Palermo v Milan: Football, Making a Long Week Much, Much Better

By: Martha | February 28th, 2007

Pirlo v Simplicio That was one of those thrilling 0-0 games that football-haters refuse to believe actually exist: Despite ending scoreless, it was full of end-to-end attacking play, little explosions of skill, and great defending (most of the time). Just an incredible pleasure to watch — for me, at least. I’m in a better mood than I’ve been in for days, and that’s even with work interrupting my football zen from time to time. Some stuff I noticed around work:

•Karma was at work in Kaka’s penalty miss, because the “foul” was actually Gila showing his mad diving skills for the second time in a week. Plus, it proved that “cheaters never win” nonsense we’re taught in grade school true, if only for one day.

•At one point in the first half, Di Michele was caught offside by literally three yards and proceeded to throw an absolute fit. He’s either crazy, more petulant than any of us had ever imagined, or crazy.

•Corini — sporting a badass nose brace — took a great shot from long range and then vanished. At first I thought he was just playing really, really quietly, but it turns out he got injured and was substituted in the ninth minute. Hmm. He must have gone off during one of the William Tell Overture moments, because I swear I never saw him leave. I hope the problem was nose-related rather than the dreaded something new. Anyone?

•Guana is a freaking star. He was everywhere today, and practically every touch was decisive. Way to step up and fill in for Corini, Bald Man #2!

•Apart from the penalty miss, the best part of the game was the odd little tussle Pirlo and another Milan player (Simic?) had over the ball, which resulted in one of them falling on his ass and the other tripping away, sort of with the ball. Even the announcer laughed, albeit in Italian.

•Gourcuff might the next Zidane in someone’s mind, but he’s got a long way to go to match him in the attitude department. Zizou may have engaged in the odd headbutt, but at least he wasn’t constantly whining. I mean, this kid is as bad as Di Michele, and that’s saying something.

•Who the hell is Matusiak and when did he get to Palermo? I’ve seen 10+ Palermo games this season and have never laid eyes on the man.

•He may be a whiny little girl, but that Di Michele is skilled as hell. The RAI announcers, apparently unable to find a way to describe his magic in their native tongue, resorted to “Di Michele! Dribbling!” several times.

•People kept falling down (not Gila-style, but really slipping, with no one near them). Did they just lay a new pitch in Palermo, or something? Is it made of plastic?

•Ronaldo played about 20 minutes, and was booed every time he moved. The good: He had Milan’s best attempt on goal when he hit the crossbar late in the game. The bad: The shot was a deflection off his own face, and probably not intended that way.