Semi-Final: Germany - Italy

rockball said:

Balotelli hasn't done much this tournament. Been decent in getting spaces but his finishing has been woeful.

Taking that aside, for the formation I mentioned, Di Natale is a much better fit. He is used to being the lone striker with 5-6 midfielders behind him, something Italy can do with Diamanti playing.

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I know Balotelli has not scored much, but he has been one of the main reasons why we have gotten chances. Do you remember how our attack looked when he came off against Croatia? Even against Ireland, the attack was much more interesting when he came on at the end

Sorry, but I disagree. I feel Balotelli must be on the field.

hopefully germany knock italy out and some Rube players get injured in the process

Just read a report that if Chiellini is fit and Abate isn't, Chiellini will play LB with Balzaretti moving over to the right

Well would be great imo if Penis nose played LB.Would be a steadier defence line.

ADRossi said:

Just read a report that if Chiellini is fit and Abate isn't, Chiellini will play LB with Balzaretti moving over to the right

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Yikes...You can count on one hand the amount of times Balzaretti has played on the right side in the last 5 years. I think he played RB the most when he was at Juve, and even then he played LB twice as much.

Germany is not really a team where you want to use players in positions out of their comfort zones.

vitomins said:

Yikes...You can count on one hand the amount of times Balzaretti has played on the right side in the last 5 years. I think he played RB the most when he was at Juve, and even then he played LB twice as much.

Germany is not really a team where you want to use players in positions out of their comfort zones.

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Not to mention Lahm and whichever winger they deploy attacking Balzaretti definitely does not favour Italy.

ADRossi said:

Not to mention Lahm and whichever winger they deploy attacking Balzaretti definitely does not favour Italy.

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Lahm and Podolski....No me gusta!

vitomins said:

Lahm and Podolski....No me gusta!

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Podolski confirmed?

Maybe Reus, Germany fans say Reus will start over Podolski.

Italy fans will be doing alot of this tomorrow

Flaming Italians openly in the German media begun right after Italy beat England. It's not only tabloids, but even in serious TV programs & broadsheets.

Hate on Italians since 2006 is widely accepted in the community & it is this lack of character of the German team & their fans that I can't bring myself to cheer for them. I'm living in this country & I'm hearing/seeing ugly shit 24/7. If it is bothering me as a non-Italian, I don't even wanna know how Italians feel about this.

No sign of respect for the opponent, no sportsmanship but just pure arrogance. They talk as if they're 100% convinced they'll win the cup. & it's not only this time... every time they participate in a tournament, the same ugly character can be seen all over the country. You're simply not supposed to win against them, cuz then you'll be cursed & hated forever.

It's basically the same reason why there was a second World War in my opinion: Because the German mind can't cope with the idea of accepting a loss.

Right now as I'm writing this, the TV is showing footage from the semi-final game between Italy-Germany from WC 1970 (Facchetti is playing ), in which Italy is leading 1-0 & playing hard Catenaccio. The commentator is bad mouthing the Italian team like crazy.

Why motherfuckers? Why? What's the point of showing this today, right now? To hype the people & the Italy-hate even more?

I switched to another channel & Olaf Thon, the former German player is being interviewed about the game. He just said "Italians are no pigs but they will play dirty."

Unbelievable... just unbelievable...

I just hope Italy beats them today once again cuz after all the bad mouthing & the hate, seeing them crying, whining faces all over the streets & in the news, is simply epic & priceless.

Hmm, Juventus vs. Bayern Munchen...

I think Munchen

Confirmed:

Buffon
Abate Bonucci Barzagli Chiellini
De Rossi Pirlo Marchisio
Montolivo
Cassano Balotelli

forza bayern, merda rubentus

Forza Italy! Though, whoever wins today, i hope will win the final as well!

I hope Italy wins

I feel like Spain will choke in the final so I'd rather Italy take the cup than Germany.

101% with Italia.That's me.

ADRossi said:

Confirmed:

Buffon
Abate Bonucci Barzagli Chiellini
De Rossi Pirlo Marchisio
Montolivo
Cassano Balotelli

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Looks decent. Cassano is actually the right player upfront against a German side, it's just that he won't keep up for 90+ mins. Good to see Montolivo playing against "his" country.
Last time when they met Chiellini killed Germany flank. Nice match up against Boateng.

Abate could not get fit in time, Balzaretti in to play RB

Visca said:

I hope Italy wins

I feel like Spain will choke in the final so I'd rather Italy take the cup than Germany.

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Same here