Group of Death

It's not going to be easy, nor pretty. I think France and Holland will attack, and Italy and Romania play tight. The French have a lot of old faces; P.Viera, T.Henry, Thuram, Sagnol, Makelele, Gallas - some belonged to the glory years of France '98 and Belgium/Holland '00. But they also have rising stars like Karim Benzema, Bafetimbi Gomis, and Samir Nasri. Not to mention the established stars like Ribery, Evra, Malouda, and Makelele. The only real question will be, is G.Coupet healthy enough to stand under the posts, or will Mandada or Frey take over the goalkeeping role? In summary, France is a very dangerous team for any opposition. They thrive on ball-control and love to use the wide-flanks to spread the defense thin. The Italians are as dangerous as ever. Some say as strong as their World Cup winning team of 2006. However, they are beset by a crucial injury to F.Cannavaro, arguably the reason behind Italy's defensive success. But don't forget, the Italian defense is based on a philosophy, not based on individuals. Tactical masters of their class, the Italians can allow oppositions to apply forward pressure all the way to their own box, then break and hit goals on the counter, softly slicing through the defense like through melted butter. With guys like L.Toni and Del Piero, who have based their careers on the counterattack, the Italians will not be easy to topple. The Romanians are the dark horse of the group. I think they should not be discounted or underestimated. They are solid in defense. D.Goian is a giant pillar in the center of defense. Together with C.Chivu, they keep the defense and midfield tight, and allow themselves to safely absorb pressure while trying to break on the counter. Hitman Adrian Mutu only needs half a chance to score a goal and can beat anyone in the open space. Definitely a match winner difference maker. The Dutch have a tough task ahead of them. Arguably possessing the best attacking quality of the group, they are also set-back by injuries to some of the best attackers. Ryan Babel had an early flight home which produced the call-up of the cannibal Khalid Boulahrouz. Then Wesley Sneijder got hurt after a training clash with Robin V Persie, who isn't 100% himself. vPersie hasn't played much in the 2nd half of Arsenal's 07/08 campaign because of persistent injuries. Then, the biggest disappointment of all, just a couple of days ago, Real Madrid winger, Arjen Robben fell out with a groin problem which will not allow him to play for the first game. Although Sneijder will be playing and v.Persie will likely come off the bench to add spark if needed, missing Ryan Babel and Arjen Robben will be felt. Hopefully, PSV youngster Ibrahim Afellay and Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt can fill up the slots on the wings, as the Dutch will probably go with a 4-2-3-1 formation, finally after so many years of failure with the traditional 4-3-3. As a Holland fan, I find it difficult to make a prediction that doesn't include Holland going into the next round. But I have to remain objective and look at the teams in an overall fairness point of view. So here it is: Group C: 1) HOLLAND: ORANJE!!!!! 2) France 3) Italy 4) Romania *Did you really think I was gonna say Holland wasn't gonna go through???

I see Italy and France emerging

(ducking). Netherlands, with their great attack, have a pretty horrible defense. Even you Dutch fans can't argue with that.
- Freddie Footballer

im watching Romania - France

I'm very disappointed with France. I knew Romania was going to play tight and send a one-man horse out there to score, but this game is more like a chessgame than a soccergame. Like watching a tactical tug of war. France is missing a creative spirit. This aint the France with Zinedine Zidane. And without talisman Thierry Henry in the line-up, this team plays without conviction. Occasional spurts down the wings by Malouda and Ribery are quickly stopped by the clog in the center of the box. Nicolas Anelka is pretty much ineffective. And so was Karim Benzema. I dont understand why France is trying to play the ball over the defense through longballing. And I don't agree with choosing Abidal over Evra. Evra is a little attacking engine, he provides way more than Abidal. Sure, Abidal might look more imposing and be a stronger defense, but against a 1 man offense, I'm sure you can allow one of your defenders to race down the flanks at times. I think Domenech is playing too cautious and frankly he's too scared. He's got way more weapons in his arsenal than what he's using.

Toulalan and Makelele???

I dont understand why 2 defensive midfielders? You can obviously see there is no linkage between the attackers and the midfield, because both are staying back and helping the 4 man defense. I say Domenech should have put Evra in instead of Abidal, since Thuram, Gallas, and Sagnol are already back there. WIth Makelele providing cover, Evra has the security of being able to rush forward and help out the offense. This France team is shit and as far as I'm concerned this draw is a good result for the Dutch to profit from.

If France keeps this up

they will lose out. Seems like they are playing not to lose as opposed to win. - Freddie Footballer

0-0; on to the next game!

boring game. France didn't help itself by getting a draw from Romania. Now they have to beat either Netherlands or Italy to reach the second round.
- Freddie Footballer

2-0 Netherlands

what a match for the Oranje. That second goal was a beauty. What a wonderful buildup on the counterattack and resulting sequence of plays.
- Freddie Footballer

3-0 and the Dutch are winners!

they were my favorites before the tourney started and now they should be everyone else's favorite too! -bB

France

I agree with royal orange, Domenech is holding his squad back. Romania (as expected) clogged the box and got NOTHING against the French defense. This is a strong group, Domenech should have sent a defenseman down the sideline. One of the few times I'm absolutely confident of a poor decision by a soccer manager. Evra, like orange said, would have been perfect for this. Gotta respect romania's defense, no mental breakdowns. But let's be real, they can't score on anything but luck mixed with mental lapses. I still like this French team, but this game proved that they are new to each other.

