Torres just bad at not scoring in WC or just good that he can score agianst a non great team?

Cesena gave Roma a lot of trouble, I wouldn't take them lightly. Imo Pirlo needs to play in that one, while Italy won't have that much trouble against the Faroe Islands


He scored in the final against Germany in the Euros. He was just in terrible form at the WC

I saw Albania's and Italy's game.

Albania got a good result from Rumania scoring in the last 15 minutes. It's not that Albanian players were good, it was Rumanian players who were poor.

In other hand Italy too, got a good result. Pirlo made some mistakes in passing but it wasn't his fault it was the other players who didn't understand his passes. Cassano had a good game and I think he is good enough to be Italy's next 10.

Yep, Cassano was great. His back heel assist for Bonucci's goal was class!

1-0 up in Switzerland, Rooney. Walcott off injured.

Another 2 goals by Huntelaar.

Zlatan scored 2 in a 6:0 blowout. It's good that he's coming here in game shape after two 90 minutes matches.

Swiss down to 10 after a stupid foul.

Scotland losing at home to leitchenstein.

EDIT: Defoe down injured, Switzerland refuse to kick the ball out, they give it away. Gerrard with a good ball, Adam Johsnon rounds the keeper, 2-0. I think they'll kick the ball out next time.

EDIT: Great goal, 2-1. we got a game.

Brazil won 3-0 against Barcelona B this afternoon. Pato, Thiago Silva and Robinho played only the first half (thankfully). Pato scored the second goal, whilst Robinho assisted Lukas Leiva for the first.

Albania 1-0 Luxemburg

Good result, now we have 4 points (A)

I thought he got the ball... just!

Fair play about their goal then though.

*likes*

Portugal are in trouble. After 4:4 home draw with Cyprus, they lost 0:1 to Norway.

Pirlo scored a goal and assisted another in 5:0 win.

And what a goal. I can't remember the last time he scored on free kick.

Dang it you beat me to it!!

What a beauty of a free kick!

Any links ??

Surely will be on youtube in a a hour or so.

With 5 mins added on Scotland score to beat Leichenstein in the 97th minute. Shocking officiating in the end, oh well, an embarassing result anyways.

Nope I only found one but there was shown only 3 goals.

Deliver us, oh Lord, from the wrath of the Norsemen...

Ronaldo didn't even play!

I'm still getting over Murray going out in the US Open, then saying he was definitely fit enough but his fitness somehow let him down If Scotland drew or lost to Liechtenstein I would have died of laughter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndKKDsVXk5s

Highlights from Itay game.

It was appalling, but until England aren't, kindly try not to gloat.

Thanks, a lot.

Meh, we're fine. As for gloating, you won't find me doing that regarding England until we win games where I feel we shouldn't. I have not gloated over beating Bulgaria and Switzerland, because they're games we should be winning. Maybe I didn't expect such high scorelines, but anything less than 6/7 wins from this group would be disapointing, uin my opinion.

Ibra scores. Pato scores. Silva looks good. Robinho assists. Pirlo is conducting symphonies from midfield. Be still my thumping heart!! It can't all come together at once!!

Your point being... ? The picture I was looking for was one of a crying Portuguese, and rather than sitting through pages of google images results, I took the easy route and googled this guy instead.
Crying Portuguese - That's it. End of. 1-0.

Pirlo is back people! Not just because of the free-kick goal, but his general play was amazing. I was still a little unsure if it was just the space Lecce gave him when we played but he obviously found his form again, I don't think I saw one bad pass on his part last night. And the free-kick was just amazing, I don't think he's scored one in over a year.

It's a good season to be in shape for. With our strikers line, he can break the assist reacord (whatever it might be).

Hmm, just that he is obviously their best player, yet he didn't even play!

That would have been like United fans posting pictures of Pato crying from last years CL...!

Well I've already explained why I chose that picture, but clearly the issue of importance here is me posting the wrong picture. Not my country beating one of the best national teams in Europe. Profound apologies.

Congrats on the big win Locke.

Can we really take anything from Italy or Pirlo's performance yesterday? It was against the Faroe Islands. No ill intention towards the good people there, but they'd probably be beaten by a 3rd division (Serie C?) Italian side.

