Italy deserve credit for the way they dominated the quarter-final against England, but the fact that they won on penalties reflects wasteful in front of goal that must be addressed.
When I had the opportunity to sit with Gianluigi Buffon, on Friday he seemed pretty sure that there will be no penalties against England. "When you think too far from how a party may terminate, not pan out that way, but usually ends before," he said.
Maybe he was just trying to see the bright side, in the belief that Italy were good enough to win the game in normal time. In theory they were: the Italians completely dominated the quarter-finals in Kiev, the discharge of 35 attempts at goal against England in nine years.
However, despite their possession, the world champions on four occasions have not been able to convert opportunities. There have been only four strikes in as many matches and if the side of Cesare Prandelli for further progress will need to address their profligacy in front of goal.
It might have been so different if Daniele De Rossi is turning, no first shot ricocheted off a post in the early stages, or have had the same midfielder not to scratch the second half the effort wide with only Hart to beat Joe . However, the harder they tried the least convincing of the Azzurri became the business end.
Prandelli team defended well, with only Buffon calls the action of time when stored either Glen Johnson, while Andrea Pirlo was again stellar performer of the night, somehow always making time for yourself in the ball and spraying passes into the danger zone at will.
It was a performance period, however, as Mario Balotelli continued to miss opportunities, Antonio Nocerino was denied first by the magnificent Johnson and then by the offside trap and hit the foot Diamanti in overtime, it was clear that Italy could play for another ten hours and still not score.
In the end, England almost scraped, but the two Ashleys and Italy fell short lived to fight another day, thanks in part to a bizarre penalty by Pirlo bold.
Italy, it should be noted, deserves great credit for the way they played, but will require a lot of shooting practice before the semifinal against Germany on Thursday if your adventure does not come to an abrupt end.
When I had the opportunity to sit with Gianluigi Buffon, on Friday he seemed pretty sure that there will be no penalties against England. "When you think too far from how a party may terminate, not pan out that way, but usually ends before," he said.
Maybe he was just trying to see the bright side, in the belief that Italy were good enough to win the game in normal time. In theory they were: the Italians completely dominated the quarter-finals in Kiev, the discharge of 35 attempts at goal against England in nine years.
However, despite their possession, the world champions on four occasions have not been able to convert opportunities. There have been only four strikes in as many matches and if the side of Cesare Prandelli for further progress will need to address their profligacy in front of goal.
It might have been so different if Daniele De Rossi is turning, no first shot ricocheted off a post in the early stages, or have had the same midfielder not to scratch the second half the effort wide with only Hart to beat Joe . However, the harder they tried the least convincing of the Azzurri became the business end.
Prandelli team defended well, with only Buffon calls the action of time when stored either Glen Johnson, while Andrea Pirlo was again stellar performer of the night, somehow always making time for yourself in the ball and spraying passes into the danger zone at will.
It was a performance period, however, as Mario Balotelli continued to miss opportunities, Antonio Nocerino was denied first by the magnificent Johnson and then by the offside trap and hit the foot Diamanti in overtime, it was clear that Italy could play for another ten hours and still not score.
In the end, England almost scraped, but the two Ashleys and Italy fell short lived to fight another day, thanks in part to a bizarre penalty by Pirlo bold.
Italy, it should be noted, deserves great credit for the way they played, but will require a lot of shooting practice before the semifinal against Germany on Thursday if your adventure does not come to an abrupt end.
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