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Advancing in the first stage when there is no weak team in the group is always an achievement and when each one is a good one it is even better. And I think makes your "solid" argument about Italy having the easiest path and least convincing WC fall rather clumsily at the first.

Hang on.

USA were not very good.
Ghana were brainless.
Czech Republic were past it.

It might have looked a tough group on paper, but on grass it was nothing to write home about.

Let's have a look at that "phantom PK" again in Zapruderesque detail.

Now, I don't think that footage is totally conclusive but it does show there's a strong claim at least for the penalty, Neill makes contact with Grosso two or three times with no hope of getting the ball. Why do you think coaches tell defenders not to dive in?

Goddamn it's even worse than I remembered. Too bad there's not the same ending as the Zapruder film for that scumbag. He's not even moving towards the ball, he's intent on tripping himself.

Not nearly the dirtbags as 78' Argentina, not quite Germany '82, but they're up there.

Purves Grundy wrote:

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Ghana were brainless.

How so?

Never mind the Krauts old boy.Bad eggs the lot of them.

jason voorhees wrote:

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Goddamn it's even worse than I remembered. Too bad there's not the same ending as the Zapruder film for that scumbag. He's not even moving towards the ball, he's intent on tripping himself.

I'm impressed by the denial here that a defender sliding along the ground completely away from the ball making contact with an attacker's leg with his hand elbow and shoulder is somehow a fair tackle!

Grosso exaggerates the fall, no doubt about that, but he's going down.

He's going down because he wants to go down. It's completely and totally unsportsmanlike (something completely out of the ordinary for this team, I know.) He saw there was another defender to beat, and made no attempt to follow the ball that he just cut.

Italians slide all the fucking time to slow people up. Watch in 1994 and they spent half the tournament on the ground.

He cuts the ball, and doesn't follow the ball. Ball goes right, Grosso goes straight. He intentionally trips over his shoulder, like those diving pieces of garbage always do. Only Totti was the only one who rightfully got busted for it.

I'm so happy I don't follow that shitstain of a league anymore.

I agree with all of that, but I can't help feeling--as I did at the moment in the game and thereafter--that as a defender you don't give the other player the opportunity to pass off a dive as a foul. Sliding in for tackle, you knew Grosso was going to dive. You can't rely on the ref knowing it was a dive.

Hmmmmm. Perhaps it is time to re-examine Henry's artful elaboration of the ankle tap from a falling Carvalho in the semi-final.

Inca wrote:

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Purves Grundy wrote:

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Ghana were brainless.

How so?

Not once but twice ending up offside when faced with a three-on-one against the Czechs in Cologne is teh prime example.

Grosso was already going down like a sack of shit before the contact (that he himself provoked) occurred. If you slow any images down enough you can find conclusive evidence for or against a penalty.

Lucas Neill was a bit naïve but that doesn't excuse Grosso, the dirty cheat.

HI PEOPLE!

Stop arguing about Fabio Grosso! It's Euro 2008 already! Every World Cup, every tournament, is won with a little guile and a little luck. There have been many questionable penalties awarded over the years. Italy did a lot of things right to win in '06, it didn't all come down to Grosso.

Besides, Italy weren't poised to lose against Australia, they were poised to go into overtime. Anything could have happened. Grosso did well to penetrate into the box the way he did.

Here I go doing what I told people not to do.

Allright Signori Maggiore. I won't say one more word on the subject.

As for "anyone but Italy" that will surely happen if the other teams can manage to score on them, which they did not at World Cup. It will be interesting to see how the absence of Cannavaro impacts their ability to defend. I put Italy's chances of winning this tournament at definitely equal to any of the other strong contenders. (How's that for bold.) But I tend to think they are stronger now than they were in '06. More confidence, for one, and Antonio di Natale for another. If there's a cleverer striker playing I'd like to know about him.