July 4: The Daily World Cup Wrap

The 2 goals were superb goals! Grosso was not marked when the corner kick was taken, he did well to equalise. Del Piero finished off nicely as well in the last minute.

Italy is like a team of tough strong players that act like wimps! They have already WON the World Cup Best Acting Awards for diving and trying to win fouls. Can these guys please stop acting and go on with the game. Please give us a good finals and stop influencing the refs to make the wrong decisions!

What a shame for the host nation fans, who were certainly deserving and put on a FANtastic event!!

The German team can hold their heads high – they played a great game today, as they did every game in this World Cup. The Italians dug a little deeper today, that’s all. Germany (and its people) have been wonderful hosts for this Cup, and I’m sorry to see their team go.

And props to Daryl, for acknowledging the referee as today’s top man – FIFA needs to hire more guys like him, for sure.

And we will hold a grand fan fest for the finals, no matter what teams win. Germans are going to go out of this world cup as good hosts and not as sore losers

Sure, the ref let the game flow, but he ignored too many dodgy tackles for my liking.

And while any comment about Italy diving etc. tickles me, I think there was very little of that today. Let’s hope this continues in the final.

I second that well deserved vote for Sr. Archundia as the top man of the day. He even managed the minor miracle of forcing the Italian team to concentrate on playing the good looking football that they are capable of, instead of behaving like they are all auditioning for a role in some dramatic opera.
Congrats to Italy! It has been 12 years, and as history shows, it was their turn again.

Rooney and Ballack were sort like achieving God-like status in their country. Now, both of them is either a victim of workin too hard-n-gettin-alota-card (Rooney), or a victim of burnt-out (Ballack) by their stupid managers. I thought tis was supposed to be a team-playin kinda game, it’s clear tat Ballack is not fit for the whole 90 mins. That’s crazy.

Yay for Benito Archundia! We Mexicans, have alot to be proud of in this World Cup.

Amazing game, It kept you at the edge of your seat until the final minute. Tough but the game was great. Even though I was happy Italy won, the game was played the way it is supposed to be played, with class on both sides. Forza Azzuri.

1.) ballack isnt a “hero” here ( its always the team that counts here in germany)
2.) for ” MY ” part, i see a lot of divers at the italian team. playing like little girls crying all the time…
3. ) im sad but proud. we had such a good time here in germany, the whole country … never seen that before and if you dont live here you wouldnt understand it.
4.) the first goal was really a good goal! our GK never could get this one but it was luck and nothin else. the second one … doesnt matter anymore …

so im feeling really sad now but who cares… not because we loose because now the life will go on an the hole party will come to an end.

so i hope portugal or france will win this cup
pro POR never get a star before : deserve it!
pro FRA last game of one of the biggest players of europe, the “OLD” zidane who still kicks ass

thank you all for this great party i really enjoyed this worldcup all this people…
just amazing

the teams i find the most amazing and exciting this WC
Australia , Cote dé ivoire and for sure my own country ;)see you 2010 when our team grow up :)

the more i think about … my eyes are getting wet… damn never tought fotball would be so impressive… what a wonderful WC :)

I think Mexico was the big winner (ggod ref; good team. WC to Mexico at the next opportunity. Viva Mexico

It’s funny to read german critics VS italy :) It’s normal that germans hope in a portugal or france wictory vs us, but i think that italy in this worldcup is a very strong team and we have more worldcup experience than other teams.
I’m sorry for germans people, but that is the football, see you in the next european cup :)

Loone, I think if you read most of what has been written here (certainly by Germans), it has been rather complimentary as to the game, without any hint of anti-Italian sentiment. I wish I could say the same of what I have read from the vast majority of Italian fans. Sorry, but if you are wondering why people might be rooting against Italy in the final, you should read the comments from your countrymen

Yeah, Loone, I agree with Dirk. The Germans have congratulated the Italians. And nobody will ask FIFA to suspend an Italian player. That is the way football is supposed to be played… The team, the players, not the whining press. Italy played very well and so did Germany. Germany did it throughout the cup. Italy looked very ugly against the USA. Other than that, Loone Tuney, think before you write false accusations, Even the the trashy BILD wrote, well the Italians werer just a tick better… Of course I want the French to win. Why? Instead of bashing and bashing and bashing and whining, they play ball. Go France!

I just came back home. Partying all over here in italy too bad i got to work tomorrow, it’ll last all night.
I don’t care someone is keep on saying we are cheats and bs like that. I only know it was one hell of a match, fair, great sportsmanship and we deserved it. I am so proud of our team. Congrats to Germany and their audience. Italy- Germany is a classic it will never let you down.

Italy beat Germany and USA tied with Italy – Maybe USA record is not so bad this World Cup?

Juillet4, USA is looking fine and wait when they get their soccer act together….
Pao… Italy played great and so did Germany. One of the best games thus far in the cup. Congratulations..
And also Kudos to the ref….

Only a Polish fan can sympathize with the German fans tonight. Except I’m not sympathizing. Ever hear of Schadenfreude?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude

Yes it is heartbreaking to lose a game in the last minute isn’t it…….

