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From: Diabolik on 9 Jul 2010 09:29
Most people were saying that the quality of football played in the last WC
was low and that Italy was an average team.

Well...looking at the quality of football played in this WC, Italy or any
other team could have won it!

If Italy would have made it out of the group stages, (with Cassano,
Borriello - and without Lippi and Cannavaro) I seriously think they would
have had a great chance to win!

Either the teams have leveled out and the 2 tier teams are better, or the
top teams are worst.

I think it's a combination of both.

From: Norm at the Inn on 9 Jul 2010 13:41
On Jul 9, 1:29 pm, "Diabolik" <Diabo...(a)nospam.com> wrote:
> Most people were saying that the quality of football played in the last WC
> was low and that Italy was an average team.
>
> Well...looking at the quality of football played in this WC, Italy or any
> other team could have won it!
>
> If Italy would have made it out of the group stages, (with Cassano,
> Borriello - and without Lippi and Cannavaro) I seriously think they would
> have had a great chance to win!
>
> Either the teams have leveled out and the 2 tier teams are better, or the
> top teams are worst.
>
> I think it's a combination of both.

Low quality? Dream on about Italy! Appalling lack of quality in that
squad. This time not even cheating well.

Norm
From: JCQ on 9 Jul 2010 15:47
On Jul 9, 1:41 pm, Norm at the Inn <normatthe...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jul 9, 1:29 pm, "Diabolik" <Diabo...(a)nospam.com> wrote:
>
> > Most people were saying that the quality of football played in the last WC
> > was low and that Italy was an average team.
>
> > Well...looking at the quality of football played in this WC, Italy or any
> > other team could have won it!
>
> > If Italy would have made it out of the group stages, (with Cassano,
> > Borriello - and without Lippi and Cannavaro) I seriously think they would
> > have had a great chance to win!
>
> > Either the teams have leveled out and the 2 tier teams are better, or the
> > top teams are worst.
>
> > I think it's a combination of both.
>
> Low quality? Dream on about Italy! Appalling lack of quality in that
> squad. This time not even cheating well.
>
> Norm

Italy and France played bad but most of the other big teams had a few
bright moments. Most of the African teams didn't show much but Japan
looked great. I enjoyed the way they played. I think the ball and
altitude had a lot to do with some of the lousy play and imprecision.
NASA just tested the ball and they concluded the same thing as what
the players have been saying. It flies all over the place mainly
because it's too light. The ball might hurt teams that like long
passes and it might help teams who like mostly short passing. It
doesn't help anyone on free kicks but sometimes on long shots it moves
in 2 different directions and the keeper has no idea where to go. I
know where the ball should have gone. In the trash! FIFA really
screwed up big time with an untested product at altitude.
From: Mango on 9 Jul 2010 18:55


"Diabolik" <Diabolik(a)nospam.com> wrote in message
news:gvFZn.479$Yv.48(a)viwinnwfe01.internal.bigpond.com...
> Most people were saying that the quality of football played in the last WC
> was low and that Italy was an average team.
>
> Well...looking at the quality of football played in this WC, Italy or any
> other team could have won it!
>
> If Italy would have made it out of the group stages, (with Cassano,
> Borriello - and without Lippi and Cannavaro) I seriously think they would
> have had a great chance to win!
>

Considering they came last in a group with New Zealand in it I doubt they
would have been able to beat anyone who made the last 16.

> Either the teams have leveled out and the 2 tier teams are better, or the
> top teams are worst.
>

Top teams are still good, its just Italy aren't one of them this time
around. There are also a lot more teams that could be called second tier
than there have been in the past. This means that when the first tier teams
are on a low point in their cycle, they can easily lose to them


> I think it's a combination of both.

Maybe in Italy's case, but most other 1st tier teams did good.

From: Diabolik on 9 Jul 2010 20:21

"Mango" <someone(a)fakemail.com> wrote in message
news:ZMNZn.494$Yv.79(a)viwinnwfe01.internal.bigpond.com...
>
>
> "Diabolik" <Diabolik(a)nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:gvFZn.479$Yv.48(a)viwinnwfe01.internal.bigpond.com...
>> Most people were saying that the quality of football played in the last
>> WC was low and that Italy was an average team.
>>
>> Well...looking at the quality of football played in this WC, Italy or any
>> other team could have won it!
>>
>> If Italy would have made it out of the group stages, (with Cassano,
>> Borriello - and without Lippi and Cannavaro) I seriously think they would
>> have had a great chance to win!
>>
>
> Considering they came last in a group with New Zealand in it I doubt they
> would have been able to beat anyone who made the last 16.

If they played like the did in the last 20mins of the last game they could
have beaten anyone.



>
>> Either the teams have leveled out and the 2 tier teams are better, or the
>> top teams are worst.
>>
>
> Top teams are still good, its just Italy aren't one of them this time
> around. There are also a lot more teams that could be called second tier
> than there have been in the past. This means that when the first tier
> teams are on a low point in their cycle, they can easily lose to them
>
>
>> I think it's a combination of both.
>
> Maybe in Italy's case, but most other 1st tier teams did good.

Brasil, Argentina and Germany did good???

Usually one of these teams reach the final, if not both.

If you add Italy and France then the top teams didn't do well.

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