Thursday, September 06, 2007

Italy vs. France on Saturday for European Soccer Qualifiers --Tensions Mount!!

The ANNOTICO Report

The first meeting of the Italian and French teams since last years incendiary World Cup Finals will occur this Saturday.

The two most involved figures will not play. Zidane of France has retired, while Marco Materazzi of Italy is injured.

However, Frenchmen Lassana Diarra and Raymond Domenech have made several controversial comments regarding Italian football recently that have fueled the rivalry.

Unfortunately, Injured Italy forward Luca Toni will probably be unable to play against France on Saturday.

France is counting on its captain Patrick Vieira to play despite a thigh injury, although his Inter Milan club maintains he is not ready.

Euro Qualifying Group B: France and Italy Set It Alight

Goal.com   

By Abhishek Thakur

September 6, 2007

With France and Italy having taken their animosity to yet another level, Group B looks set to offer plenty of fireworks as the qualification campaign for next summer's European Championships moves into its decisive phase.

The dust from that infamous World Cup final had barely settled when France and Italy were drawn together in one qualifying group.

It was most definitely a result of UEFA's lopsided seeding, but thanks to them, we have on our hands one of the most competitive groups in recent history.

Ukraine and Scotland were expected to be no pushovers, but nobody really expected them to be in the thick of action at this stage. That is just where they are, and perhaps that is what has set this group alight.

For all of France and Italy's rivalry, you would think that had they both been cruising into next summer's competition, they would have been more sombre. However, with Italy and France feeling the heat from their less illustrious opponents, both Domenech and Donadoni are edgy.

On paper, they are still favourites to go through, but with some very tricky games in this final stretch, it could all go horribly wrong in the space of four days.

Ukraine and Scotland are both very much in the fray, and recent comments from Marcello Lippi suggesting that the British side are well capable of crashing the party for the big two are spot on.

With Italy taking on both France and Ukraine, and France up against Scotland and of course the Italians over the coming week, the stakes simply couldn't be any higher.

Italy - France

This game is the highlight of the weekend in football for reasons more than one, and you would really have to worry for the team that loses this one. They wouldn't become a poor team overnight, but the effects of this defeat will be difficult to recover from ahead of another big game in four days.

Italy, being the home side, obviously start favourites, but France will fancy themselves as well, even without Domenech on the touchline.

The Azzurri have injuries and retirements to contend with. The departures of Alessandro Nesta and Francesco Totti have left Donadoni with a weaker team than the one Marcello Lippi had at his disposal, and recent injuries to the likes of Marco Materazzi mean that France will back their chances of scoring. After all, Hungary managed to score thrice!

The French seem more settled as a team, even though it remains to be seen how this entire Domenech saga has affected their concentration.....

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=405037

Del Piero: French Comments? Who Cares

Goal.com

By Steve Michaels

September 5, 2007

Alessandro Del Piero insists that the recent words of Frenchmen Lassana Diarra and Raymond Domenech won't distract Italy from their quest to win the two countries' Euro 2008 qualifier on Saturday, the Juve hitman saying that he was focused on the game...

Alessandro del Piero feels that history can repeat itself following "issues" between France and Italy in the leadup to the pair's Euro 2008 clash on Saturday.

Both Bleus coach Raymond Domenech and player Lassana Diarra have made several controversional comments regarding Italian football recently - and Alessandro del Piero feels that this can actually work in Italy's favour.

"The atmosphere here is reminiscent of that before Italy faced Germany," said the Juve captain, referring to the World Cup semi-final that Italy eventually won.

"There were controversies early on, then Germany saw our superiority.

"The World Cup showed that Italian soccer is not based on cheating: on the pitch we play cleanly and fairly, and we must always keep that in mind.

"There are comments again, but we don'r really care. We want to show it on the pitch."

The 32 year old forward admitted, "The tension will be high on the pitch," and then said that he was itching to be a part of it.

"I never go to make up the numbers. I never feel like just one of the squad," he added, responding to questions about his current non-guaranteed-starter status at Juventus.

France and Italy clash on Saturday night at the San Siro.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=404936

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Annotico Email: annotico@earthlink.net