Too Little, Too Late For Azzurrini

Well, there’s certainly something to be said for having finally turned in a solid, 90-minute performance. It’s just too bad it came it came on the heels of a game-and-a-half (give or take) of intermittent crap, and that the Azzurrini had lost control of their own fate by the time they decided to play.

I only saw the goals replayed in a tiny box down in the corner of the England-Serbia game, but all the reports (including Chris’ semi-live blog over at the Azzurri page) indicate Italy dominated the Czechs, losing their clean sheet only because of a single rather dreadful defensive lapse. Alberto Aquilani continued his awesome display of free kick prowess, while poor, unappreciated Giuseppi Rossi responded to his first start by scoring Italy’s third goal and taking the Man of the Match Award (during the acceptance of which he displayed his bizarre, slightly Italian-tinged New Jersey accent). Afterwards, Gianfranco Zola was sorry they hadn’t played the little American more. Yeah, I’m sure that makes everyone feel much better about that whole crashing out thing.

Things aren’t quite over yet, though. For reasons unclear to me, the England win means Italy must face Portugal on Thursday in a playoff for the final Olympic spot. I’m not sure how many people care about the Olympics, but winning that game will enable the Azzurrini to come home with more than just pride, so one would imagine they’ll be well up for it when the time comes.

Category: Azzurri, Results, Rumors & News, Serie A

Tags: Aquilani, Azzurri, Azzurrini, European Championship, Guiseppi Rossi, Olympic, Results, Rumors -amp; News, Serie A, U21

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