Well, come 12:45pm Sunday afternoon, I’ll be with some
friends watching the final match of this great tournament. Spain and Italy have
both come a long way since their opening match of Group C. Spain, one of the
two tournament favorites coming in, haven’t looked as good on the field as
they’re used to. Mind you, a bad Spanish showing in a game is on par with many
other teams having good games. Iniesta and Xavi haven’t looked like their
normal dominant selves in the midfield, and anyone who knows anything about
soccer understands that your midfield dictates your possession and flow in a
game. Their knockout games against
France and Portugal were sub par showings for a normally dominant team (save
perhaps the extra time portion of their Portugal semi). One positive for Spain
is that their defense have been doing quite a bit better than usual. Casillas
hasn’t really been tested much in this tournament; not conceding a goal since
the opening match against Italy. He is one of the top keepers in the world
though, so you have to assume that when he does get peppered with shots that he
will hold his ground.
Italy on the other hand had the opposite road of the
Spanish. They started off slow in the group stage, but have now established two
dominant games against England and Germany in the knockout. Buffon has looked
very impressive in this tournament so far allowing only three goals (one of
them a PK) in five games. The defense, which was the highlight of the Italians
coming in, has been their bread and butter this tournament. Pirlo has been probably
the player of the tournament thus far, resurrecting the amazing player we had
known from the ’06 World Cup. The
pleasant surprise of the tournament for the Italians has been their possession
and passing in the midfield. They have been controlling the ball so smoothly,
that they are able to generate countless scoring opportunities for their attack
(Balotelli, Cassano, DiNatale, Diamanti) which was shown off in their game
against England. The finishing hasn’t been the best for the Italians, but all it
takes is one or two good shots/chances to win a game. The more chances, the
better.
So, it seems like I’ve been bragging up the Italians. As
mentioned in previous posts, I am biased towards them, but their play has been
impeccable of recent. I certainly didn’t expect them to make it this far,
especially after getting Germany in the semis. On paper, Spain still looks like
the better of the two talent wise, especially since they had most of the possession in
their group match. However, I have to go with my gut, go with my heart and go
with the more dominating team of recent and say Italy is going to pull off
another “upset” and beat Spain. 1-0.
Enjoy The Final!
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