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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/07/21 in Articles

  1. So now it’s all on my Azurri Boys. They’re my one remaining hope, but they made hard work of it against Spain and were second best for a lot of the game. I think Spain are better than I’ve been giving them credit for but they’re nothing special and I wouldn’t have trusted them against England. I don’t particularly trust Italy either but along with France they’re probably the side I’d feel most comfortable about stopping England winning. This performance has shaken my confidence in Italy a bit though. Spinazzola is clearly a big miss for them and they just didn’t really look like themselves in the semi. Maybe its a “styles makes fights” thing though and Spain just wasn’t a good match up for them. That’s what I’m clinging to anyway as I’m not prepared to entertain the thought that they’re running out of steam. Spain dominated the first half and had most of the chances. Italy had a couple of flashes but Spain will have gone in thinking they should have been ahead. Instead, they soon found themselves behind after a lovely finish by Chiesa early in the second half. I thought that would be it. Italy would defend for their lives and see it out while Spain passed the ball around 30 yards from goal not really getting anywhere. I was wrong though. Italy never looked completely secure and Spain equalised with a cracking goal. The enigma that is Morata played a one two and then calmly rolled the ball past Donarruma who seemed to be playing Dodgeball as he dived out of the way of it, Brad Jones at Old Trafford style. Morata is such a weird player. He goes from shite to world class quicker than anyone since Pippo Inzaghi. You watch him and think “they need to sub him, he’s contributing fuck all” and then out of nowhere he does something brilliant. I can see why Luis Enrique picks him but I can also see why it baffles a lot of people. I don’t know if he’s the world’s worst good player or the world’s best shit player. That goal really changed the momentum of the game and Italy now had to see out the final ten minutes against a rampant Spain side who had their tails up. It was a worrying spell for me and I just needed my boys to get to extra time so they could regroup. Thankfully they survived and I thought extra time was pretty even. Neither side really looked like scoring and penalties seemed inevitable. I might be wrong here but it feels like every time Spain play Italy it goes to pens. Spain are notoriously shite at pens and also faced the added weight of history. When a team wins on pens they rarely do it a second time and so it proved again. The final better not fucking go to pens, that’s all I can say. I called all of those pens except Olmo’s. You could tell who was going to miss and who was going to score a mile off. The body language of the takers was such a give away. That’s not always the case and sometimes the most confident player misses and the one who is shitting himself scores. Not this time though, it was easy to predict. The Italian lad who took the first one looked terrified and his pen was soft as shit. Olmo then walks up with a look of steel in his eyes (he’d been the best player on the pitch for me). Complete confidence oozing through him and then he ballooned it over the bar. I didn’t see that coming. None of the other Italians looked like they were going to miss but did anybody actually think Morata was going to score? We all saw that coming, right? He should never have been sent up there to take one. The final pen from Jorginho was just fucking ridiculous. I mean, we know he’s brilliant at pens and the only time I can ever remember him missing was when I jinxed him the week before we played Chelsea and Alisson denied him. I think he missed another the week after too, but generally he’s just fucking money from the spot. This was next level coolness though. It looked like the Spanish keeper actually applauded him as it went in. Imagine having that much swag to be able to pull that off in such a huge moment. So Italy advance and given they’ve been the best side in the tournament it’s fitting they’ve reached the final. I really like the Italian forwards. None of them are superstars but they’re all good and they’ve all made an impact. Italy sides of the past always had that huge star that they pinned their hopes on and they usually failed to deliver. Mancini and Vialli, Baggio, Del Piero, Totti etc. They don’t have any of them now but they’ve got a group of Beppe Signori types. Very good but not superstars. The other thing I like about them is Mancini’s use of subs. Feels like he makes five subs every game and does it at just the right time to keep his side fresh. And they usually make a contribution too. Italy are unbeaten in 30 odd games now so credit where its due, Mancini has done a hell of a job with them. I’ve never liked him but if he extends that run by one more win then all is forgiven. My man Chiellini though. He’s been the undisputed star of this tournament and I’m not even talking about how he’s played. I can’t keep my eyes off him when he’s on screen. He’s always doing something entertaining. The way he buzzes off the anthem, or celebrates one of his team-mates making a tackle, or steams into the crowd to hug the fans after games. Even just the faces he pulls. He’s class, I love him, but he outdid himself during the coin toss before the shoot out. That was the moment of the tournament by far. He just had Jordi Alba on toast there. Alba is trying to be Mr Serious, with his game face on, and Chiellini