I've heard complaints that Italy were playing with only one striker
(Corradi), but Delvecchio was in midfield (huh?) and Miccoli might be
wearing no. 10, but he was certainly getting a lot of shots in.

Toldo played the first half. I hope he was at least polite to
Camoranesi, who worked hard and got fouled pretty hard a couple of
times. His crosses weren't all that good, however. Fiore came in for
him but didn't do too much. Still, it's good to see him back with the
NT. Buffon came in for the second half; there was a nice shot of
Cannavaro and him chatting and laughing.

The goal: The Portuguese defense just collapsed. Miccoli got a header
in, followed by a shot that rebounded to Corradi, who booted it up
into the corner. Nesta came up to congratulate Corradi, who turned to
him and gave him a big hug. Awww! (The girls in the Chinese forum
will probably be jealous of Corradi too now.)

Our resident Corradi expert will correct me if I'm wrong (right,
Giulietta?), but I think this guy, who's about Nesta's age, did not
get noticed early like Nesta did. Instead, he spent a lot of time in
Serie B. Playing for the NT and scoring a goal must be a dream come
true. When he was interviewed after the game, he said he never
expected to start the game. When Corradi was substituted out (for
Inzaghi), I think the commentator said Trappatoni and the bench were
applauding him. What a thrill for the guy!

BTW, I wasn't happy to see Birindelli come in (for Delvecchio)
wearing no. 13. Some things are sacred.

Couto was seriously booed when he was substituted out.

Someone asked about Perotta and Legrottaglie (sp?). I didn't notice
Perotta much, but after the match I believe one of the pundits named
him as one of the best players for Italy.

As for Legrottaglie, he came in for Cannavaro and seemed to do OK.
What is it with Trap substituting Cannavaro? This isn't the first
time. Anyway, Cannavaro forgot to hand over his captain's armband to
Nesta, so he gave it to Legrottaglie. The commentators were laughing
and saying they didn't think it was intended for him, as this was
only his second(?) game. Legrottaglie duly handed it over to Nesta. I
agree that the armband looks natural on Nesta.

In injury time, Nesta was taken down in the area by a striker (Boa
Morte?), who turned and shot. Nesta seemed to feel that it was a
foul, and I tend to agree.

Congratulations to Australia, who beat England 3-1. The English are
so much more fun when they're losing. More seriously, congratulations
to Azerbaijan, who beat Serbia Montenego in a competive game. Italy
are still in third place, but only one point behind SM in Euro
qualifications.

Question: Is it considered polite in Italy to address people directly
by their last name? It always makes me uncomfortable.

Fashion notes: The new shirt is too fussy for my taste, with its
fancy neckline, its white seaming and its gold lettering. However,
I'm hoping the new white jersey will look good, because I really
hated the old one. I thought it made the players look like patients
in a hospital. And at least they have their names on the backs now.

The green streaks on the Portugal shirt just make it look dirty.

If you got this far, sorry for the long post!

CA

--- In nestatheministerofdefense@yahoogroups.com, ca191598
<no_reply@y...> wrote:
> Thanks for posting the comments, Mary. My only complaint is that
the
> marks should have been higher. Defenders who defend don't get
proper
> credit, IMO, but I agree with Nesta that scoring goals is not a
> defender's job, although I'm sure he's happy with his... three
goals,
> is it?
>
> I saw the game and Nesta was in charge of that defense from the
first
> minute. He was totally dominant throughout the game. Portugal were
> able to break through and threaten the Italian goal only in the
first
> minutes of the second half. Apart from that, Pauleta who? Figo who?
> We did notice Rui Costa a couple of times. In the first half, the
> Italian commentators seemed to be praising Nesta's bravura
> performance, complimenting his technical and physical qualities.
> (Hee, I can go along with that!)
>
> Nesta is usually discreet and elegant, while Cannavaro is flashier;
> this time, Nesta had the impressive moves, while Cannavaro worked
> hard in his shadow. I'm glad the comments mention the applause
Nesta
> got. Every time I get exasperated with the Italian football public,
> they remind me that they are almost alone in being able to
appreciate
> defenders and defense.
>
> Nesta came forward to support the attack in the sixth minute and
kept
> on doing it from time to time. It seems to be a permanent part of
his
> game now, in a way that it wasn't while he was with Lazio. He and
> Cannavaro seemed to be alternating in that role. To be honest, I
> prefer it when Nesta is the one who stays behind. Much as I admire
> Cannavaro's qualities, Nesta inspires more confidence in the role
of
> sweeper.
>
> Zambrotta didn't impress me. IMO, he still can't defend. He got
> carded for a stupid tackle from behind. I'm not a big fan of
> Panucci's either, but I have to admit he had some good defensive
> moments and he was very dangerous in attack. In fact, he was one of
> the best players out there.
>
> The midfield, well, it didn't look smooth or organized to me. What
it
> did look like was Miccoli. He was astonishing, particularly in the
> first half. As you would expect, once Italy scored a goal, they
took
> their foot off the gas pedal and Miccoli seemed to run out of
steam.
> How's that for mixed metaphors! :-) I think Miccoli just exhausted
> himself in the first half. I don't see how Trap could fail to make
> him a starter in the future.
>
> In the post-game interview, I think Miccoli said he enjoyed playing
> on the right side of midfield. I hope this means that he and Totti
> can play together. Miccoli certainly had the drive and the attitude
> that have been missing from that Italian midfield. Instead of
> fiddling around with the ball, he just goes for the goal. I would
> love to see what he and Vieri could do together. Miccoli is short,
> built like a fireplug, fast, and he has a great shot. (I'm
beginning
> to doubt Nesta's assertion that Miccoli will never again score the
> kind of goal that he got against Milan last weekend!) He got bashed
> by the Portuguese defense time after time, and it didn't faze him.
> This was Miccoli's first game in the NT and he took charge of that
> midfield in a way that Del Piero and Totti never have, as far as I
> can remember.
>
> More later, if you can stand it. :-)
>
> CA