well spotted, rubicund - I hadn't seen those.

>> If Schweinsteiger played like that for us, he wouldn't be oj his way out. <<

He was severely injured. He still is not fit enough to play full time but in the few minutes he played he showed what he can if the manager lets him do what he thinks is right.

Goal for Ireland!

Another goal of Ireland, however wrong side...

traveller, Van Gaal used him sparingly at first, but he still didn't show that he was a quality player. He was more concerned with passing sideways and back.

Maybe we didn't see the best of him, but I think we have seen the last of him.

traveller, Van Gaal used him sparingly at first, but he still didn't show that he was a quality player. He was more concerned with passing sideways and back.>>

was that just possibly the failure of the manager to get the best out of him, Rubicund?

though it must be difficult for a manager dealing with an injured star.

The manager failed in a number of ways Ann, this may have been just one of a litany of errors.

The major error is probably to have signed an injured player in the first place.

The major error is probably to have signed an injured player in the first place>>

was he injured when they bought him? I thought that they had to have medicals before they are formally signed.

Tonight I have no italian friend.

<<Tonight I have no italian friend.>>

Fie, What. Sport is supposed to cement foreign friendships, not rend them; look at what good friends the English and Russian fans are.

interestingly [to me at any rate] the BBC radio commentators [including Jens Lemen, only the best pundits for us] were saying that this is reputedly the worst representative side that the Italians have ever fielded. Even the Italian pundit agreed with this.

If I promise to cheer for Belgium, am I allowed to like the Italian national anthem?

they're not that bad then!

Not a great result for us and we should have won ��

However I am greatly enjoying the videos on line of the Irish and swedes drinking together, doing the conga and belting out ABBA songs ��

This is how it should be.

My sister is there. She is deflated, but says both sets of fans are cheering each other up. ' they are kissing and hugging each other ... And that's just the men'

During the game the RoI fans stood up and sang Stand with the Ulsterman in honour of the poor boy from NI who fell to his death a few days ago in Nice. Given our shared tragic history, this is massive and what sport should be about.

Ger - that's wonderful, and a great tribute to the irish [and the swedish] fans.

Not so one Russian football official who has apparently ben praising the Russian fans for "defending the motherland".

What price tickets for the World Cup in Russia now?

Sorry, Whathello, for tonight's result.

I do not like the Catenaccio, but somehow these Italian seniors always win.

It is remarkable that Immobile prepared the second goal - in Dortmund his performance was a desaster.

I love this thread.

Thank you, RM, for starting it.

I am thinking a lot about the fellow Fodorites who are currently vacationing in Paris and who want to climb the Eiffel Tower. How do they survive this strange European sport which seems to spoil their trips?

Will this thread break the record of 500 posts of this "Can't we be kinder"-thread that was finally deleted by the moderators?

Well, I started the evening with no Italian friend, I start the night with 60 M italian enemies.

(And I will never accept that they played better, ahd better tactics and a better control of the ball : the ground was heavy, not well maintained by the French, the judges were corrput, the ball was filled with nitrogen and our players ahve been given poisoned food.. these are the only factual explanations for our defeat).

>> the ground was heavy, not well maintained by the French, the judges were corrput, the ball was filled with nitrogen and our players ahve been given poisoned food.. these are the only factual explanations for our defeat <<

What else did you expect from the land of the Mafia?

(You forgot to mention that they Italians had sealed Kevin de Bruyne's feet in cement blocks, as they usual do.)

Glad to hear that some fans understand the true meaning of sport. Makes me want to root for them more.

Oh, how I wish on days like these that we're all in the same time zone. Would have loved to see Italy v Belgium game today.

TP - i hope that you noted from my first post about the match [before it happened] the great perspicacity of the pundits on our Radio - who to a man said that this was the worst Italian team ever. Ha. Sorry, What.

Perhaps if they'd had women on the programme they'd have been better able to appreciate the Italians' attributes!

annhig- mmm your last sentence !!! So true!! Hehe