You have to give Italy some credit ,im sure no one taught that they would reach....

[Paolo_Rossi]

they would reach this far .But for France they seem to get some lucky breaks ,Spain-France,Raul misses the pk ,France-Portugal,somehow ,Xavier handled the ball ,Italy-France,93rd minute,Wiltord scores wich broke Italy's morale .

 

[Juninhio]

Pablo in my opinion France have been the most unlucky team from 93-98 but have been the luckiest team from hence on:

1 2nd round lucky Golden Goal against Paraguay by defender Blanc

2. Shootout win against Italy

3. beat Croatia 2 goals from defender

4. beat Brasil on day when best player not fit. Player that never scores with head gets 2.

5. Barely qualifies for Euro 2002

6. Barely hold on against Chechz 2 - 1.

7. Spain misses penalty to go to extra time.

8. Get penalty shot in ot of semis

9. Tie game in last minute of final against italy.

10. Win game with golden goal after trailing 99% of match.

 

[Paolo_Rossi]

What I cant stand from France is that they keep winning every tournaments ,its really annoying .Italy hasnt won a championship in 18 years and im fed up of seeing them reach the finals but not winning it .Will they ever win a damn trophy .

 

[Black_Ned]

Isn't this the beauty of Football..?!!..you can't predict the unpredictable...It's what makes this game the best football code out there..that's the reason billions of people follow it..aye, and often grieve for it too...and an incredible "double" for The French team..what else is there to say...

 

[Neutral]

Juninhio & Paolo,
Ok, I understand giving Italy some credit but why at the same time must you take away credit from France?

As for Juninhio's points;

2.) Shootout win vs Italy was Lucky eh? So by your logic Brazil were also lucky to get to the final of WC98. And they were also lucky to win WC94.

3.) '2 goals from a defender' - what difference does that make? If Roberto Carlos, or Cafu, or Maldini, or Stam, or any other defender scores why is that lucky? Did u see Thuram's goals - both were excellent.

4.) 'beat Brasil on day when best player not fit.' - France's best defender Blanc was missing too. Watch the final again, Brazil were played off the park, if Guivach was a half competent striker the score could have been 4 or 5 nil. My Grandmother would have buried some of the chances Guivach had. R
onaldo would have made a difference, but even he doesn't defend corners.
'Player that never scores with head gets 2.' - so what? He elevated his game for the World Cup final - he showed up, as did France, unfortunately no one for Brazil did.

5.) So what if they barely qualified, how is that luck? It's not like they didn't make it, but were suddenly granted a place like Denmark were in '92.

7. It was a BS call in the first place.

8. Xavier hand-balled it, what else was the ref supposed to do? Not give a penalty?

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Italy - I thought they played their best game of the tournament today. Totti and Vieri (shame he was injured) are two of my favourite players. Totti showed great heart today running hard and tackling back (unlike some other guy whose name starts with a 'Del' and ends with a 'Piero')

But give France some bloody respect - they are the World Champs and the European Champs - you don't win both by fluke. They destroyed Brazil 2 years ago - they surprised even me (I had money on Brazil), you don't win 3-0 in the BIGGEST FOOTBALL MATCH IN THE WORLD by fluke. If Ronaldo was the difference between a win and a 3-0 humiliation then Brazil don't deserve to be called a 'team'.

France were outplayed for some portions of today's game, but they always looked dangerous and they showed heart and determination to come back and win the game in ET.

Give the team it's due, they are the best in Europe and they are, arguably, the best in the world - and still, no one can deny that they are the current World Champions.



[This message has been edited by Neutral (edited 07-02-2000).]

 

[Duke]

Firstly, Paolo, I think every supporter can be damned proud of the Azurri. I watched several friendlies in the build up (I know many think these are misleading,) and they were absolute "pants." Their team unity and spirit was second to none - and I say this as one who was absolutely rooting against them.

As to Les Bleus, J., what a load of rubish!!!

I won't even settle for the old cliche of "you make your own luck," (which, by the way, has much validity.)
Your points:
1&2, fine. Weak, but fine.

3. How are Thuram wonderful strikes against Croatia just "luck"? Goals are spread around lineups by the team's performance on the field. Thuram's only two recorded international goals are a tribute to his efforts and the French dominance of the game. Some one had to score them - and you know the French dominated that game.

4. This is so old from you, and such a cop-out. You think Edgy-mundo would have beaten the "ligne magique"? You do a terrible insult to a dominant French performance.

5. See my above comments on the Azurri. See your own comments on Brazil's recent WC qualifiers....

6. A great match. Did you watch the game? You make it sound like an Italian late-rounder. That was free-flowing beautiful football, not luck! Silly....

7. So what's your point? Like you said, that PK would have only sent it to OT. Spain played great, France better. See #6 above...

8. I feel for Portugal, but France certainly was no less deserving of this victory. Both teams had chance, the French attacked more. I would say handling a goal-bound shot was more "unlucky" for Portugal than "lucky" for France. Create your chance, put pressure on the other team, etc......

9. Your 9&10 points are cagy and difficult points. But answer me this, what was more "lucky", the cross that fell right on DelVecchio's head, or the ball that fell to Wiltord's feet? Yes, the Italians almost made that goal stand, but the French attacked in waves, the French put the pressure on Italy's skillfully packed box, and yes, the French finally put two goals in the back of the net. By your logic, any team that comes back is just "lucky." You do a disservice to all the sweat and blood these footballers spill on the field.

10. See #9. (Trailing 99% of the match? Well I guess they trailed around 35% of the match. The goal was scored in the 55th min.)