I didn't think they had a chance against Germany, and I don't think they really have a chance if Spain plays their A game. Spain's been a bit of an enigma, not really rolling over the competition like they're capable of. Perhaps there's a level of complacency that's come with being the worlds best side for like 5 years. Perhaps it's the lack of Puyol or Villa. I don't really know, I just know that minus a few stretches they haven't looked in top form. Who knows though, maybe they'll just play to a draw and hope Buffon can outduel Cassillas like they did in 06.
But that's the problem , some people keep underestimating us, you should never ever underestimate the other team. I never make/take predictions seriously, to me its always a surprise when my team win or lose a match. The draw against Spain gave us a chance to the title ,but we re still going to play against the champions ,in the final! And you cant predict the winner days before the match because in those 90 minutes anything can happen!
Agreed, there's a reason they actually play the games and don't just give the world cup to Brazil every year. I will admit I was looking forward to Germany v Spain because Germany plays a more exciting brand of football, but it's not like Italy haven't done everything they needed to do to get to where they are. Hopefully I'll be able to watch the final, cause I'm sure it'l be a great show
99 percent of the time you won't stop the ball if it's well-placed anyway, so you might as well try to make sure you stop the penalties that are not kicked that well. Like those Panenka's. Those just make fun out of the futility that is choosing sides. It also puts a lot of pressure on the players to know the keeper is going to dive for the ball as opposed to giving them at least a 50 percent chance (actually it's even more 'cos they can just kick through the middle). When a big guy like Buffon or Ceh dives for the ball, you can bet he's going to be close if it's not right in the corner of the goal. The problem with diving blindly is that the penalties that aren't well-placed will often go in as well. Even if you choose the right corner, your dive often won't be adjusted to the height of the ball. A lot of players also look which way the goalkeeper is going to go. This is where you trick them by pretending to choose a side. What I did was I did take 1 step based on my 'reading' of the player before the shot. If I had the right corner, I had a better chance of stopping even a good shot, if they did kick the other way, I would still stand a chance of returning if the ball wasn't that well-struck. Not coincidentally, the shots that did end up in the corner I 'forsook' where often weaker because the strikers just assumed I was going to dive and they didn't need to make such a good (and thus risky) shot. You can often tell which way they're going to shoot by the way they draw back their leg and foot, so anticipating is always better than simply rolling over into a corner if you can do it. There's also other signs... Ashley Cole looked at the corner he was going to shoot at 3 times, even during his run, you can bet on it Buffon saw that. Just look at how many times the gk chooses the wrong side as opposed to the right side and you'll know how useless it is to just hope you'll get the right one instead of trying to take every advantage you can get. I stopped nearly every penalty we ever got against us to the point when the ref signaled a penalty the defenders weren't even that worried, it was at the end of a 'cup' game where the penalties didn't matter I decided to try out just choosing a side, and I didn't stop a single one.
@Daddy92 congrats. This one is on Löw for tryin' to adjust the way we play. Fucking dumb. But, if you try to rub it in once I am back in TS, I will kick you from it and demote you to kitchen maid in the regiment. Just sayin!
Hahahaha thanks, and dont worry i got your message chief. Anyway how is your weekend going ? And what do you think about Spain?
Haha ,this is going to be an epic final, and we cant lose with the super football bros on our side. Edit> Congratulation to Spain,painful but splendid match.They deserved the title, hopefully we will meet again for 2014 world cup.
Aaaand thanks for playing... Good to see Italy's return to prominence though. Has Buffon announced his retirement from international football yet? Isn't he old as dirt at this point?
