Euro 2012

[redwhitevision]

Hello, I just thought about browsing this section and I was very surprised to see no thread regarding, probably, the most important soccer event at the moment.
So, are you guys watching the games, have a favorite team ?

1st comment, Holland was just terrible...

[IdolEyes787]

I was browsing this section and was very relieved that in the totality of bt related sites it was the singular one that didn't have a Euro Cup thread.:mellow:

[manker]

The people who live in my computer don't seem to be very good at talking about footie.

I mean I could talk about it all day but I refrain because I reckon people here just aren't all that interested and I don't want to go all cyclist on them.

[IdolEyes787]

For we all know the only thing more dangerous than a drunken football hooligan is an angry Lycra clad cyclist.

[manker]

For we all know the only thing more dangerous than a drunken football hooligan is an angry Lycra clad cyclist.Well.
I've seen cyclists when they get off their bikes at the end of one of those little Tour Le France stages and they're like baby deer. I think I could probably take on about 35 of them before my arms got tired of pushing them to the ground and kerb-stomping their faces with my shiny footwear.

[IdolEyes787]

You overlooked the fact that Tour de France riders are so full of drugs they are immune from pain and fatigue.
Also as weapons bike pumps> Doc Martens

[manker]

You overlooked the fact that Tour de France riders are so full of drugs they are immune to pain and fatigue.
Also as weapons bike pumps> Doc MartensYou know, they sound a lot like zombies and everyone in the world has now watched enough of that type of show to quickly put down any zombie rebellion.

Also don't think I haven't noticed you turning this footie thread into yet another thread about lycra, fascist.

[IdolEyes787]

OK have it your way then.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUg7bBd2-UM

[Cabalo]

Hello, I just thought about browsing this section and I was very surprised to see no thread regarding, probably, the most important soccer event at the moment.
So, are you guys watching the games, have a favorite team ?

1st comment, Holland was just terrible...
Holland never manages to get anything positive from matches against us. I lost track of how many defeats they suffered in their past matches vs Portugal.

I'm predicting Italy will follow suite today, though for some reason those guys always escape luckily and then make it to finals.

This euro is going to be a contest between Germany, Spain and France. Let's see how Portugal fares, now that CR7 has woken up.

[redwhitevision]

Italy is a typical 1-0 type of team, but you know.. it works. Your prediction seems fair at this point, but there are a few surprises too. I particularly liked how Denmark played against Holland, Croatia also having some good games. Not to mention how lucky i believe Greece is.
About your last point, Portugal has quite an interesting selection of players and that makes me doubt that C. Ronaldo will be the star of this show.
At this point I'm enjoying the games, don't really have a favorite. Prediction: Spain.

[cinephilia]

Italy is a typical 1-0 type of team, but you know.. it works.
please stop with this old myth, italy doesnt do catenaccio since years.
they've changed all their system since marcello lippi's era and play creative and quality football.

[manker]

Italy is a typical 1-0 type of team, but you know.. it works.
please stop with this old myth, italy doesnt do catenaccio since years.
they've changed all their system since marcello lippi's era and play creative and quality football.
Lippi only went about 18 months/2 years ago and since they've hardly been free-scoring.
I seem to remember them beating the might of the Faroe Islands by the odd goal in qualifying and losing a series of friendlies without scoring.

I don't follow them that closely so there exists the danger I'm talking complete pish. However, in the matches I've watched since Lippi went the second time, they've been the same old Italy.
Defensive.

[cinephilia]

not scoring much doesn't necessarily make you a defensive team, especially in friendly games, italy being known for not taking them very seriously.

that said, this move toward 'quality football' (more forward moves and initiative in the game) is far more more visible under prandelli leadership.

[redwhitevision]

Italy is a typical 1-0 type of team, but you know.. it works.
please stop with this old myth, italy doesnt do catenaccio since years.
they've changed all their system since marcello lippi's era and play creative and quality football.

