Why does everyone, from pundit to fanboy here, forget that defence is an integral part of the game? England were not "outplayed" last night, any more than Italy were. An "Outplayed" team would have lost by several goals. What actually happened was that England succeeded defensively, but were unable to put together many potent attacks; Italy were less active defensively, but their attacks were rendered equally impotent.
To be perfectly honest, England were outplayed. To be outplayed means that the standard of one's play is some way behind the opposition - and that was true. England defended extremely well; probably better than Italy. But offensive matters were something else. Italy could and should have won in normal time; they certainly beat the defence enough to score more than the one they managed (which was offside).
To use a footballing cliché, England parked the bus in the goalmouth. But it was about 12 yards from the goal. If Italy managed to get round it they would have only Hart to deal with, and if they beat him they would have a gaping hole to aim at. They succeeded on several occasions - but their accuracy let them down. Granted, England's wasn't much better - but the frequency of those occasions was a telling factor.
I most certainly agree that defence is a vital part of football - but unfortunately, ever since the end of the famous line of Maldini, Cannavaro, Nesta and others there is no one outstanding defence in world football at present and as such people "forget" how important it is. Everything has to be beautiful and any team that plays catenaccio* football (as perfected by Inter Milan in the 40s) will be annihilated by the opposition - even though it is one of the best tactics out there. If England had employed the catenaccio system last night, instead of being slow at attacking, we might be celebrating a rare Semi-Final appearance - but alas, our attack (Walcott aside) just isn't fast enough.
You need only look at video game versions of football and see how many people complain when they lose to a side that defends extremely well and takes advantage when the opponent slips up (i.e. catenaccio). Most Manchester United fans are a good example of this, but they are by no means alone.
CATENACCIO: Literally means "door bolt" or "door lock". The door into the goal is slammed shut by a powerful defence and then the team counter-attacks whenever a clear-cut chance arises.
Sorry, I've got to say this again after watching it on YT for about the twentieth time today - Pirlo's penalty yesterday was one of the best I've ever seen taken in a shootout; how he had the nerve to do that I don't know. Bearing in mind if he missed England could have gone 3-1 up with two each remaining; just, wow!
The cocky gits (Ronaldo, Balotelli et al) could a learn a thing or two from him.
