Eternity RPC Board
04-18-2017, 11:27 PM
Thriller in Marseille
![[Image: MZomvts.jpg?1]](http://i.imgur.com/MZomvts.jpg?1)
Euro 2000, the tournament hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands together, is sometimes considered the best tournament in the history of football, due to the enormous amount of goals being scored. The dull, defensive tournaments of the 1990's had been replaced thanks to prolific attacking teams like France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Yugoslavia. The crushing 6-1 defeat of Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals by the Netherlands confirmed this was a festival of attacking football, and the Dutch were by far the most entertaining team, and at least expected to make it to the finals. One team stuck with the attitude and playing style of the 1990's: Italy.
The Italians were the villains of Euro 2000. They refused to attack, they relied on their defense, they played cynical, and everyone criticized their manager Dino Zoff for the boring games. The universe wanted the Dutch, practicing the attacking Dutch school of football, to play against the Italians - the practitioners of the Dark Arts, to play in the semi-finals. Within half an hour of the game, the Dutch had hit the post of the Italian goal, and the Italians went a man down when Gianluca Zambrotta took two yellow cards. The Dutch were awarded a penalty kick, but they missed. Then the agony, for me as a kid watching, started. The Italians withdrew to their own box, and gave up on football. The Dutch produced spectacular football, scoring chance after scoring chance, but they had bad luck every time. Then the Dutch got a second penalty kick: Patrick Kluivert, the best striker of his day, hit the post and missed. Despair and frustration was visible on the faces of the Dutch players.
The Italians held out until the penalty series. The Dutch missed three of their four penalties, the Italians only one. Things got extra painful when Totti scored a vital penalty, at age 23 I believe, with a stone-cold chip-shot. He showed us how it's done. Italy went to the finals, while I sat in front of the tv trying not to cry. That game became a national trauma. With me it struck a permanent admiration and fear of Italian football teams, only reinforced in 2003 when Ajax played against AC Milan in the Championsleague. Ajax was set to go to the semi-finals, but in the final seconds of the game AC Milan scored a winning goal and went on to win the Championsleague, killing my hopes again.
In FM, in a save in which I am the manager of the Italian national team at Euro 2016, there is only one team that I really want to play against: the Netherlands. I met them in the Semi-Finals, in the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. Time to punish the Dutch team one last time for their stupidity.
A Bad Start
With me having lined up the usual 3-5-2 formation (almost the same as that used by Italy at Euro 2000), and the Dutch coming with that awful 4-2-3-1, the clash of football philosophies was set to begin. The Dutch full-back crossed the ball from the right flank, and within 1 minute, the Dutch scored from a header. I guess the Blue Wall wasn't awake yet.
Seven minutes later, the Dutch were given a penalty-kick. I had the worst imaginable start, but I had still a tiny bit of hope left because the Dutch may have a penalty... I have Buffon on goal. Sneijder missed as Buffon saved his penalty, and we were still alive. Although I was still 0-1 behind, missing a penalty is always a huge mental blow and there was plenty of time left to look for the equalizer. The team regrouped and continued to play during the first half as if nothing had happened.
The defenders were now on high alert and the Dutch found little room for offense. Robben and Depay constantly found themselves closely marked, and Bonucci was always ready to step in where he was necessary. Marchisio dictated the build-up from deep and Verratti tried to split open the Dutch defense with his sharp diagonal passes to the flanks to reach the upcoming wing-backs. It wasn't the best football my team produced because the Dutch managed to disrupt a lot of my build-ups in midfield. It may surprise you, but I actually do try to get a smooth passing-game going, especially with players like Bonucci, Marchisio and Verratti.
With the end of the first half nearing, my team was searching for that one moment to net the equalizer just before half-time. It is, often, in those final minutes that the concentration starts to wane, as players start to think about the clock, or even about the second half already. And just when the Dutch defense wasn't paying enough attention, in the 45th minute, Italy struck. Antonelli sent a long diagonal ball from the left flank, landing exactly between the Dutch defenders and the goalkeeper. While the defenders were watching my strikers Verratti had made a run from midfield into the box and was there free to score.
The Second Half
In the second half, my team found its rhythm and began to get more control over the game. The Dutch were still trying to attack, using those long sequences of passes, but they couldn't really create much. Most of the danger came from Depay's dribbles into the box, often ending with a corner kick. Robben and Sneijder had been completely neutralized.
