France 0-0 Romania

It was an ultra-cagey first half with neither team willing to commit players forward in numbers during open play. Free kicks and corners offered up the best opportunities but even then the keepers were rarely tested.

You got the feeling that if France was willing to up the pace and go after Romania that they would be rewarded. Tamas and Goian looked very comfortable when balls were played high into the Romanian area but there was a sense that the ball played quickly along the ground might have provided them with a far greater challenge.

What's more Romania's goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont seemed at times to be intent on writing his own special chapter focusing on passbacks in the David James and Fabian Barthez best seller "Adventures in Goalkeeping."

The second half pretty much replicated the opening forty-five minutes. France held an edge but Romania defended with composure and opted to play the ball through the midfield once the French had surrendered possession.

The French midfield cried out for a player to quicken the tempo of the game but Makelele’s forte is to slow the pace down not to speed it up and France rapidly ran out of attacking ideas. The French attack was not helped by a thoroughly badly balanced pairing of Nicolas Anelka and Karim Benzema.

The second half in particular was close to a mirror image of the Scotland game in Paris last fall. A well organized and motivated team comfortably holding off a French side that enjoyed a significant edge in possession but was unable to change the flow of the game as their attacking options weathered and died.

A draw means that no matter the outcome of the second round of games both countries will enter the final round with a chance of progressing.

Man-of-the-match

My pick would be left back Razvan Rat. Tidy in possession and quick in the tackle Rat not only kept Franck Ribery quiet but he also found time to move forward to support the Romanian attack.

Italy 0-3 Netherlands

Italy is well known for starting tournaments slowly but rarely has it cost them as dearly. This time it has and even though the opening goal was undoubtedly offside the Italians were badly outplayed by a Dutch side was quicker in thought and in execution.

The second Dutch goal was as beautiful as the first one was offside. The classic counter attack came after van Bronckhorst had cleared what could have been own goal of the Dutch line and fed the ball up the left touchline. A glorious 40 yard cross field pass was headed down by Dirk Kuyt and Sneijder showed great composure and skill to hook the ball passed Buffon.

A third could have come before half time as van der Vaart played the pass of the tournament to date. He slipped awonderfully weighted pass behind Materazzi who looked like he was running in sand to van Nistelrooy. This time Buffon deflected the shot over.

Italy looked to be poorly equipped to come back from a two goal deficit. A five minute spell from the 70th minute, when first Toni and then Grosso got behind the Dutch defence and then Pirlo was denied off of a free kick by van der Sar, was the best Italy could offer.

Ironically the best Italian spell of play ended with another Dutch counter attack and another key contribution from Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Gio was smart enough to know that Kuyt would not score one-on-one with Buffon and craftily positioned himself for the cross that came after Buffon’s save. When Kuyt sent in the cross van Bronckhorst had a free jump and the goal bound header was helped across the line by Zambrotta.

A nightmare for Italy; a dream for the Dutch. But remember……it is only the start.

 
Stat check – Italy’s worst defeat at major finals since losing 4-1 to Brazil in 1970?

Comment of the Day

This was a description of Croatia midfielder Luka Modric by Peter Mallett in Saturday’s Globe & Mail.

“Traditionally known for tireless running, precision through balls and brute physical strength this 22-year-old midfielder personifies all that makes the red, white and blue checkered shirts of Croatia revered.”

Hmmm - Brute strength? At a little over 5 foot 9 inches and 143 pounds soaking wet Modric might be considered a brute by an under-13 girl’s team but that is about it.

Prediction Pool

Here is a breakdown of the winners as predicted on the blog by Friday’s posters.

Germany 25.9%

Spain 19.5%

Italy 13.9%

France 13.0%

Portugal 12.0%

Netherlands 9.2%

Romania 2.8%

Russia 1.9%

Croatia 0.9%

Sweden 0.9%

Thanks to everyone who took the contribute their predictions and I will post the interim leaders at the completion of the group stage.