Summer UEFA Euro 2012

[xi0]

One of the commentators mentioned that he gave out something like 17 red cards this season yeah. But that's one referee and one match, so I'm not going to make a blanket statement like that.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Banana, the reason I thought that the ref was a bit corrupt was that, apart from the obvious professional foul, he basically didn't make any decisions in Greece's favor. He wasn't throwing yellows at Poland, nor did he give one of Poland's players a yellow for a rather rash two footed challenge that found none of the ball.

---------- Post added at 01:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 AM ----------

I suppose I was also insinuating that a lot of La Liga's refs are corrupt, but they're honestly just bad, not corrupt. :P

Spain's not Italy or anything.

 

[xi0]

So you're going to discard the send off Szczęsny got?

 

[BBB Banana]

Have you forgotten about all of those disallowed goals, which allowed South Korea to possess in matches that they fairly lost?

If Ronaldo got a penalty out of incidental handball contact (especially when there was no one else around and the defender's arm was unlucky to touch the ball) in the 2nd leg of Bayern vs Madrid at the Bernabeu, then there's no way that Greece's play wasn't worthy of a penalty.

That's terrible. I'm a France supporter, but it's not like I change my flag. I spent the entire spring in Germany though.

It's only because Portugal needs to overcome one of Germany or Holland in order to qualify for the knockout stage. If Portugal were in any other group, I'd say that they would be a shoe in to qualify, but they're in the group of death. Say Portugal had gotten to play in Group A or in France and England's group, they would've easily qualified. Portugal could surprise us all, but they just haven't been overly convincing as of late.

I don't really remember the stuff with korea as it has been 10 years already but I was happy for them.

Well every referee has a way to deal with things this one just thought it wasn't a penalty but we arguing over it won't change much as it's already in the past and we diverge in this point.

Well I'm just supporting a team I like nothing wrong with that. I'm not denying my country or anything as it isn't even taking part in the Euro.

If you consider the winners of a group of death as if they are set in stone is not a group of death anymore... really it's just another group... I think this group is way more open than the others.

Well, it's about being a team of sustained quality. Spain's been the best team in the world for four years, the 09 Confed Cup aside, but people don't go all out in that anyway.

It's not just about the violence with Pepe. I feel that he gets caught out in big moments, which can often lead to Madrid conceding. Considering that Portugal's team is inferior to Madrid's, moments like that be even more harmful for Portugal. Admittedly, most international squads aren't as good as their club teams, with the exception of Spain.

Yeah, some of Holland's players do not deserve to be on a football pitch, such as Nigel De Jong. Howard Webb just didn't want to send someone off at that point, but that was the worst offense that didn't earn a red card that I've ever seen. Xabi Alonso literally went flying.

Of course he's a terrible referee, but what could convince UEFA that he was a good referee in their first place? He handed out 12 yellows and a straight red in a match once this year.

Not sure if it's just my impression but Pepe always does better for Portugal than he does for Madrid. He did great every time he played for portugal. Same can't be said for madrid but you know if Mourinho trusts him who are we simple mortals to question his value as a player?

Well I haven't watched the match so I can't say anything about it but it's not the match with the most cards in history that one was funnily enough between portugal and netherlands in world cup 2006 it had 12 yellow cards and 4 red ones (and I watched this one and can say it was completely fair)... so it's not completely impossible for a referee to give that many cards if needed.

Have you by chance watched the said game with 12 yellows and one straight red?

 

[FrostyMouse]

So you're going to discard the send off Szczęsny got?

I said that that was the one good thing he did all day.

I don't really remember the stuff with korea as it has been 10 years already but I was happy for them.

Well every referee has a way to deal with things this one just thought it wasn't a penalty but we arguing over it won't change much as it's already in the past and we diverge in this point.

Well I'm just supporting a team I like nothing wrong with that. I'm not denying my country or anything as it isn't even taking part in the Euro.

If you consider the winners of a group of death as if they are set in stone is not a group of death anymore... really it's just another group... I think this group is way more open than the others.

That's fair enough. It's not like I have anyone to support as an American.

I suppose that at that rate, it's not really a group of death, but as all four members rank in the top 10 according to FIFA rankings, it's ostensibly a group of death.

