso on the left wing or Luca Toni in the box. But it was Romania who scored the first goal after a mistake from defender Gianluca Zambrotta. As a Romanian clearance made its way to him, the veteran defender decided to head the ball back to his goalkeeper. The header was too soft however, and became a pass to Adrian Mutu who was lurking right behind Zambrotta. The striker didn't look back as rifled a strike in the top-left corner of the net despite Buffon's best attempt to stop him. With 35 minutes left to play, the Italians found themselves down 1-0. Instead of crumbling under the pressure, Italy struck right back one minute later via Christian Panucci as he tapped Giorgio Chellini's header in the net after a corner kick. Still, Italy wanted to win the match, not walk away with a draw. One minute later, Donadoni replaced Perotta by Antonio Cassano. Although Sampdoria's striker made some nice plays in and around the box, no one could connect at the other end of his passes, leaving Donadoni with no choice but to change things up some more. At the 77th minute, he took out Del Piero and replaced him with Fabio Quagliarella. The move didn't really bring anything to the table except allowing Cassano to move further forward next to Toni but that wasn't the solution for Italy. Defensively though, the Italians were a lot calmer under pressure especially Panucci who showed a lot of sang-froid in several occasions.
Panucci's calmness was nowhere to be seen at the 80th minute when he pulled down Daniel Niculae in the 18-yard box causing a penalty for Romania. After much protesting to the referee on the Italians' part, it was Adrian Mutu who walked up to the spot to take the shot. One minute later, the World Cup champions exhaled a huge sigh of relief as Buffon stopped the shot with both his hand and foot. After his failure to put his team in the lead, Mutu completely disappeared from the game no doubt disappointed in himself prompting Victor Piturca to replace him by midfielder Razvan Cocis at the 88th minute. The Italians tried for one last time to mount an offensive strategy with Ambrosini replacing Camoranesi at the 85th minute but it was not to be. They are now last in their group alongside France, with both teams having one point each.
Although the Italians were much more alive in this game, they missed to connect several times on dangerous balls. When they could connect, Bogdan Lobont was up to the task, echoing his counterpart's performance at the other end. The one thing missing in the Italian squad right now is the mental strength and vision of their captain, Fabio Cannavaro. He is on the bench, trying his best to support his team, but the squad really needs him in the center defense to bring order and discipline among the ranks. Right now, Italy is surviving because of Buffon's performances. That will not be enough to send them to the next round.
My man of the match: Gianluigi Buffon. The man kept his team alive plain and simple. He's probably the only one on this team living up to his reputation as the world's best.
Honorable mentions:
- Bogdan Lobont. He would be the man the of match if Buffon hadn't made the save on the penalty kick. Superb performance by the goalkeeper who denied Italy's strikers several times.
- Christian Panucci. He scored his team's goal and was the best defender despite committing the foul that led to the penalty kick.
- Paul Codrea. The midfielder kept a tight leash on Del Piero as he blocked several shots from the striker.
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