Please.. i keep my statement. I've never seen a good game from Italy for a very long time. Boring, but efficient and that's not actually bad in matters of results.

[manker]

not scoring much doesn't necessarily make you a defensive team, especially in friendly games, italy being known for not taking them very seriously.

that said, this move toward 'quality football' (more forward moves and initiative in the game) is far more more visible under prandelli leadership.I agree that it's possible that non-defensive teams don't necessarily score a lot of goals - but you would think that a team which favours more attacking tactics and taking the game to the opposition would put rather more than one goal past the Faroes. Especially one with the flair attacking players which Italy possess.

It seems strange to me, also, that Prandelli would abandon the catenaccio - which has served Italy so well for decades - and remain true to the utterly foolish 'we don't take friendlies seriously' tradition. Especially in a time where he is, apparently, introducing a whole new style of play.

That makes about as much sense, to me, as someone saying that 'defensive Italian football teams are an old myth'.

[redwhitevision]

Portugal - Czech Republic
Germany - Greece
Spain - France
England - Italy

Bets ?

[manker]

Portugal - Czech Republic
Germany - Greece
Spain - France
England - Italy

Bets ?
Semis will be:

Portugal Vs Spain
Germany Vs England

The Italy game will be 0-0 at full time with neither side getting a shot on goal - but in extra time, Ballotelli will get himself sent off, the Italians will then only be able to get 10 men behind the ball at all times which will result in a hurried clearance rebounding off Andy Carrol's arse and squeezing beneath an ageing Buffon to trickle over the line and send a nation into raptures.

[IdolEyes787]

Add manker,rewhitevision and cinephillia to the growing list of people having long involved conversations that no one else really gives a fuck about.

[manker]

Add manker, redwhitevision and cinephilia to the growing list of people who consider Idol a tangible lesion deep within the human condition.

[IdolEyes787]

Add manker, redwhitevision and cinephilia to the growing list of people who consider Idol a tangible lesion deep within the human condition.

Shut up before I give you a red card.

[manker]

Rather that than the pink sock you gave to that homeless man who'd passed out.

[cinephilia]

Please.. i keep my statement. I've never seen a good game from Italy for a very long time. Boring, but efficient and that's not actually bad in matters of results.

comon let's be honest, admit you only follow italy games on international competitions and can't really judge their football.
wait.. you watched the group matches, right ? did italy play a defensive football against spain, croatia, and ireland ? :unsure:



I agree that it's possible that non-defensive teams don't necessarily score a lot of goals - but you would think that a team which favours more attacking tactics and taking the game to the opposition would put rather more than one goal past the Faroes. Especially one with the flair attacking players which Italy possess.
just because the attack is not efficient doesn't mean the team have no desire to move forward. look at spain so far, their midfield is the best the world has ever seen and yet, they have hard time scoring goals against decent teams even tho they have about 60% of possession.


It seems strange to me, also, that Prandelli would abandon the catenaccio - which has served Italy so well for decades - and remain true to the utterly foolish 'we don't take friendlies seriously' tradition. Especially in a time where he is, apparently, introducing a whole new style of play.

catenaccio is the only tactical system italy ever used, like a tradition, even a fatality. prandelli's new philosophy of play is a good thing in my eyes, it brings a breath of fresh air on italy's football and serve them well so far in the competition.

[manker]

Well, yes, I do only watch them compete in international competitions. I wasn't aware that Italian national team competed in any domestic ones.
I watched the games against Croatia and Spain and they were defensive. I didn't see the Ireland game as the other one in the group was on at the same time. I understand they changed their formation for that game and took the game to the Irish, which is to their credit.


You don't seem to have addressed anything I said, even though you quoted it; like about the insane not taking friendlies seriously when implementing a new strategy or how they only managed to put one goal past a bunch of accountants and fishermen with 'attacking' football, but I don't really mind. Football is always subjective and while I might not be able to discern much difference between Prandelli's approach and that of Lippi before him, it doesn't mean that he isn't trying hard to implement such ideas.