US lost to Czech Republic while Italy beat them. So how do you figure?

juillet4: Italy has 1 goal against them this tournament committed by their own player during the USA game. Also games in the World Cup are not transitive.

My post was so unnecessary hahah…

It was the best game so far in this world cup. Amazing goals after hitting the post twice. Great play by Italians equally good by Germans.

I don’t understand. People say that italians say bad things and we’re not liked, but it’s not our newspapers that publishes numbers of pizzerias and telling the country to call theam all at once b/c we’re not going to win tonight.

It’;s not our newspaper that portrays italians as parasites as having greasy hair and being all delivery drivers.

When will this stop, we italians are one of the most heart warming people you’ll ever meet but if you talk negatively about us what do you expect. For years we’ve been criticized and been the posterboys of negativety. From losing in catenaccio to baggio missing his pk.

We deserve this and there’s nothing anyone can do to take away what those 23 men have done on the pitch.

Oh and one more thing i wanna see someone get tackled with studs up during a game an dnot roll around in pain afterwards.

Actors HA! laughable man

and another thing, there’s a german driver that’s been winnning with Ferrari for the past 10 years, there should be better sentiment between germany and italy.

Love Germany. Love Italy. Let there not be any animosity between the two of you!

World Cup = New friends!

It was a great game Italy was great and will always be great. Hope they face off with France.

italy played like a good team should today. i was going for germany but italy was brilliant at the end of the game. although i dont think some of there players are good sports. the guy who pretended to make up with ballack only to rip him accross the neck when the hug finished is a classic example. i will be going for france or portugal in the final because i just cant bare too see italy win. but having said that i think you italian fans would be happy i’m not going for italy because i thought spain and argentina would win, then germany and brazil would make the final and they both have lost. so i cant pick a winner and seems the team i go for loses so at that rate itali will win.

A despondent England reveal their new post World Cup strip…

http://static.flickr.com/70/181081255_e7f145027f_o.jpg

;-)

Cheers

super_si

The game was beautiful, both teams played well, and the best team won.
As for the rest, the Germans were good hosts, but the unfairness shown by some (Beckenbauer, Der Spiegel, “you are pizza delivery men”, repeated over and over, showed the ugliness under the civilized surface.
They deserved the thumping kick in the ass they got. And since they are now fans of France and Portugal, another big one is coming. when Italy will win the World Cup on German soil.
Bye, Fritz! Bye Ballocks!

This was a beautiful game, and either team could have won (although the 10 shots by Italy vs Germany’s 2 certainly gave Italy the edge).

People like Dirk and Suzie Q have claimed that Italians have no right to be defensive, as Germany was gracious and Italy were (apparently) poor sports. Clearly they haven’t been following anything on this blog or in the German press, where Italians have been called by ethnic slurs, with constant references to the mafia, diving, primadonnas, etc etc.

Indeed, the comment that Loone was replying to said “for ” MY ” part, i see a lot of divers at the italian team. playing like little girls crying all the time,” which was just echoing what dozens of other German fans have said on this blog alone.

While many people are good sports, it can’t be denied that Italy has faced a lion’s share of racist insults this world cup — heck, it was even commented on and lamented by the US press. I can tell you that I’m sure glad I’m not an Italian in German today.

While I can’t agree with you about the “Italian in Germany” comment — most Germans I know are the most welcoming people in the world — it’s certainly true that the anti-Italy crowd on this blog is hateful and nasty.

Of course, the Italy supportors are begging for some insults, as there has been a lot of posts saying “we are the best” and so on (although I expect most supporters would do this). However, the level of hatered and racist insults on this blog has gone beyond anything that they could deserve. Bob or some administrator should put a stop to it.

Lude, you are the worst hypocrite that ever existed.
You, as a German, admire the Cote d’Ivoire (100% black) and France, your secular enemy, and whose players are 50% black?
You wrote that as a sort of petty revenge, because you are desperate about your loss.. But I never laughed so much as when I read your post.
The truth is that the Germans despise all foreigners, except those of German stock. Not only the Italians, and the French, and the Greeks, and the Spaniards and Chinese and so on.

Dominick, please, that’s unnecessary and entirely untrue. Why on earth shouldn’t a German like the Cote d’Ivoire?? To suggest otherwise is just as racist as the charges you’ve accused Lude of.

Obviously, I entirely disagree with him about “Italians playing like little girls crying all the time,” but then, most people on the losing side of a game see the world quite differently from the rest of us. It’s only natural.

Sam, I agree, let’s be politically correct and say that the Germans are very hospitable to foreigners of all kinds.
But allow me just another little zing: a saw a lot of “little girls crying on the field” and they were Herr Ballack and and temmates rolling on the pitch in tears.

Forza Azzuri, Viva Italia. Up your Azz to all you anti Italians.

i’m sick, i can’t read this anymore….you know what’s funny though most people would say half of these things in that manner if it were in person. It’s being behind a computer screen where people feel immune and protected b the things they say., But in the real world it wouldn’t fly and maybe even get hurt by doing it. I wish we could use the same prudence when speaking on here or have a moderator.