Halfway down the second-half I replaced Pelle with Eder, hoping to benefit from his speed since I was getting more and more counter opportunities from the Dutch, who seemed to press forward more. Preying again on a late goal as the 80th minute approached, my team produced some good scoring opportunities and it was luck alone that saved the Dutch in those tense final minutes of the game.
My team escaped as well during one of the Dutch final attacks.
Extra Time
Nothing significant happened in the first period of the extra time. I used my final substitute, Bertolacci, to replace an exhausted Florenzi and to provide the midfield with a fresh engine. But at the beginning of the second period, my team faced another problem: De Sciglio, my right-wing back, was injured and I had no subs left. We had to continue with ten players against 11. Nobody else in my formation was able to play that position, and I took a gamble that Rugani - my right side-defender - would be able to stop Depay for the remaining 9 minutes. So the formation stayed the same, just without a right wing-back now.
In the next five minutes, my team tried to keep a hold over the ball so that the Dutch couldn't attack and exploit that weak spot on my right. The team gradually progressed into the opponent's half, along the left flank. In the 115th minute we got a throw in on the left flank. The ball went to Eder who dribbled horizontally into the penalty box. The Dutch defenders were getting extremely nervous as he played it to Verratti, waiting on the edge of the box. As everyone was watching Verratti, waiting for his devastating shot on goal, Verratti was only looking at my striker: Manolo Gabbiadini - left free near the penalty-stip. A simple pass by Verratti, and Gabbiadini shoved it into the lower right corner and scored that late goal we needed.
I quickly reshuffled the team: I reorganized a flat 5-man defense, with Verratti playing as right full-back now. Bertolacci and Marchisio would shield the defense in the center. I removed Eder and Gabbiadini from their striker positions and planted them in midfield as well, and basically to let them focus entirely on defending as well. Eder evoked the fury of the Dutch players and fans by faking an injury and Buffon delayed time with every ball he had to kick back into the game. Five minutes of pure Catenaccio secured our victory. And the Dutch completely deserved to lose in such a way if you miss a penalty and have a man-more situation in the final period of the extra time and still concede a goal.
Euro 2000, the tournament hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands together, is sometimes considered the best tournament in the history of football, due to the enormous amount of goals being scored. The dull, defensive tournaments of the 1990's had been replaced thanks to prolific attacking teams like France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Yugoslavia. The crushing 6-1 defeat of Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals by the Netherlands confirmed this was a festival of attacking football, and the Dutch were by far the most entertaining team, and at least expected to make it to the finals. One team stuck with the attitude and playing style of the 1990's: Italy.
The Italians were the villains of Euro 2000. They refused to attack, they relied on their defense, they played cynical, and everyone criticized their manager Dino Zoff for the boring games. The universe wanted the Dutch, practicing the attacking Dutch school of football, to play against the Italians - the practitioners of the Dark Arts, to play in the semi-finals. Within half an hour of the game, the Dutch had hit the post of the Italian goal, and the Italians went a man down when Gianluca Zambrotta took two yellow cards. The Dutch were awarded a penalty kick, but they missed. Then the agony, for me as a kid watching, started. The Italians withdrew to their own box, and gave up on football. The Dutch produced spectacular football, scoring chance after scoring chance, but they had bad luck every time. Then the Dutch got a second penalty kick: Patrick Kluivert, the best striker of his day, hit the post and missed. Despair and frustration was visible on the faces of the Dutch players.
The Italians held out until the penalty series. The Dutch missed three of their four penalties, the Italians only one. Things got extra painful when Totti scored a vital penalty, at age 23 I believe, with a stone-cold chip-shot. He showed us how it's done. Italy went to the finals, while I sat in front of the tv trying not to cry. That game became a national trauma. With me it struck a permanent admiration and fear of Italian football teams, only reinforced in 2003 when Ajax played against AC Milan in the Championsleague. Ajax was set to go to the semi-finals, but in the final seconds of the game AC Milan scored a winning goal and went on to win the Championsleague, killing my hopes again.
In FM, in a save in which I am the manager of the Italian national team at Euro 2016, there is only one team that I really want to play against: the Netherlands. I met them in the Semi-Finals, in the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. Time to punish the Dutch team one last time for their stupidity.
