Familiar foes set to duel again


Opponents in the UEFA EURO 2000™ and 2006 FIFA World Cup finals and again in qualifying for these finals, France and Italy renew their high-profile rivalry in their concluding Group C fixture in Zurich.

• The stakes are likely to be high again given the formidable-looking makeup of a section that also includes the Netherlands and Romania, but both sides can take heart from recent history.

• Italy beat France on penalties in the World Cup final but Les Bleus can point to a golden-goal win against their neighbours to win UEFA EURO 2000™. Raymond Domenech's team also took four points off Italy on the road to Austria-Switzerland, despite eventually finishing three points below them in qualifying Group B.

• The Azzurri pipped France to the world crown by winning 5-3 on penalties in Berlin on 9 July 2006. Zinédine Zidane opened the scoring with a seventh-minute spot-kick before Marco Materazzi equalised after 19 minutes on a night most memorable for Zidane's extra-time headbutt on Materazzi that earned the Frenchman a red card.

• Italy's successful spot-kick takers in the ensuing shoot-out were Andrea Pirlo, Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Grosso. Sylvain Wiltord, Eric Abidal and Willy Sagnol all scored for France but David Trezeguet struck the crossbar with his kick.

• The teams that night were:
Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso, Mauro Camoranesi, Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Simone Perrotta, Francesco Totti, Luca Toni.
France: Fabien Barthez, Willy Sagnol, Lilian Thuram, William Gallas, Eric Abidal, Franck Ribéry, Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, Zinédine Zidane, Florent Malouda, Thierry Henry.

• Del Piero, De Rossi and Vincenzo Iaquinta appeared as substitutes for Italy, and Alou Diarra, Trezeguet and Wiltord for France.

• The teams met again just two months later in a UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying match at the Stade de France and this time France prevailed. They made a lightning start with Sidney Govou scoring after two minutes and Thierry Henry doubling the lead on 18. Although Alberto Gilardino replied for Italy two minutes later, Govou restored France's two-goal advantage ten minutes after half-time.

• The most recent meeting between France and Italy was a goalless draw in Milan on 8 September 2007.

• The teams that night were:
Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Massimo Oddo, Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Barzagli, Gianluca Zambrotta, Daniele De Rossi, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Mauro Camoranesi, Alessandro Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi.
France: Mickaël Landreau, Lassana Diarra, Lilian Thuram, Julien Escudé, Eric Abidal, Franck Ribéry, Claude Makelele, Patrick Vieira, Florent Malouda, Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka.

• It goes without saying that the countries' most significant encounter in the UEFA European Championship came on 2 July 2000 in Rotterdam where a 103rd-minute golden goal from substitute Trezeguet earned France their second continental crown. Italy had earlier taken a 55th-minute lead through Marco Delvecchio only for Wiltord, another France substitute, to equalise in the dying seconds of normal time.

• Lilian Thuram, Henry and Trezeguet are France's survivors from that final, while Fabio Cannavaro and substitutes Massimo Ambrosini and Del Piero remain with Italy.

• The 2006 World Cup final is the only time that France have lost to Italy in eight matches and it is 30 years since the Azzurri's last win in open play against their rivals, a 2-1 success at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

• Besides their UEFA EURO 2000™ triumph, France beat Italy in the second round of the World Cup in 1986 and the quarter-finals in 1998.

• The overall head-to-head record for this fixture is 18 Italy wins, nine France wins and eight draws, with victories on penalties counted as wins.

• France, under Domenech, suffered a UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying play-off defeat by Italy in November 1999. After a 1-1 first-leg draw, Thierry Henry opened the scoring in the return for France but the Azzurrini fought back to win 2-1, Andrea Pirlo deciding the tie for the hosts in extra time.

• Italy coach Roberto Donadoni was in the AC Milan team defeated by Olympique de Marseille in the 1993 UEFA Champions League final.

• Italy full-back Grosso plays his club football for Olympique Lyonnais where he is a team-mate of French internationals Hatem Ben Arfa, Karim Benzema, Jean-Alain Boumsong, François Clerc, Grégory Coupet, Govou and Jérémy Toulalan.

• France midfielder Patrick Vieira formerly played with Grosso at FC Internazionale Milano. Vieira now counts Azzurri defender Materazzi among his Inter team-mates.

• France goalkeeper Sébastien Frey plays with Italy pair Riccardo Montolivo and Franco Semioli at ACF Fiorentina, where he also appeared alongside Luca Toni. Azzurri striker Toni is now a team-mate of French internationals Willy Sagnol and Franck Ribéry at FC Bayern München.

• France's Abidal, Henry and Thuram are colleagues of Italy full-back Gianluca Zambrotta at FC Barcelona.

• France defender Philippe Mexes plays alongside Italian internationals Christian Panucci, Simone Perrotta and De Rossi at AS Roma.

• France forward Trezeguet plays with Italy's Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Mauro Camoranesi and Del Piero at Juventus.

• Italy have a positive recent memory of the Letzigrund Stadion in Zurich after defeating fellow UEFA EURO 2008™ finalists Portugal 3-1 there on 6 February this year.

• France, appearing in their fifth successive UEFA European Championship, were European champions on home soil in 1984 and lifted the Henri Delaunay trophy for a second time in 2000.

