Italy wins (yay!) the 2020 Euro World Cup

DigDog

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Jun 3, 2011
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After playing a miserable game of utter incompetence, where England was dominating them throughout, AS THEY ALWAYS DO Italy gets all of their players in the box and awkawrdly manages to get the ball into the net for 1-1, then go on to penalties and win.
 

MrSquished

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After playing a miserable game of utter incompetence, where England was dominating them throughout, AS THEY ALWAYS DO Italy gets all of their players in the box and awkawrdly manages to get the ball into the net for 1-1, then go on to penalties and win.
What game were you watching? Italy deserved that win. Not only did England not dominate, Italy had them beat significantly in time of possession and shots on goal and overall play.
 
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H T C

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England experienced what France experienced in Euro 2016 and what Portugal experienced in Euro 2004: lose the final despite playing @ home.

Just goes to prove that teams better focus on training penalties more because it's A LOT HARDER to score than it seems, and it gets progressively worse as the stakes go higher due to the pressure involved.
 

DigDog

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What game were you watching? Italy deserved that win. Not only did England not dominate, Italy had them beat significantly in time of possession and shots on goal and overall play.
possession means nothing. No seriously, and a smart man as yourself should know that staistics without interpretation are worthless.

Italy held the ball in their defensive zone while they should have been attacking. England attacked whenever they had the ball. Just "holidng the ball" does not equate attacking time.

England was faster, more accurate at short passing, more accurate at long passing, reacted better as a team. They are taller, bigger and stronger.

But soccer is a game that sucks because you can just defend to death and italians know this. This is why English football games end with scores of 6-4 and italian games all end 1-0.

And we are better at penalties. We've always been better than anyone else at penalties.
 

MrSquished

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possession means nothing. No seriously, and a smart man as yourself should know that staistics without interpretation are worthless.

Italy held the ball in their defensive zone while they should have been attacking. England attacked whenever they had the ball. Just "holidng the ball" does not equate attacking time.

England was faster, more accurate at short passing, more accurate at long passing, reacted better as a team. They are taller, bigger and stronger.

But soccer is a game that sucks because you can just defend to death and italians know this. This is why English football games end with scores of 6-4 and italian games all end 1-0.

And we are better at penalties. We've always been better than anyone else at penalties.
Yes Italy just sat back, this is why they had quite a bit more shots on goals. The first half Italy was constantly in England's zone pushing the attack, while England was content for an occasional counter attack and sat on their 1 goal lead playing defensively, when they could have maybe put the game farther out of reach.

England deserved to lose, thank God they did on penalties because it's a shame when the better team loses on PK's
 

DigDog

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The first half Italy was constantly in England's zone pushing the attack
my turn to ask what game you were watching. Those attempts i did see where pathetic and doomed to fail. And yet they are still counted as "shots on goal".
SoG is a shit statistic and should be reworked to *only* count shots that would have gone in without a keeper / player intervention, e.g. actually shots ON GOAL.
 

Artorias

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Good lord. England did nothing after the 2' minute, literally nothing.

Italy thoroughly dominated for 118' minutes, and if England did not park the bus it would have been a comfortable victory for Italy in regulation.

Incredibly stupid tactics by England to park the bus, also quite foolish to have a 19 year old take the most significant penalty in 55 years, their vets simply bottled it.

Well deserved by Italy.
 
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manly

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Yes Italy just sat back, this is why they had quite a bit more shots on goals. The first half Italy was constantly in England's zone pushing the attack, while England was content for an occasional counter attack and sat on their 1 goal lead playing defensively, when they could have maybe put the game farther out of reach.

England deserved to lose, thank God they did on penalties because it's a shame when the better team loses on PK's
It was a tale of two halves. I wasn't paying close attention in the first half, but England tried to sit on the lead after halftime. Italy was dominating them as you stated. Sometimes it requires a little luck to score, as they did on the equalizer. They played well enough that they could have easily won it in regular time as England rarely was on offense.

