The Widening Gyre
07 July 2006, 15:38
History repeats itself. In the Euro 2000 semifinal, France beat Portugal. Zinédine Zidane scored the winning goal, a penalty, after the referee called a questionable handball. In Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal, Zidane again doomed the Portuguese from the penalty spot. There wasn’t too much question about Ricardo Carvalho’s tackle in the area, which set up the goal, but the result was the same.
France’s final opponent is the same as well. In 2000, they beat Italy 2-1 in extra time to take the European title (France also beat Italy in the 1986 and 1998 World Cups). On Sunday Les Bleus face the Azzurri for the first time since the 2000 match. They look to complete the déjà vu.
The Italians may have learned from the 2000 defeat, though. During that game, they played a dull defensive style. Once they got a goal, they sat back in a shell and allowed the French to come at them. They had stifled Zidane & Co with midfield pressure in the first half, but they ceded acres of space in the latter stages of the match. Their counter-attacks were dangerous (Del Piero should have won the game twice), but they were courting danger in the back. A goal was bound to come. It took 93 minutes. Then Sylvain Wiltord ran through the overworked Italian defense and buried his shot. The extra time seemed a formality. Italy had already lost.
This year, like every year, Italy plays stifling defense. Cannavaro is back (as are Totti and Del Piero). They have conceded only one goal. But they don’t sit back as much, and they haven’t been caught. Against Ukraine, they almost gave up the tying goal. But quickly, they struck again. And then again. They wanted to make sure of the result. Against Germany, they kept attacking 27 minutes into extra time. It paid off.
Les Bleus will start five of the same players they did in 2000. They hope that Zidane can continue playing like he did as a younger, slightly less bald, man. They will count on their own defensive stinginess, led by another veteran, Lilian Thuram.
On the other side of the ball, Thuram’s Juventus teammate Fabio Cannavaro (Five Italians and three French players play for the scandalized Juventus) will hold together a defense without the injured Allessandro Nesta. Milan men Gennaro Gattuso and the outstanding Andrea Pirlo will look to turn defense into attack.
France may may seem fated to repeat the glories of the past, but the Italians have a bit of history on their side as well. They have won 17 and only lost 7 matches against Les Bleus, and have outscored them 75-44. More significantly, they’ve reached the World Cup final every 12 years since 1970. They lost in 70, won in 82, lost in 94. In 2006, they’re due.
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This is also the final of the haute couture heavyweights. But France (Dior, YSL, Gaultier, Lacroix) and Italy (Ungaro, Armani, D&G, Versace) are both known by the same sobriquet: the blues – “Les Bleus” and “Gli Azzurri” respectively.
So which of these fashion conscious nations will dress in a manner befitting their tag? That honor will go to Armani & Co. The French will be consigned to their white jerseys for the match (which may suit them fine, the looked dashing against Portugal).
Maybe Austin can tell us how the Italian team came to be known as gli azzurri, despite the absence of that color in their flag.
— Fashion Joe · 07 July 2006, 16:28 · #
From wikipedia: “Sky blue was the color of the Royal House of the Kingdom of Italy. In its first match, the Italian national team wore white shirts with shorts from the club of each player; the sky blue shirts were introduced in the following match.”
— Austin · 07 July 2006, 16:36 · #