Australia vs Italy

i honestly think the socceroos have a good chance.

i hate the italian soccer team. strange that i like most things italian.

my tip is 2 - 1 to Australia.

yeah i fancy the Aussies for this one too. Would be good to see em go through

i do think the Aussies have a great chance to win

hopefully they do

AUSSIE AUSIIE AUSSIE!!!

GO THE ROOS!

We can do it I reckon. I have faith in our boys!

Italy'll be too clever. 2-0 to the azzuri.

There's a lot of people in this country with a lot of ill-informed expectations for this game. Reckon we'll find it tough to score. This could be the game we get found out.

A pity if we do because we'd stand a chance against either QF opponent. Must be the least-intimidating section of the draw.

Here's hopin'!

:\pimp3:

Sorry Aussies but I'm going for 2-1 to Italy

Based on their previous performances (including the Brazil vs Australia match), I'm going to go for 2-1 Australia.

There and again, I thought that the Dutch would beat Portugal last night, so what do I know!

one nil eye ties

Gonna be a close one - Aus have a great chance, but the Italian experience may just prove enough - extra time, if only so I can watch a bit of it after I get back from work...

SHEDi xxx

less than an hour to go. Ron's coffin lid should be creaking open very shortly.

kewell on crutches.

NOOLigan wrote: kewell on crutches.

bad blow that. what's he done now? groin? hammie?

get Stan on then.

i'll watch the second half straight after work

Mark Schwarzer back in goal, there's a suprise

Can't see much chance for the Ausies here TBH - could loose by 3 or more

nil all at half time.

50 mins. Italy down to 10 men. Marco Materazzi off.

Blue & White shite, Blue & White shite.

a controversial penalty ends it all in the last minute. well played Australia.

back to bed for me now.

Australia Were robbed, thats all i can say very unfair penalty but consitent refereeing i see bloody shit.

Too bad for the Aussies. :( They should have attacked more with the advantage, instead of saving all their subsitutions. Yes, in slow motion replay that was a bad call, but Neill didn't need to fall, either, so he helped contribute to the bad call. By the way, what was up with Totti's goal celebration? Sucking his thumb? That belongs in the Worst World Cup Celebrations thread.

Poor Australia, im not sure about that call well the Socceroos played a great World Cup, hats off to them

That's why I hate the italian soccer teams... Always acting to get weird penalties, provoking red cards 'n stuff... That's not fair play... Italian soccer sucks... I'm angry as hell .

Gutted.

Penalty was dubious but in truth, the red card may have been a little kind too.

You just don't get chances like this in World Cups too often. Playing 10 men, with a QF versus Switzerland or Ukraine looming.

The penalty was milked in typical fashion but credit to them for totally locking us out at the back. Plus they had the better chances early. Just wish we'd tried something different with all the possession we had, maybe swung Kennedy on and start lobbing the crosses in high.

Terribly harsh on Lucas Neill, he's had a mighty tournament but that last minute will be a millstone for a while. He looked devastated.

:\pimp3:

Gutted here too.

Got asked today why i was rooting for the Aussies in this one and i replied:

a) cos Italy are so boring to watch

b) cos i love to see Aussies doing crap at sports they are good at, and good at sports they are crap at.

Italy's game is so greedy! I'm very sorry for Aussies, they deserved something much better.

I want Italy out of the cup ASAP!

Watching the match, I thought for sure that the Socceroos outchanced and outshot the Azzurri. But after looking up the game stats, it turns out that Italy had 6 shots on goal to Australia's 4. The ball possession though was 59% to 41% in favour of Australia.

I think the penalty kick call was legit. You can't just lay down in front of someone. Even in American football or hockey, that's called tripping. Besides just before that, the ref let the other defender get away with tugging at Grosso's jersey.

Can you tell that I support the Azzurri? If I didn't, it would be high treason.

Plato wrote: Watching the match, I thought for sure that the Socceroos outchanced and outshot the Azzurri. But after looking up the game stats, it turns out that Italy had 6 shots on goal to Australia's 4. The ball possession though was 59% to 41% in favour of Australia.

I think the penalty kick call was legit. You can't just lay down in front of someone. Even in American football or hockey, that's called tripping. Besides just before that, the ref let the other defender get away with tugging at Grosso's jersey.

Can you tell that I support the Azzurri? If I didn't, it would be high treason.

No, but I can tell you don't know your arse from your elbow when it comes to football! I had to run this post through google to find out what you were on about! Stick to moose-chasing!

Real shame for the Socceroos, cos they played so well and with so much belief in so many respects, but they really should've tried to punish the Italians when they were down to 10 - stick another big man up front and really go for it - the Italians' experience meant that the longer the game went on for the more chance they had to get a result... Grosso was looking for the penalty but the defender offered him a great excuse to make it look like one...

SHEDi xxx