ZZZZZ

Good for Lubos

Michel did a very correct job. This time he tried not to cut the game as frequently as he used to, which doesn't mean that he never whistled when it wasn't necessary. But he used the advantage more than four or five times, always correctly. As it wasn't a violent match, the Slovakian had to show only 3 yellows: the first one, in thet 8th minute, when Makelele apparently used his elbow with no prudence (Italian TV didn't repeat this appropriately). Then he showed the card to Gattuso, showing him 3 fingers; it´s good for a referee to remember that if a player does one, two, three, "little" faults... well, he has to be booked. Almost always, Michel was in control, and near the action. Assistants Balko and Slysko were also OK, but somebody should tell Italians that their way of repeating the "off-side" is not very helpful in order to decide if the referees were right or not.

Boring!!

The game was boring, both teams have players to build an excellent football match, but they couldn't , or didn't want to. For France, the 0-0 was OK (they still lead the group) and Italy was, as usual, a bit cautious with that strange 4-1-4-1. They both had chances, but couldn't take advantage. I'm sure that during EURO we´ll see much better football than today in Milan.