I just don't happen to think he's achieved it yet.

[cinephilia]

Well, yes, I do only watch them compete in international competitions. I wasn't aware that Italian national team competed in any domestic ones.
it was directed to redwhitevision after he said that italia remains a boring team, which i dont agree with. i guess you had to watch the friendly games to notice a change in the offensive animation.

and if you really watched the games against spain and croatia, then i don't know what to say. saying they were defensive is a total misinterpretation of football.

[manker]

Well, yes, I do only watch them compete in international competitions. I wasn't aware that Italian national team competed in any domestic ones.
it was directed to redwhitevision after he said that italia remains a boring team, which i dont agree with. i guess you had to watch the friendly games to notice a change in the offensive animation.

and if you really watched the games against spain and croatia, then i don't know what to say. saying they were defensive is a total misinterpretation of football.

Wait, what. You said they didn't take the friendly games seriously. I didn't watch them, I only know they didn't score, but I guess now you're saying that they did take them seriously right?
That being the case and, as you say, they decided to play attacking football - it doesn't appear to have worked out for them.

Which kinda explains their more pragmatic approach to the first two games in this competition.
I didn't notice a difference, in so far as attacking tactics, from Lippi's teams. Yes, the full backs went forward a lot, but they played three centre-backs in both games.
Sure, the midfielders, Pirlo in particular, played some decent stuff. But he always has done. Italy's defensive integrity was paramount and then they let their more talented players try to take the game forward. It's always been so.

Three out of the four goals came from set-pieces.
I think that tells its own tale.

===

Btw, what do you think about taki-taka?
It kindof enamoured me at first but now it completely bores the shit out of me.

Give me a game to watch involving Madrid and Ronaldo over Messi and Barca any day.

[redwhitevision]

Cinephilia, Manker pretty much answered your question the way i would have. His statement "That being the case and, as you say, they decided to play attacking football - it doesn't appear to have worked out for them." works as a main idea for what we both understood from Italy's game. Neither of us have any reason not to be objective when talking about their game, maybe it changed like you said, but I don't see anything radical. I guess we'll just have to see their next game, a rather difficult one.
In my case I'm just enjoying the games, I like football, so far there were pretty good games at this competition and I hope for even better.

@Manker, I think you mean tiki-taka ?
For those who don't know, this style is characterized by a -pass and move- style of play. Had to start with this short description because the core meaning is something I actually appreciate. I'm not really a fan of counter-attack teams, although these teams can be really spectacular at times. And of course there are a couple of teams that play that way and do it right.
After all, football is a game where not always the better teams wins, the team that scores goals wins and it doesn't really matter how they do it.
Anyway, so far Portugal and Germany made their way into the semi-finals, no real surprises here, my guess is that Spain will follow. Won't say anything about the other game because our friend above is a bit sensitive, haha.

Ninja edit : "Add manker,rewhitevision and cinephillia to the growing list of people having long involved conversations that no one else really gives a fuck about."
You sir don't know what is actually beautiful or fascinating in a sport and I just don't think I have to prove anything to you as you already proved yourself how ignorant you are. I particularly disagree with this kind of attitude as it doesn't bring any good.

[Funkin']

Seriously? This shit is entertaining to some of you?

[IdolEyes787]

Seriously? This shit is entertaining to some of you?

I think you need to be Black to properly appreciate it.

[manker]

@Manker, I think you mean tiki-taka ?
For those who don't know, this style is characterized by a -pass and move- style of play. Had to start with this short description because the core meaning is something I actually appreciate. I'm not really a fan of counter-attack teams, although these teams can be really spectacular at times. And of course there are a couple of teams that play that way and do it right.
After all, football is a game where not always the better teams wins, the team that scores goals wins and it doesn't really matter how they do it.
Oh yeah. I did mean that. I didn't think it looked right but I decided against writing 'tippy-tappy'.
I loved the way Man Utd played when Ronaldo was there, especially away from home, inviting teams onto them and then killing them on the break. The best example of this was in the semi-final of the European Cup in 2009 against Arsenal, but they played that way for several seasons. Although at home they dominated possession and played aggressively down the wings and, more infrequently, passed or dribbled right through teams.

