Azzurri

You definitely shouldn't take it that way. I love Italy and all things Italian, and when I finally made it to continental Europe many years ago that was the first place I wanted to go. The only thing I can think of that I don't love about Italy is their style of international soccer (flop & complain).

 

I'm not nearly so enthusiastic about France, but they're playing Italy, so guess who I'll be cheering for?

ok, that's cool. in the end, it's only a soccer game anyway. although i must confess that, come Sunday, it will feel much more than that...i guess that's what makes it such a great sport.

The Portuguese are huge whiners.

 

As for your question, though you didnt ask me - I am curious, are we talking Italians or Italian-Americans?

 

Huge difference.

well, my parents are from Italy, and we were brought up speaking Italian. my sister moved back to live there years ago. so i am italian-american, but not in the way you probably think. i know the difference that you are talking about. some people think they are italian simply because their great grandmother used to make meatballs, or because they know what calamari is.

when somebody insults the italian soccer team, i feel like they are insulting the culture and the type of people they are. i know i shouldn't take it that way, but i do.

I've been wondering/thinking the same thing about the Italians. At least the French don't collapse in apparent agony every time the wind changes.

 

It's definitely not the final I'd hoped to see, but I'll be cheering on the French.

did you see any flopping/collapsing in Italy's game against Germany? it was actually the Germans who were screaming for calls that were not there.

Portugal are the worst offenders. truly hideous, especially that little scum Ronaldo.

what have you got against italians, anyway?

France will win -- they're the better team. Too bad they don't have Cisse, but they're strong enough up top without him.

 

After the U.S., England is the next team that I support -- but I had no problem with the Rooney red card. You think someone should just be given a yellow after stomping on someone's balls? Please. If that's not a straight red card, nothing is. The question, of course, is whether it was intentional, and based on the replay, I'd say yes. The ref only saw it in real time and he obviously had no doubt.

Italy is much stronger in defense and in goal. and Pirlo in midfield is playing just as well as Zidane. France might have the edge up top with Henry. but it's as even a final as can be. i hope Italy wins it, but the french seem to have all the luck against them.

that was an incredible game!!!!

two great goals within the span of two minutes. Italy deserved to win though - except for some of the second half, they controlled the play and had great opportunities. the defense is just class.

we had about 20 people watching the game at my brother's house, and we almost shattered windows with the sound of our celebration when they scored. my sister called me from italy after the game, and you could hear the chaos in the streets through the telephone.

I wouldn't say that; they've won it three times. Now, we've had some bad luck (Maradona's Hand Of God for example, Penalties against Germany). I wouldn't mind the Italian's winning so much if they were actually enjoyable to watch, but they aren't.

Italy and bad luck go hand in hand. Look at the last four world cups:

'90: Loss on penalties to Argentina

'94: Loss on penalties to Brazil

'98: Loss on penalties to France

'02: Bullshit loss to South Korea.

Italy was due for some good fortune. The call was borderline - it could have went either way. The red card against Materazzi was a terrible call, so it all balances out.

And the Aussies were enjoyable to watch? Italy had a ton more chances, even with a man down most of the match.

When Italian players stop acting like they're near death every time they so much as trip over a blade of grass, I might consider backing them sometime.

 

Yes, players all across the world flop. The Italians, however, take it to an extreme that becomes tiresome to watch. Get the fuck off the ground, dude.

 

We coined an abbreviation in my family well over twenty years ago to refer to any Italian player who's executed an overly dramatic descent to the pitch: PBLOG, or "poor bastard lying on ground."

 

It's a pity they're so dependent upon diving, because much of the rest of the time they're capable of gorgeous football.

bullshit. every team in the World Cup can be guilty of the same thing.

FORZA ITALIA.

Nice to see Maradona going beserk in the stands too. I had the usual view on him until I saw a documentary about him a while back. He was living in Cuba and watching a match featuring his old team Boca Juniors on TV and going absolutely mental. You just have to like that kind of passion for sport.

he was also probably the best player i have ever seen, even though he was coked up most of the time. some say better than Pele.

this country's indifference to the World Cup bothers me a little. the sports talk radio geeks and media always mock people's passion for the game and have this arrogant, snobbish attitude which seems to say, "Well, if were not into it, it's not a legitimate competition..." the attitue mirrors America's world politics and agenda. cue Team America song: "America, fuck yeah...."

I agree fully. This is like the last area in the world where the U.S. is still an underdog.

i was born here, but my parents were born in Italy. i grew up speaking italian in the household, and i have a lot of family in italy.

so between USA and Italy in soccer, i support Italy. don't call me a traitor. my situation is a little different.

You know why that is - they see soccer as a non-contact sport.

well, if you've ever played soccer, you know it's anything but non-contact.

it has this reputation as being a wussy sport, but no other major sport, in my opinion, requires more stamina and mental toughness.