Not sure if it's just my impression but Pepe always does better for Portugal than he does for Madrid. He did great every time he played for portugal. Same can't be said for madrid but you know if Mourinho trusts him who are we simple mortals to question his value as a player?

Whenever I see Pepe play, it's always poorly. I cannot say that I've seen him play well, so I'm not sure about Portugal vs Madrid. The Special One can go jump off a bridge. :P

Well I haven't watched the match so I can't say anything about it but it's not the match with the most cards in history that one was funnily enough between portugal and netherlands in world cup 2006 it had 12 yellow cards and 4 red ones (and I watched this one and can say it was completely fair)... so it's not completely impossible for a referee to give that many cards if needed.

Have you by chance watched the said game with 12 yellows and one straight red?

That was actually one of the only matches in WC 06 that I missed. I was still in high school at the time and I was at a summer music camp during the middle of the WC. While I managed to watch most of the matches, I was unavailable during it. I remember seeing some of the highlights, and indeed, that was one of the most violent matches ever and the cards were all warranted.

No, I haven't watched it. I might try to go find it. It wasn't just about that one match, it was more than he handed out something like 16-17 red cards and 178 yellow cards in 29 matches. That's just crazy. You've got to be looking to give out cards to give out that many.

In today's match, the first yellow card was just a normal header. It's fine if you want to call a foul, but he might've been the only ref in the world who would've pulled out a card for that.

If you've noticed, Howard Webb's gone away from being a card giver. I watched some of his matches at the end of the Premier League and they were actually quite well refereed. I still have problems with him awarding United two penalties when they were losing 3-0 to us, but that's a different story. I didn't watch all of Russia vs the Czech Republic, but I thought that he reffed the match pretty well today. I like how he's letting people play and doesn't just look to pull out cards nowadays.

 

[BBB Banana]

FIFA's ranking is very meh to me... really ... I wouldn't give it much credit as in football tradition is also very important imo (as it brings more responsibility to a team's players and makes the enemies shiver) and this fifa ranking doesn't take that into account. It's not just about the last few years imo.

That game was awesome I must say really exciting. One of the best games I've ever watched

As for why UEFA choose him... well maybe they wanna raise some money as teams have to pay fines for any cards received and therefore they choose a referee that gives off a lot of them

 

[goldb]

Was worried for a second as I couldn't remember who I had in my bracket as group A winner, so far so good though

---------- Post added at 05:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 AM ----------

1-0 Denmark! against the absolute run of play. This is gonna be an interesting game now for the dutch....

 

[FrostyMouse]

That is interesting indeed. I haven't been watching.

 

[goldb]

Well the dutch have the majority of posession as you would expect, and Denmark's goal was the first opportunity at goal that they had. They have seem to be the more clinical team. Looks like it'll be hard for Holland to score.

 

[BBB Banana]

The game really changed after denmark scored, Netherlands is feeling the pressure after all losing this game give portugal or germany a huge advantage.

Netherlands has great attack and middle field but their defense was never that good. In the past they always relayed too much on van der sar.

In football it's always this way if you don't score when you have the chance you are bound to suffer a goal sometime. No matter how many good plays a tem has if they don't score it's futile.

Well I'm just loving it .

 

[goldb]

Their defence is really being exposed but Holland are having more and more chances at goal. 19 shots at goal so far, I wonder how many before they score

 

[FrostyMouse]

Their defence is really being exposed but Holland are having more and more chances at goal. 19 shots at goal so far, I wonder how many before they score

Barca had how many chances in the first leg of the SF against Chelsea? I mean, the headline of that match was "One shot, one goal." It really is true that you'll pay for profligacy in front of goal.

 

[goldb]

Barca had how many chances in the first leg of the SF against Chelsea? I mean, the headline of that match was "One shot, one goal." It really is true that you'll pay for profligacy in front of goal.

It's funny because the commentators mentioned that same match a while ago. 2mins plus additional remaining in the game, still no breakthrough for Holland

 

[FrostyMouse]

It's funny because the commentators mentioned that same match a while ago. 2mins plus additional remaining in the game, still no breakthrough for Holland

The same thing can be said for Bayern. When you have Mario Gomez up front, you're just hoping that he'll do something in a big match. He squandered countless chances against Madrid and Chelsea.

