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Match Day 18 > Monday 26Jun06

ROUND OF 16 WEEKEND

Match 53: ITALY v. AUSTRALIA

Booking: CLAP!

A match for the ‘cafeteria-critics’ .. .. You can take what you want .. ..

Buffet #1 > “ITA created it’s quality chances but just didn’t finish .. .. It could have been 4-0!” True enough, but when is that flood of goals going to come .. .. We were promised an attacking ITA (like GER), but that has yet to materialize .. .. But, they are creating great chances .. .. Got almost all of their shots within the PK box .. ..

Buffet #2 > “AUS were lions and just didn’t finish their chances!” .. .. True as well .. .. They didn’t create nearly the amount of chances, but when they did, AUS could have easily slipped a few by BUFFON .. .. And, if AUS took the lead, ITA may have cracked, especially after they had a man sent off in the second half .. ..

The RC on MATERAZZI was a little harsh – he came from the side, was not the last man to beat and really didn’t make solid contact, but at full speed, it did look to warrant a card of some color .. .. AUS had almost 40 minutes to take advantage so maybe the PK call was a very belated makeup .. ..

In the end, this is the ITA we all expected to see – A side that is built to win the whole thing and not look pretty in the prelims .. ..

ITA MoM: None

AUS MoM: None

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Match 54: SWITZERLAND v. UKRAINE

Booking: CRAP?

It started out like it was a good match with SUI taking care of the ball and pressuring up high, but after a scoreless half, both sides settled into a tactical battle and tried not to give up a loose goal .. .. UKR hit the crossbar after a diving header from SHEVCHENKO and then SUI followed two minutes later when FREI rang the bar with his FK .. ..

There were a few chances in the second half for both sides, but it became a walking match in the second half and PK’s seemed just a foregone conclusion .. .. SUI hit tame PK’s that were saved and didn’t net a single one .. ..

SUI MoM: #16 TRANQUILLO BARNETTA is my tip to star at EURO 2008 .. .. Showed his all-around skills today helping out on defense and showing nifty close-control .. .. Aggressive on his PK miss when he fired hard and off the crossbar .. .. Finished his WC with 22 total tackles (2^nd best to date)!

UKR MoM: #1 OLEKSANDR SHOVKOVSKYI was tipped to become GK’s next superstar after starring for Kiev Dynamo in the late 90’s but injuries have slowed him in recent years and even suffered a broken collarbone earlier this past winter .. .. Wasn’t troubled very much during the match but came to the fore during PK’s .. .. Stopped PK-1 when he shaded right to stop STRELLER and stopped PK-3 when he moved left to stop CABANAS .. ..