• Italy's best performance in the UEFA European Championship came when they beat Yugoslavia in the 1968 final. They were runners-up in 2000 and semi-finalists in 1988 with a team featuring Donadoni himself.

• This is the 13th edition of the UEFA European Championship and the eighth edition that features a final tournament with a group phase.

At least one of the last World Cup's finalists will be sent home next tuesday.

Make your bets now.

2 days left to place your bets.

Here's the situation:

- If Romania win their game against Holland, they are qualified with 5 points. Italy and France are eliminated with a maximum of 4 points.

- If Romania draw with Holland, and France draw with Italy as well, Romania are qualified with 3 points. France and Italy are eliminated with 2 points.
If France and Italy don't draw, then the winner is qualified with 4 points, Romania eliminated with 3.

- If Romania lose to Holland and France and Italy don't draw, they are eliminated with 2 points, and the winner of France - Italy is qualified with 4.
If France and Italy draw, then we have a three way tie with Romania, France and Italy with 2 points all.
In that particular case, France are eliminated because of their goal-less game against Romania, and the team to qualify will depend on how many goals have been scored in tuesday's games:
If France - Italy draw 0-0, Italy are qualified.
If France - Italy draw 1 - 1 or more, it will depend on how many goals Romania will have taken. A short defeat would qualify them.

As both games take place simultaneously, we will not know until the last minute who, from France and Italy, will be sent home.
But one of them will, and there will be no need of extra-time or penalties to decide, the key being in the Holland - Romania game.

So, no matter if Romania lose or draw, we have to beat Italy anyway.

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Italy will crush the niggaz!

I don't bet a kopeck

Last day for your bets:

France win

Atlantic 20
francois 20
whizz2 100
gilthoniel 100
Fredmasse 40
CaptBHLiddelHart 5

Italy win

mamud 20
ollliver 10
BiteMeFrance 50
feathers 100

Draw

Zatsuks 10
LondonCalling 10

Alongside this France v Italy prediction, you can also bet on who, from Romania, Italy or France, will make it to this Euro's next round:

www.fuckfrance.com . . .

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Italia 8 goals - 6 Headbuts and 3 redcards for France.

I WIN, ONCE AGAIN… It's easy, you just bet against the baboons!!!

wanker, flame reported in wrong section

Italy and mamud, ollliver, BiteMeFrance, feathers, idahoboy, iciparis, jagerdr, TheCaledonian, suvrata win.

I thought this game would have the dramatic intensity of a classic tragedy, it was in fact more like a comedy.
Ah well, France does slightly better than in the World Cup 2002, at least they scored one goal, or even 2 if you include last night's Thierry Henry's goal against France!

I only wish his foot would have the same precision in front of our opponents' goals as he had in front of ours.

Ribery's injury, the red card, the penalty, the referee's multiple mistakes against France, the incredible number of occasions both sides missed... this game was a nightmare that would almost make us regret the 2 previous games, and would almost make us relieved to leave the Euro now.

Good luck to Italy for the end of the competition, they'll need it!


Bets for tonight's 1st round's last games deciding of the last quarter finals last ticket are open here:

www.fuckfrance.com . . .

Atlantic :

the referee's multiple mistakes against France

Not to mention the Dutch defensor who stopped the ball with his hand last friday... Everyone saw him but the referee.

When it's cursed, it's cursed.

Sad to say, Henry is a shadow of the player that graced Arsenal.

Not to mention the Dutch defensor who stopped the ball with his hand last friday...

Yeah, Holland had 2 goalkeepers.
Italy 13 players (their 11, Henry and the referee), when we had only 10... or less...

In those conditions, I would say that France did pretty well!

Show some grace, froggies. You were useless, you scored one goal in the tournament, finished bottom of your group and all was thoroughly deserved. You just make yourselves look even more pathetic blaming the ref.

Since 1998 ...

1 world cup
1 world cup final

1 Euro

2 Fed cup

Meanwhile Germany, Spain and England have had nothing.

We should not be ashamed of our national team.

We should not be ashamed of our national team.

That was your national team? None of them seemed much interested in playing for fwance. Probably they'll be happier back in the Premiership picking up their big salaries.

The "fWansh" team looked like an institution for retired banana-pickers… What a shame! You were waiting, every minute, to see a NURSE come on the field to give them porridge and change their diapers…

That was your national team? None of them seemed much interested in playing for fwance.

Unfortunately, you're right

When France wins it's a great team and when they lose it's because of their ethnic members...!
It's not as simple as that.

I think the young players were a bit "green" and did not have the time to integrate the group.

But it is true there was no balance in the team unlike 1998 or 2000.
We can't always win, it's a lesson.

Fredmasse wrote:

When France wins it's a great team and when they lose it's because of their ethnic members...!
It's not as simple as that.

Are you joking Fred?
Don't you remember the black blanc beur winning team???
There was a real propaganda about the pseudo success of a multi-ethnic France after 1998!
It was because there was a multi ethnic team that we won the world cup in 98, so it's because of this same kind of team we are loosing since!

Fuck multi-ethnicism!

In 1998 2000 it was a perfect alchemy, in 2008 it's a disaster.

Congrats Freddy, i drunk at your healt yesterday.

www.fuckfrance.com . . .