nothing, special. All the big teams hardly won their games against middle teams

wat the hell is wrong with italia? a draw against lithuania? worldcup winners? tsk tsk tsk....

Except England of course and France.

France had a great win. though Georgia was playing without Kaladze

Gila...did once more...nothing ...

lucky Georgia!!!

the joke about Georiga is that they have very quality players (not only Kaladze, and let's accept that Kaladze who is playing in Milan, is a top quality player for such a country) but never can organize it's game in national squad, even against equal teams.

Meh , Greece won 

yes that pathetic team of ours somehow managed to put that round thing in the "back of the net" in the end ... thank God I missed that match!!!

next round is in 3 days. I'm going to go watch my country's game against Belgium. Hope we can kick their ***

Every Top country had a hard time against smaller teams , so in the end Greece came out fine.

yes I have to, I wish we had lost by a good 10-0 if that means our basketball national team would win ... man I'm so sad!!!!   

I hope so too !!! Go Armenia !!!   

Ah , Italy will go trough as always. Alltough when they won he WC during the 80's they didnt manage to qualify for the euro cup afterwards.

Hope they'll do it better next time.

Gattuso aims anger at France

Gennaro Gattuso is furious at Italy’s failure to win their opening Euro 2008 qualifier and wants to take his anger out on France next week.

“I’m livid that we weren’t able to get a victory for us and Coach Roberto Donadoni,” stated the midfielder following their disappointing 1-1 draw with Lithuania.


“There’s no such thing as an easy opponent in modern football. From now on, we have to get it into our heads that we are World Champions and that means every team will face us with extra aggression and determination.”


Donadoni is still looking for his first victory on the Azzurri bench after this draw and a 2-0 friendly defeat to Croatia.


He faces his toughest test yet – and a potentially crucial Euro 2008 qualifying game – in Paris on Wednesday evening.


“It’ll be tough in France, but the crowd won’t scare us,” insisted ‘Ringhio’ Gattuso. “It’ll already be a decisive match, even if the result against Lithuania won’t make us anxious. If anything, it increases our desire to prove who we really are to the French.”


The controversy after the World Cup Final, won by Italy on penalties after a 1-1 draw and Zinedine Zidane’s dismissal for headbutting Marco Materazzi, rumbles on in some quarters and tension is expected to be very high at the Stade de France.


The Euro 2008 qualifying campaign can be followed here. France earned a comfortable 3-0 win in Georgia, while Scotland thrashed the Faroe Islands 6-0.

...

we will!!!!!!!!!!
we'll beat Spain next year in Euro and win it again for the third time!!!!!!!!

I know man ... We played awefull today , nothing worked    It was clear spain was playing for the 3 pointers and Greece was so stupid to let them throw it without defence. 

Well , cant win it all ... Better luck next time .

As always , forza hellas !! 

Oh lord , take me now , its all going downhill from here ...

For me, the USA-Hellas match was the real final. I guess they just gave more then everything against the Dream team and lost strenght and concentration for the final. Be proud of your country...European football( ) and bastketball( ) champions, World basketball runners up,...impressive...

Well...as seen on the picture, Pippo seems to be Italys only hope this time
And about Frances revenge, I'v seen Thierry Henry on Eurosport and he said even if France would win they won't have their revenge because they're still not World champions...
Oh BTW I still don't know which team I should support, I'm still so pissed because of that night in Dortmund a few weeks ago...

How can you not support Pippo???

Belive me...those few times a year I defeinetely can...(after all I WILL hate Grosso until he ends his career...but Pippo...I just can't hate this guy  )

Roberto Donadoni's Italy career is in trouble after France took a 3-1 World Cup revenge, leaving their Euro 2008 hopes in dire straits.

Roberto Donadoni was already under pressure after the 1-1 draw with Lithuania and made changes to that line-up, introducing Franco Semioli, Gianluca Zambrotta and Alberto Gilardino for the 4-4-1-1 system that Italy employed in their World Cup win. Massimo Oddo, Daniele De Rossi and Pippo Inzaghi made way.

France were still smarting from that Final defeat on penalties and, although Zinedine Zidane has retired and Marco Materazzi was suspended, this was all set to be a tense encounter.

Before kick-off there was a minute's silence to mark the death of Inter President and legendary Azzurri captain Giacinto Facchetti. The Italian team also wore black armbands.

