The supporter in Smith came out then, but the professional analyst in him could glean little from the match. Spain quickly established superiority and were also assisted by the referee three minutes into the second half, when he harshly awarded a penalty against Oleg Blokhin’s side and compounded this error by sending off Vladislav Vashchuk. The match in Leipzig merely became a procession of Spanish passing thereafter, culminating in a contender for goal of the tournament.
France, too, presented Smith with difficulties when he watched them in Stuttgart the previous evening. In stifling heat, they struggled once more against Switzerland, who they drew with twice in their stuttering qualifying campaign. France were solid enough defensively but Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane failed to ignite together in attack. This is Zidane’s last stand, having come out of international retirement, and Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele, who also returned last August to help push France over the qualification line, are expected to again follow his lead. Fabien Barthez, Patrick Vieira and Sylvain Wiltord are three more possibles to exit the international stage and that would mean half Tuesday’s starting line-up would no longer be available to Raymond Domenech, their manager, for Euro 2008. Indeed, there is no guarantee he will still be around. France is not impressed and a poor tournament would see him sacked. He badly needs a win against South Korea tonight.
The next generation, meanwhile, wait impatiently in the wings. Gregory Coupet, who threw an uncharacteristic pre-tournament tantrum when told that Barthez would start in goal, and athletic young midfielders such as Alou Diarra of Lens or Lyon’s Florent Malouda and Sidney Govou, are waiting to be unleashed. The only concessions to the future in France’s team came on the left flank where Eric Abidal provided the muscle to back up the flair of Franck Ribery, whose scarred face is a legacy of being in a car crash when he was two. Ribery attracted criticism afterward from Henry for his lack of awareness, which looked a significant weakness in this much-vaunted player.
Yet Smith is reluctant to read too much into one match from both France and Ukraine. “It is always difficult to make an assessment because the teams have had a gap and it is the first competitive game. The conditions have been extremely hot in the afternoons and early evenings, so I think it is a bit early to make a judgment. France can play better than they played against Switzerland, everybody knows that, so what do we assume? They’ve got a capability over the next two games of being among the best teams. We’ve got to wait and let things settle down. We expect Brazil and Italy and France to be good but other countries come to the fore and surprise you. You can be too quick to make assumptions after only one match.”
Italy, in contrast to France and Ukraine, look resilient and made the most impressive start of the countries Scotland will face in Euro 2008. There was hardly a hair or pass out of place when they beat Ghana 2-0 on Monday and they proceeded to put on their overalls and roll up their sleeves to earn a dramatic draw with the USA in Kaiserslautern last night. Smith, already familiar with Marcello Lippi’s team from the qualifiers, believes they are perhaps the most serious threat to Brazil’s hopes of a sixth World Cup win and could also surprise people as unlikely apostles of attacking football. “You look at the Italian team and the abundance of strikers they have,” he said. “In contrast to England, who are bringing in untried players and ones with injuries, Italy have got six strikers in their squad and each of them has a different quality.”
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This line is led by Luca Toni, the successor to Christian Vieri as a left-sided gigante and scorer of 31 Serie A goals last season for Fiorentina. “He’s got decent touch and control,” said Smith. “In, the sense that he’s a handful, he reminds me of Duncan Ferguson. Big Dunc was looked upon as having an aerial presence, but he was a better footballer than a lot of people gave him credit for. Toni’s good on the ground and has good pace too. Initially, you would look at him and think he’s a bit cumbersome but he’s not. You are looking at somebody who is at the top of his game. He could be one of the players who comes to the fore in the World Cup.
“Marcello Lippi has got them playing now in a manner which people would never previously associate with Italian football. It’s much like his great Juventus side, but a slightly different formation. The full-backs and midfield players are going forward. If a move did break down on Monday, they sometimes had four and five players up the pitch. They are not going to fall short in terms of the attacking. Italy are playing three strikers, if you include Totti. When he came off, Alessandro Del Piero came on and went into that natural left-hand role, so they still had three strikers on.”
It is a side that could get stronger when Rino Gattuso and Gianluca Zambrotta return from injuries to provide their energy. “Zambrotta would feature in anybody’s team as an attacking full-back. He’s up and down the pitch, like Cafu.” Nobody needs to convince Smith of Gattuso’s merits, as he signed Milan’s snarling enforcer for Rangers when he was still a teenager.
The tight, three-man unit in midfield also comprises the volatile Daniele de Rossi of Roma, who was sent off last night, and the deep-lying schemer Andrea Pirlo. “Pirlo is not the defensive, hardman-type tackler, although he intercepts well and can nick the ball, but it is his control of the game from that area. He can dictate it. Speed it up or slow it down. His range of passing is terrific. Brazil are the team that deserve to be favourites but Italy are capable of beating them. They have got an edge on their defending, a concentration level that means they can handle teams as good as Brazil. It looks as though there is a confidence about them.”
A sign of Italy’s confidence is the manner in which Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro, the centre-backs, are content to play two on two against the opposition strikers, while their full-backs press on. They know that it will take something special to beat Cannavaro’s reading of the game and Nesta’s recovery pace. Behind these two lurks one final portcullis for any team seeking to place the ball in Italy’s net. Gianluigi Buffon. “He had next to nothing to do on Tuesday, but he has one save to make and he makes it,” said Smith. “His level of concentration is excellent. Against ourselves in the first game (in the World Cup qualifying group), he was asked to make a couple of saves after not doing an awful lot for a long period. That’s what makes him among the best in the world.”
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Maybe the Spanish goal that he enjoyed so much would have beaten Buffon, though.