1) Well concerns over Orlando Engelaar's ability to set up in front of the defense were proven unfounded. The soon to be Schalke man orchestrated that midfield perfectly and linked play between the defense and van der Vaart and Sneijder perfectly.
2) But he wasn't as good as Nigel de Jong, who did the hard work in the midfield, winning the ball, getting stuck-in and being an overall pain in the ass for the Italians. De Jong has had an inconsistent two years at HSV. Perhaps new coach Martin Jol will see tonight and realize he has quite the double pivot in De Jong and Vincent Kompany.
3) The flag stayed down one van Nistelrooy's opening goal because Barzagli, who got injured in a collision with Buffon and fell down behing the by-line, did count in establishing offsides. This had to be explained to us by officials, which tells you two things. The first is that the rule is way too complicated; and the second is that it was the right call as officials never comment on calls. Tough break for Italy.
4) Cannavaro's absence was felt by the midfield, who fell back to cover the backline and were overrun, by the Dutch attack. And it's not smart to play deep when facing two world-class #10's (van der Vaart and Sneijder) and a deep distributor in Engelaar.
5) Forget Luca Toni, Jan Koller or Michael Ballack.....Giovanni van Bronckhorst is the aerial king on Switzerland/Austria.
6) Don't count the Italians out. Romania will be lucky to score with that flaccid attack and France is rudderless and about to panic. Meanwhile Italy had a bad day at the office. Donadoni made all the right tactical decisions, which just didn't pan out. And his willingness to let go of Matrix bodes well for his defense going forward. Now if he can just get some service for Toni.
7) As a Dutch fan, I have to say that pessimism is the way to go. I felt they could do it 98, 00, 02 (especially 02), 04 and 06. I wrote them off months ago and look what happens. Friday is going to be the worst day ever.
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