Well, that was quite the shocker, but Holland can still qualify. I picked them to lose in the Final against Spain against my better judgment, and now I think I'm going to pay for that. I'm a France supporter and I believe that they have the ability to beat Spain in the Final, but I don't really see it happening. This result for Holland definitely helps out Portugal, but for all we know, it could be Germany and Denmark qualifying or even Denmark and Portugal. Now wouldn't that be a shocker?

---------- Post added at 02:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:01 PM ----------

Joey Barton has exceeded my expectations once again with his level of craziness. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18378032

 

[Jorge D. Dragon]

So the Tournament is already great. Group A matches were amasing. Of course it was great how Rusia won against Czech Republic. Sorry, all the czechs, but the match was really splendid.
Poland performed pretty good against Greece in the first half, but then Greece had a great chance to win when they got a penaly kick. Still Karagunis made an epic fail. Well, Poland has a good chance to clasify to play-off.

Well, the most unexpected for me was Denmark's victory against Netherlands. As everyone mentioned they game looked just like Barca against Chelsea, but still. Now it would be even more interesting to watch group B's matchs.

Now I'm watching Germany against Portugal. Great performance.

 

[BBB Banana]

Man I'm jumping from one tv to another. In one TV I got Germany x Portugal and in another Brazil x Argentina Gotta say Brazil and Argentina has been more interesting so far. Man Brazil is playing lot again, but our defense is very week messi got two free passes to goal. But our attack is killer.

Back to Euro I don't think Portugal has been inferior to Germany this far but they can't get shots to the goal.

 

[jorped]

We didn't deserve this result imo ... a draw would the fairest end for Germany vs Portugal.

 

[FrostyMouse]

I think Germany stifled Portugal for most of the game, plus got some timely blocks in, and while Mario Gomez is a painful way to lose a 1-0 match, I think Germany probably deserved it.

---------- Post added at 05:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 PM ----------

Man I'm jumping from one tv to another. In one TV I got Germany x Portugal and in another Brazil x Argentina Gotta say Brazil and Argentina has been more interesting so far. Man Brazil is playing lot again, but our defense is very week messi got two free passes to goal. But our attack is killer.

Back to Euro I don't think Portugal has been inferior to Germany this far but they can't get shots to the goal.

Allowing Messi a hat trick is not the way to win. :P

 

[BBB Banana]

I think Germany stifled Portugal for most of the game, plus got some timely blocks in, and while Mario Gomez is a painful way to lose a 1-0 match, I think Germany probably deserved it.

Allowing Messi a hat trick is not the way to win. :P

I wish it had ended a draw as it would be best for both the teams I'm rooting but portugal can still classify if Germany wins all games and they can win against Denmark and draw against Netherlands.

As I said our defense sucked but they are just young kids who were playing at our defense today cuse our two expert defenders got hurt and couldn't play.
Not using that as a excuse cuse the lost was fair. They shouldn't have let messi with that much space for him we need to find some good defenders we still have two years until world cup.
But as I said our attack is top class and we were even stolen one clear penalties and arguably two penalties in the game.

One thing I don't like is that even though our national team is finding its way slowly people want to get rid of our coach every time he loses no matter how many games we win.

 

[FrostyMouse]

I wish it had ended a draw as it would be best for both the teams I'm rooting but portugal can still classify if Germany wins all games and they can win against Denmark and draw against Netherlands.

As I said our defense sucked but they are just young kids who were playing at our defense today cuse our two expert defenders got hurt and couldn't play.
Not using that as a excuse cuse the lost was fair. They shouldn't have let messi with that much space for him we need to find some good defenders we still have two years until world cup.
But as I said our attack is top class and we were even stolen one clear penalties and arguably two penalties in the game.

One thing I don't like is that even though our national team is finding its way slowly people want to get rid of our coach every time he loses no matter how many games we win.

Yeah, most Brazilians I know want your manager sacked. On most days, barring the WC because Messi can't score there, you're going to give him a goal. You just can't let him get a brace or a hat trick.

I didn't see the Marcelo-Lavezzi brawl, but it probably was entertaining.