Euro 2008 LIVEBLOG: Italy vs Romania

GROUP C	June 13, 1800 CET, Zurich (Switzerland)
Italy 1 VS Romania 1 Panucci 56′   Mutu 55′

FULLTIME UEFA 1 - Italy 1

93′ Pirlo has been terrible during the second half.

91′ terrible pass fro Pirlo….DE ROSSI makes a great tackled, he’s yellow. Seriously. This is absolutely shameful from the ref.

Quags goes down, nothing given. He’s been invisible.

90′ Cassano not having a great game…fires over the net. Shite.

88′ Mutu off, Cocis on. It’s all about defense now.

87′ Romania playing for the draw now. Cassano…Toni goes down in the box. Free kick Romania.

Toni pushed down in the box, of course it’s not a pk. It’s been ALL Romania from the refs this game.

Camo coming off, Ambro on. Mauro is dead. Good work from him. 5 minutes plus stoppage.

Ambro getting ready? Great tackle by Chiellini there.

83′ Terrible free kick by Pirlo. Let’s go boys….

Alright boys. Let’s get that goal back..

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SAVED BUFFON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

79′ Panucci with a poor ball, saved by De Rossi charging back. How many times have we seen that happen this year? PENALTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The fix is in. THE FIX IS IN.

ANOTHER great run by Zambro, ball knocked out for a corner….Camo goes down, snapped up by Lobont.

Oh god, almost a Romania own goal. great work by Zambro there.

Quags on for Del Piero….looking for a goal, no question.

76′ Mutu shot deflected out for a corner….cleared out to Cassano. Gives it away….QUAGLIARELLA. Mr. Bullshit Goal himself

Replay on that DDR header is agonizing. Great save by Lobont.

75′ Toni to De Rossi and Lobont makes a fuckin spectatcular save. Fuck.

74′ Pirlo fk…….headed out….throw in Italy. And I think Camo just had a go at net from 45 yards.

That ball was close to being over the line on the cross..

Goian gets yellow, he’s suspended.

73′ Del P flick headed out for a corner……too short. Not a great game from him….cross into the goal???????? Wow that was close. Lobont….

72′ One timer headed out by Chiellini - whatever happens, this should be the back line against the Frenchies.

71′ Some scary defensive work as Grosso AGAIN takes the ball out of play. Get that guy out of France.

69′ Back on….20 minutes now….Cassano with a pass to Zambro a bit too strong.

Niculae is down and hurt, ball played out. Grosso is checking him for lice. Good guy, that Fabio.

67′ Mr. Clutch goal:

66′ Next sub? Perhaps someone for Del Piero?

65′ Toni offside for real this time.

De Rossi poundss one into Del Piero….ugh…that was a hammer. Cassano looking vintage.

Mutu goal:

63′ Grosso stuffs another ball…amazing performance from him. Camo fouled….possession….Ball through the box juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust ahead of Luca Toni.

61′ Yellow for Pirlo. My heart needs a rest right now. 30 minutes to get #3.

Some Romanian guy on for another Romanian guy. Who cares.

Groos lays out in the box to save a possible goal for Romania, 1 v 1 on Buffon. Fucking MOTM right now.

58′ What a fiucking change of fortunes. Down 1-0 criminally, an immediate equalizer and now Cassano.

FORZA ITALIA.

CASSANO TIME. On for Perrotta.

It’s an ugly goal, but I’ll take an OMR goal right in front of the net. He is clutch. As fucking clutch as it gets.

Cassano time. He needs to come on. Hopefully this will strike some life….GOOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLL PANUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIi

55′ Not the best start to this half. Perhaps looking at a sub fairly soon. GOAL MUTU. Fucking Criminal from Zambro. 1-1 right? Oh wait…

54′ Mutu on the left saved by Buffon…..long ball out for a Romania throw.

52′ Slow play. Rat goes down via Camo. Offside Romania.

50′ Romania working possession…Pirlo gets it…nice, nice work by Zambro, here’s the break…..Pirlo gorgeous ball to Toni, Del Piero stopped by a defender.

49′ Dica sends in a cross, easily taken by Gigi. Slower start to this half besides that corner.

47′ Grosso cross..corner for Italy…Pirlo….just over Ton’s head after the short corner. Another corner….foul on Luca.

How about a makeup call, ref? SECOND HALF

Luca’s “offside”…BULLSHIT:

Lobont saves Toni (waiting for “the goal that wasn’t”):

HALFTIME: Unbelievable first 7 days in this tournament? How many offside goals will be scored? How many nonoffside goals have been disallowed? These Euros will go down as a terrible tournament if this doesn’t improve.

He wasn’t offside at all!!! What a fucking sham this tournament is. UEFA should be embarrassed.

47′ Camo wins a corner….Camo’s hair looking extra fluffy….Toni goal offside. FUCK.

46′ Del Piero steamrolls a Romanian. No yellow? Very lucky. That was idiotic.

