Euro 2008 - Day 7

Italy V Romania

We all know what happened in the first round games here. Italy were thumped 3 – 0 by the Netherlands and Romania played out a 0 –0 with France. After the Dutch game I was very fast to write off Italy but in hindsight maybe I didn’t give them enough credit. On watching the highlights of the game I think it is fair to say that everything went right for the Dutch whereas Italy did not have any luck in front of goal. Who knows if Toni had scored that great chance when they were 2 – 0 down then anything could have happened.
Anyhow onto today and this is a must win game for both sides. I think Italy have much more in terms of ability and luckily for this bet they are a humiliated team and playing for pride. Romania are very limited and happy to frustrate teams and try to take their chances on the counter attack. However the Italian defence got a lesson the last night so I would expect them to tighten up at the back considerably. The introduction of Grosso and Del Piero brought a bit of spark to the Dutch game so hopefully they will start tonight.

Verdict
Taking the two opening games into consideration I would say that the scoreline was harsh on Italy and flattered the Romanians a little as they didn’t really try to come out and score.
Italy do have the technical advantage and I don’t expect them to take this challenge lightly or to make the same defensive errors again. Italy win for me.

PICK
Italy win (1.73 @ paddy power) 5 points