I had just watched the Uefa Euro 2012 q-final match between England and Italy.
And just as I had expected before the match started, both teams played like comedians.
Both teams wasted easy chances to score.
Both teams played with no clear idea of what they were doing, although Italy looked the more threatening throughout and just deserved to win in the end through the penalty shoot-out.
What I don't understand about the English team is that if you needed pace on the flanks and you had it in Walcott, why didn't they play to his strength?
There was hardly any decent long range pass to Walcott throughout the time Walcott was on the field. Walcott was not even fielded from the start.
Rooney, whom everyone was pinning their faith on to do the magic for England, was largely
ineffectual, even managing to loose the ball on several occasions in one to one situations.
Ashley Young's face literally looked pale as he was walking up to take the penalty kick. And Ashley Cole, the very much more experienced and senior member of the England team, did not fare any better. He literally looked uncomfortable.
What a poor choice of players to take the spot kicks! England's miserable record of taking spot kicks continues.
I am afraid if Roy Hodgson continues as the England coach, we can expect more boring performances. Looks like England won't achieve anything significant at the international level for a long time to come.
A few words on the standard of the commentary of the match. It was terrible. There was nothing intelligent said, no commentary on team strategy or tactics at all.
What was said was merely stating the obvious of what was happening on the pitch. It merely distracted from one's enjoyment of the match and was an insult to the intelligence of the viewers.
I noticed the same thing happened with the commentary in all the other matches so far. They should take a leaf or two from the EPL commentators.
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