Summer UEFA Euro 2012

[BBB Banana]

I wouldn't blame their ofense line. I would blame their lack of luck in the first game and german eficience. So far all my predictions seem to be going the right way.

 

[xi0]

Do fans actually care about the Golden Ball/Boot/Glove?

Win the trophy that matters! I guess it's a consolation of some sorts, but to say Portugal had no shot to win the whole thing is a lie in my opinion.

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 PM ----------

I was off about Netherlands being in the final. I should have gone with Spain, but who knows with that now.

 

[Doraku]

I wouldn't blame their ofense line. I would blame their lack of luck in the first game and german eficience. So far all my predictions seem to be going the right way.

I think they have the best offensive line is the best in Group B (with Huntelaar and Van Persie who perform really well in their respective club) and I honestly didn't think that Mario Gomez would be the sole goal-scoring machine for Germany.

 

[Jorge D. Dragon]

xi0
I really care for the Golden Ball and Golden Boots. It's always interesting to see who will win them in each Euro or FIFA World Cup.


FrostyMouse
Actually Spain has the striker who can score - Llorente from Bilbao and Negredo from Sevilla. They had a good season in their clubs. The problem is that del Bosque doesn't want to put them in 11. Though I might be wrong and he will use one of them today.

 

[xi0]

Oh, I don't disagree about it being interesting. But I wonder whether the fans of a particular team/country care if their team doesn't perform up to expectations.

 

[goldb]

Netherlands

 

[Jorge D. Dragon]

xi0
I'm normally dissapointed even though I'm normally used that Russia doesn't meet my expectetions.
That's why I also have some other favourites like Spain, Portugal, Netherlands. Last three big tournaments it's also great to watch Germany, especially they were great on 2010 FIFA World Cup.
P.S. I also like how Croatia and Ukaraine perform lately.)

And damn! Croatia is great against Italy.)

 

[FrostyMouse]

Actually Spain has the striker who can score - Llorente from Bilbao and Negredo from Sevilla. They had a good season in their clubs. The problem is that del Bosque doesn't want to put them in 11. Though I might be wrong and he will use one of them today.

Jorge, you missed what I was saying. I was saying that Del Bosque didn't have a striker that he really trusted, not that they couldn't score. Llorente was great for Bilbao this year, for example.

I heavily dislike how Del Bosque basically only plays Barca or Madrid players, but that's just me. Torres played well today and got two deserved goals; however, we must look at the fact that Ireland didn't make much for opposition. Mata was a big part in the WC, but we haven't even seen a sniff of him in the Euros so far. Perhaps he got injured in practice or Di Matteo wants him to take summer off to some degree. Who knows, but I think Mata would give them something that I just see them lacking. Get Busquets out of the team now.

1-1 was a fair result for Italy vs Croatia. Assuming that Spain beats Croatia and Italy beats Ireland, my prediction of Spain and Italy as 1-2 in the group will work out.

 

[BBB Banana]

Spam bot quoted me. I felt it was weird the guy had the same picks as me and lived in portugal for 10 years too lol

Well today wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. I thought Italy would easily win against Croatia but this draw makes things more fun. Although everything still points to Italy advancing as Croatia's last opponent is nothing less than Spain.

 

[xi0]

I heavily dislike how Del Bosque basically only plays Barca or Madrid players, but that's just me. Torres played well today and got two deserved goals; however, we must look at the fact that Ireland didn't make much for opposition. Mata was a big part in the WC, but we haven't even seen a sniff of him in the Euros so far. Perhaps he got injured in practice or Di Matteo wants him to take summer off to some degree. Who knows, but I think Mata would give them something that I just see them lacking. Get Busquets out of the team now.

The majority of the team is either on FCB or RM. I do think there is something there though, he played a lot more of the non-FCB/RM players in the World Cup.

Why do you keep saying Mata was a big part of the WC? He only appeared once as a substitute in the group stage. Do you mean in the qualifying? I agree that there have to be better options than Busquets, but maybe Del Bosque insists on keeping that Barcelona midfield intact. We can't say it hasn't worked obviously.

