You should beat them.

I'd say 2-0 atleast, they might have improved but they aren't that good.

 

they aren't that good.

Yeah, but neither are we.

Giggs is the player I fear the most and he's playing well for Man Utd. Panucci will have a busy night.

 

Hope Giggs can pull off his magic runs against Italy, he hasn't been doing that for United lately.

 

Panucci will have a busy night.

Panucci :yuck:
I hope that Giggs is not well.

 

0-0 Draw

Or

1-0 Wales

( Giggs )


We still have trouble passing.

 

most likely same line up excluding inzaghi ...

hopefully the team can show some heart and pride that they are representing Italia ...

altho i have mixed feelings ... i wish for italia to win ... but also to do poorly .... so maybe trap will get fired ...
altho i've never b4 wished bad on them

 

I hope Italy draws so Trap can get the **** outta here

 

Can Giggs, Bellamy, Speed, etc. cause trouble to the Azzurri?

u forget simon davies... he is the wales footballer of the year...if u don't know him, u gotta watch the spurs more...

 

Mac fills in for injured Pippo Sunday 13 October, 2002

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Massimo Maccarone has been drafted in to replace the injured Pippo Inzaghi for Wednesday¡¦s Euro 2004 clash with Wales.

The Milan hitman was struggling with a strain in the sole of his left foot and the 90 minutes played against Yugoslavia last night proved too much for this injury to take.

¡§The foot hurts too much now,¡¨ said Inzaghi, ¡§and I need rest. I must have time to recover, although I don¡¦t know how long that will take. I probably won¡¦t be able to play against Atalanta next week either.¡¨

It is another bitter blow for the Azzurri, who had a disappointing 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia last night, after a host of injury problems.

Coach Giovanni Trapattoni is already forced to do without Francesco Totti, Christian Vieri, Francesco Coco, Francesco Toldo, Gigi Di Biagio, Marco Materazzi and Marco Di Vaio.

Former Under-21 striker Maccarone was already on alert for the match and will join his new teammates in Cardiff ahead of Wednesday¡¦s Euro 2004 qualifier.

The Middlesbrough man has only had one senior call-up before, earning a late penalty for Italy¡¦s 2-1 win over England at Elland Road last April.

This is his first call-up since leaving Empoli for the Premiership, where he has been quick to make his mark.

This is not the end of their fitness problems. Vincenzo Montella and Cristiano Doni are struggling with minor injuries but both should be able to play against Wales.

channel4

 

Do I care......

I am hoping again for a similar performance, so that Trap gets kicked out.

 

I don't think Zoff is any better to be perfectly honest - all the good coaches are on contract and there is a very good reason why Zoff doesn't have a contract. What about Scolari? (he'll liven things up!)

For Wales:

____________BUFFON___________

ODDO___CANNA___NESTA___ZAURI

____________AMBRO___________

_____GATTUSSO_____DONI______

____________PIRLO____________

___MACCA/MONT____DEL PIERO___

Remember we are still missing: Zambro, Vieri, Totti, Coco in what would be my first 11.

 

The Wales boss Mark Hughes was at the game on Saturday night in Naples scouting the Italian boys, wonder if he picked up anything interesting to take into the game on Wednesday. He better plan well for Maccarone

 

We don't have the luxury of losing this match because we will not qualify for the tournament! This match is looming so large and we are in the worst shape possible. How long can this continue? As long as the Federazione remains leaderless, ruderless, directionless, lost at sea. No one is stepping up and it's our pride that is falling. I see no reason for optimism.

 

i think zoff would make a difference ... in euro 2000 he showed it ... we were less than a minute away from glory in euro 2000 ...he took his chances (in the final replacing inzaghi for delvecchio) and the team seemed happy .... it looks like no one wants to play

i knew it right after italy lost to france ...once i heard he resigned ... i thought the media would want him back ... and they do

 

The Wales boss Mark Hughes was at the game on Saturday night in Naples scouting the Italian boys, wonder if he picked up anything interesting to take into the game on Wednesday. He better plan well for Maccarone

He will probably fancy his chances against us. Remember they've beaten Germany and held Argentina, in fact they were unlucky not to beat them. One thing is for sure - we can't afford to play as poorly as we did on Saturday night.

 

<<NEWCASTLE, England, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Striker Craig Bellamy insists the days of Wales being considered easy prey by their international rivals have gone.

Mark Hughes's buoyant side face Italy in a Euro 2004 qualifier at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Wednesday aiming to maintain a sequence of encouraging results.

Wales have beaten Germany and Finland and drawn with Argentina, Croatia and the Czech Republic during the last 12 months with performances that have rebuilt their reputation.>>

 

Wales have beaten Germany and Finland and drawn with Argentina, Croatia and the Czech Republic during the last 12 months with performances that have rebuilt their reputation.>>

I did not know that... I begin to worry...

 

I don't think Zoff is any better to be perfectly honest - all the good coaches are on contract and there is a very good reason why Zoff doesn't have a contract. What about Scolari? (he'll liven things up!)

