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FINAL ANALYSIS

July 9th, 2006 | By: Bessam | 6 Comments »

ITALY This is a hell of a team. Their defense is so solid that you forget the loss of Nesta to injury.

Most of the time when Italy attack it is through a clever counter attack. This way most of the opposing teams defenders are pressed so far forward there are only one or two left to stop Italys counter attack. Teams that take too long to set up an attack like England and Netherlands were good but eventually out of the tournament because opposition defenders flooded the box. Italys counter attacks are so quick it is shocking as we saw against Germany.

I pick Buffon as the best gaolkeeper in the tournament but of course Cannavaro and company keep him out of many bad situations.

ITALY KEYS TO VICTORY Can they force France defenders up and clear space for Tony, Iaqunita, and Gilardino?

Can the midfield keep possession from France.

Can they keep Ribery and Zidane in check because if not Henry will be on the recieving end of many great passes.

FRANCE France has shown that they can make a previously great team seem mediocre. Spain was on top of the world and France defeated them, Brasil was starting to pick up steam after thrashing Ghana 3-0, and Portugal had just defeated England and Netherlands which i thought would never happen.

France has beaten all the oppenents they had without going into extra time. The midfield duo of Ribery and Zidane has caused opposition nightmares. While Viera and Makalele clean up the mess most of the time before it reaches Sagnol and Thuram.

The French defense has been terriffic. however the definite weak point is the goalkeeper Bartez. He seems like he can never hold on to the ball and was very lucky in the past few games. Italy fooled Jens Lehman 2 times. I think they will punish Bartez if given the opportunity

FRANCE KEYS TO VICTORY

If any one can fool Buffon it is Thiery Henry. Can Theiry bieng the only striker in the 4-5-1 fool not only the excellent Italian defense as well as Buffon? (if anyone is capable it is him)

Can French midfield not only keep the ball but pour into the box in order to provide assistance to Henry? And can they do this without leaving their duties in defense in case of a classic Italian counter.?

Can Bartez stay calm enough to withstand the pressure that is sure to be coming?

IN CASE OF PENALTY SHOOTOUT

I would say France has the advantage in its experienced and calm penalty kick takers.

Italy has the advantage in the superb Buffon (as well as much taller then Bartez )

I would not want to bet on this game I am 50/50

Tags: final Breakdown, France, Italy, Tunisia

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Comments

By Zantheman | July 9th, 2006 at 12:50 am

Here’s my analysis -position by position:

Goalie – Buffon vs Barthez- u kidding me!! Butterball Barthez vs Buffon , not even close

Defense- with Nesta Out Matrix has looked decent and even contributed a goal, the 2 outside defenders Grosso and Zambrotta are world class and get the edge over Sagnol and the young Abidal, The French central defenders are great but they will be facing a deep bench of Italian attackers-will they hold up???. Oh, I forgot ITALY also have this years possible MVP- Cannavaro.
ADVANTAGE- Italy

Midfield- defensive midfields of both teams are a wash, even steven, However, with Zidane France get the slight creativity edge as Totti is still not in top form but Pirlo?? what a pass??.
ADV France (slight)

Forwards- huge Edge to Italy as Henry can only be substituted with Trez as Saha is disqualified, Italy has four top notch guys to choose from: Toni, Gillardino, Del piero and Iaquinta(and they’ve all scored). Plus Italy has a a wide variety of goal scorers (11 goals and 9 different scorers- including 3 defenders-now that’s a balanced offense). Whereas, France has 8 goals from only 4 diff’t scorers. Which means if you shut down, henry(who often plays very isolated athe the top), Zidane and Vieira the goals run dry. I’ll roll the dice on a more balanced offense anytime.

Coaches- Domenech vs. Lippi- Close but have to give the edge to Lippi as he has miraculously made this team a cohesive unit and you can almost see the hunger and confidence in their eyes-scary, Domenech also gets props for turning his team aroung from a horrible start.

INTANGIBLES- you have the ZIDANE retirement factor going against a whole host of reasons why Italy should be inspired to win:

1) They should be the hungrier team. Last won in 82 whereas France won recently in 98.

2) The PESSOTTO factor- they really want to win it for this injured comrade that once played for the AZZURRI.Could be a huge motivating factor- it has worked up to now.

3) The soccer scandal seems to have made this team come together instead of tearing them apart. Plus in 82 when Italy won the last time, Paolo Rossi had just come out of jail for some other scandal, and scored some key goals that lead Italy to victory.

4)12 year rule- 1970 -Finalist – lost
1982- Made it to finals- Champs
1994- Finals- lost
and 12 yrs. later 2006- Made it to finals and WON ????

we’ll find out Tomorrow.

Also France has seemed to have Italy’s number(at least in recent history at major competitons)
But ask Germany, all good streaks sometimes come to an end.

This game will depend on which ZIDANE shows up. The Zidane who put Brazil in their place or the Zidane of the first few games and Portugal( other than the penalty-I thought Portugal kept him in check).

Should be a great game. can’t wait.

Prediction: ITALIA 2 -FRANCE 1

Posted from Canada

By Bessam | July 9th, 2006 at 1:01 am

WOW! Great commentary and analysis. I hope this will be a classic

Posted from United States

By AleX | July 9th, 2006 at 2:58 am

Quote:
ITALY ARE >

Great post LiverpoolFC deep and professional, good job!!

Trolls and idiots aside, I think that the match will be very tough for both the teams, with Italy slightly advantaged by their exceptional defense and goalkeeper, and by the fact that they are probably more rested than the french.

Zidane’s “x” factor will be the key for France. If he plays well and leads, as he knows, then he may invent something and bring France to the cup, but lets not forget that he’s 34, and in this world cup he showed that he is not the same Zidane he used to be some years ago (with the exception of a couple of matchs, especially the one with Brazil).

I still think Italy will win it, by a slight margin
1-0

Posted from Italy

By Philippe | July 9th, 2006 at 4:30 am

Well, everybody forgot France has something the Italians are afraid of….
DAVID TREZEGUET
He is France Stealth secret weapon.
France used him in 2000 and will use him again if the score calls for him.
One of the top league scorer for Juventus, he has played with each and everyone in the Italian squad. He will make the Italian defense trembles. They know him too well and the thought of him playing will make them really worry…..

Posted from United States

By Bessam | July 9th, 2006 at 7:43 am

I had to remove a few post that were off topic and I am sorry about that.

No decent person supports racism and it is never wise to make a stereotype judgement that puts a lable or blanket on a whole group of people. I hope the world can progress and people can be accepted and respected regardless of ethnicity.

I hope that it is a clean match and that the spirit of good sportsmanship is visible both on and off the field.

Please post on the topic of analysis of the Final. Thanks everyone

Posted from United States

By massimo | July 9th, 2006 at 7:48 am

The French have often been denounced as being arrogant. I never took notice of it because I am not one to generalise. Following is one piece of latest news from Reuters:
“Domenech wants win, holiday.
France coach Raymond Domenech said he was treating the World Cup final as simply a match to win before going on holiday.

“Our goal was to play seven matches and the seventh is coming up,” said the 54-year-old, who had kept insisting the 1998 champions would make the final even when it was not at all obvious they would get there.

“I don’t regard this as a final,” he told a news conference. “It’s just a match we have to win before quietly going on holidays.”

That’s arrogance, but only from one Frenchman.

Posted from Australia