The Juventus shot-stopper compared his past experiences when playing against the Three Lions and then reflected on their progression into the European Championships.
Both the teams arrived into this tournament on the back of bad media surrounding them, for different reasons. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 always comes into major international tournament deemed as the favourites by their own media, which adds pressure
on their star performers.
There was huge drama surrounding the English national team starting from the resignation of their former manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabio-c13152 Capello. There was intense speculation surrounding the next England manager, with Harry Redknapp being the
fans’ favourite to succeed the Italian.
A huge uproar sparked in the English media and the public following the appointment of Roy Hodgson. Additional criticism was levied at him for his selection for the European Championship, after he dropped http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rio-Ferdinand-c31173 and Micah
Richards from the England squad. Hodgson was dealt further blows after injuries to key players, like http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gareth-Barry-c14423 during the warm-ups for the Euros.
Italy had been embroiled in the Scommessopoli match-fixing controversy with Domenico Criscito dropped from the squad after he was called in for questioning by the Italian authorities.
Buffon was talking to the press before the match against the Three Lions and he was of the opinion that both the nations were looking to salvage their lost pride. He mentioned that he had never played against the English in major
tournaments, and was hopeful of such instances in the future. He remarked:
“I’ve never played them in an important match before. I hope there will be more occasions, but I above all hope we win this one."
The former Parma goalkeeper went on to state that La Nazionale played a certain way which gave them an advantage and a disadvantage. He went on to state:
“http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926 have the ability to make every game balanced so it is then decided by incidents. That can be a positive or a negative, as we do it against stronger or weaker teams. We have a 50 per cent chance of winning.”
When quizzed whether the road to the tournament had been difficult, he went on to mention:
“Did we qualify with difficulty? No, we were always totally relaxed. Besides, we’re accustomed to dealing with difficulties.”
The two teams face each other off at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.
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