Like I'd promised I'll now comment on the 2 semi-finals.
The first semi-final featured Italy and the hosts, Germany. Italy started brightly, and took the game to the Germans. As the game progressed, however, Germany managed to claw back and create a few opportunities of their own. However, there were no real scoring chances, and neither goalkeeper was really tested.
The second half was relatively quiet when compared to the first half, as the Azzuri just sat back and defended. This allowed the Germans to attack more often, and Lucas Podolski shot the best chance of the half too close to the Italian keeper, Gianluigi Buffon. The Italian defance was otherwise outstanding, with Fabio Cannavaro in great form. Towards the end of regulation time, Italian coach Marcello Lippi bolstered his front line, bringing on Alberto Gilardino and Alessandro Del Piero. However, the game was still goalless after 90 minutes, and headed into extra time.
The first half of extra-time was action packed as in the first minute Gilardino hit the post, and Gianluca Zambrotta hit the cross bar wth the follow-up off the rebound. Podolski missed the goal with a header, despite being completely unmarked. The second half of extra time proved decisive, as Fabio Grosso's brilliant goal off an Andrea Pirlo pass, put the hosts on the back foot just as the game appeared to be heading for penalties. The Germans attacked, but the resulting conterattack resulted in the Italians doubling their advantage, with Gilardino's splendid run ending with a superb back-heel to Del Piero, who made no mistake in beating Jens Lehmann.
Thus the Italians continued their strange sequence of making a final every 12 years, while the hosts were shattered after being denied a chance at the title.
The next semi-final took place at Munich between France and Portugal.
This was not as exciting as the other semi-final, but it was keenly contested and did have its moments. France began the brighter of the two, but Portugal soon found their feet. Cristiano Ronaldo was particularly dangerous with his incisive runs down the flanks. The match was decided with a slightly dubious penalty earned by Thierry Henry. Zinedine Zidane took the spot-kick and finished clinically, just beating the Portugese goalkeeper Ricardo.
After this, though the Portugese enjoyed the lion's share of possession they never really had any chances thanks to the ploy of operating only one striker. The only real chance fell to captain Luis Figo, who misheaded a botched clearance by Fabien Barthez towards the end of the second half. The real hero
for the French was Lillian Thuram who always seemed to be on hand to block a shot or any dangerous cross.
So, the French make their second final in 8 years while the Portugese go on to play the hosts in the battle for third place.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment