You do realize that Italy had 35 total attempts and could have easily scored 5-6 goals tonight. That's not the work of an outstanding defense if you ask me.

Welcome back LaPalma. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/king.gif)

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I don't think this tournament's been boring at all. it hasn't been perfect and there have been super dull games like Spain-France, etc. but 2010 WC was definitely the worst tournament for me.

15 of which were off target.
13 of which were blocked.

So despite 'total domination', England's poor defense only forced Hart into 8 saves.

Worse than 2010, or even 2008? Don't be ridiculous. The tournament has been pretty entertaining.

It doesn't matter. If you say outstanding defense, then I understand only a handful of attempts, not 35!

There was about 25 shots from outside the box. If England shot everytime we got 25 yards from goal we'd have had 20+ shots as well. But we didn't because it's not effective - as Italy proved.

I agree with Kurt, England's defense was outstanding. but at the same time, Italy had several chances where the ball could as well go in and it wouldn't be the defense's fault. the game could've ended like 3-1 to Italy but England's defense would still get an A+.

The Diamanti one I thought was in. Hart couldn't commit in case Balo got his head on it, then when it passed Balo he had to dive down quickly - fortunatley hit the post.

If you have 25 shots from outside the box, it means the opposition has left you too much space and time to think and act. If Balo & co. had been a bit more precise in their shots, or if luck was on De Rossi's and Diamanti's side, then we'd be talking about a whole other result. Not to mention all the neat, clear opportunities they had in front of Hart. Come on, England's defense was far from outstanding tonight. And when I say defense, I mean the whole defensive manoeuvre, not just the various individual tackles from Terry, Johnson etc.

If you ask me, the worst tournament I've ever witnessed live was the WC 2002. So many wrong calls and unbelievable mistakes, unjust eliminations and overall flops by players who usually play(ed) good.

England defense was okay. But you all tend to forget that Italy has at least two sitters missed. England was all about damage control, but had Italy's attack been more lethal in the first place, we'd had at least 2 or 3 goals.

I wasn't talking about individual tackles, I was talking about the whole unit. I thought we were very impressive, probably the best defensive display so far.

OK, if that's how you feel.

England missed 2 sitters also, doesn't mean we were particular good or deserved the goals or anything.

I just realised no football for the next few days!

The "whole unit" got ripped up on numerous occasions. If it weren't for Balotelli's erratic decision making or some of his team mates making similarly ill advised shooting decisions, it could have gotten ugly. That's not to say that the brits didn't have chances of their own. Overall I'd say both teams played well