Gil wrote:Am I the only one who noticed how far off the pace Chiellini was today btw? Looked nowhere near fit. Could be an area Del Bosque could exploit in the final if he finally grows some balls.

I think to be honest he wasn't fit, Juve said as much, they weren't overly keen on him playing.

But he basically had to, No Abate or Maggio meant Balzaretti had to go to RB. Other option was Ogbonna at LB, not ideal. No way Giorgio was going to miss this clash anyway, he would have wanted to play with one leg!

Also, I haven't seen it mentioned much but De Rossi throughout this tournament has been struggling with what they have said on Italian TV is a trapping of the sciatic nerve, he's in pain and it can cause numbness in the leg, lower back and arse

De Rossi

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:

Gil wrote:Am I the only one who noticed how far off the pace Chiellini was today btw? Looked nowhere near fit. Could be an area Del Bosque could exploit in the final if he finally grows some balls.

I think to be honest he wasn't fit, Juve said as much, they weren't overly keen on him playing.

But he basically had to, No Abate or Maggio meant Balzaretti had to go to RB. Other option was Ogbonna at LB, not ideal. No way Giorgio was going to miss this clash anyway, he would have wanted to play with one leg!

Also, I haven't seen it mentioned much but De Rossi throughout this tournament has been struggling with what they have said on Italian TV is a trapping of the sciatic nerve, he's in pain and it can cause numbness in the leg, lower back and arse

De Rossi

de rossi was real roman hero tonight in midfield. but overall everybody did well. i am so happy for this.

roy makaay said italians are fringe contenders, i cant stop laughing when i read his statements before the euro2012 began....

JespSwe wrote:

roy makaay said italians are fringe contenders, i cant stop laughing when i read his statements before the euro2012 began....

We must not forget that Roy Makaay is Dutch.

viepr149 wrote:lol @ everyone thinking germany is gonna destroy italy.

if greece scored 2 against germany...portugal should have beat germany...and denmark put one by germany...balotelli is gonna have a field day with badstuber.

bump lol

messixaviesta wrote:

JespSwe wrote:

roy makaay said italians are fringe contenders, i cant stop laughing when i read his statements before the euro2012 began....

We must not forget that Roy Makaay is Dutch.

hahaha. must have hurt him now with what he said with italians being the best team of the tournament and dutch the worst.

that comment came to a surprise for me for a player who is relatively quiet in the media...

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:

Gil wrote:Am I the only one who noticed how far off the pace Chiellini was today btw? Looked nowhere near fit. Could be an area Del Bosque could exploit in the final if he finally grows some balls.

I think to be honest he wasn't fit, Juve said as much, they weren't overly keen on him playing.

But he basically had to, No Abate or Maggio meant Balzaretti had to go to RB. Other option was Ogbonna at LB, not ideal. No way Giorgio was going to miss this clash anyway, he would have wanted to play with one leg!

Also, I haven't seen it mentioned much but De Rossi throughout this tournament has been struggling with what they have said on Italian TV is a trapping of the sciatic nerve, he's in pain and it can cause numbness in the leg, lower back and arse

De Rossi

italians have played awesome so far, even for azzurri supporters it must have been pleasantly surprising...

prandelli had great squad selection except their friendly preparation was horrendous loosing 2-1 to ireland, loosing was it 1-0 to USA, loosing 3-0 to russians... i was scared this could be another disaster, not because of players . i was so scared that 4-3-1-2 would hurt them badly...

danyjr wrote:I just want to say how unlucky were Croatia to have been in Group C with finalists Spain and Italy.

Croatia <3 !!! super unlucky

What's the feeling towards Balotelli in Italy @ the few Italians on here?

Not sure if posted yet, it's Balo interview

“At the end of the game when I went to my mother, that was the best moment. I told her these goals were for her,” he said.

“I waited a long time for this moment, especially as my mother is not young anymore and can’t travel far, so I had to make her happy when she came all the way here. My father will be in Kiev for the Final too.

“Before the game there were my mother, my brothers, my sister-in-law and my best friend all by the touchline. Having my nearest and dearest there obviously fired me up. What music do I listen to before the game? Drake. He’s a friend of mine.”

With this brace, Balotelli took his Euro 2012 tally to three goals and is the joint top scorer, but also the only one still in the tournament.

“I will try to win the top scorer award. In football sometimes you can try so many times and it doesn’t go in, or try few and it does all the time.

“It was a fantastic assist, the kind only Antonio Cassano can provide, while Riccardo Montolivo’s pass was great too. I celebrated? I said I would.”

The celebration for the second goal saw him whip off his jersey and show off muscles, earning a yellow card.

“They didn’t get angry because I was booked for taking my shirt off, but they saw my physique and got jealous!” he joked.

