Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunderball
To be fair, most top teams have relatively easy runs until deep into the knockout (when they start to face each other) just because the WC is so watered down. (South Korea's Ref scandal with Spain, Italy and Portugal notwithstanding).
Italy was the best team in the world in 2006. They had the perfect balance. Problem is, its now 2009. The team proved to be way over the hill in 2008 with an inept coach and shocking call-ups. Lippi has not really proven to be the magic elixir, but at least he knows the writing is on the wall and is scrambling to find new key parts. Trouble is, a lot of these guys are in their late 20s-early 30s, while the future stars are watching the games on TV like us.
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I mostly agree with that with the exception of France in 06 having to go thru Spain, Brazil then Portugal to get to the final.