Now that Ramos is out I have a new Spanish player that I hate: Carvajal. It's been going on for a while but today was just another example of how annoying he is. He plays dirty, loves to try to bait his opponent, whines to the ref and gets the award for simulation on his dive late in the game. He deserved a yellow.
Yeah he pulled the same crap in the Champions League final and got rewarded by scoring the winning goal. Not a fan.Now that Ramos is out I have a new Spanish player that I hate: Carvajal. It's been going on for a while but today was just another example of how annoying he is. He plays dirty, loves to try to bait his opponent, whines to the ref and gets the award for simulation on his dive late in the game. He deserved a yellow.
Funny but during the game I said to my wife what great acting. I am sure they a training routine that teaches those "moves" given by a stunt man,
Then why did the Spanish media call Yamal and Nico the Ferraris of the competition?From an Italy perspective, this is a team in transition. The better team clearly won yesterday.
I have faith the team will be markedly stronger in 2026, once Spaletti gets to fully implement his system.
He is a great coach, and as a Napoli fan, he put together the most memorable season in the club’s history by winning the scudetto last season (even better than the Maradona years because the team was not as talented as the 1980’s group), but was hired hastily once Mancini bailed after the first two qualifiers to take the Saudi job at $25 million a year (nice combination of far greater money and far less pressure).
The team is being built from the back out. Italy has always had great goalkeepers and Donnarumma is next in line. He is clearly one of the best in the world, while his backup Vicario, has done well at Tottenham.
Bastoni and Calafiore (the own goal was fluky) are very good center backs. And their younger national teams have been doing well.
The team should still advance out of the “group of death” and depending on matchups, maybe reach the quarterfinals, which is good for me.
That’s it for me. I wanted to pivot this thread from being too German-centric. After all, Italian food, wine, and sports cars are still the undisputed kings.
No offense at all. They have to muck it up.
They can't score and Donnarumma is bound to make a mistake, don't sleep on the Swiss
Italy is not good enough to take anymore for granted. I just said they can beat Switzerland (and just as easily lose), but it will most likely end there.
That was some game. Ragnick wins the group. Sabitzer has had some season. Group C a snorefest.
Italy’s biggest issue is their front 6. Their back 4 and their keeper are all class. I really rate Bastoni (even though he missed a few free headers) and Calafiore. Calafiore missing knockout game is a problem for them. Switzerland has a nice team and I can definitely see a player like Xhaka bossing their midfield.
