The secret to Italy's success was the acres of space Pirlo kept finding vs England and Germany. That's partly down to Pirlo's brilliance, but it's also partly because England and Germany afforded him the space. As impressive as Spain are in possession, what they really do better than anyone else is win the ball back quickly when they lose by pressurising in numbers and high up the pitch. That is the true secret to their 70%-80% possession stats and as much as I'd love to see Italy win (great country, likeable people and they have my favourite non-Charlton player in Super Mario) I just don't think Spain are going to give them such an easy ride in midfield. The only question is will Spain stop just tapping the ball about long enough to try some shots?
Italians will nick a goal and defend defend defend, but this time they wont wobble just after scoring. 1-0 to the eyeties and all is forgotten in the match fixing scandal
I saw this too and was tempted, seemed very good. But then I thought about it, and it means you have a 30 minute window, so a quarter of the game for the winner to be scored, it also means that Spain will have to be held by them for at least 90 mins, also there's the fact that in a lot of cases, if no winner is found in 90, it's unlikely that one will be found in another 30. It seems that if it's a draw after 90, it will generally go to pens. So I think 11/1 is about right, but a lot of people will see it as good odds so the bookies will make a lot of money from it. Having said that it'll probably happen now...
I predicted Italy to win the tournament so that's who I'll be cheering, although I'm honestly thinking about giving the game a miss, as I can't stand watching Spain play. Made a decision not to watch the semi V's portugal and after seeing the score, i'm so glad i did. There was never going to be more than 1 goal in that game. All tippy-tap keep possession and bore the hell out of anyone watching. If that's total football, give me hoofball any day.
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16.5 to 1 2-1 italy inside 90mins on there as well
most times betfair have best price