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Italians have eyes set on revenge in World Cup Final
When the Italians step on the pitch in Sunday’s World Cup Final against France, they will have a chance of lifting their fourth World Cup trophy. They will also look to get revenge on Les Bleus.
Italy are +150 favourites to win the match France are +210 underdogs The Draw is priced +180
Six years ago Italy were seconds away from defeating France in the Euro 2000 Final. But Italian victory celebrations were spoiled when Sylvain Wiltord scored an injury time equalizer and David Trezeguet netted in extra time to give France a 2-1 victory.
Two years earlier, France used penalty kicks to defeat Italy in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup en route to winning the tournament on home soil.
This will be Italy’s sixth finals appearance and their first since 1994 when they lost to Brazil in a penalty shootout. France are in the finals for their second time. Neither side was expected to progress this far into the tournament. The French were deemed too old and the Italians were thought to be distracted by the match fixing scandal back home. But both teams have quickly silenced their critics by advancing to the championship game.
France struggled to make it out of the group stage but moved into top gear through the knockout stages. They defeated Spain 3-1 in the second round, knocked off defending champions Brazil 1-0 in the quarter finals and sent Portugal packing with a 1-0 victory in the semis.
Meanwhile, the Italians have been playing superbly as a team throughout the tournament. They have scored 11 goals using 10 different players and have only conceded one goal -- an own goal in their second match against the United States.
Sunday’s final should prove to be a tight and cagey match. For France to be successful in this game, they will need Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry to open the game up and put pressure on the Italian backline and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. While the Azzurri, who traditionally sit back, will need to be more aggressive on attack if they hope to end their six-game winless streak against the French.
When the Italians step on the pitch in Sunday’s World Cup Final against France, they will have a chance of lifting their fourth World Cup trophy. They will also look to get revenge on Les Bleus.
Italy are +150 favourites to win the match France are +210 underdogs The Draw is priced +180
Six years ago Italy were seconds away from defeating France in the Euro 2000 Final. But Italian victory celebrations were spoiled when Sylvain Wiltord scored an injury time equalizer and David Trezeguet netted in extra time to give France a 2-1 victory.
Two years earlier, France used penalty kicks to defeat Italy in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup en route to winning the tournament on home soil.
This will be Italy’s sixth finals appearance and their first since 1994 when they lost to Brazil in a penalty shootout. France are in the finals for their second time. Neither side was expected to progress this far into the tournament. The French were deemed too old and the Italians were thought to be distracted by the match fixing scandal back home. But both teams have quickly silenced their critics by advancing to the championship game.
France struggled to make it out of the group stage but moved into top gear through the knockout stages. They defeated Spain 3-1 in the second round, knocked off defending champions Brazil 1-0 in the quarter finals and sent Portugal packing with a 1-0 victory in the semis.
Meanwhile, the Italians have been playing superbly as a team throughout the tournament. They have scored 11 goals using 10 different players and have only conceded one goal -- an own goal in their second match against the United States.
Sunday’s final should prove to be a tight and cagey match. For France to be successful in this game, they will need Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry to open the game up and put pressure on the Italian backline and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. While the Azzurri, who traditionally sit back, will need to be more aggressive on attack if they hope to end their six-game winless streak against the French.