Barca then thumped them in the final, which is probably why I don't like tiki-taka :dabs:

I'd also like to say that without Xavi, Iniesta and Messi, the style wouldn't work against an especially good counter attacking team. Merely mortal players wouldn't be able to hang onto the ball long enough to negate the threat. Barca weren't all that good with the same style of football when they didn't have these three players. When Xavi and Iniesta retire, Barca will again need to rely upon their wide players much more.



Seriously? This shit is entertaining to some of you?

I think you need to be Black to properly appreciate it.
Or have an attention span of more than a few minutes.

I think the thing is with puntsphere is that the goals are so infrequent that people who aren't part of its culture get bored waiting for someone to score.

[cinephilia]

Wait, what. You said they didn't take the friendly games seriously. I didn't watch them, I only know they didn't score, but I guess now you're saying that they did take them seriously right?
That being the case and, as you say, they decided to play attacking football - it doesn't appear to have worked out for them.
they didnt give a fuck about the results but it at least gave an idea of the evolution of their football.

anyway, i didn't mean they became an attacking team like magic but that they tended to play a more offensive football and take more risk to score... unlike england that, on the other hand, is a true defensive team.

do you guys watched the england-italy game ? see what i'm talking about now ? :ermm:

[manker]

Wait, what. You said they didn't take the friendly games seriously. I didn't watch them, I only know they didn't score, but I guess now you're saying that they did take them seriously right?
That being the case and, as you say, they decided to play attacking football - it doesn't appear to have worked out for them.
they didnt give a fuck about the results but it at least gave an idea of the evolution of their football.

anyway, i didn't mean they became an attacking team like magic but that they tended to play a more offensive football and take more risk to score... unlike england that, on the other hand, is a true defensive team.

do you guys watched the england-italy game ? see what i'm talking about now ? :ermm:
It seems I did previously:
"Sure, the midfielders, Pirlo in particular, played some decent stuff. But he always has done. Italy's defensive integrity was paramount and then they let their more talented players try to take the game forward. It's always been so."
That's what they did against England. Italy were far superior, especially in midfield.


England were terrible and ultra-defensive except for the first 25 minutes. it was kindof embarrassing to watch that last half hour. I wasn't sorry to see them lose on penalties.

[IdolEyes787]

they didnt give a fuck about the results but it at least gave an idea of the evolution of their football.

anyway, i didn't mean they became an attacking team like magic but that they tended to play a more offensive football and take more risk to score... unlike england that, on the other hand, is a true defensive team.

do you guys watched the england-italy game ? see what i'm talking about now ? :ermm:
It seems I did previously:
"Sure, the midfielders, Pirlo in particular, played some decent stuff. But he always has done. Italy's defensive integrity was paramount and then they let their more talented players try to take the game forward. It's always been so."
That's what they did against England. Italy were far superior, especially in midfield.


England were terrible and ultra-defensive except for the first 25 minutes. it was kindof embarrassing to watch that last half hour. I wasn't sorry to see them lose on penalties.

"England played a coward's game"..."ran from the Italians for two and a half hours".

http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/article/1216551--kelly-italy-eliminates-england-in-euro-quarter-final-shootout

[manker]

Can't really disagree with the sentiments of the writer of that blog - even if he does write like a twelve year old with no thumbs.

[IdolEyes787]

Can't really disagree with the sentiments of the writer of that blog - even if he does write like a twelve year old with no thumbs.

In Canada that level of literacy is considered genius so fuck off.