“Both goals were important and helped to win the game, so I will remember them both the same way.”

Balotelli went off in the second half to make way for Antonio Di Natale after going down with cramp.

“I had cramp and was a little tired, but I told the Coach to wait five minutes and by that point the substitution was already in progress. It’s fine.

“Would I return to Italy to play? Not right now, as I am in England and will stay there for the moment. The Manchester City fans still love me, even if we knocked England out.”

Italy now face Spain in the Final on Sunday in Kiev, a repeat of the 1-1 draw that opened their tournament.

“This was the most wonderful night of my life so far, but I hope Sunday is even better,” continued Balotelli.

“I hope to win, I don’t care if I play badly as long as we give our all. We have to relax, mustn’t get frustrated with Spain’s possession and keep playing our football.

“Don’t forget we are the only side to have scored against Spain so far. We proved that we are equal to them, if not more, and we want to win.”

Twoism wrote:Not sure if posted yet, it's Balo interview

“At the end of the game when I went to my mother, that was the best moment. I told her these goals were for her,” he said.

“I waited a long time for this moment, especially as my mother is not young anymore and can’t travel far, so I had to make her happy when she came all the way here. My father will be in Kiev for the Final too.

“Before the game there were my mother, my brothers, my sister-in-law and my best friend all by the touchline. Having my nearest and dearest there obviously fired me up. What music do I listen to before the game? Drake. He’s a friend of mine.”

With this brace, Balotelli took his Euro 2012 tally to three goals and is the joint top scorer, but also the only one still in the tournament.

“I will try to win the top scorer award. In football sometimes you can try so many times and it doesn’t go in, or try few and it does all the time.

“It was a fantastic assist, the kind only Antonio Cassano can provide, while Riccardo Montolivo’s pass was great too. I celebrated? I said I would.”

The celebration for the second goal saw him whip off his jersey and show off muscles, earning a yellow card.

“They didn’t get angry because I was booked for taking my shirt off, but they saw my physique and got jealous!” he joked.

“Both goals were important and helped to win the game, so I will remember them both the same way.”

Balotelli went off in the second half to make way for Antonio Di Natale after going down with cramp.

“I had cramp and was a little tired, but I told the Coach to wait five minutes and by that point the substitution was already in progress. It’s fine.

“Would I return to Italy to play? Not right now, as I am in England and will stay there for the moment. The Manchester City fans still love me, even if we knocked England out.”

Italy now face Spain in the Final on Sunday in Kiev, a repeat of the 1-1 draw that opened their tournament.

“This was the most wonderful night of my life so far, but I hope Sunday is even better,” continued Balotelli.

“I hope to win, I don’t care if I play badly as long as we give our all. We have to relax, mustn’t get frustrated with Spain’s possession and keep playing our football.

“Don’t forget we are the only side to have scored against Spain so far. We proved that we are equal to them, if not more, and we want to win.”

Ballotelli . Got so much character and attitude!

Look at how happy DDR was, truly a warrior, 2nd best player so far, very close to Pirlo. And that was while he's playing in sciatica nerve pain, imagine if he's 100%. I feel happy for him, for such a long time, he was not in the right state of mind for NT anyways.

deadrave wrote:

C.Marchisio #8 wrote:Marchisio & De Rossi will eat Ozil alive

lol

Gil wrote:What's the feeling towards Balotelli in Italy @ the few Italians on here?

A great amount of love, especially when he went to kiss his mother in the stands.

Seriously, I'd like to quote so many ppl here on the forums.. But anyways, I'll just say FORZA ITALIA & Balotelli!

We're a f*cking glorified England.

That being said, we did not lose the midfield battle, so at least that prediction worked out.

See you all at the WC2014 in Brazil, which we'll win. :X

BTW Italy played awesome, I think I'll be rooting for them in the final.
Well played Sirs. And stop making us look like England. :/

VivaStPauli wrote:We're a f*cking glorified England.

That being said, we did not lose the midfield battle, so at least that prediction worked out.

:/

?????????

where is the anti-s[paniard thread?

And Buffon has confessed that, instead of doing the required homework ahead of the crucial clash, he actually spent the previous night watching videos of Italy’s celebrating fans.

Buffon revealed to reporters: “Last night I didn't sleep but not to study the German strikers but to see on YouTube the videos of Italian fans celebrating after we won against England in the quarter-finals.”

However, the Juventus goalkeeper was not entirely pleased with the win however, and accused the team of being wasteful in front of goal.

“I was upset because we missed too many chances and we risked draw in a match we should have won easily,” he added.

“We have to concentrate more because you can miss so many chances that way. We still didn't win [Euro 2012] so I will smile when we will win.

It's about time Balotelli won me over.

SUPER MARIO