Through.

By: vin | February 26th, 2009

Di Natale. Last minute.

Necessary?

Not this time.

But that’s why this one was so friggin’ good.

I’m calling it official: slump / crisis / complacent period = over. Granted, I was pretty certain it was over going into this match, but today just sealed the deal. See… when a match is was effectively tied up and your team’s through on aggregate, you could just pay it safe and/or lazy (depending on how you look at it) and protect your away-goal advantage… or at least… that’s what a less motivated, frightened, or super-conservative squad would do, and that’s what Udinese would have done just a few short weeks ago.

Not anymore. Now, even when they’ve just got seconds left and they’re already virtually through on aggregate, they fight for the ball at midfield, send it to Mr. Christmas himself as he blazes down the middle because he’s actually trying, and he’ll slice it in from 19 yards. That is what motivated, confident squads do; indeed, that’s what Udinese did. *Link to goals after the break*

Watch the goals here. The Channel 4 recap is here (in Her Majesty’s English). Here’s La Gazzetta’s recap (in Italian).

(By the way, please excuse the French commentary on those goal vids; UEFA did their “pull everything video on Earth down” thing again, so there wasn’t much of a choice. )

[Brief Segue] OK. Did you watch the vids? What was with Toto’s photographer role-play at the end there? And more importantly, with what body part did Pepe shoot? I’m undecided, but I’m thinking knee, Street Fighter II style. [/Brief Segue]

So, where does this leave Udinese? It leaves them staring down the barrel of a date with Lecce (quite honestly the least of the Zebrette’s worries at the moment), followed by a visit to the capital (ugh) on the 8th, and then that which they’ve earned today: Zenit St. Petersberg on the 12th.

In short, it’s going to be pretty rough, but at least the squad’s in the right place mentally.

I’ll also add that the rotation’s working like a charm, AND I’m two for two on the starter “predictions” that I made last week. If my rampant speculation remains accurate, we’ll see Pepe and Sanchez and/or Floro Flores against Lecce, so look for that. Also check back here, because my next post will contain a Zebrette photo that rivals this one. Yeah, seriously.