Obviously they're not a great team, but what was concerning me in preseason was the fact that Pirlo was misplacing passes he usually does with his eyes closed, in the Italy and Milan games he's been pin point accurate. He also seems to have dropped trying that flat freekick technique, which he had been using these past few seasons and went for the curler. Not to mention the 3 assists off corners he's made in just 2 games

I think he uses the knuckle ball in long-distance situations. I can't remember the last time Milan got a free kick that close to the 18yrd box, we're due for a few.

Last season we got a lot, but both Pirlo and Dinho were misfiring badly from them.

I remember short distance free-kicks he's scored with that flat ball that slightly wobbles. Especially in the 05/06 season, Carlo dubbed it Pirlo's "full proof technique" at scoring from free-kicks

Aye, there was a period around the 05/06 season when he scored something like 5-6 goals from those free kicks. But now he just misses them miserably.

I'll pretend I haven't read what you have write about Pirlo ...

Next time there will be blood

Oh please, it's the truth. Pirlo free kicks are a terrible thing to watch these years (knowing how he did them in the past).

Yup. I love Pirlo as much as you do, d'Arc, but his free kicks have been poop in the last few years.

Eh?! All I said was Ronaldo didn't play (and he's an important player), who you posted a picture of! Then tried to make an analogy that both, you and I would commonly understand.

I didn't mean to cause offence, or take anything away from the victory.

Oh really ?

It's not just Pirlo it's football in general, now the game is not based on free kicks.

btw do you know why Pirlo is not scoring from free kicks?

Cos 3/4 of them are crosses and only 1/4 of them goes directly in the goal.

Pirlo is really mature and is very special. He is no Ronaldo who does not care about the result and all of free kicks he shoots goes in the direction of goal. Pirlo plays for the team, not for personal honours.

Do you even watch his free kicks? The lasts ones (two) free kicks against Lecce were very good, the GK couldn't catch the ball he just punched it and our ex-player Borriello and other strikers had good chances if they were concentrated.

Pirlo is maestro. All his passes, crosses, shoots and his game in general is genius.

We're talking about the free kicks which he shoots at the goal, d'Arc, not the ones he crosses. The simple question is: when was the last time he scored on free kick before last night? Frankly, I can't remember.

Well man you should understand there is only one free kick that goes in the goal in 3-4 games.

Not to mention Ronaldinho,Beckham(before)...

Find me a video or tell me when Pirlo failed to score more than 2-3 times in a row from e good position like that one against Faroe Island. I'm not talking about 30m free kicks or those near the corner.

I don't need to show you any video. I just want you to put your mind to work, and think, when was the last time Pirlo scored on free kick before last night? That question should be more than enough to prove that he's not that good at free kicks (and I'm talking about the ones he shoot on goal) as he used to be. Fin.

Before Ronaldinho camed and suddenly was the 1st free kicker (at least in good positions).

That's no excuse. Pirlo's had his fair share of free kicks on goal and he's always missed. I remember him hitting the post once last season, and that's all.

The way you judge Pirlo it's just not fair. Last night he proved that his free kicks are as good as used to be, he just need his space.

Maybe it can be irracional but answer for the question why Pirlo hasn't score from free kicks for 2-3 years, is simple. We changed, our philosophy, the way we play, players, coaches and everything.

Taking free-kicks is an individual skill, absoloutely nothing happening at the club will change that. only he can. His free-kicks have been dreadful for a few years now and scoring 1 against the Faroe Islands is nout to brag about.

Well whether the free kick is vs. The islands or vs. Barcelona the only thing that changes is the goalie. And there are not too many goalies getting to that shot yesterday. That being said, Pirlo has been sub-par on his freekicks as of late. Ronnie too.

Pirlo has ben awful at just about everything these past 2 seasons. He's been off form, constricted by the tactics Carlo and Leo had. But even when playing terribly he's still our most important player. These past 3 weeks he looks like he's getting back into the form of old. I haven't seen Pirlo playing with such accuracy since 06. His free-kick is no coincedence.

He's back to his best therefore his free-kicks are also back. Not to mention the corner assists he provided for Italy as well, something he's also been lacking at these past few seasons.