Congrats, Oranje!

The Dutch look to be in rare form right now, they dismantled Italy. The Italians are rudderless without Fabio Cannevaro. Looks like it'll be the Netherlands followed by one of the remaining teams battling it out for 2nd place.
- Freddie Footballer

France

I think Domenech should go with a 4-4-2 instead of his 4-2-3-1. In order to pull off a 4-2-3-1 formation, gotta play it like the Dutch: attacking wings, constantly switching positions, in other words - total football. The way France executed the 4-2-3-1 was lousy and non-responsive. Romania's left-back Razman Rat was all over F.Ribery and basically owned him the whole match down the right flank. On the other side, Malouda was able to get a couple of good runs in, but again, basically, Romania's right-back Cosmin Contra was all over him. Then Romania's centerback D.Goian wouldn't give Anelka an inch of space. It was just too predictable. Benzema was too deep to be effective. I think he stands a better chance of being played the ball in the box rather than having to run at 4 defenders. There was absolutely no position switching - no rotations, no cross-runs. It was basically just hitting the guys on the flanks with long-balls hoping to cross the ball into the box for Anelka. It was boring stuff. Romania prepared well for this match. Why not use 2 strikers instead of 1? Sure Henry was hurt, but Benzema should have been right next to Anelka instead of deeper down. And what about Sidney Govou? The 4-4-2 has been so good for the French over the past decade, so why divert from it?

Romania

I used to be a big fan of Romania. This was back in World Cup 1994 when they had a guy by the name of Gheorge Hagi. Hagi was a smaller version of Zinedine Zidane. Like Zidane, he was pure magic. Not only would he create, he would score topnotch goals- from distance and from dribbles. He made his team better. He was the reason why his teammate Florin Raducioiu was a topscoring striker. Something about that 1994 team that I will always remember them for. After scoring against the USA and Colombia, Romania ended up first in their group, having to face off against Sweden in the Quarters, who would later end up 3rd in the tourney. Their adventure was short-lived, but it was magical. Since those days, Romania never regained their momentum. They turned inwards and decided it was better to be more cautious than adventurous. Their footballing philosophy became winning games by defending hard. For some teams, this mentality delivered outstanding results (ex. Greece 2004/Italy 2006) but for Romania, this strategy has hardly paid dividends. Sure, they are ranked 12th in the FIFA World Rankings, but their climb up hasn't been pretty. Its been grinding and hard work, not always nice to watch. And beating teams like Albania and Luxembourg, for instance, doesn't help justify their FiFA rankings. I think Romania will have a tough time against teams who go for the attack. Because once they're 1 goal down, they'll have to abandon their strategy and adopt a new approach in-game which would leave them vulnerable. Like a turtle leaving its shell. I think Italy will crack their shell on Friday 6/13. How Romania will react will be interesting. Lets just say that, for Romania's sake, they better put the first goal on the board so that they can just close up shop back there instead of falling a goal behind then they are forced to open up.

Oranje

I just want to offer a few words about today's electric display by the Dutch. I feel honored to be a fan of a team who can capture the hearts and minds of people with what they show on the field. ESPN's Andy Gray shot to life with unbounded enthusiasm during the game after watching the boring France-Romania game. I've never seen a commentator offer his praise to the way a team plays the way he did this morning. You could tell he thoroughly enjoyed the game. And so did everyone watching it, at the stadium and in bars and at home. It's this type of brand of football that justifies the name of "our beautiful game". Too many years we have had teams come out on top who specialize in defensive Italian-style "catennacio". I can't argue its effectiveness, but I won't ever root for a team who plays this way. In Holland, we have a term for this "catennacio" - it's often called "anti-football". Jurgen Klinsmann, in Germany 2006, recognized this problem in Germany's past. The Germans were masters with the 5-3-2 with libero position (Beckenbauer/Matthaus). It was effective and won them world cups. but it was horrible to watch. So in 2006, he turned them into an attacking machine. Unfortunately, he encountered what alot of other attacking teams seem to run into - losing. The Dutch have always thought it was okay to lose tournaments, as long as they produced "beautiful" football. This is after Total Football came into fruition. Total Football meant playing spaces instead of the player, and meant defending on your opponent's half. It was total domination and risky. And it barely won the Dutch anything. But it was okay. As long as they produced beautiful football. This won the respect of the world-wide public. Just as today's display won the crowds over and breathed life into the tournament. I can only hope this will continue for 5 more Oranje games so we can bring home the title which is long overdue (20 years). But I wouldn't be dissappointed if we lost again - as long as we play "beautiful soccer".

Italy's in big trouble

this team appears done. Donadoni needs to make some drastic changes to his midfield to avoid a repeat of that performance against the Romanians.
On to Group D today!
- Freddie Footballer

Offensive numbness

With France and Romania looking null and Italy getting trashed, is Holland "the" favorite?

have to be

Holland has to be the favorite in this group. Whichever team between the remaining three that can get it's act together in the next game has probably the best shot at coming in second in group C behind Netherlands.
- Freddie Footballer

re:

Dear Italy, wake up please. From, Lebron23

Lebron

LOL. that cracked me up. They aren't holding it down esp in back w/o Cannevaro.
- Freddie Footballer

Cannavaro & Materrazzi

Both these guys aren't 100%. Good luck to Italy for the rest of the tourney... hehehe