VS
Germany
The world champions took a while to start
performing to their standard, but when the competition hit the knockout stage,
they faced Slovakia – a team that beat them in May – the Germans didn’t flinch
and applied their common demolition job, destroying Hamsik and co.’s hopes.
It hasn’t the been the most glamourous of
showings for Joachim Low’s team, with their performances lacking some punch in
the group stage, mostly due to the insistence to have Mario Gotze in the
striker role. When Low opted to go for Gómez everything started clicking
better, and Germany seemed much more like their usual self, and they will need
to step up, as they have the hard way to
Paris side of the draw.
Italy
They arrived in France very quietly, facing
incredible disbelief and indifference from their own country, with statements
like “Worst squad ever” being regularly heard, and with very little hopes of
making truth to the name of Italy, especially facing a very tough group and
starting against the young and powerful Belgium.
If there’s something that the Chelsea fans will soon love about Antonio Conte is that he will take all the criticism with a smile and then keep on going with what he believes and, normally, with great results.
Just look at their opening game in the Euro, against Belgium, where they were expected to have to hold off Wilmots’ team, and ended up dominating the match to gain control of the group. Destiny brought them the task of facing reigining champions Spain, and Italy showed us they are ready to try and go all the way, finishing once and for all the Spanish Era.
If there’s something that the Chelsea fans will soon love about Antonio Conte is that he will take all the criticism with a smile and then keep on going with what he believes and, normally, with great results.
Just look at their opening game in the Euro, against Belgium, where they were expected to have to hold off Wilmots’ team, and ended up dominating the match to gain control of the group. Destiny brought them the task of facing reigining champions Spain, and Italy showed us they are ready to try and go all the way, finishing once and for all the Spanish Era.
The game
Germany has
never won a match against Italy in a big competition. You might think “But that
surely happens a lot, as teams don’t face off that often”, and while that’s
true, this are two of the greatest Football nations, that always have been
contenders, and have played 8 matches, with 4 Italy wins and 4 draws. Lotthar
Matthaus admitted that one of the few Germany weaknesses comes when they see
they have to face Italy.
And what Italy they have to face. An Italy that doesn’t have the class of Baggio, Pirlo, Riva, Paolo Rossi, Maldini and many, many others, but what they have is their own BBC. Barzagli, Bonnuci and Chielini play together in Juventus in the back 3 that Conte brought with the Vecchia Signora and they give a tough time to the opponents’ offense. And if they can’t stop them, there’s always Buffon.
This has all the possibilities of being one of the games of the tournament. Certainly one of the more decisive as one of the best contenders to the title will go home earlier. Low knows this is one of the biggest test he faces in his spell, and if he can break the curse against Italy, then Germany surely won’t stop until they grab the silverware. As for Conte’s squad, they wowed the world with the fantastic game they had against Spain, where they vulgarized Del Bosque and his team. With two very different styles, expect a high-quality, intense match.
And what Italy they have to face. An Italy that doesn’t have the class of Baggio, Pirlo, Riva, Paolo Rossi, Maldini and many, many others, but what they have is their own BBC. Barzagli, Bonnuci and Chielini play together in Juventus in the back 3 that Conte brought with the Vecchia Signora and they give a tough time to the opponents’ offense. And if they can’t stop them, there’s always Buffon.
This has all the possibilities of being one of the games of the tournament. Certainly one of the more decisive as one of the best contenders to the title will go home earlier. Low knows this is one of the biggest test he faces in his spell, and if he can break the curse against Italy, then Germany surely won’t stop until they grab the silverware. As for Conte’s squad, they wowed the world with the fantastic game they had against Spain, where they vulgarized Del Bosque and his team. With two very different styles, expect a high-quality, intense match.
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