2004striker: Great point!
L-E Dude: HOWEVER.. what I saw of Italy yesterday.. was a squad that consitantly got back on defense (which is good..and I would have my players watch that 100x over) ..but instead of hustling or moving as a team into the attack. They opted to either let 1-3 men move the ball up..maybe get the midfield into the attack if they hold it long enough.. or find a freekick somewhere..so everyone could get up into the attack.
My response is simple but first to address one of my big soccer pet peeves. L-E Dude, we say field and soccer NOT pitch and football. Those words are for other sports in this country, the United States.
Italy v Germany: Not only do the above quotations, from players who played, reinforce my point of Italian quality and intentions during the match, but so does 1) the score 2) shot count on goal 3) corners and 4) possession stat and 5) the fact of Italy hitting the post and crossbar in OT as well as playing four strikers to avoid PKs .
The diving issue is, obviously, a strong opinion for you. The countries mentioned have been bad at times in soccer history but by no means were they any worse then others in this World Cup. Podalski and Klose both had numerous diving moments yesterday as well as a few of Ballack's run-in's with Gattuso. Again, outdated stereotypes are changing for better with these countries.