OP's summary is revisionist propaganda. ;) I have no horse in this race, was mildly rooting for England since they never win anything. :p

Even the British commentator said England was shell-shocked (IIRC), and stated that Kane and Sterling were barely touching the ball for the bulk of the second half.
 

MrSquished

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my turn to ask what game you were watching. Those attempts i did see where pathetic and doomed to fail. And yet they are still counted as "shots on goal".
SoG is a shit statistic and should be reworked to *only* count shots that would have gone in without a keeper / player intervention, e.g. actually shots ON GOAL.
I'm just using the stats to back up what I watched. Only in overtime did England show consistent effort to attack. It was a pretty exciting overtime by both sides. The vast majority of regular time was dominated by Italy.
 

sdifox

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Sep 30, 2005
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After playing a miserable game of utter incompetence, where England was dominating them throughout, AS THEY ALWAYS DO Italy gets all of their players in the box and awkawrdly manages to get the ball into the net for 1-1, then go on to penalties and win.


LoL England had like 30 percent possession during regular time. English goal was Italian defence mistake.
 

MrSquished

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It was a tale of two halves. I wasn't paying close attention in the first half, but England tried to sit on the lead after halftime. Italy was dominating them as you stated. Sometimes it requires a little luck to score, as they did on the equalizer. They played well enough that they could have easily won it in regular time as England rarely was on offense.

OP's summary is revisionist propaganda. ;) I have no horse in this race, was mildly rooting for England since they never win anything. :p

Even the British commentator said England was shell-shocked (IIRC), and stated that Kane and Sterling were barely touching the ball for the bulk of the second half.

I could not hear the commentary, this town by me had two blocks shut down and the 4/5 bars on those blocks had put chairs and tables and tv's outside on the sidewalk and street, but it was standing room only. So could not hear the tv guys, but this table of dudes next to me was rooting for England, and they straight up said to each other as it went into PK's, Italy has clearly played the better game, but it's anyone's now.
 

WelshBloke

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I could not hear the commentary, this town by me had two blocks shut down and the 4/5 bars on those blocks had put chairs and tables and tv's outside on the sidewalk and street, but it was standing room only. So could not hear the tv guys, but this table of dudes next to me was rooting for England, and they straight up said to each other as it went into PK's, Italy has clearly played the better game, but it's anyone's now.
It doesn't get to penalties if one team is clearly better. That was damn close. A hell of a lot closer than I was expecting it to be. I was fully expecting Italy to walk all over England before that started.
 
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UNCjigga

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England did what they do best, which is shit the bed when all the odds are in their favor.
 

H T C

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It doesn't get to penalties if one team is clearly better. That was damn close. A hell of a lot closer than I was expecting it to be. I was fully expecting Italy to walk all over England before that started.

Not necessarily: luck or the lack of it also factors in.

For example, in the game Belgium VS Portugal, the ONE TIME Belgium shot on target in THE ENTIRE GAME, the ball went in ... and Portugal were UNABLE to score which caused their elimination from the Tournament, despite having clearly dominated the game.
 

pmv

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Seems like England always loses on penalties. I deliberately paid no attention because I suspected that would be the outcome yet again.

Also, I wasn't looking forward to the result, either way. Win or lose there would be bad concequences, it seemed to me. Losing is dispiriting and demoralising for everyone, but I really wasn't looking forward to the nationalist gloating that would follow a victory either. Still less to the usual-suspects hitching their various political band-wagons to the event.

Nationalism turns just as unpleasant whether gloating in triumph or bitter in defeat. It's only any sort of positive when it's sustaining and motivating a difficult struggle.

I was thinking, perhaps the ideal is for such contests to remain in a state of indeterminancy forever. Maybe if they could somehow make these sporting things slow down as they proceed, so they only asymptotically approach a result, never quite getting there. It would keep everyone united in cheering on 'the team', without ever getting to the unpleasant bit of bitter recriminations or triumphalist gloating.
 

sdifox

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Seems like England always loses on penalties. I deliberately paid no attention because I suspected that would be the outcome yet again.

