Hello folks,

So far we have 7 players qualified for the next round:

ARGENTINA: Alfredo DiStefano + Diego Maradona

FRANCE: Michel Platini + Zinedine Zidane

UNITED KINGDOM: George Best

GERMANY: Franz Beckenbauer + Oliver Kahn

Our next stop is ITALY. Here are the nominees for BEST ITALIAN FOOTBALLER OF ALL TIMES. (vote on the pool on the left side of this post)

Alessandro Del Piero

Dino Zoff

Fabio Cannavaro

Franco Baresi

Gianfranco Zola

Gianni Rivera

Giuseppe Meazza

Luigi Riva

Paolo Maldini

Valentino Mazzola

* IF YOU'RE NOT ITALIAN OR IF YOU SIMPLY DON'T KNOW SOME OF THE NOMINEES ABOVE JUST SEARCH FOR INFO ABOUT THEM ON THE INTERNET AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO JUDGE BETTER... IT'S FUN TO KNOW ABOUT THIS SH*T TOO

You can vote on the POLL WIDGET on top left side of this post. And don't forget to leave your comments if you want to enter the draw for a REPLICA RETRO FOOTBALL STRIP!

CONTEST RULES:

"I separated the best players (the ones that people most argue about) into countries or categories. Some countries like Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Germany, England ... will be a category on their own and some countries with less entries will form a group category. You will have 2 week to submit your votes for each category and after that the 2 top voted players will move to a next round. In the end of the whole process we will be able to find out who are the top 10 best players of all times. And if you also decide to leave a comment on the my blog posts revealing your opinion about the players in that category your name will be on a raffle for a chance to win a Retro Football Strip Replica... It will be a prize from me for your participation."

Football.

Football is not only a game. It became over the years much more important than religion or one could say that it became a religion itself.

This series of videos, promoted by Carlsberg (because beer is the Holy Water of this religion), show different aspects that make this sport the most incredible in the world.

VIDEO 1 is pure ADRENALINE. It shows the emotions that we feel during a football match. It's going from crying to celebrating, from deep frustration to anxiety to intense bliss and words are just not necessary in this one.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT IN THE OLEOLE VIDEO SECTION

But so many emotions can only bring the worst in us. And that's PURE PASSION. Fans forget social rules and politeness in a desperate attempt to control thing on and off the pitch. They go to extremes to show their disgust, their dissatisfaction. Frequently we see acts of violence and racism which are stains in the beautiful game and serve as a reminder of the things we still need to improve as a society.

VIDEO 2 tells you about this EXTREME (sometimes evil) PASSION

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT IN THE OLEOLE VIDEO SECTION

Penalties: Here comes Cesc Fabregas. If he scores Spain goes through to the semis... He runs and.... GGGGOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!! Spain is in the semifinals of the Euro 2008!!!!

Penalties: Guiza steps up to take the penalty for Spain: SAVED!!! SAVED By Buffon!!! Italy is alive in the match

Penalties: Camoranesi on the ball... He has to score... GGGOOOAAALLLL... a relief for Italy - Spain 3-2 Italy

Penalties: The brazilian born Marcos Senna with the chance of putting ahead: GGGOOOAAAALLLL - Spain 3-1 Italy

Penalties: De Rossi on the ball - SAVED!!! SAVED!!! SAVED!!! Amazing Save by Casillas!!!

Penalties: Santi Carzola for Spain... GGGOOOAAALLLL - Spain 2-1 Italy

Penalties: Now it's Fabio Grosso for Italy... GOOOOAAALLL: Spain 1-1 Italy

Penalties: David Villa takes the spot. GGGGGOOOAAAALLLL. Spain 1-0 Italy

120': The Ghost of Underachievement is right there now. Haunting every single Spanish fan, every single Spanish player. If Italy wins we will have for the first time in the Euro history NO group winners moving to the semifinals

120': And it's over!!! Penalty shootout...

119': And that was probably the last chance of this match. Wasted by Santi Cazorla...

117': I don't see any of the teams fighting to score a late goal. They attack but with no intensity

115':

Five more minutes and this match will be decided in the penalty shootout

113': Oh my God!!! The referee stopped the match AGAIN for nothing!!!

111': Great deep ball for David Villa... No offside... but his touch was not the best... Corner for Spain. Ramos heads it ... it goes out

109': Aquilani is coming and here comes the man... Alessandro Del Piero.