[redwhitevision]

Missed for a few days, read just now the comments and I must say the last comment, although off-topic, made the whole discussion funny haha



I'd also like to say that without Xavi, Iniesta and Messi, the style wouldn't work against an especially good counter attacking team. Merely mortal players wouldn't be able to hang onto the ball long enough to negate the threat. Barca weren't all that good with the same style of football when they didn't have these three players. When Xavi and Iniesta retire, Barca will again need to rely upon their wide players much more.


I don't really agree with what you said, of course these 3 players are paramount for Barcelona, very talented, probably the best in the world in their positions. But there are very many young players that Pep promoted, many others before too, in fact, their Academy is top, if not the best, one of the best in the world for sure.

Besides, Messi is only 25 and I don't think Barca is planning to sell him, I also like Alexis Sanchez, among the younger ones Thiago Alcantara, Tello, Cuenca and others. They seemed to blend in almost perfectly in the over-all game style and this, plus the fact that I'm sure there are still youngsters waiting to make the big step towards the first team, makes me think that unless they want to change the game style, it's almost certain that it won't die once those players retire.

Of course these are only suppositions, we'll just have to see how it turns out.

@cinephilia - didn't have the chance to watch the whole game because of bad timing of a phone call from work, thing which I didn't really regret because both teams had a bad game in my opinion.
Of course England played even worse, but seeing Balotelli missing at least 4 chances wasn't that entertaining, I wonder how you were living that moment if it was annoying for the rest of us. About the final result, won at penalties, still nothing spectacular, congrats for the result but there's not much to be proud about winning against the brits.

[manker]

Missed for a few days, read just now the comments and I must say the last comment, although off-topic, made the whole discussion funny haha



I'd also like to say that without Xavi, Iniesta and Messi, the style wouldn't work against an especially good counter attacking team. Merely mortal players wouldn't be able to hang onto the ball long enough to negate the threat. Barca weren't all that good with the same style of football when they didn't have these three players. When Xavi and Iniesta retire, Barca will again need to rely upon their wide players much more.


I don't really agree with what you said, of course these 3 players are paramount for Barcelona, very talented, probably the best in the world in their positions. But there are very many young players that Pep promoted, many others before too, in fact, their Academy is top, if not the best, one of the best in the world for sure.

Besides, Messi is only 25 and I don't think Barca is planning to sell him, I also like Alexis Sanchez, among the younger ones Thiago Alcantara, Tello, Cuenca and others. They seemed to blend in almost perfectly in the over-all game style and this, plus the fact that I'm sure there are still youngsters waiting to make the big step towards the first team, makes me think that unless they want to change the game style, it's almost certain that it won't die once those players retire.

Of course these are only suppositions, we'll just have to see how it turns out.

@cinephilia - didn't have the chance to watch the whole game because of bad timing of a phone call from work, thing which I didn't really regret because both teams had a bad game in my opinion.
Of course England played even worse, but seeing Balotelli missing at least 4 chances wasn't that entertaining, I wonder how you were living that moment if it was annoying for the rest of us. About the final result, won at penalties, still nothing spectacular, congrats for the result but there's not much to be proud about winning against the brits.
I was actually pretty impressed with Italy. I doubt they'll beat Germany but they deserve their place as one of the best four teams in Europe, imo.
Cinephilia was probably onto something when he said that they were more attacking now as they did create a lot more chances than I'm used to them creating. More and more, it seemed, the deeper they went into the tournament.
If they had someone like Vieri or Inzaghi up top, they'd be formidable, indeed.

They're still defensive minded but that's hardly a crime and also something that would be hard to stamp out of the players' dna just because one coach decides to try something different.

re; Barca. They've had the same academy for decades and it this is basically the first time they've ever dominated so completely. Sure, Messi will still be there after the other two go, but he looks like a different player for Argentina. Mediocre isn't a word you'd normally associate with him but I've only seen him have one good game for them - and that was their last one against Brazil.