45′ Rat is looking like a prizefighter with blood coming down his face. Plenty of stoppage time here, right…..3 minutes.

44′ Zambro in but it’s headed out. Christ. Maybe Donadoni should put in Borriello along with Luca just for another bigger body.

42′ Yellow card for Mutu. Shocker there.

Gigi makes a save:

40′ Gawd. Should be about 7-0. DDR ball too far ahead of Luca.

38′ Nice run by Zambro….Perotta’s chance foiled by Codrea. Nice defense there. Chiellini header put over the bar….corner again…Toni header saved fantastically by Lobont. Christ. One of these..ball in the 6! Cleared out. Holy shit how do you not score there. Lobont MOTM so far.

37′ Pirlo ball over the top nudged by Romanian, taken down by Lobont. Mutu stoned by Zambro…Camo loses it on the attack. He’s primed for a sub and it’s not necessarily his fault. Not his forte.

35′ Play slowing down a bit…Romanian cross goes out for a goal kick.

34′ Long ball to Del Piero who’s pushed down but no foul. Come on.

32′ Del Piero hacked down in Pirlo’s range…oh boy………WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TAKING THAT FOR, ALEX? You’ve got Pirlo, the best fucking free kick taker in the world, right next to you. Defer. Come on.

31′ Low free kick - a staple today - by Pirlo bounded up and taken down by Bogdan easily…Zambro….Toni heads it wide. So many chances here so far.

30′ I’m not sure whether I love or hate that the best attacker today has been our LB. I think love.

29′ Mutu offside by a nautical mile, no surprise there.

28′ Camo with a good idea on the long pass to Toni but a bit too much mustard on it….Romania on the attack…helluva shot by Razvan Rat goes just right.

Pirlo was the only guy in the center of midfield there. Can’t allow openings like that.

27′ Camo cross to Toni just wide. One of these is going in. It has to. Just has to.

26′ Grosso with a fantastic cross to ADP just a bit far. Fabio Grosso is playing like it’s the summer of ‘06 here. Love it.

24′ DDR plants one off Niculae’s face. Here comes DDR on the run, beauty of a layoff to Grosso who crosses to Toni and it’s worked out for a corner.

Dica on for Radoi.

23′ Cross by Conta headed out by Zambrotta over the bar. Another corner is headed by Camo towards Slovakia.

This is bad for Romania. That was a solid, solid clash of heads. Radoi is off.

Who let Zaccardo into the building?

19′ Chiellini concedes a foul in a dangerous position on a harmless ball. Ugh. These things are what kill you. Free kick…OFF THE POST. Wouldve been an OG. Holy. Shit. Panucci.

Two Romanians clashed into each other both down.

17′ Free kick Romania surprisingly on target and Gigi saves. Two big time saves by Buffon in the last three minutes here.

16′ Italia with possession down near the box…..cross in headed out….gorgeous ball by Pirlo to Grosso…cross…Toni over the bar with the header. They’re gonna score on a Grosso cross today. I can feel it.

14′ Mutu STONED by Buffon on a clear 1v1. God bless Gigi.

Splicing random pictures:

13′ Grosso wins another free kick. Del Piero corner runs through the box.

12′ Grosso wins a free kick near the end line. What a move there…Pirlo….headed out. De Rossi goes down in the box with a tackle….ball just over Toni’s head right in the six yard box.

What a difference a game makes. What a difference.

11′ Long time in between free kick…Tamas taking some treatment.

9′ De Rossi wins a header…break….Simone flicks to Del P and he heads it wide. What a fuckin’ chance right there.

8;’ Camo wins a FK, best thing he’s done yet…Pirlo…..Chviu clears it somewhat but Grosso picks it up.

7′ Dangerous longball to Mutu, just out of his reach…..Grosso cross taken easily.

6′ Decent long ball by De Rossi, but a few too many long balls already. Though it’s nice having two capable playmakers back there.

4′ Pirlo long ball, Toni plays down to DP, fires it off a defender for a corner. This is Panucci’s specialty……cleared out.

3′ I really cannot believe Christian Panucci is starting in central defense of a a must-win Azzurri game right now. Not that I’m against it…

On the break, Camo dummies to nobody.

2′ Nice cross field pass by Romania, Azzurri throw in. Romania will possession to start.

1′ Christ….early cross to Mutu, that was a little dangerous right there.

KICKOFF……………here we go. Heart rate somewhere around 150. Azzurri time.

Donadoni looks like he swallowed a frog. Think he knows what’s at stake here? And look at that mane on Andrea Pirlo. Fantastic.

So we’ve gone from 2 player under 30 against the Netherlands to 3 against Romania. Hooray for small victories.

Italy lineup is out, and we all have something to look forward to: big changes.

Buffon;
Zambro, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso;
De Rossi, Pirlo, Perrotta;
Camo;
Del Piero, Toni.

(Or a 4-4-2.)

Romanian lineup:

Labont;
Contra, Tamas, Goian, Rat;
Petre, Radoi, Codrea, Chivu;
Niculae, Mutu.