 

[Jorge D. Dragon]

FrostyMouse
I agree with your point that he doesn't trust in his strikers. Maybe with the exeption of Torres. I actually see del Bosque as very conservative couch. He knows that Barca players are great and most of them were among those who won the previous Euro, thus he doesn't really want to change them. Also Madrid's players are also great, especially Casillas, Xabi Alonso and Ramos as they were also among the basis that won previous tournaments for Spain and also La Liga for Madrid.
Also del Bosque trained Madrid as well and won everything with it, so of course he will rely on its players.
Still I also agree that he should have used more Mata as he had a great season in Chelsea. I would say he was the only one who didn't dissapoint me during the entire season.
Still I agree that Busquets should be out of the game... Well not only I don't like him as a person, but also don't get his role in this team. It would be even better if his place was given to Javi Martines or even some attacking midfielder like Mata or even Fabregas as the latter had a great experience in Arsenal playing both as attacking midfielder and box-to-box.

About the situation in group C... Well now it's gotten pretty interesting. I still hope that Spain will adevance from the 1st place and Croatia from the 2nd. It would be great if Croatia manages to take at least 1 point from the match against Spain. I really like Croatia's game more than Italia's (sorry italians or Italy's fans).
About yesterday's Spain's game... well, nothing special. I really like that Torres has finally broken his curse. Still as in the first match I would say that their best player is still Silva. In the first game he made a desisive pass for the equaliser and now he scored a goal and made two passes. He was also great in City this year.
Also I really enjoyed watching spanish and irish football fans being well with each other before and during the game even though Ireland lkost to Spain.

About today's matches... I hope England will win. They really have a good chance as they managed to get one point against France and now if they win against Sweden (as they don't look strong in any way, especially as they were during the match against Ukraine), then they can get a good position to qualify to quater-finals.
And also I hope Ukraine will play as good as they played against Sweden. If they play the same way and have a good luck, then they can get from 1 to 3 points against France. Especially if Sheva will play as he did against Sweden.
Still would be great if France shows us something great today, but still I will be routing for Ukraine.

 

[FrostyMouse]

There just has to be someone better than Busquets to put in. For example, he could've used both Torres and Fabregas, instead of leaving Fabregas on the bench. What was that? Unless Busquets is just there to dive or flop in some big situation to get an opposing player carded, because that's how I see him for Barca.

I always hope for France, but again, I think the problem is Ribery as always. Without someone decisive like Zidane managing the team, things aren't going to work out, seemingly. Giroud needed to be in as he's France's only real target man. Benzema's a good striker, but he plays off of Ronaldo for Madrid and Ronaldo opens up situations for everyone. I had liked Laurent Blanc up until this game, but I thought it was a poor managing job. France should be able to beat Ukraine and Sweden, but who knows.

---------- Post added at 01:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 AM ----------

Hopefully we get the France vs Ukraine match in soon, preferably tomorrow.

 

[BBB Banana]

I thought the game would be delayed until tomorrow but thankfully it didn't

 

[Jorge D. Dragon]

Yes, Buaquets seems mostly the one to dive and to act like in bad Bollywood films if you get what I meen.
It would be actually great to see both Fabregas and Torres on the pitch as it seems that Xabi Alonso can manage the stopper position pretty well without Busquet's help and the same Fabregas or Xavi Ernandez can help as he sometimes plays at this position in Barca.

For now the match between France and Ukraine seems quite even, so it might happen everything in it.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Indeed, but it's still quite wet out there. We'll see how it ends up.

I was hoping to have Giroud and M'Vila start, but it's fine.

 

[BBB Banana]

2 great goals from france. Even though I was rooting for them at the beginning seeing the disappointment on the Ukrainian coach's face made me feel bad

 

[scav]

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ALLEZ LES BLEUS ALLEEEEEZ

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[FrostyMouse]

Go France!

 

[scav]

dang your avatar
*unsubscribe

 

[Jorge D. Dragon]

France was just overall better as their players are overall better, but still Ukraine had several great chances, especially Sheva. It was really dissapointing to see sad face of Blohin after France's first goal(((. But still, thanks both teams for the great match! France is already in quaterfinals. The question is from what place will they qualify?

Watching England against Sweden... well, Englands is a bit better and Carrol has just scored a goal, so it may happen that England will make Sweden say goodbye to Euro after this match.