Joy for Italy, despair for France and Romania

Italy celebrated last night while Romania and France were left to contemplate what might have been.

The conclusion to Group C proved to be something of an anti-climax for the Romanians, who had approached the game with such hope and expectation. Facing a second string Dutch side, they lost 2-0. The sad truth is that it was always a step too far. Playing like crap in your decisive game doesn’t help either. Romania seemed far too cagey in a game they realistically had to win. Chances were few and far between and the few that came their way were wasted, the most notable being a shot blazed over the bar by Paul Codrea from Răzvan Raţ’s pull back. Romania were hardworking and passed the ball neatly at times but they lacked a hero, someone who could conjure up a moment of magic. Unfortunately, their talisman, Adrian Mutu had a rather poor game and did not appear to be the inspirational figure Romania wanted. His reluctance to pass to his teammates and his dribbles against one man too many resulted in the ball being lost on several occasions. He went close with a long range effort after a beautiful dummy but, for the most part, his touch and decision making let him and his team down. It says a lot when your most dangerous player struggles to trouble the opposition. Even the captain, Christian Chivu, looked lost at times and his poor first half freekick summed up the match for Romania - knowing what they had to do, but not doing it. You never got the feeling Romania were going to score. They also struggled to control possession of the ball, a key factor as to why so few chances of note were created. But looking back, it has been a good tournament for Romania. Holding both World Cup finalists to draws is no mean feat. However, Mutu will be left to contemplate what might have been for a very long time. Surely thoughts of his costly penalty miss will come back to haunt him endlessly, especially now with the knowledge that it would have put his country through to the quarterfinals.

On the other hand, the Dutch did not blow us away with their attacking football but there were plenty of positives to be taken. Their retention of the ball was crucial to neutralising Romania and their passing had a very healthy completion rate, most notably the two holding midfielders, Demy de Zeeuw and Orlando Engelaar. They created more chances than the Romanians and took their goals well. Klaas Jan-Huntelaar's goal will have given Marco van Basten a healthy headache but he is still likely to play second fiddle to Ruud van Nistelrooy. Robin van Persie's goal demonstrated again what a fine left foot he has and Arjen Robben's first start for the Dutch in the tournament will be a welcome boost to them. He may not have been on fire but his return to fitness will please van Basten. All in all, it was a professional performance from the Dutch and van Basten can eagerly look forward to a quarterfinal with Sweden or Russia, where his team, no doubt will be favourite to win.

The French were miserable last night in their 2-0 loss to Italy. An injury to Franck Ribery and a sending off for Eric Abidal did little for their cause. As well as their uninspiring play, Raymond Domenech must shoulder a lot of the blame. His tactics were inept and subsitutions baffling at best. Replacing Ribery with Samir Nasri seemed straightforward enough, but him hauling Nasri off to be replaced by Jean-Alain Boumsong was perplexing. France needed to chase the game and were already playing with Claude Makelele and Jeremy Toulalan, both defensive midfielders. Why would you rob the team of your last creative source when you need two goals? It's plain stupid. And bringing Boumsong on when there are other options available on the bench was also another puzzling choice. Why Boumsong? Why not Willy Sagnol? Surely he could have shifted his defense around to accomodate the fullback. Perhaps the most damning indicator of Domenech's focus is his midfield selection. Of the 7 official midfielders he selected for the tournament, 4 were defensive midfielders. Not a great stat to show off to a country with a huge array of attacking talent. And yet another puzzling substitution, bringing on Nicolas Anelka for Sidney Govou. Surely he should have picked Bafetimbi Gomis rather than a striker out of form and low on confidence. And to top off a night in which he made a complete fool of himself, he proposed to his girlfriend after the loss. He needs to work on his timing. It needs to be a whole lot better. Why would she say yes to a man most of France hates right now? Then again maybe he's found someone as eccentric as himself.

Italy were good, but only good enough to beat a team as incompetent as the French. They will certainly need to buck up in the quarterfinals where they will meet Spain. Luca Toni was a nuisancee to the French defense and he did everything bar scoring a goal. His best effort was a cheeky flick with his heel, the ball agonisingly flying past the post. Again he proved what a great target man he is and his strike partner, Antonio Cassano linked up with him quite well, feeding the ball to Toni no less than 5 times during the game. Daniele De Rossi's long range freekick only compounded France's misery and Italy cruised to a comfortable victory. Not much to say on the game as I only caught bits and pieces and Italy's average performance was good enough to see off the French. However, they will be without the Milan pair of Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso for the quarterfinal, meaning likely returns for Massimo Ambrosini and Mauro Camoranesi. It could prove to be two costly suspensions for the Azzurri. Only time will tell. Spain may yet press the self destruct button once again.