Italy

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Originally Posted by boovidge

Why is a free kick goal worth less? :confused:

I'm fed up of reading people saying they "don't rate" Ronaldo on this site. Sure he's hyped too much and talked about ad nauseum (i realise the irony here). He also dives and winges like most other premiership players. However, to dismiss someone because you don't like him is really a complete bit of Dunphyesque analysis. He does the business on the pitch and has done consistently the last two seasons in one of the top leagues in Europe. Therefore he has to be considered one of the best players in the world.

As far as Italy are concerned im much less worried about them than i was before this tournament and now i genuinely believe that if Trap gets us organised we can at least nick a couple of points off of them. If they don't change their side they have severe limitations as we have seen and if they do change their side then they may not have "gelled" enough to be a top quality side. I still expect them to finish top reasonably comfortably.

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i never said a free kick goal was worth less - i was talking in reference to ronaldos input into the team when the ball is in play NOT from dead ball set pieces.

when did i say i dismissed him because i dont like him?????? read the my post properly before you make a response - I said i dont him rate for many reasons - never once mentioned i dont rate him because i dont like him

Their are alot of ppl on this site who dont rate ronaldo in such high regard as other posters - so come to terms with it

And yes i am one of those ppl

Dunphesque analysis !!!! - i would more associate that with ppl who cant read posted comments properly and then proceed to make responses on comments that were NEVER actually made originally

anyway this site is about italy - not some greedy whingebag from portugal , so lets all move on


Personally i think we can take the italians - but we will need our best 11 fit - but any1 who dares write off the italians , is being foolish - the italians history in the euros is not as decorated as their history in the world cup - come april and october 09 - they prob will have a new team and a new manager and will be ready and waiting for our boys - its gonna be an intriguing encounter - but ive no doubt we will put it up to them

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Originally Posted by back of the net

the italians history in the euros is not as decorated as their history in the world cup

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Agreed, as I have also pointed this out.

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

I'm as big an Ireland supporter as the next guy and I do believe we can take 2nd in our group, but claiming we can take Italy is ridiculous. Player for Player there's not a single player we'd beat them on, and sadly player for player between our first team and their reserve team they'd still beat us in every single position. At a stretch maybe Given could match Amelia though due to injuries probably not.

So to make that claim you'd need to pretty confident that we'll be a very together team with no injuries, no retirements and killer tactics. Has anyone seen anything to indicate all that?

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Why is claiming we can take Italy ridiculous?? Romania finished ahead of the Dutch in their qualifying campaign and you could say the same thing that player for player the Dutch are better.Its gonna be far from easy to finish ahead of them but its not ridiculous to claim that we can

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

I'm as big an Ireland supporter as the next guy and I do believe we can take 2nd in our group, but claiming we can take Italy is ridiculous. Player for Player there's not a single player we'd beat them on, and sadly player for player between our first team and their reserve team they'd still beat us in every single position. At a stretch maybe Given could match Amelia though due to injuries probably not.

So to make that claim you'd need to pretty confident that we'll be a very together team with no injuries, no retirements and killer tactics. Has anyone seen anything to indicate all that?

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i said- IF WE HAVE OUR BEST 11 FIT

also as razor said - romania finished ahead of holland

also croatia finished ahead of england,
poland finished aheadd of portugal,
greece finished ahead of turkey

Look How close northern ireland pushed spain and sweden
up until the last 2 games it looked like SCOTLAND WERE GONNA FINISH AHEAD OF ITALY
So i think that puts your " Player for Player" argument out the window

also we have one of the decorated managers in the game - more decorated than the respective managers of croatia , poland , scotland , greece and the north have/had for their qualifiers

Add in we have a squad made up mainly of Premier league players

Thats how i can say we will put it up to italy ciaran

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Originally Posted by back of the net

also we have one of the decorated managers in the game - more decorated than the respective managers of croatia , poland , scotland , greece and the north have/had for their qualifiers

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In the last ten years he's won a Portuguese and an Austrian League title. his record at international level is among the worst in Italian history. His record with Juventus 20 years ago is exceptional, but how nuch of that was down to him?

IN the last ten years Poland's Beenkaker has qualified Trinidad for their forst ever world cup, qualified Poland for their first ever Euros, won the dutch league with Feyernoord and Ajax. Greece's Rehaggel was won the German league with Kaiserslauten and the fecking European Championship with Greece.

I also think you're underestimating the playing ability of the players from Croatia, Poland and Greece

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

I'm as big an Ireland supporter as the next guy and I do believe we can take 2nd in our group, but claiming we can take Italy is ridiculous. Player for Player there's not a single player we'd beat them on, and sadly player for player between our first team and their reserve team they'd still beat us in every single position. At a stretch maybe Given could match Amelia though due to injuries probably not.

So to make that claim you'd need to pretty confident that we'll be a very together team with no injuries, no retirements and killer tactics. Has anyone seen anything to indicate all that?

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I'd have Dunne over Materazzi any day and Keane over Di Natale/Del Piero whoever they have alongside the lanky useless guy.

i'd have alan lee ahead of luca toni :)

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

You using Domenech's judgement as reason for Trezeguet's lack of worth is all I need to mention to dispell your opinion's worth. Trez was 2nd top scorer in Serie A this season, and he generally is most seasons. He's not there because he doesn't get on with Domenech, supposedly he slept with his wife. :D
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print...832&type=story

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Must be some wife as she was rumoured to be with Pires and Giuly before that a few years ago.