is throwing him around like a rag doll but he’s laughing his nuts off while he’s doing it so the ref is like “oh this is all fun and games, no problem here”. But Alba does not look like he’s enjoying it one bit. It’s fucking glorious. He even playfully punches him in the face! Chiellini is having an absolute fucking ball. He’s loving every minute of this and I’m loving every minute watching him. One more win big man, just one more win. When you look back on that little exchange with him and Alba though you can see Spain had no chance of winning that shoot out. It was over before it began. The Italians just looked so much more relaxed about the whole thing and it showed in how they took their pens (that first loser notwithstanding). So now we have the best anthem in the world v the worst. And as if God Save the Queen wasn’t bad enough, the cunts have now adopted the biggest wool anthem in the world, Sweet Caroline. Never mind the fact Northern Ireland fans have been singing that for years, they’re England and they’ll take what they like because they’re England and that’s how it’s always been. The sense of entitlement these cunts have is off the scale. Once again I didn’t watch. I took myself out to the golf course to get away from it. I did the same for the Czech and Ukraine games and the courses I played were deserted. This time I went to Bootle and there were loads of people on there. I spoke to a couple of lads and the subject of the match came up and why none of us were watching. “There’s no Reds playing” and “I couldn’t give a fuck about England” they said. One of them referenced the videos doing the rounds of fans singing about hating scousers, so I was in my element then and brought up all the bellends who come to Anfield signing shit about “sign on” and “always the victim”, and it was just nice to be around like minded people. So while I did my best to avoid it, because it went on for so long I was home before it finished. My missus had it on so I retreated into another room so I didn’t have to see any of it. Then I saw in the group chat Sterling had dived to win a pen. Curiosity got the better of me and I nipped into the living room to watch the pen, desperately wanting Schmeichel to save it. And he did. And I cheered. And then I watched in horror as the rebound fell perfectly to that fucking slobbering goon to score. And I shouted words to that effect. And then I booted the sofa and shouted “FUUUUUCK” as I left the room. And then I was in the doghouse because my daughter heard it all. So then I went outside and didn’t come back in until it was long finished. I’m not handling it well and I’m basically living the life of an Evertonian at the moment. Consumed by bitterness, hatred, resentment and relying on others to get the job done and prevent the unthinkable happening. It’s a fucking wretched existence but it’s given some understanding of why the Blues are the way they are. The worst part is when people try to strike up conversation by talking about England, assuming there’s a common bond there. It’s really uncomfortable because I don’t want to piss on their chips but I can’t fake any enthusiasm for it either. Usually I just say “Oh I’m not interested in international footy” because when you say “I hope they get beat” you then have to go into a big explanation about why and it’s just tiresome. My mum was saying this too. She had a delivery from Amazon the other day and the delivery fella was all cheery and excited and said he was knocking off to get home and watch the match. “Oh I won’t be watching that” she said, disdainfully. The guy just thought she was just one of those people who hate footy when in reality it’s that she hates England. She isn’t taking this well at all either. She’s an anti-England as I am, albeit for different reasons. She never supports them, never has done from what I can remember, but it’s usually because she can’t get past the club rivalry aspect of it and she can’t put aside her hatred for certain players. I’m the same. I’m not going to be cheering for Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker, Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Jordan fucking Pickford. Can’t do it, even though there is actually a lot to like about some of the lads in the squad too. For me the players are way down the list of reasons I don’t want them to win, but with my mum it’s much more straightforward. It’s basically Harry Kane. Nobody hates him more than my mum and he’s 90% of the reason she’s not been watching the games and desperately wants them to lose. The other 10% is Sweet Caroline. She loves Neil Diamond as much as she hates Harry Kane so this is a double whammy for her. My dad on the other hand is just completely indifferent to it all. He’s not interested. Doesn’t give a fuck. He isn’t wanting them to win but it’s not going to cause him to lose any sleep if they do. I wish I could be like that but I can’t control it. I’m consumed with resentment. Unlike me, they’ve watched the knockout games but they switched off the Ukraine game as soon as Kane scored and I imagine they did the same in the semi. I haven’t spoken to them about it yet so I don’t know. It’s still too raw for me, it’s making me miserable. I’m trying to not think about it and writing this isn’t helping, so I’m signing off now. This might be the last one because I sure as shit won’t be doing one if the unthinkable happens. I’ll either be back celebrating an Italy win or I’ll see you in August. *sings* Fratelli, d'Italia L'Italia se desta Dell elmo di Scipio Se cinta la testa.....
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