108':

A good free kick for Italy now. Grossos lifts it in the box and nobody reaches it.

106': The Spanish crowd is singing non-stop. They are expecting for a miracle goal from David Villa or La Liga's top scorer, Guiza.  Italy keeps its cool and the solid defensive style

105': And the the referee blows for half time of extra time

100': And we reached 100 minutes of football

100': Nice heel flick pass by Guiza to Cesc but he was offside.

98': All right. My wife got Baby Lucas now. And Fabregas fell in the box. Nothing it was nothing. Just good italian defense again

95': Casillas just made an incredible save for Spain.

94': sorry guys i'm typing with one hand and rocking the baby with the other

92': Great attack by Spain and it ends with Silva`s shot going centimeters away from the post

Extra Time: it's on. 30 more minutes of football betwee Spain and Italy

90' (+3):

we're going to extra time here

90' (+2):

Great defense by the Italian side. Corner for Spain... cleared

90': stupid ref!!! that was a clean tackle by Puyol

90': 3 minutes of stoppage time

87': Why did Guiza touch that ball with his hands... He had the chance to score the goal...

84': Torres is upset again. Aragones replaces him. Guiza is in

82':

We are less than 10 minutes away from another extra-time

80': A lost ball finds Marcos Senna again... Ultra powerful shot. Buffon can't hold and the ball touches the woodwork and then he picks it up... What a Blaster by Marcos Senna

79': Another free kick for Spain and it's Villa again. Senna is next to him. Marcos Senaaaaaa... and Buffon punches it out! Good strike by the brazilian-born

78': Another corner for Spain. Ball in the air and it's punched by Buffon

76':

Corner for Spain. Fabregas plays it short. The ball bounces back out of the box and back to Sergio Ramos's chest he couldn't quite get a good touch and it's another easy one for Buffon

73': Di Natale replaces Cassano on the Italian team

69': Zambrota bends a cross in for Toni and he hheads it. not his best header tough

69': Fabregas takes the corner and Ambrosini clears it

68': Deflected by the wall and it's a corner for Spain

68': Panucci came hard on David Villa. A free kick for Spain. It's a long one. Villa is on the ball.

66': The Italians are coming up more on this second half. Free kick for Italy. Camoranesi lifts the ball in the box but it goes wide and high. Far.

60': Casillas AMAZING save with his foot on the shoot by Camoranesi...

58': Substitutions for Spain now. Cesc Fabregas comes in for Xavi Hernandes and Cazorla takes Iniesta's place

58': Another corner for Spain. It's Xavi on the ball. Buffon punches it out and David Silva shoots the rebound far from the goal

57': A substution for Italy: Perrota comes out and Camoranesi takes his place. (no Del Piero so far)

55': Torres is running a lot in this second half. He got this ball and crossed low in search of Villa. the defender puts it out for a corner. And nothing comes out of that ... But it's good to see El Nino fighting for the ball

52': Great deep ball by Marcos Senna to David Villa but the attempt of cross was horrible!

50':

Toni almost got his head on the cross. The flag was up though, he was offside!

49': The Italian defense made it's first real mistake in the match and David Silva almost had that one

47': That's an interesting fact that they just showed on TV. the last time Spain defeated Italy in a major competition was in the 1920 Olympic Games.  

46': And we're off for the next 45 minutes of football between Spain and italy.

Half Time: As GoonerJoe just mentioned in the chat we just hope for a brighter second half.

45' (+1): And it's over. 45 dull minutes. I'm going to get food finally

45':

Iniesta takes another shot and it goes outy for a goal kick. Spain has more initiative but they still didn't figure out how to break the Italian defense. Italy had a couple of chances too but nothing to really force Casillas to work hard

41': How bad can referees be? That was obviously a foul. Not a penalty though but certainly a foul. It should be a free kick to Spain

36': Cassano turns Sergio Ramos in and out and gets a cross. Toni almost gets to it. The ball is cleared by Puyol!!!! (the exclamation marks are to try to bring some intensity to this very poor match so far)

34':

And I still didn't go get my drink and my food.

32': Spain is not being able to get inside the Italian box. The players insist on long range shots or deep passes. Uneffectevelly so far

30': Ambrosini saw an yellow card.