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Must be some wife as she was rumoured to be with Pires and Giuly before that a few years ago.

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Do we have a picture of the beast ?

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Originally Posted by stojkovic

Do we have a picture of the beast ?

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Gents,


http://www.ledio.globolog.com.br/estelle.jpg

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

I'm as big an Ireland supporter as the next guy and I do believe we can take 2nd in our group, but claiming we can take Italy is ridiculous. Player for Player there's not a single player we'd beat them on, and sadly player for player between our first team and their reserve team they'd still beat us in every single position. At a stretch maybe Given could match Amelia though due to injuries probably not.

So to make that claim you'd need to pretty confident that we'll be a very together team with no injuries, no retirements and killer tactics. Has anyone seen anything to indicate all that?

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That is a bit of a stupid post.

If football followed your logic Greece wouldn't have won Euro 2004. Romania wouldn't qualify out of the 'group of death'....Germany would hammer Croatia.....Portugal wouldn't struggle at home against teams like Finland.

Paraguay wouldn't beat Brazil. Ecuador wouldn't get a result against Argentina.

Porto wouldn't win the Champions League. Villarreal wouldn't finish second in La Liga. Valencia would finish top 6.


Obviously because their Italians you will rate them higher than Irish players.

Duff I firmly believe would. McGeady might. Dunne might(better than Barzagli), Keane without a doubt. Given....YES.

So I believe we have three/four players that could make their squad, and maby two who could potentially start. But even if we didn't have any, it means nothing.

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Originally Posted by irishultra

That is a bit of a stupid post.

If football followed your logic Greece wouldn't have won Euro 2004. Romania wouldn't qualify out of the 'group of death'....Germany would hammer Croatia.....Portugal wouldn't struggle at home against teams like Finland.

Paraguay wouldn't beat Brazil. Ecuador wouldn't get a result against Argentina.

Porto wouldn't win the Champions League. Villarreal wouldn't finish second in La Liga. Valencia would finish top 6.


Obviously because their Italians you will rate them higher than Irish players.

Duff I firmly believe would. McGeady might. Dunne might(better than Barzagli), Keane without a doubt. Given....YES.

So I believe we have three/four players that could make their team. But even if we didn't have any, it means nothing.

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could not have said it better myself irishultra - good post

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Originally Posted by back of the net

Gents,


http://www.ledio.globolog.com.br/estelle.jpg

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Not bad,

He didn't see that in the stars :D

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

He was the best player on the pitch in the first half and scored a perfectly legit goal. I'm shocked you thought he had a bad game, even Dunphy ate humble pie about him at half-time. :eek:

He's in the team because he's the greatest target man in the world and has a sensational record. This season, 31 games for Bayern - 24 goals. Previous to that he won the golden boot with Fiorentina for being the most prolific striker in Europe.

The problem I think is that Donadoni isn't using him right, Italy tend to like to play with a lone striker while Toni would certainly benefit with more space. At Bayern he partners Klose and at any given time would have no more than one defender around him, he's just inviting too much attention in the box for Italy, watch his movement when he crosses are coming in, there's at least 2 defenders on him at any time. Italy's gameplan is too obvious.

When you have a midfield of Pirlo, De Rossi, Ambrosini, Gattuso or any of those opposition know that you're not going to carry a threat down the centre and it's obvious that the team is going to centre around Toni and wingers. Don't judge Toni on poor tactics, he's being heavily marked and DID score a perfectly good goal yesterday that shouldn't have been disallowed.

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he's talking about luca toni here (not Pele as you might have thought), I hope you're watching ciaran because even Gary Doherty would hvae scored one of the six chances toni has had tonight.

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Originally Posted by cavan_fan

he's talking about luca toni here (not Pele as you might have thought), I hope you're watching ciaran because even Gary Doherty would hvae scored one of the six chances toni has had tonight.

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toni is limited - some of the chances he has missed -

bundesliga defending is not shown in a positive light if this clown can score over 30 goals in it

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Originally Posted by back of the net

toni is limited - some of the chances he has missed -

bundesliga defending is not shown in a positive light if this clown can score over 30 goals in it

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It gets better because gomez was the 2nd top scorer in germany last year and he is the tony cascarino to luca toni's niall quinn

A bit of me is very unhappy at the moment because i bet on Romania each way before they start of the tournament, but i feel Italy getting out of the group can be beneficial to Ireland in the world cup qualifiers. i dont rate Donadoni too highly so him keeping his job would be good for us

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Originally Posted by cavan_fan

It gets better because gomez was the 2nd top scorer in germany last year and he is the tony cascarino to luca toni's niall quinn

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Its a similar situation in Serie A with Trezequet and Ibrahimovic over the last couple of years. This is what Ive been saying, stockings the three of them. First ive seen of Gomez so I'll give him a break, for now.

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Originally Posted by stojkovic

Its a similar situation in Serie A with Trezequet and Ibrahimovic over the last couple of years. This is what Ive been saying, stockings the three of them. First ive seen of Gomez so I'll give him a break, for now.

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played at Croker against us .. but will forgive you as it was a dire game

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Originally Posted by carloz

A bit of me is very unhappy at the moment because i bet on Romania each way before they start of the tournament, but i feel Italy getting out of the group can be beneficial to Ireland in the world cup qualifiers. i dont rate Donadoni too highly so him keeping his job would be good for us

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yeah i was thinking the same thing. there was some rumour going around that Lippi would return to replace Donadoni which would have been bad news for us....

don't think Donadoni's up to too much either...