Anyone but Italy

[Anton Gramscescu]

Anyone but Italy

See, the nice thing about supporting Italy is that win or lose, we always have nice meals before, during and after the matches.

Spain is alright but the lack of vegetables is alarming.

The less said about Saxon cuisines (Anglo or otherwise) the better.

[E10 Rifle]

Anyone but Italy

My footballing Italo-phobia has waned in recent times - I grudgingly but genuinely admired their 06 team - but then last week I observed Christian Vieiri's skyed penalty hand Rangers a place in a European final and it all came flooding back.

That, and their voting patterns make those of the outer London suburbs seem rational and enlightened.

[Gerontophile]

Anyone but Italy

count me in with the ABI's. that smug twat (Inca's pic)... bastard

[linus]

Anyone but Italy

Me too.

This June I'm deleting my Mina links (

), downing the last bit of balsamic vinegar and boycotting the Fellini retrospective at the local rep theater.

[linus]

Anyone but Italy

OK, maybe not the Mina part. But I'm totally serious about the rest.

[linus]

Anyone but Italy

Alright, in case the last youtube link may have had caused some of you to defect from Team ABI:

Welcome back!!!

[jason voorhees]

Anyone but Italy

I have even more hate for Leonardo. Di Cunti apoligized only because Lippi made him.

It's funny how two of the worst dangerous fouls were committed against Americans, both by World Champion teams. But of course, that's allowed because of the second-class citizen thing. See if Di Cunti threw that against Ronaldo.

To boot, my girls high school team played the defending state champions this year, and their best player looked behind her and threw an elbow at our #10, shattering her nose. She's on her third plastic surgery operation.

So fuck Di Cunti.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Anyone but Italy

I'd not thought of the Italians as divers, to be honest, but some of the clips on the links are horrendous. This one, in particular, seems somewhat familiar - where I have seen Materazzi do this before?

Materazzi and Toni bump together, and fall dramatically to the floor clutching completely untouched parts of their bodies

[King On The Rye]

Anyone but Italy

See, the nice thing about supporting Italy is that win or lose, we always have nice meals before, during and after the matches.

how nice.

[Ray de Galles]

Anyone but Italy

Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote:

I'd not thought of the Italians as divers, to be honest, but some of the clips on the links are horrendous. This one, in particular, seems somewhat familiar - where I have seen Materazzi do this before?

[url

]Materazzi and Toni bump together, and fall dramatically to the floor clutching completely untouched parts of their bodies[/url]

If it's a dive involving Materazzi, you've probably "seen it before" from Torres.

[Gerontophile]

Anyone but Italy

King, you should have added: 'the long winter nights must surely ooze by'

[ad hoc]

Anyone but Italy

I remember the best thing about supporting Italy to win the last WC final, was the waves of hate coming from various OTFers. Linus's post final breakdown was quite possibly the most amusing thing that happened related to that tournament.

I'm slowly getting that vibe again, and while I don't want to support those Berlusconi voting, Northern League interior minister scummers, I can see myself doing it come June.

[blameless]

Anyone but Italy

"Their league's shit, they're all corrupt, their players are weak and stupid and slow and lazy and cheats and they can't possibly win it, come on Germany, oh shit, come on France, no, no, no, no, oh fuck Zidane why did you do that, no, no, NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

It was ace, wasn't it?

[Wyatt Earp]

Anyone but Italy

I quite liked Italy the one time I went there, I must admit. "World's best ice cream" isn't a bad boast, just on its own; then you've got the coffee, and the red wine (which at its best is lovely: all black cherries, with just a bit of bitterness) and the random little churches that just happen to have original Fra Angelicos, and the nice countryside, and risotto nero, and stuff.

I haven't had a yearning to go back, and I don't love the place the way I love, say, Spain, and of course they play quite defensively--but I mean, so sue them: it's a perfectly legit tactic.

Are we not judging Italy by UK Italophiles, a bit? Which would be silly.