28': Long ball from Aquilani in the air. It's for Toni... But the ref blows the whistle on the italian striker. Free kick for Spain. 

27': Cassano keeps on giving Ramos a hard time.

26': Bad boy Cassano tanlges with Sergio Ramos and gets the free kick.

23':

Free kick for Spain. Good opportunity!!! Villaaaaaaa.... The ball goes fast on the ground but Buffon dives and keeps it safe

21':

Oh my... I want some action please

18': Great cross by Ambrosini and Perrota came as a surprise in the middle, right behind Puyol. The header was just not powerful enough. Casillas has the ball

17': Torres hasn't been the same in this Tournament. He just delivered an awful cross.

16': Italy kicks the ball out because David Villa was down. Ambrosini kicked him in the previous play but the ref didn't call the foul or anything.

15': Very slow match right now... Nothing really going on. I need some chips and a drink.

13': Another long ball lost in the Spanish attack

12': Long ball for Villa but he couldn't get to it in time. Spain is looking nervous in these first minutes. Is it the ghost of the underachievemts haunting them already?

11': The first yellow is finally shown and it's to Iniesta.

10': Cassano steals the ball and is fouled by Torres. The ref has a talk with El Nino.

8':

Iniesta is alternating sides, trying to confuse the Italian defense. But the match is still in a very slow pace. Teams seem to be studying each other

8': Good combination on the left of the Spanish attack. Buffon picks up the deflected shot

7': Free kick for Italy on the left side. De Rossi sends it to the box. And Casillas picks it up easily

6': A long ball to nobody in the the Spanish attack

5': Iniesta gets a good cross cross from the left but the defense clears. Italy goes for the counter but David Villa comes back to help the defense and recovers the ball

2': Tough tackle from Marcos Senna on Cassano. No card shown.

1': Here we go. Italy playing all in white and Spain with their traditional Red shirts and Dark Blue shorts and socks

Before Kick Off: Camoranesi... GOOOOAAAAALLLL...

Before Kick Off: Here comes the National Anthems!!!

Hello Everyone,

  VS  

Spain and Italy will step into the pitch in less than an hour and now I really don't know what to expect about this match. I could only predict or comment something after the first ten minutes and even after that things could drastically change.

It's a mach of high expectations. Spain has the potential (like always). Youth, talent, speed, determination... Let's just hope they have the balance.

Italy has tradition, balance, and luck. Oh yeah, and they are the World Champions! (a small detail right?)

An Apology

I haven't been watching the matches live since Wednesday (with the exception of Germany vs. Portugal on Thursday). The reason some of you already know. I just got a new acquisition to my "team". My son Lucas was born on Wednesday, the day that Brazil and Argentina played each other in my hometown, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. I'm already training him for World Cup 2022.

Anyway, I just wanted to pinpoint a few things about the three quarterfinals matches so far: (after watching all the highlights)

Germany 3 x 2 Portugal

I would be very stupid if I simply said that Cristiano Ronaldo let his team down. It's not true. Every chance, every goal scored by Portugal in this competition had this young guy's touch.

But was he the same as the Cristiano Ronaldo we know from Manchester United? Absolutely NOT! His club teammates play for him, they do all the hard work in order to let Cristiano Ronaldo shine. That doesn't happen in the National Team. There, the best player of the year has to work a little harder for the team. And sometimes he can't do it all. He's still Cristiano Ronaldo but not a Garrincha, Pelé or Maradona yet. Will he ever be? Who knows?

Germany played like the three-time World Champion and three-time European Champion that they are. Discipline, confidence and efficiency were the secrets of the German victory. (and a great performance by Schweiney)

Turkey 1 (1) x 1 (3) Croatia (penalties shootout)

What a match!!! It's hard to find words to describe how incredible this match was. I bet that a lot of cardiac attacks happened in both countries with all the tension and late goals and the penalty shootout.

And what can I say about Semih Senturk? Is this kid blessed or what? He comes in from the bench twice just to score the goals that the team needs to qualify. That's why he's called the Liferguard among his Fenerbahce teammates and fans. He does save the team.

As for the Croatians I believe they went as far as they could. They could've qualified if they had transformed the chances they had or the mistakes of the Turkish goalkeeper into goals. They didn't and paid a high price for not doing their job. This if football.

