GOOOOOOOAAAALLLLL x 2 !!

HOLY FUCK.

Italy scores TWICE at the end of a 0-0 overtime!!!!!!!!

This game is amazing!!!!! To top it off, the refs actually did their damn jobs correctly for once!!!

Hats off to Germany for an excellent Cup. I hate to see you guys lose after such an effort.

I expected a dynamite game but wow, this was something else. Both teams played an intense first half, trading off control of the midfield. By 70 minutes, you could tell that everybody was starting to wear down. The second half did drag a bit. The substitutions picked things up a little and both teams played excellent defense the whole game.

It amazes me that Italy has yet to be scored on this entire cup (except for the own goal against the US), especially against a team like Germany. In fact, this makes our draw with them all the more frustrating; clearly the US has potential, if we can keep from losing with only 9 men on the field.

Oh well. Next up, the winner of France/Portugal.

More like this

Forza Azzurri strikes again. They are seriously good defensively this cup. It's nice to see them do some nice offensive work, too. It took them a while (and I don't just mean in this game).

Certainly their defense is second to none. They instinctively know when a hole is open and when/how to close it. At this point they seem unflappable, and while their offense is usually constantly pressing, it is also explosive at times.

My only concern is... how will they react if scored upon? (And not by themselves). I can't imagine that France won't, now that they have their act together.

This is suprising. The ref didn't fall for any of the Italian Diving Team's chicanery, yet they still managed to win. Definitely one of the few worthwhile refs in the whole tournament. Also, it shows that Italy is capable of winning without whining -- I wonder if they plan to change their ways.

There were a few really bad dives by both teams. And I have to say that this is the cleanest Italy has acted in any cup I've seen. Except for the unfortunate incident with McBride, their games are usually elbow-laden and dirty.