I guess the 4-4-2 is italy's secret for winning games .If my memory serves right ,there was a post where most of the people predicted a 1-0 score to Portugal,i guess you were wrong and please dont say any excuse cause Italy beat them fair and square .

Who scored?

Pippo Inzaghi and Francesco Totti

No need for excuses, Italy converted thier chances and Portugal didn't, that's all. It was an entertaining game, I thought both sides played well. Figo and Rui Costa look like they're in great form, and Fiore looks like he'll be a great player for Italy at Euro2000...and I add, nobody who saw this game can say Portugal is inferior to Italy in any way, they showed skill, character, and class. Congrats to Italy, they were needing a good win I think.

Never said that Portugal is inferior to Italy, although I am a big Italy fan. Regarding the incredibly poor play of Italy over the last year I feared the worst for today, but I was really really surprised. In the first half Italy dominated a great opponent in a decent way. Portugal had some nice chances, but I think the really nice plays came off my name-giver Zambrotta, who was terrific. Figo is surely the best winger today, but watch out for Gianluca, who is already a good defender going with his great offensive skills.
For Portugal I think it is a shame that they have no forward, man imagine them with a Kluivert/Vieri/Bierhoff like tower. Their midfield is only matched by Holland'd IMO.

Regarding the formation, it was no 4-4-2, as Italy played with 3 central backs (Iuliano-Nesta-Cannavaro from left to right). Of course Pessotto is not as much as a midfielder as Zambrotta, but he did not play left back. I love this formation, as they can instantly switch from a 5-3-2 into a 3-5-2. Gives some flexibility.

For EURO2K I am really relieved by now, only some minor changes at midfield (Albertini or di Biagio; Conte or Gattuso or Ambrosini?) should be made now, and given Zambrotta's performance I sure hope he'll start over Fuser, because he simply plays better at right than at the left side. The biggest problems come up front, where only Vieri has a 100% claim on starting, the other spot is evenly up for Montella-Totti-Inzaghi-Del Piero (in my personal order). And please take Delvecchio with you Zoff, as he is the only alternative to Vieri. Superpippa's brother should stay at home...

my opinion on that 1st goal: 50% Iuliano, 30% own goal, 20% Superpippa

We have a justification.
Our national coach.
He's so stupid and stubborn.
We lost the match when he took off Pauleta and placed Sá Pinto instead of Nuno Gomes.
Portugal did not play badly but that substitution allowed the central defenders to go up in the field causing superiority in the midfield.
We also had players that do not have category to play in the national team.
In a recent interview with Humberto Coelho, he said that Domingos (a player that can make a difference) does not play in the national team although he considered Domingos was playing well and scoring goals.
Indeed he has a Ferrari and does not know how to control it.

Yeah, i thought Zambrotta and Fiore were the best players for Italy in this game. Toldo was impressive too, he made some crucial saves.

Yeah, the lack of a striker is still a problem for Portugal, but actually Pauleta is a really good forward, he just didn't have many opportunities today, Italy's defence had him covered too good. But I'm not dissapointed at all in Portugal, I'd rather Portugal lose to Italy than beat San Marino in a preparation match.

To Aether:

I agree that substitution was a BIG mistake, but I think an even bigger one was taking Rui Costa off when he did, it was at that time that Figo and Rui Costa were making some great plays and looked close to getting the goal, when he came off it left Figo to do it all himself and he was covered much too well.

Domingos needs to be on the national team, he's much better than Nuno Gomes, and I think Quim showed that he deserves to be Portugal's number 2 keeper, rather than Pedro Espinha.

just my opinion, but i dont think Fiore played that great.......apart from the pass to totti for the goal, i think he was kept quiet by the Portugal defenders....he missed a lot of passes too, especially when he was trying to deliver a cross into the box....

p.s who are we saying scored the first goal? according to half the soccer web sites ive visited, it was Inzaghi, the other half say Iuliano.......still, i dont care, the Juve connection pays off yet again for Italy

btw.....Zambrotta best on field easily, Albertini worst on field easily