Les Bleus were still livid after that Berlin loss and it showed, as they came sprinting out of the blocks and within the opening 90 seconds Sidney Govou had volleyed a William Gallas cross low into the far corner past Gigi Buffon. As against Lithuania, the defending left something to be desired, although replays showed that the Arsenal defender was clearly offside when he got the ball.

The Azzurri, playing in white, fought back with Zambrotta's shot flashing over the bar, but Franck Ribery's cross just missed Inter's Patrick Vieira in the centre. Andrea Barzagli was at full stretch to toe-poke Thierry Henry's cut-back out of harm's way inside the penalty area, but France were pouring forward in droves.

On 17 minutes Buffon had his palms stung by a Florent Malouda rocket only for Henry to latch on to the loose ball and sidefoot it in from a tight angle with the aid of a Fabio Cannavaro deflection.

However, Italy pulled a goal back moments later. As in the World Cup Final, they were superior on set-pieces and Gilardino was allowed a free header on Andrea Pirlo's free kick to glance it past Gregory Coupet.

Cannavaro was muscled off a header with only Coupet to beat, but Buffon was at full stretch to tip Willy Sagnol's strike round the base of the near post.

Italy couldn't have gone closer to 2-2 on 27 minutes. Grosso hooked down a long pass and skipped past Sagnol, Semioli slid on to his cross and Coupet somehow managed to prod the ball off the line before it could go over completely. There were also penalty appeals, as Eric Abidal tussled with Semioli as he tried to get back on to the loose ball.

Cannavaro was booked for a challenge on Ribery and the Italian defence struggled to clear its lines, particularly with some weak Barzagli clearances, although the Palermo defender did well to block a Malouda shot. Donadoni also called Cassano several times to ensure he came back to help the midfield.

Henry was yellow carded for holding back Semioli as he sprinted down the right flank, while Simone Perrotta was foolishly booked for kicking the ball after the whistle had blown, so he'll be suspended against the Ukraine.

Cassano barely made an impact in the first half, but just before the break he shimmied clear of two markers and threaded through for Gilardino, who was just offside.

Cannavaro intelligently cut off Govou to prevent him running on to Henry's pass, while Barzagli cleared a looping Ribery free kick. From the resulting corner, Vieri nodded over the bar.

The Azzurri were still struggling to create chances, so Donadoni replaced Semioli with David Di Michele of Palermo, switching to a trident attack. However, this left Italy even more over-run in midfield and within seconds France scored their third goal. Sagnol's assist was glanced into the far corner off Govou's head for his second of the game, but there were few celebrations as he clashed heads with Cannavaro. The captain came off worse and was stretchered off in a dazed condition, but he was able to continue after treatment. Several minutes later he still seemed dizzy and out of sorts.

Di Michele set Gilardino running and Coupet ran out to clear, but although the goalkeeper did not touch the ball and did catch him accidentally with his legs, the Milan striker was booked for simulation.

Ribery was completely clear on the left flank and the ball eventually reached Govou, who missed his hat-trick by a matter of inches with an angled drive. Henry threaded though for Ribery and Buffon timed his move perfectly to pluck the ball off his foot. Gattuso acting as last man managed to head back to his goalkeeper despite being out-sprinted by Ribery on the counter-attack, while the Marseille man again drilled off target from an Henry assist.

Inzaghi, who scored against Lithuania, replaced a totally anonymous Cassano for the final 20 minutes and Sylvain Wiltord came on for Govou. Cannavaro recovered from his earlier injury with a powerful header on Pirlo's free kick, forcing Coupet into a great save.

Gilardino's long-range strike dipped well wide and De Rossi was the final substitution after Gila picked up a knock in a clash with Vieira. Di Michele's ambitious lob didn't catch out Coupet in stoppages and Grosso was booked.

Now October's ties in Rome against the Ukraine and away to Georgia become decisive if Donadoni is to have any hope of reaching Euro 2008.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

France: Coupet; Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal; Ribery (Saha 88), Vieira, Makelele, Malouda; Govou (Wiltord 75), Henry
Italy: Buffon; Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Barzagli, Grosso; Semioli (Di Michele 54), Gattuso, Pirlo, Perrotta; Cassano (Inzaghi 73), Gilardino (De Rossi 87)
Ref: Fandel (Ger)


link

Germany win 13-0 to set record 

Podolski scored four goals in the 13-0 win
Germany set a European Championship qualifying record after crushing San Marino 13-0 in the principality.
Striker Lukas Podolski scored four, with Bastian Schweinsteiger, while Miroslav Klose and Thomas Hitzlsperger all scoring two goals each.