Netherlands 1 x 3 Russia

Russia played exactly like Zenit FC in the UEFA Cup semifinals against Bayern Munich. Keeping the ball possession and putting pressure on the opponent's defense. Great job by the Russians and well deserved.

The great Netherlands was once again the most pleasant team to watch in the group stage but then... underachiever's syndrome.

The problem is that this team was not expecting to be attacked. They were prepared for a timid and defensive Russia. And they were shocked, surprised and groggy by the Russian Roulette's impetuosity.

90' (+3): The referee blows the whistle. Pizza, Spaghetti, Lasagna and Ravioli to be eaten in every Cantina around the world tonight!!! Italy who had a terrible start in the competition managed to advance. France and Romania go back home earlier!

90' (+2): Great shot by Toni and once again denied by Coupet!

90': Three minutes of added time to be played in this match. Italy is through to face Spain in the quarterfinals

89': Benzema takes a free kick for France. Sends the ball in the box but it was too much. Nobody could've reached that ball

86': The corner is taken and Cassano takes the shot. Easy for Coupet (meanwhile Netherlands scored the second)

86': Camoranesi gets the ball open on the right side of the box. Shoots. Deflected. this time for a corner

84': Now it's a yellow for Thierry Henry for a nasty slide tackle

82': Great header by Luca Toni but the referee blew the whistle. The Italina striker pulled Boumsong's arm.

81': Sub for Italy. Gattuso is replaced by Aquilani.

77': The TV cameras just showed Vieira on the bench. The french team was expecting to count on him for the quarterfinals but it seems that it's not going to be necessary. France might be going home earlier.

75': Time is running out for France. A tie would force the match to go to the penalty shootout. But the French has only 15 minutes

73': Great shot by Karim Benzema! Buffon splendid save

72': Gallas got a slight touch on the ball to intercept Toni's header

69': Henry is up

69': Henry is down.

66': Gouvou is replaced by Anelka on the French squad. It's do or die for them now

62': I was about to say that Italy didn't have Pirlo for the free kick but then the ball is set for De Rossi and he shoots. Thierry Henry was on the wall and put his foot on the way. The ball is deflected and Coupet couldn't do anything... The ball went straight into the net. Italy closer to the quarterfinals

62': GGGGOOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! ITALIA ITALIA!!!!

60': Italy is marking France under pressure trying to recover the ball fast. and it's working

58': Henry got the cross in the box. But he pushed the Italian defender and the referee calls the foul. The French offensive play ends there.

52': Is France a;ready getting desperate? Henry is trying to call the responsibility to himself but with long range shots he'll need something very special to beat Buffon. This last one was also just too easy

51': Another good pass by Toulalan find Henry in the box. He turns and shoots. The ball is easily picked up by Buffon

49': A very good play by Toulalan on the right. He crosses Henry misses the ball and Benzema shoots a blaster from outside the box. The cannonball flies over the bar

46': First one to put his face up close on the screen in this second half is Govou. He got a yellow card.

46': Second half is on its way. France needs to improve a lot if they want to perform a great comeback

Half Time: I'm gonna get some food.!

45' (+3): He lifts the ball for Benzema... Cleared! And the referee blows the whistle for half time!

45' (+3): And another free kick for France. Could it be it? A goal now would make things much better for Les Bleus

45' (+2): Now it's Evra who's receiving treatment. He got a hit on his foot after he crossed the ball.

45' (+1): Clerc crosses form the right side and .... nobody gets it. Just Italians there

45': Perrota is out receiving treatment

44': And now Prilo is out of the next match (if Italy moves on). He saw a yellow card for a foul from behind on Benzema

43': Grosso with the left foot. HITS THE POST, HITS THE POST!!!

43': Free kick given to Italy. After De Rossi was leaving the third defender behind. Here comes Pirlo or Grosso

42': Benzema on the left. he turned Gattuso in and out and crosses to nobody... goal kick Italy

38': Italy tried once again the lifted ball in the middle of France's defense. This time Cassano was caught offside

37': No, it was Benzema... Terrible terrible!!! The ball hits the wall bounces back to him and he shoots again. Far from the goal

37': Henry and Benzema on the ball. Of Course is going to be Henry

37': Free kick given to France. Gattuso got Henry.

