It was the next game of the ‘most interesting ones’ of the
FIFA World Cup 2014, and for me, the stakes were even higher as I had to stay
with my TV at that odd hour, i.e., 3:30 AM India time, and a dull show by both
the teams or even a one-sided match would have made me question myself to stay
awake till 5:30 AM when I had decided to go to bed around 3 AM.
Italy Vs England, the June 14 World Cup match (June 15,
3:30-5:30 AM India
time) between the two former world champions, was an engaging affair till the last
minute.
Yes, there were slack moments but were very few and can be
ignored.
Four-time winner Italy
and one-time winner England,
two European Football giants, met each other and got to the business thoroughly
professionally.
The ball was uniformly distributed on both sides. Defenses
and attacks were at par. Players tried and they kept on trying till it was the
time for the final whistle.
Marchisio scored first goal for Italy in 35th minute
and England had their equaliser in just 2 minutes when Sturridge used Rooney’s
pass to kick the ball in. ‘Super Mario’ Balotelli gave Italy lead again with
his 50th minute goal that untimely proved to be Italy’s match
winning goal.
Post it, England
tried hard to equal the score and had more chances than Italy but, probably, it was not the day for England, as
they missed all, including some heart-stopping moments.
First half was as good as the second half with a challenging
fight between these two teams ranked 9th and 10th in the
latest FIFA ranking.
Observations during and before a game that didn’t let me
down for my decision to watch it at that odd hour of the morning:
Next game in my prioritized list is Germany Vs Portugal at
9:30 PM India
time tomorrow.
It’s time for some good moments, some quality TV viewing
time..
Enjoy the game. You don't need to be a soccer expert for
it. Football was never my first love, yes, but the FIFA World Cup is different.
The motion, the action, the crowds, all so volatile, all
so paced up, like the high-pitched notes of every type of foot-thumping music -
its so charming, so loving, so captivating.