Michael Ballack, Arne Friedrich and Bernd Schneider with a penalty were also on target in the game, which saw Germany lead 6-0 at the break.

Germany's Group D win bettered Spain's 12-1 victory over Malta in 1983.

Germany top Group D, which includes Wales and the Republic of Ireland, on goal difference.

Joachim Loew's side have six points, the same as the Czech Republic, who beat neighbours Slovakia 3-0 in Bratislava.

The result was also the worst in San Marino's history - 14 years ago they lost 10-0 to Norway.

San Marino's population is just 27,000, though the game was watched by a crowd of just over 5,000

link

Germany win 13-0 to set record 

Podolski scored four goals in the 13-0 win
Germany set a European Championship qualifying record after crushing San Marino 13-0 in the principality.
Striker Lukas Podolski scored four, with Bastian Schweinsteiger, while Miroslav Klose and Thomas Hitzlsperger all scoring two goals each.

Michael Ballack, Arne Friedrich and Bernd Schneider with a penalty were also on target in the game, which saw Germany lead 6-0 at the break.

Germany's Group D win bettered Spain's 12-1 victory over Malta in 1983.

Germany top Group D, which includes Wales and the Republic of Ireland, on goal difference.

Joachim Loew's side have six points, the same as the Czech Republic, who beat neighbours Slovakia 3-0 in Bratislava.

The result was also the worst in San Marino's history - 14 years ago they lost 10-0 to Norway.

San Marino's population is just 27,000, though the game was watched by a crowd of just over 5,000

Poor San Marino...

From the resulting corner, Vieri nodded over the bar

WTF. He is not mentioned i the team line ups, and Donadoni would really have lost it he brought him back!

Who the hell is Semioli. I don't get why Cassano is back. Its good to see Pippo back, but, Del Piero or Gila should be his partner. Is Grosso injured or something, otherwise why wasnt he at LB and therefore Zambrotta at RB? All a bit concerning from the old Milan man. I'm astonished that that defence conceded 3 times, but I suppose it was weakened a bit.

Italy have some hard work now to qualify. Thye'll have to beat France at home I think.

Frankly, IMO Donadoni did not deserved to be infront the National team as coach...and that`s it. He is just the wrong man, like Marco VB in Holland. As soon as the Federation sack him and appoint someone decent for that job, the good results will return.

Italy - Croatia 0:2

Italy - Lithuania 1:1

France - Italy 1:3

It speaks of itself...

is it about the players? or the coach?

do you guys think that if Lippi was still with them, Italy would've been in this situation?

Albertini feels the pressure


FIGC vice-commissioner Demetrio Albertini has again defended Coach Roberto Donadoni, but admits their Euro 2008 hopes are hanging by a thread.

“We chose Donadoni and we’ll defend him till the end. He went around Italy and Europe to view the players and see what condition they were in, as he has to work with the circumstances right now. It’s true this is a critical time at the start of the season, but the FIGC doesn’t need to keep defending its choice.”


Albertini is the man who picked his former Milan teammate for this position, but so far Donadoni has picked up just one draw and two defeats, including tonight’s 3-1 loss in Paris.


“It was clear to everyone that France were going at 100mph and we were always second to the ball. Unfortunately the timing of this tie was bad for us. We saw a great France and fought as hard as we could in the circumstances.”

This leaves the Azzurri with just one point from two Euro 2008 games, so they are five adrift of joint leaders France and Scotland.


“It’s a tough situation now, more so for the points we dropped on Saturday against Lithuania, but you can never tell in football and it’s still early days,” insisted Albertini.


Now their chances of reaching the European Championships depend on the next two matches, taking on Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine in Rome on October 7 and visiting Georgia four days later.


“Mistakes can happen and the lads did well to come back into it after going 2-0 down to France. The right spirit is there and the World champions are fighting hard in a difficult moment for us. I can assure everyone that in a month’s time it will be a different Italy side.”

I don't get why Cassano is back.