Formations:
![[Image: 4clrf1L.png]](http://i.imgur.com/4clrf1L.png)
![[Image: x5weKZ1.png]](http://i.imgur.com/x5weKZ1.png)
A Bad Start
With me having lined up the usual 3-5-2 formation (almost the same as that used by Italy at Euro 2000), and the Dutch coming with that awful 4-2-3-1, the clash of football philosophies was set to begin. The Dutch full-back crossed the ball from the right flank, and within 1 minute, the Dutch scored from a header. I guess the Blue Wall wasn't awake yet.
Seven minutes later, the Dutch were given a penalty-kick. I had the worst imaginable start, but I had still a tiny bit of hope left because the Dutch may have a penalty... I have Buffon on goal. Sneijder missed as Buffon saved his penalty, and we were still alive. Although I was still 0-1 behind, missing a penalty is always a huge mental blow and there was plenty of time left to look for the equalizer. The team regrouped and continued to play during the first half as if nothing had happened.
The defenders were now on high alert and the Dutch found little room for offense. Robben and Depay constantly found themselves closely marked, and Bonucci was always ready to step in where he was necessary. Marchisio dictated the build-up from deep and Verratti tried to split open the Dutch defense with his sharp diagonal passes to the flanks to reach the upcoming wing-backs. It wasn't the best football my team produced because the Dutch managed to disrupt a lot of my build-ups in midfield. It may surprise you, but I actually do try to get a smooth passing-game going, especially with players like Bonucci, Marchisio and Verratti.
With the end of the first half nearing, my team was searching for that one moment to net the equalizer just before half-time. It is, often, in those final minutes that the concentration starts to wane, as players start to think about the clock, or even about the second half already. And just when the Dutch defense wasn't paying enough attention, in the 45th minute, Italy struck. Antonelli sent a long diagonal ball from the left flank, landing exactly between the Dutch defenders and the goalkeeper. While the defenders were watching my strikers Verratti had made a run from midfield into the box and was there free to score.
Verratti scores:
![[Image: dy3u8ZR.png]](http://i.imgur.com/dy3u8ZR.png)
The Second Half
In the second half, my team found its rhythm and began to get more control over the game. The Dutch were still trying to attack, using those long sequences of passes, but they couldn't really create much. Most of the danger came from Depay's dribbles into the box, often ending with a corner kick. Robben and Sneijder had been completely neutralized.
Halfway down the second-half I replaced Pelle with Eder, hoping to benefit from his speed since I was getting more and more counter opportunities from the Dutch, who seemed to press forward more. Preying again on a late goal as the 80th minute approached, my team produced some good scoring opportunities and it was luck alone that saved the Dutch in those tense final minutes of the game.
My team escaped as well during one of the Dutch final attacks.
Extra Time
Nothing significant happened in the first period of the extra time. I used my final substitute, Bertolacci, to replace an exhausted Florenzi and to provide the midfield with a fresh engine. But at the beginning of the second period, my team faced another problem: De Sciglio, my right-wing back, was injured and I had no subs left. We had to continue with ten players against 11. Nobody else in my formation was able to play that position, and I took a gamble that Rugani - my right side-defender - would be able to stop Depay for the remaining 9 minutes. So the formation stayed the same, just without a right wing-back now.
In the next five minutes, my team tried to keep a hold over the ball so that the Dutch couldn't attack and exploit that weak spot on my right. The team gradually progressed into the opponent's half, along the left flank. In the 115th minute we got a throw in on the left flank. The ball went to Eder who dribbled horizontally into the penalty box. The Dutch defenders were getting extremely nervous as he played it to Verratti, waiting on the edge of the box. As everyone was watching Verratti, waiting for his devastating shot on goal, Verratti was only looking at my striker: Manolo Gabbiadini - left free near the penalty-stip. A simple pass by Verratti, and Gabbiadini shoved it into the lower right corner and scored that late goal we needed.
I quickly reshuffled the team: I reorganized a flat 5-man defense, with Verratti playing as right full-back now. Bertolacci and Marchisio would shield the defense in the center. I removed Eder and Gabbiadini from their striker positions and planted them in midfield as well, and basically to let them focus entirely on defending as well. Eder evoked the fury of the Dutch players and fans by faking an injury and Buffon delayed time with every ball he had to kick back into the game. Five minutes of pure Catenaccio secured our victory. And the Dutch completely deserved to lose in such a way if you miss a penalty and have a man-more situation in the final period of the extra time and still concede a goal.
Gabbiadini scores:
![[Image: miQlnYT.png]](http://i.imgur.com/miQlnYT.png)
Match statistics:
![[Image: yBBqxDL.png]](http://i.imgur.com/yBBqxDL.png)