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 You would think that if Italy and France were facing each other that something would be on the line in Euro 2008. That may not be the case though as the two soccer powers meet on Tuesday. Both teams have played poorly in Euro 2008 and now must win and hope that Romania loses to the Netherlands on Tuesday. If Romania loses then the winner of France vs. Italy would move on to the quarterfinals. If Romania wins then the match means nothing. "Nobody would have thought that Italy-France would be a last-ditch match," Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said. "Before the Soccer Betting European Championship, this was supposed to be the biggest match of the group."
France vs. Italy
Tuesday, 2:45 pm Eastern – ESPN Italy is a -145 favorite with a total of 2.5 under (-135) at SBG Global. Three-way line – Italy +115, France +165, Draw +290 Group C has been dominated by the Netherlands who routed Italy and France in their opening two games. The Netherlands has six points; Romania has two points while France and Italy have one each. "The winner can still hope (to qualify). It's not a nothing match," France coach Raymond Domenech added. "We knew this group would be complicated. The status of World Cup champion or World Cup finalist does not automatically give you a ticket for the quarterfinals of the European Championship." Italy and France have played some great matches recently including the 2006 World Cup Final when Italy beat France on penalties. That was the match where Zinedine Zidane was ejected for head butting Marco Materazzi in extra time. The two teams met twice in qualifying this year as France won 3-1 at home while the teams played to a scoreless draw in Italy. "When Italy plays France, you can't ignore all the history," Buffon said. "I think this game will be like a final - or at least something similar." France and Italy will not know if their game means anything in advance because the Romania game versus the Netherlands begins at the same time. Both teams will be watching the scoreboard though. "If Romania wins, our match won't count for much," France striker Thierry Henry said. "But we have to put ourselves in the best position possible and then we'll see." It is possible that the Netherlands will play a number of reserves like Portugal did in their meaningless match against Switzerland. "I won't blame them, I won't judge them," Domenech said. "They did what they had to do (to qualify). If we were in the same position, I would not want them asking questions about our team."
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