Ok, we’re gettin into the game now
My first pick was a Germany/France final, and i bet that first, but something has happened recently to change my mind and make me lean towards Italy
I only focus on what i think will happen in the game and try to envision it in my mind, nothing else really matters that much, but i consider it if it is strongly in favour of one team
And in this game, i see Germany having a lot of trouble scoring, they can’t attack Italy and outrun them like you’re thinking, Italy has way too much experience, especially on defense…i see something similar to the France/Brazil game, with Italy being France, and Germany being Brazil…it is a similar scenario, Germany the favourite, and having the reputation and history, like Brazil did, and Italy the crafty little team with experience and a sharp defense coming in on a roll
Totti is a gifted player and could do a Zidane impersonation in this one, while Ballack left the field limping last game
The rest of the midfield looks like this, Italy has Camoranesi, Pirlo, Gattuso, Zambrotta, (Italy plays 5 in the midfield a lot of the time, with only 1 forward), Germany has Frings, Schneider, Schweinsteiger…you can cancel them out and say they are equivalent, but Schweinsteiger and Schneider were pulled vs Argentina because they weren’t playing well, and their subs Okondor and Borowski came in and made the difference and saved Germany…so based on that i would have to acknowledge Italy is more solid in the midfield at the moment, on the bench they got Del Pierro, Perrotta if needed
Up front, Germany has 2 hot strikers carrying them, Klose and Podolski, Italy has been using different strikers every game, so they are all well rested, and all 4 of them have scored already, Toni, Gilardino, Iacquinta, Inzaghi…they say that the Italian league is the toughest to score in because of the great defenses, but Toni just broke the goal scoring record this year in the Italian league…i won’t give anyone the advantage here because i was a striker and know that any team with a hot striker can win, even an average team, Germany’s strikers have been hot right from the start of this tourney, Italy’s strike force can get hot real fast, like Toni scoring 2 goals in 5 minutes in the last game
On defense i give Italy the edge, nobody has scored on them yet, while Germany’s defense gave up the lead vs Argentina last time out(never a good thing), and even let lowly Costa Rica put a couple by them…the teams that they managed to shut down had nowhere near the class of Italy…they shut out Poland who had no offense at any point in this tourney, they shut down Ecuador who were playing all their subs having already qualified, and they shut down a broken Ibrahimovic and off form Larsson who were invisible throughout this tourney and who couldn’t even score on Trinidad with an extra player for over 45 minutes…Italy will be a very similar challenge to Argentina, except Italy don’t go around blowing leads, Germany was a bit lucky to get by last game against Argentina, but nobody ever outlucks Italy
Cannavaro, Nesta, Materazzi, Grosso, those guys are tight, wouldnt wanna play poker against them, they wouldn’t give up a penny
Metzelder and Lahm i like, but they are so young and inexperienced, same with the rest of their defense, Nowotny, Mertesacker, Friedrich, you know Italy is gonna burn them for a few, they couldn’t shut down Argentina when it mattered last game, Italy is even more deadly up front at the moment with 4 scoring horses to choose from
In net, both goalies are playing good, and both teams have great backup goalies, somebody’s gonna have to score a quality goal to beat them
Italy has the experience edge, they are older and wiser, and coming into this game in great shape physically, all well rested and very confidant, relatively free of injury too
But the killer is this, and you can’t ignore it…Italy own Germany, they have never lost to them in 6 matches…they have knocked Germany out of 2 World Cups, 82 final, 70 semi final…i think they do it again, they look just a bit better, Germany does not have one single advantage on Italy, except that they are playing at home and that the ref might help them because of that
Don’t be surprised if Italy win 2-0 here
As for the Happy Canada Day…same to you man…its actually my birthday tomorrow, born right there along with Canada and America
I think maybe we’ll do this again for the Champions League