I don't think Barca's younger players will be anywhere near the level of the current stars, certainly not the ones you mention. If they were that good, then he wouldn't have pursued Fabregas for so long since he is approximately half the player either Xavi or Iniesta is. Also, I wasn't saying that the system would stop once Xavi and Iniesta retired, I said it would be less effective - which it definitely will be. Those two (plus the genius of Messi) make the system almost perfect, with inferior players they will be eminently beatable.



This is, anyway, what I'm hoping :eyebrows:

[redwhitevision]

If they had someone like Vieri or Inzaghi up top, they'd be formidable, indeed.



With all those 4 (or more) chances that Balotelli had, Inzaghi would have scored 5 times.

[cinephilia]

@cinephilia - didn't have the chance to watch the whole game because of bad timing of a phone call from work, thing which I didn't really regret because both teams
had a bad game in my opinion.
Of course England played even worse, but seeing Balotelli missing at least 4 chances wasn't that entertaining, I wonder how you were living that moment if it was annoying for the rest of us.
About the final result, won at penalties, still nothing spectacular, congrats for the result but there's not much to be proud about winning against the brits.

huh? are you for real? this was by far the best game out of the four quarter finals, a high-level match ending with 35 shoots and 837 passes for italy (probably a record at this stage of the competition).
i mean, what more did you expect ??? or are you saying it was not entertaining because there were no goals ? if so, i can tell without a doubt that you can't be anything but an occasional football spectator.
england may not be brilliant, it's still an annoying team that has great players in its ranks such as steven gerrard, ashley cole, john terry, lescott or wayne rooney. italy did the job and did it well, always trying to score and go forward even in the extra time. this new italy play a great football and can be proud of what they achieved so far.


They're still defensive minded but that's hardly a crime and also something that would be hard to stamp out of the players' dna just because one coach decides to try something different.
it's not in the players dna but in the philosophy. the coach takes the players that he knows will fit in his tactical system, that's all. even the serie A is changing and a few teams played occasionally in a offensive 3-5-2 formation this season. and it doesn't seem to disturb anyone even tho you need time to adapt.


edit : i invite you to read this short article about prandelli's work http://www.football-italia.net/20424/prandellis-revolution

[manker]

:schnauz:
I didn't mean literally in their DNA. I know it's much to do with how the coach tells the players to play.
However, it's also to do with the players' psychology and what they're used to - which is to be defensive as I imagine that the overwhelming majority of coaches each of those players will have worked with will have instilled a defensive mindset.

So even though Prandelli might be urging them to abandon this, it won't come easily.
I think we actually agree on this :]

Also, I'll definitely read that article.

[redwhitevision]

huh? are you for real? this was by far the best game out of the four quarter finals, a high-level match ending with 35 shoots and 837 passes for italy (probably a record at this stage of the competition).
i mean, what more did you expect ??? or are you saying it was not entertaining because there were no goals ? if so, i can tell without a doubt that you can't be anything but an occasional football spectator.
england may not be brilliant, it's still an annoying team that has great players in its ranks such as steven gerrard, ashley cole, john terry, lescott or wayne rooney. italy did the job and did it well, always trying to score and go forward even in the extra time. this new italy play a great football and can be proud of what they achieved so far.

Uhm, I don't think you understood me right. Although it's just 1 game, yes they did attack, I didn't say it was a bad attacking game for the team, I said it was boring to see every attack finishing with a miss from Balotelli. I mean like seriously. Besides, having all those chances and missing every single one, you believe to be a good game? How ? Don't jump into conclusions saying that I'm nothing more than an "occasional football spectator", judge your team critically and blame their inefficiency in front of the goal, which with your help and the statistical numbers you provided is "too damn high". Don't take like everything personal, it's not the case.

[NationalLampoo]

Hello, I just thought about browsing this section and I was very surprised to see no thread regarding, probably, the most important soccer event at the moment.
So, are you guys watching the games, have a favorite team ?