[Gangster Octopus]

Anyone but Italy

Spearmint Rhino wrote:

Sign me up as an enthusiastic vice-captain in Purv's ABI squad.

I haven't really given much thought to who I will be supporting. Spain, I guess. It's usually Spain.

I see little to argue with in this post.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Anyone but Italy

(link fixed to post three or so above - it's hilarious)

[jason voorhees]

Anyone but Italy

Don't mean to post this again, but I'm not that bitter about Italy winning and beating Zidane and France. As I've said, it was a French gangster film. A brilliant French film. Like Rififi or Le Trou or Cercle Rouge, there's a crack team of grizzled old vets (ZZ, Thuram) and young bucks (Ribery) who somehow pull it together and pull off a brilliant heist (beating Spain & Brasil & getting to the final,) when they fall just short because of a double-dealing no-code-of-honor-or-respect bitch-ass slimy immoral slug. In this case slugs.

Italy was a great pro-wrestling heel. They were slightly feminine and good looking. They were cheaters. They had no code of honor or respect. They would do or say whatever it took to win. They had enough balls to pull it off. They had skill, but used the dark side to ensure the win.

1982 is my favorite World Cup, but it was the Raiders of the Lost Ark of World Cups. 2006 was The Godfather, Dostoyevsky, Sopranos, The Wire, Cercle Rouge, Socrates, Plato, and King Lear rolled into one. It will never be topped for drama or intrigue.

[jason voorhees]

Anyone but Italy

Double post

[jason voorhees]

Anyone but Italy

Don't mean to post this again, but I'm not that bitter about Italy winning and beating Zidane and France. As I've said, it was a French gangster film. A brilliant French film. Like Rififi or Le Trou or Cercle Rouge, there's a crack team of grizzled old vets (ZZ, Thuram) and young bucks (Ribery) who somehow pull it together and pull off a brilliant heist (beating Spain & Brasil & getting to the final,) when they fall just short because of a double-dealing no-code-of-honor-or-respect bitch-ass slimy immoral slug. In this case slugs.

Italy was a great pro-wrestling heel. They were slightly feminine and good looking. They were cheaters. They had no code of honor or respect. They would do or say whatever it took to win. They had enough balls to pull it off. They had skill, but used the dark side to ensure the win.

1982 is my favorite World Cup, but it was the Raiders of the Lost Ark of World Cups. 2006 was The Godfather, Dostoyevsky, Sopranos, The Wire, Cercle Rouge, Socrates, Plato, and King Lear rolled into one. It will never be topped for drama or intrigue.

[linus]

Anyone but Italy

Brilliant, JV.

[SpanglyPrincess]

Anyone but Italy

hahaha I love all this, it makes me happy. Gosh how bitter people are.

Totti officially retired last summer, so you don't have to waste your hatred.

I am bewildered by the idea that De Rossi somehow "got away with" his atrocious elbowing. He apologised to McBride (how on earth does anyone presume to know whether Lippi "made him" or not? were you there?) served a 3 match ban, he was reviled in the Italian and world press, and he is still asked about it in interviews, with hostility. What would have been an appropriate penance, public self-flagellation? He's hardly the first nor will he be the last player to lose his head totally for a second and brutally assault a fellow professional.

Oh and the diving thing is also hilarious. Right, cos players from other countries never dive, is that it?

[Incandenza]

Anyone but Italy

Did anyone ever claim that he got away with it?

[SpanglyPrincess]

Anyone but Italy

Inca: that seemed to me the clear implication of this comment -

"It's funny how two of the worst dangerous fouls were committed against Americans, both by World Champion teams. But of course, that's allowed because of the second-class citizen thing. See if Di Cunti threw that against Ronaldo."

and they say Italians are paranoid.

[ursus arctos]

Anyone but Italy

If De Rossi had thrown that against Ronaldo, he would have broken his elbow.

[Purves Grundy]

Anyone but Italy

SpanglyPrincess wrote:

and they say Italians are paranoid.

Nonsense.

Why would anyone say a thing like that?