33': Great move by Henry, He avoids the offside and moves to the right to turn and shoot in diagonal. The ball goes wide.

32': GROSSO!!! What the hell was that??? Well, at least the team is winning ...

29': two balls send in the middle of the French defense and Toni missed the chances. Where's the French defense????

28': Toni with a fine touch of the heel almost gets the second goal

27': WHAT A BLASTER BY DE ROSSI!!!!! It went over the bar but now Itaoly looks more dangerous than never. They want to finish this match as fast as possible to avoid any reaction from France

25': And Nasri who came in to replace Ribery now is replaced by Boumsong. The French defense needed to be recomposed

25': PERFECT Penalty shot. Top right corner of Coupet

25': Pirlo takes it! GOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!! For Italy!!!!

24': PEnalty!!!! Clear penalty on Luca Toni!!! And Red Card to Abidal!!!!

22': France with much more possession but it was Italy who had the best chances so far

20': Perrota couldn't control the ball in the box. Italy could've scored there!

19': Gouvou receives the pass. What kind of shot is that Gouvou??? You had Henry and Benzema in the box ... The French seem nervous

18': Good cross by Pirlo and the defense clears

17': Very rough tackle by Evra. Cassano goes down. Free kick to the Italians and yellow card to Evra

16': The ball is sent too deep from Zambrota to Cassano. Throw-in for France

14': France coming to attack now on the right. Bezema gets the pass and takes a shot. Buffon just follows the shot the goes out for a goal kick

12': My friend Frenchi is blogging in the French area of OleOle and he's sitting on a desk right next ot mine. He's totally devasted with Ribery's injury...

10': Panucci with a headeeeerrrr.... WHAT A SAVE by Greg Coupet!!!!

9': And now a corner for Italy. Pirlo on the ball

8': It's over for Ribery. Henry is trying to console him. Ribery is out and Nasri takes his place

6': Ribery is down and signs to the bench. That might be trouble for France. It's his ankle.

5': Henry recovers the ball in the midfield for France. Pass it to Ribery and I'm confused now. I don't know if he tried to shoot or cross... either way it was not even close to the goal

4': Great chance for Luca Toni and he missed. Abidal made the mistake and Toni could've gotten closer to score that one. The ball went wide but near the right post

3': France had a second corner and the ball went low crossing the whole extension of the box

3': France got the first corner. I push in the box was waved by referee. The heat is on

1': Game on! Italy playing in white and France is with their tradicional blue

Before Kick Off: A new encounter between France and italy after the 2006 World Cup Final. Both now both teams NEED a win if they want to continue in the competiton. France is bringing Henry and Benzema up front nad Italy will come with Cassano and Luca Toni.

90' (+2):

And the match is over... Mutu is almost crying on the sideline and the goalkeepers become the heroes of the match!!! 

90' (+2): And the free kick is taken but far from the goal

90' (+1): A yellow card to De Rossi for the tackle from behind

87': Sub for Romania: Mutu leaves the pitch disappointed by missing the penalty kick and is replaced by Cocsis

83': Sub for Italy. Ambrosini replaces the exhausted Camoranesi

82': And just one note about the penalty kick: The save was great but Mutu kicked right at the middle...

82': The match is still up for grabs!!!

80': What a match!!!!

80': Incredibly saved by BUFFON!!!!

79': Controversy... more controversy!!!

79': Another corner for Romania again!!! PENALTY!!!! PENALTY!!! FOR ROMÂNIA!!!!

78': Zambrotta acts behind the defense again and Lobont, once again, is there to save it with his leg.

78': Contra dangerously chest the ball back to Lobont!!!

76': Sub for Italy: forward Quagliarella is in and Del Piero will get his deserved rest.

75': Corner for Romania. It's Mutu on the ball. Cleared by the defense

74': Who said Toni is not doing anything??? Great set up by Toni to Cassano and the header is INCREDIBLY saved by Lobont. Certainly the man of the match!!!!

72': Free kick for Italy and yellow card for Goian. His second in the tournament. He's out for the next match

69':

69': Romania playing much better now. The substitutions worked much better for the yellow heads than for the Azzuri

69': Grosso saves Italy now!!! Great combination Niculae/Nicolita and the Italian defender saves the Azzura

65': Cassano still didn't have an opportunity and the same we could say about Nicolita

59': Sub for Romania: Nicolita replaces Petre!

