UEFA EURO 2012 – JUNE 23rd ROUND UP
In yesterday’s round up i believe i said… and i quote…
” I hope France got the memo that they need to play tomorrow night “
It seems only Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda were present on the pitch this evening, the rest of the squad just stood around and watched the slow painful death known as LA FURIA ROJA.
The Spaniards started off strong, and stayed that way until the final whistle. The French didn’t put up much of a fight, and about half way through the first half, Iniesta passed to Jordi Alba who then crossed it over to unmanned Xabi Alonso…. and the rest is history. The French had very few opportunities in front of Iker Casillas, Ribery did get close a couple of times but all his efforts were cut short by Sergio Ramos.
The second half saw the French really try to hustle near the Spanish goal, but that energy soon faded and the Spaniards took back possession of the ball. Laurent Blanc’s team became more and more frustrated, and the Spanish took advantage of that. The most amusing part of this game was Jeremy Menez losing his temper and yelling “Ma Vaffanculo Va” at the Italian referee, who simply jogged over to him and lifted up a yellow card, signaling that he would miss his next match (although it was pretty clear at that point that there would be no “next match” for the French). A penalty was awarded to Spain in the 91st minute, which Xabi Alonso took. Poor Lloris did not have a chance.
Moving effortlessly passed France, Spain has just booked itself a date with Portugal.
Tomorrow, England meets Italy, and the winner will face Joachim Low’s squad of machines.
