Word: kicks
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...Italy-Spain quarter-final, a fear crept into the hearts of most neutral observers: Good God, this match is not going to end. It didn't need a goal, it needed a mercy killing. But as Spain discovered in its difficult - and difficult to watch - 4-2 penalty kick shootout win in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008, trying to get past an Italian team committed to a defensive scheme is like playing in ski boots filled with linguini carbonara. The pace slows. Every passing lane seems clogged, and there are more defenders in the penalty area than pawns...
...faster than its own side. Against high-scoring Spain, and lacking its midfield virtuoso Andrea Pirlo, Italy opted for its classic catennacio defense, and Spain suffered the consequences. Italy's interest in attack was episodic, and with the helpless Luca Toni leading its offense, Italy registered its first corner kick 40 minutes into the game...
...injury barely 10 minutes in, then lost defender Eric Abidal to a red card 15 minutes later for hacking Luca Toni in the box. Andrea Pirlo's subsequent penalty put Italy ahead and then Thierry Henry capped France's night by deflecting Daniele De Rossi's free kick into the net in the second half. This is a sorry end to a generation of greatness. But all was not lost. After the game, French coach Raymond Domenech, who should be out of a job soon, proposed to his long-time girlfriend during a television interview. And good luck...
...Germans, on the other hand, are searching for the team that ran Poland off the pitch in the opening match. The one that lost 2-1 to Croatia and got by Austria 1-0 thanks to a Michael Ballack free kick blast doesn't appear to pose much of a threat to Portugal. And the Germans will be without their coach, Joachim Löw, who is serving a one-game suspension for getting dismissed during the Austria match. Although a second choice Portugal side lost to Switzerland - which salved some wounds for the co-hosts - tonight there will...
...closed a few bars together in the early years, before his wife Maureen shaped him up; we talked politics incessantly; we shared summer rentals; we watched our kids, especially Luke and Sophie, who were born a few months apart, grow up and go to Jesuit colleges (Tim got a kick out of the fact that Sophie, a Jewsuit, aced New Testament at Fordham); and, a final happiness for Tim, we saw them graduate...