59': The match is open for grabs now!!! Both teams are fired up by the goals and the next minutes will be filled with action from both sides

56': Sub for Italy! Cassano in - Perrota out

55': No time for celebration for Horia and the Romanians fans!!! Chiellini heads the cross to the middle of the box and Christian Panucci stretches his leg to put the ball in!!!! 1-1!!! Great Goal!!! Great momento to tie the match

55': GGGGOOOOAAAAALLL!!!!! ITALIA!!!!

53': Mutu reads Zambrotta's intention to pass it back with his head and intercepts it!!!! Then he fires the canon ball inside the net!!!!

53': Adrian Mutu!!!!

53': GGGOOOOAAAALLLLLLLLLL ROMÂNIA!!!!!

51': Patch-Rat dives... He needs to be careful not to dive with his forehead!!! I don't need to see his bloody face again!!! Hahahaha

50': Del Piero had an opportunity. And a great defensive touch by Contra!!!

46': Italy starts the second half putting more pressure on the Romanian defense

Half Time:

Romania goes to the locker room happy with the result. Italy could've score in 4 or 5 opportunities (the actually did once but the referee called it offside) ... Romania also played well and in two or three good shots the yellow heads could have opened the score.

Expect a great second half!!! 

45' (+2): Wait a second... TONI was not offside!!! The referee interferes in the result of the first half!

45' (+2): GGGGOOOOOAAAALLLL... but no!!!! Offside!!!

44': Patch-Rat is bleeding from his forehead!!! Looks nasty

43': Deep ball for Del Piero. But the flag went up!!! He was offside

43': Mutu gets a yellow card by tackling Pirlo... Of course the Italian is making it look like a Felini movie!!! Get up man!

40': Toni had a great header and Lobont again!!! amazing goalkeeping by the Romanian!!!! Total pressure by Italy

39': Second great save by Lobont in sequence... A third corner for the Italians

39': Italy is wasting too many chances. Toni leaves the ball to Perrota and he couldn't finish.

36': The Romanian's have a good short pass. The midfielders need to get closer to Mutu and Niculae to create a one-two or a overlap play.

32': Nope!!! It was Del Piero that sent the ball straight to the last row of the stands!!! :P

31': Here comes Pirlo

31': Del Piero, great play... FFFFOOOUUULLLL!!!!

31': Italy again. Now it's Zambrota that crosses to the target man Toni.

30': Pirlo takes it. And it's deflected before Lobont easily picks it up

30': Petre with the high kick. Free Kick for Italy.

28': Long pass to Mutu and he was about 500 meters off side

28': Great shot by Rat!!! The man with a patch on his forehead! Buffon wouldn't reach it but the ball went near the left post

27': Another chance wasted by the Italians. Camoranesi (who's playing very well too) crosses and Toni doesn't finish well

25': Nico Dica is coming in for the injured Radoi in the Romanian team

24': Corner for Romania. The second in a row. Petre on the ball. Buffon intercepts it

23': Oh, it's back!!!

23': And we lost satellite communication!!!!! FUCK!!!!

21': Radoi left the pitch after clashing in the air head-to-head with his team mate Rat

19': Here comes the Yellow Heads again!!! Another free kick.... Chivu this time... The ball travels all the way and hits Buffon's right post!!! AAAAAALLLMMMOOOSSSTTTT!!!!

17': Great free kick for Romania. Taken by Gabriel Tamas. A lot of power. Buffon has to stretch all the way to his left to save it

15': Another great ball by Grosso... A little to high for Toni but Italy is playing extremely offensive football ... The only problem is that Germany did that yesterday too and we all know what happened.

15': Mutu had the chance in the counter attack... But Buffon  makes a great save!!!

13': Grosso is playing very well. Petre are being able to stop him whatsoever

13': Grosso wins another corner for Italy.

12': Italy looks much, much better... Camoranesi crosses.... Toni ALMOST!!!!

11': Grosso puts the ball between Petre's legs and wins a free kick

10': Great chance for Italy!!!! Del Piero receives from Perrota and heads it near the post

8': Pirlo takes it and the ball bounces back from the denfese, goes out for a throw-in

8': Camoranesi is down. Free kick for Italy on the right side of the box

6': Grosso crosses from the left and it's easily picked up by Lobont

5': The ball is cleared but the Romanians could connect the counter attack

5': Italy win a corner. Danger for Romania

4': We are in the "studying" phase of the match but one can already tell that this won't end in boring 0-0. Romania just tried a pass to the box but the flag went up

1':

Game is On!!!!