For Wales:

____________BUFFON___________

ODDO___CANNA___NESTA___ZAURI

____________AMBRO___________

_____GATTUSSO_____DONI______

____________PIRLO____________

___MACCA/MONT____DEL PIERO___

Remember we are still missing: Zambro, Vieri, Totti, Coco in what would be my first 11.

I like this line-up, and hope will listen to you.

Scolari may be a bit too "alive" for the Azzurri?

 

It gives me great heart as a Welshman to hear you guys discussing the game like this. It will be a sell out crowd at the millenium stadium, and Giggs, Bellamy, Davies, Speed, Hartson, Savage and the rest of the boys will be up for it!

2-0 Wales!!

 

Trap: Wales won¡¦t see me axed Monday 14 October, 2002

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Giovanni Trapattoni believes that his future as Italy boss is not dependent on the result of the Wales game.

The tactician is under extreme pressure after another disappointing performance by his team in the 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia on Saturday.

"It doesn¡¦t make sense to believe that this game is crucial for my career as boss," he said on Italian TV show ¡¥90 Minuto¡¦.

"Italy can get a result on Wednesday and maintain first place in the group. Don¡¦t forget that we have many injury problems and we have time to get back on track."

Trap was heavily criticised by the Italian Press on Sunday, with some pundits even asking for him to be sacked and replaced by former Coach Dino Zoff.

But the ex-Juventus maestro is confident that he has the full backing of the men who matter most.

"I have total support from the Italian Football Federation and I have the faith of the players," Trap continued.

"I will continue in this job. Not to make a point to anyone in particular but because I see no reason to leave."

With so many injury problems, Trap was asked why he didn¡¦t call up Stefano Fiore who has done well on the right hand side of midfield for Lazio.

"He has only been playing in that position for three weeks and we need to assess his progress over a longer period of time," he concluded.

Trap was without a host of players on Saturday in Naples. The likes of Christian Vieri, Francesco Totti, Luigi Di Biagio, Francesco Coco and Marco Di Vaio were all unavailable.

The Coach has now also lost Pippo Inzaghi for the Millennium Stadium showdown with a foot injury. Middlesbrough striker Massimo Maccarone has been drafted in.

channel4
---------------

i think if italy underrate wales and think that this will be an easy game, then they'll lose...coz wales is not a bad team at all...plus, italy will be without a lot of players...i think wales at least have a great chance to get 1 point...don't be surprise if italy lose...

 

The more i think about it, the more i get this fear that italy WILL lose to wales. Will all these injuries, and how poorly we played against Yugoslavia, plus the fact that Wales is a pretty good team, then don't discount the Welsh getting all 3 points.

But if we do lose, then i do hope that Trap gets the boot. Capello would be my choice (like that's gonna happen in the near future), Zoff? Maybe... But Scolari? Hmmm.... Italians coached by a Brazilian? That would be interesting wouldn't it?

 

Maybe it's better if we lose cause then Trap might be gone for good. A coach that miserably failed during a a big tournament like the wc does not deserve to coach our nazionale. If the italian football federation have the guts to bring in a new coach with new ideas i can gladly take the loss Vs Wales, cause it's defenitely worth it. I'm tired of seeing the same prune faces game after game on our un-creative midfiled. It's time to change the team a bit and don't rely on individual players. Italy has to start playing as a team and utilize all the 11 players we got out there, even though we got the best attack, keepers and defence in the world we need a better midfield, and that's quick.

 

I would like Scolari but I don't think we will see a non-Italian in my lifetime (and I'm 27!:depress: ).

The Italian Federation is too proud. Look at the scandal in England when Sven got the top job! (and Italians are known to be the kings of scandal!).

We may be stuck with Trap no matter what until the end of the season - then Lippi may become available and he seems like the one most likely and keen to takeover from Trap. Capello is not interested as are the others who are under contract now.

That's why I hope we win because I don't think he'll get sacked if we lose anyway and it would put us in a precarious position to qualify otherwise.

On a bright note, although we played poorly against Yugoslavia, I think the players we picked on paper made better sense for a long time because we played with 2 creative midfielders and 2 strikers rather than just 1 creative and 2 strikers. THIS IS A SHIFT IN MENTALITY. The team needs time to accomodate to this. Milan had the whole pre-season to play with it. They lost most of their opening friendly matches under this system - remember?

Once it clicks, you will see a difference. I hope it clicks soon because this game is pretty important. Wales WILL give us more space than Yugoslavia but they will be more lethal in attack.

Forza Italia!

 

Primo is right. If Italy loses to Wales or perhaps doesn't even win, it's possible that Italy won't qualify from first position, and that's not even worth the replacement of the coach, because it might mean Italy won't even get to Euro 2004. The coach should be replaced, but not at the expense of the team...

 

IL TORO this licks balls, Rai aren't showing the game. I remember we had this problem with the England game back on March 27. The Poms wanted too much money for RAI to show the game and the same thing might be happening with Wales, what is it with the Brits?