Baldassi went the Webb way of his own...

One minor flaw with great impact

The Spanish goal was a fraction offside, but it was barely a foot or two - so very difficult to spot. But it decided the match, so there will be room for discussion again. I would have given a straight 9 on the whole if this had not happened. Baldassi let go a few challenges for the sake of game fluency and he clearly didn't like Ronaldo after an early dive - so one or two fouls on him remained unpunished.

The Baldassi way

He remained very collected even if he felt challenged by the players. I think this worked remarkably well in this match although at the end we could see the limits of this strategy in a hot match (discussion between Capdevila and a portugese player after the sending off). But Baldassi did not dither a moment in sending the chief troublemaker off the pitch with a straight Red. It was a little bit like Webb yesterday doing if in his own very convincing way. You could trust Baldassi with the final but he needs two positive teams who will cooperate to shine which he managed to do today - despite the offside goal. I still wonder what does Mallenco in the second round? Anyone want him for the final?