Here are the Line-ups: 

ITALY: 1.Buffon, 19.Zambrotta, 2.Panucci, 4.Chiellini, 3.Grosso; 21.Pirlo, 10.De Rossi, 16.Camoranesi, 20.Perrota, 7.Del Piero; 9.Toni.

ROMANIA: 1.Lobont, 2.Contra, 4.Tamas, 5.Chivu, 3.Rat; 6.Radoi, 8.Codrea, 15.Goian, 7.Petre; 10.Mutu, 21.D. Niculae. 

Before Kick Off: Less than 15 minutes to kick off. Italy will start with Del Piero this time. I still don't understand why he didn't start last match. Anyway, I think that if Italy attacks to much they might be surprise by Romania just like the Germans were surprised by Croatia. The question is: can Romania attack with efficiency? Or better, can they attack at all?

  ITALY 

After the fiasco against the Netherlands, Italian coach Roberto Donadoni decided to change the starting line up for the match against Romania.

Del Piero will assume the captain armband and Chiellini will be on the pitch too. Italy will go for a almost Kamikaze formation with possibly 3 forwards (Camoranesi, DiNatale and Toni) and Del Pierro right behind them.

Crazy? Desperate? Well, understandable.

ROMANIA

Romanian forward Ciprian Marica was certainly missed on the opening match against France. 

The yellow heads needed a more offensive team and the lack of action from both sides made that match the most boring so far in the competition and the only match that ended up goalless. 

But Victor Piturca decided not to use Marica on today's match against Italy because of the head injury suffered by the forward during a training session on June 10th.

Still according to Piturca the team intends to show a much more offensive football today than what they displayed against the French.  

Better late than never. Romania has a slight advantage in the table compared to Italy. And in this group 1 point might really mean a lot.

End Of Match:

For me the most important names of this match were definitely: Sneijder, Engelaar and Van der Saar. They were crucial for this amazing and deserved victory!

As for Italy. Del Pierro came in to late in my opinion. He could've made some damage if he had more time. Another good name was Zambrota. But the World Champions will have now to win both matches against France and Romania if they want to move to the next round!  

90' (+2): A last chance for Italy. Toni does the pivot in the box and Ambrosini shoots. The ball hits the defender and goes out for a corner. Nothing comes out of it. No consolation goal for Italy

90' (+1): 3 minutes of stoppage time to be added. Ciao Ciao Azzurra!

88': Great play by Robin Van Persie on the left. He cuts to the left and shoots. The ball goes really near

87': In the beginning I mentioned that the bright orange kit was blinding the Italians but it was the beautiful game presented by the Dutch opened our eyes and made me happy. I'm glad to see orange tonight

84': There won't be enough beer for the Dutch fans tonight in the pubs of Switzerland. The result is much better than any optimist commentator could've thought.

81': The ball kisses the bar in a great shot by Afellay. The Netherlands is total football in total control right now!

79':

That's what Dutch Total Football is all about... Italy had a great chance from a free kick from Pirlo amazingly saved by Van der Saar and in another incredible counter attack Gio Van Bronckhorst serves Kuyt and gets rebound after the shot and the ball is inside the net!!!

79': GGGGOOOOAAALLLLLL for the Netherlands!!!!

77': Oh MY!!!!!!! Great ball to Grosso and he cuts to the middle and shoots!!! Van Der Saar makes another great save!!! Fantastic!!!

75': Luca Toni received a perfect ball from Cassano and he didn't have the patience to put the ball down and score. It wans him and the kepper... another wasted chance for Italy...

73': And I was right! Cassano comes in for Camoranesi... let's see if Italy can at least score one

73': I hope Cassano is coming in for Camoranesi. He touched the ball only once in the second half

72':

Long, Loooooong ball for Del Pierro. He can't get it.

Cassano is on the side line waiting to come in 

68':

Another great shot by Del Pierro... The canon ball goes over the bar.

