SECOND ROUND

ITALY 1 AUSTRALIA 0

With experience and a little bit of gamesmanship that only a team like Italy possesses, the Azzuri saw off an Australian side long on determination but short on execution.

Once again (and for the last time, now) Guus Hiddink is a genius football manager. He had his Socceroos playing forward, giving the Italians no space. They worked the ball great around the pitch and created only a few opportunities in the half, but looked fearless against Italy. Meanwhile, the Azzuri created the better of the first half chances while posessing the ball for less time. Striker Luca Toni in particular almost converted a nice turn and a shot, but Mark Schwartzer, back on duty after Zeljko Kalac’s sorry performance against Croatia, stuck his foot out for a nice save. Earlier he was blocked nicely by defender Scott Chipperfield, who had an outstanding game. Then came a blown header, and you had to wonder if it just wasn’t his day.

But his team wasn’t doing much on offense either. Alessandro Del Piero, who got the start over Francisco Totti, couldn’t get much going either. The tide changed, however, when ruthless defender Marco Materazzi drew a straight red card for a tackle only slightly late. It was a bit harsh, so just think of it as retribution for his years of clownish, clumsy and dangerous defending.

From this point on, though, Australia took control and spent the remaining 40 minutes attacking, throwing everything they could at the Italians. But Italy’s defense stood strong, proving why the nation constantly produces the best defenders in the world. Fabio Cannavaro in particular, was top-class as always. And after Materazzi’s red card, Italy subbed out Toni for defender Andrea Barzagli. Australia tried as hard as they could, but in the end they lacked any sort of creativity or a crucial playmaker necessary to crack the defense. Harry Kewell was unfortunately unavailable for the match.

When Totti did come on for Del Piero in the 75th minute, the game changed as Italy strung together some good attacks lacking that final ball. Then, on a counteratttack in injury time, defender Fabio Grosso made his way to the corner, got around one, then two defenders and had only Lucas Neill to beat. He faked left, causing Neill to slide left. However, Grosso pulled the ball to his right, and seeing Neill in his way, managed to trip over him, earning the penalty. Seemingly every teammate on the field dog-piled him, leading to Totti converting the kick. He explained after the game how he came full circle since 2002 when he was ejected for diving in the penalty area in their loss to South Korea.

Anyway, the penalty. I’ve heard people absolutely livid about this. They say he dove, that he’s an opportunist, that the Italians are cheaters, they outplayed Italy, they didn’t deserve to lose, etc. I saw very little wrong with the play myself. Neill obstructed Grosso, who had gotten the ball clean free and attempted to chase it. Had he been partially held up, an onrushing defender would have likely gotten to the ball before Grosso and sent the game into extra periods. Look at it this way: he beat his defender with a great move and was obstructed by him. Yeah, sure he made the most of it. But it’s not too much different than an attacker beating his man and then getting brought down. How is it any different? He was obstructed from reaching the ball! I know everyone was enthralled by the Aussies, but in the end, they couldn’t get it done. Against 10 men! I’ll leave for others to debate whether they deserved to lose, but without putting at least one in the back of the net, they didn’t deserve to win. Deal with it.


SWITZERLAND 0 UKRAINE 0 (PEN)

I'm very proud of myself for predicting last Friday that this one would go into penalties. Either take my word for it, or look to your right and click on that day's write-up. Check it out, I called it. Don't know why, don't know how, I just had that feeling. With that said, I missed most of the game and only saw 22 tired bodies jogging around in extra time, neither side able to string anything together. Obviously, congratulations to Ukraine for winning, but I feel bad for the Swiss. Losing on penalties is the worst feeling in soccer. But to not score a single one, that is truly shocking. With the final scoreline, however, I hear Switzerland is the first side in a World Cup to lose without ever having conceded a goal. So congratulations there, guys. I wonder if Arsenal defender Philippe Sendeross, who was out with an injured shoulder, would have made a difference in this one. Meanwhile, it means Ukraine will go on which, given their company in the quarter-finals, is almost a travesty. Not that Switzerland is football royalty, but Ukraine insist on playing an extremely boring game and will surely get outclassed by the Italians.

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While I will continue to play down the Italy penalty, you have to agree that part of why it is so hotly debated has to do with its timing, following yesterday's match between the prison teams of Portugal and Holland. You also have to wonder whether that rumored move by Barcelona for Lucas Neill is still on. But moving on, this matchup, short of some cosmic realignment, should see Italy through to the semi-finals. Not only has Ukraine been nearly outclassed by Tunisia of all teams in this tournament, but the entire Italian team plays either with or against Andry Shevchenko, Ukraine's main target man. Unless the entire Italian team gets subpoenaed in their domestic match-fixing scandal which is soon to commence, they should run rampant over Ukraine on Friday.