Also, I wasn't looking forward to the result, either way. Win or lose there would be bad concequences, it seemed to me. Losing is dispiriting and demoralising for everyone, but I really wasn't looking forward to the nationalist gloating that would follow a victory either. Still less to the usual-suspects hitching their various political wagons to the event.

Nationalism turns just as unpleasant whether gloating in triumph or bitter in defeat. It's only any sort of positive when it's sustaining and motivating a difficult struggle.

I was thinking, perhaps the ideal is for such contests to remain in a state of indeterminancy forever. Maybe if they could somehow make these sporting things slow down as they proceed, so they only asymptotically approach a result, never quite getting there. It would keep everyone united in cheering on 'the team', without ever getting to the unpleasant bit of bitter recriminations or triumphalist gloating.
Go watch curling then.
 

WelshBloke

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Penalties are a terrible way to decide the winner of a tournament. Unfortunately there has to be a winner and there isn't a great way to decide if it stays equal that long.
I mean I don't mind watching a penalty shootout as a neutral supporter but it's not really football.
 

Stokely

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Other than the first part of the game, Italy was the better team. Snappier passes, great touches and they seemed quicker. Every loose ball seemed to go right to an Italian player.

I used to hate Italy due to their flopping* and playing-for-0-0-tie mentality but this team is aggressive and plays to win. I was rooting for England but they were outclassed.

* All soccer teams flop and fake injuries, and I hate it. Some are way, way worse than others. Italy and Spain used to be really bad. The Copa was almost unwatchable despite the fantastic skill being displayed. Start doing video reviews of the blatant fakery and hand out some yellow cards, it's pathetic. Add a clock that can be stopped while you are at it so we get less actors rolling on the ground at the end of games pretending they are in Saving Private Ryan. I'll give that ref credit--I thought he let a bit much go, but it's better than handing out cards due to flopping fakery.
 
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UNCjigga

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Other than the first part of the game, Italy was the better team. Snappier passes, great touches and they seemed quicker. Every loose ball seemed to go right to an Italian player.

I used to hate Italy due to their flopping* and playing-for-0-0-tie mentality but this team is aggressive and plays to win. I was rooting for England but they were outclassed.

* All soccer teams flop and fake injuries, and I hate it. Some are way, way worse than others. Italy and Spain used to be really bad. The Copa was almost unwatchable despite the fantastic skill being displayed. Start doing video reviews of the blatant fakery and hand out some yellow cards, it's pathetic. Add a clock that can be stopped while you are at it so we get less actors rolling on the ground at the end of games pretending they are in Saving Private Ryan. I'll give that ref credit--I thought he let a bit much go, but it's better than handing out cards due to flopping fakery.

You’re absolutely right—and this is coming from someone who despises the Azzurri and was gloating when they failed to qualify for the World Cup a few years ago.

I didn’t watch many of the Italian matches in Euro 2020 because I don’t like the team—but what I saw yesterday was a much improved Italian side dominating possession and less reliant on the refs to create set pieces (officiating was pretty decent too; exception was the shirt yank penalty against Saka which should have been a Red.)

England was absolutely atrocious in the 2nd half—horribly slow, zero separation, couldn’t play the ball forward, almost zero shots on goal. I don’t understand why Grealish wasn’t in sooner for a more balanced attack.
 

Stokely

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I have to give Italy credit. England looked slow, but Italy made Belgium look slow too. To be fair, De Bruyne played worse in that game than I've ever seen him play (likely due to the injury). I think Italy turned it on, the first half had a lot of off-target passes causing players to backtrack or stop...2nd half they were dialed in. Some of those long balls were amazing, and the touches on them were equally so. When they turn it on, the other team starts looking slow and scared.

That said, England seemed like the side playing for penalties, heck all the subs were brought on for that reason (ironically as it turned out).