Sub for Netherlands: Nistelrooy is out and Van Persie is in 

68': ... and it goes way over the crossbar

68': Free kick for the Netherlands. A long range one. Sneijder on the ball

68': Italy attacking more now but the Dutch defense looks solid.

65': Del Pierro takes a shot from outside the box. He already did much better than Toni has done in the whole match

64': First ball for Del Pierro but he was caught offside

63': FINALLY!!!! Del Pierro is on for Di Natale.

62': Holland dominates the match. Italy's attack has been clumsy and non-creative.

60': Toni takes another shot that was just way too easy for Van der Saar.

58': Ambrosini puts pressure to recover the ball for Italy and receives the foul.

54': Materazzi is replaced by Fabio Grosso. I'm pissed!!! Materazzi didn't even get a card... if Materazzi doesn't get carded it mean that Italy is really not being Italy

52': Great shot for Zambrotta. On the left side of the Italian attack. The ball went wide but the play was dangerous

52': Nilsterooy just reached for his quadriceps after the cornet kick. That's bad news for the Dutch, he might need to be substituted

51': Gattuso gets his yellow

49': Engelaar is doing a great job controlling the pace in midfield

48': Materazzi almost chipped Nilterooy's leg in half and the referee didn't call the foul.

46': The heat is on. Italians and Dutch fight for the ball.

45': And we're on for the second half

Half Time: Italy needs to go back to the locker room and figure out a way to break through the Dutch defense. They played with Camoranesi, Luca toni and Di Natale up front but the team could not finish their opportunities. Time for Del Pierro (hey, am I being repetitive?)

45' (+1): Great shot by Di Natale. But the ball flies over the bar

45': I see the Netherlands closer to a third goal than Italy getting their first.

42': Nice ball control. And an amazing through ball to Nilterooy. Buffon had to come out and save it with his feet. That should've been a third goal

40': Oh no Kuyt is in trouble... he just "accidentally" slapped Materazzi on the face... He'd better watch for the payback!!!

38': Good ball from Gattuso to Di Natale. Intercepted by the defense.

35': Italy will need Del Pierro really quick. I don't even know why Donadoni kept the topscorer of Serie A sitting on the bench

35': Zambrotta just got a yellow card from fouling Kuyt from behind... Now let's see how long until Materazzi gets his yellow too (or maybe a straight red)

34': Lucky save for Van de Saar. One of the best keepers in the world is also one of the luckiest!

31': Van Bronckhorst save the ball on line and started the most amazing counter attack in Europe.  Total Football in action.  Sneijder's finish was top class... And the Dutch are looking good

31': GGGGOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL..... Sneijder for the Dutch!!!

27':

Buffon punched the ball to the top of the box instead of trying to grab or punch it outside. The ball comes back and after a powerful shot Nislterooy just deflects it inside the net!!!

Great goal... Now the World Champions need to catch up if they want to stay alive in this tough group 

26': GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!! For Netherlands!!!! Take that Azzura!!!

25': Oh... Materazzi just saved that one... He chips the ball with his head and put it out of reach for Nilsterooy... Nice play

23': A little high for Luca Toni.

23': A harsh foul on Ambrosini. Here comes Pirlo

18': But it was a great moment for Nilsterooy!!! He was at the right place... just lost his balance

18': That WAS A PENALTY!!!! It's ok to give the advantage but he lost the advantage!!! ... Oh wai... just saw the replay... it was nothing

15': Another long range shot for the Dutch. Not a problem for Buffon

10': Great move by Panucci and Camoranesi on the right side. The cross finds the target man Toni but the header goes wide. Italy is playing top level but the Dutch are not bad either.

10': Free kick for Holland. Sneijder hits it and the ball hits the back of his team mate. Then V. de Vaart taked a long range shot but he'll need much more to beat Buffon from that distance

8': A much faster paced match. Both teams know the importance of securing 3 points in this group right now

4': Great play by Di Natale on the right. The cross was too hard for Toni to reach. But it was a good attempt

2': The Dutch kit is so bright. It might be part of the strategy to blind the Italians

0': Here we go ... the oranges versus the azzura

Before Kick Off: 1- Buffon; 2- Panucci, 6- Barzagli,  23- Materazzi,  19- Zambrotta; 8- Gattuso, 21- Pirlo, 13- Ambrosini; 16- Camoranesi, 11- Di Natale, 9- Toni.