1st comment, Holland was just terrible...

When have time, am watching on TV. My favourite team is Italy with Buffon as goalkeeper.

[redwhitevision]

Better game than the one against England, seems like an interesting final. Of course, because Germany has a better team than England. Pirlo probably the best player of this competition so far.

[manker]

Better finishing from Balotelli, the rest was about the same, I think. His second goal was very special, indeed. From a similar position to the chance Ronaldo missed at the end of the Portugal game (albeit with his weaker foot).

Why did Loew change his side so much. He seemed to be almost disregarding the opposition and showing the world how good his squad is instead. Italy deserved the win on a number of levels.

The odd thing is that when I look at the Italy team and the England team man-for-man, I don't see much difference except for Pirlo. The 'keepers are of the same level. I wouldn't say that any of the Italian defenders are better and I think that the striker options for England are better than their Italian counterparts. The Italian central midfielders are much better but the wing options England have look a lot more effective (on paper!).

But that shouldn't make so much difference to explain the huge gulf in the teams out of eleven players and obviously it doesn't.
Their tactics are spot on and have improved as the competition progressed.

Conclusion: Prandelli is fucking awesome at his job.

[redwhitevision]

Yeah well, I considered this match to be the last at this competition for Italy, they proved me wrong, that's for one and even impressed me with their last game, that's two.

Another thing is Spain didn't really impress that much in their last game against Portugal, yes they won but it wasn't a brilliant game. When I started this thread I predicted that Spain will win the competition, so far they did their job and reached the finals, this being their final test.

I have the feeling that this game will be decided at penalties but either way it will end i really hope this will be the game we all waited for, an epic final to a competition that didn't really bring much surprises with the teams that advanced throughout the competition stages. Only one thing while the memory is still fresh, in my case Italy defeating Germany in this manner was a bit of a surprise for me personally, maybe not for others. Holland is already old news.

P.S. I wonder where Chinephilia is, missing his chance to throw in my face the fact that maybe he was right, haha

[NationalLampoo]

When have time, am watching on TV. My favourite team is Italy with Buffon as goalkeeper.

And they do their job. :D

[redwhitevision]

Italy is a typical 1-0 type of team, but you know.. it works. Your prediction seems fair at this point, but there are a few surprises too. I particularly liked how Denmark played against Holland, Croatia also having some good games. Not to mention how lucky i believe Greece is.
About your last point, Portugal has quite an interesting selection of players and that makes me doubt that C. Ronaldo will be the star of this show.
At this point I'm enjoying the games, don't really have a favorite. Prediction: Spain.

Like I said way before in the early stages of this competition, my prediction was confirmed. Spain didn't get a goal against in the knock-out stages games, virtually pulverising their competition in these games, the 4-0 result in the finals is more than conclusive for their over-all game. I must admit that I am a bit disappointed with this final, I expected way more from Italy... way way more.

I'll give a conclusion to this thread I started, Spain confirmed their status as best team at the moment, can't say I'm satisfied with the over-all result that I guessed right because I expected to see something new, a surprise, but it was not the case. Spain dominated, not only the finals but the whole competition, like I said before, they deserve credits for that, second team at this competition was Germany in my opinion, I still regret not seeing a Spain - Germany final actually, kudos for Italy for reaching this far but i think Germany would have treated this final match differently..

In spite of the bad game in the finals from Italy, I think Pirlo was the best player in this competition, sincere congratulations for this great player.

Feel football, Live for football.

[manker]

I'm going with Iniesta as the player of the tournament.

Can't be arsed to write much about the final except I was disappointed with the game as Italy didn't turn up and then it was ended as a contest prematurely when they were reduced to ten men.

My team of the Euro 2012.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/samsamsamsam/team.png

[redwhitevision]

I've seen somewhere a funny pic related to this final. It was something like this :

Italy reached this far...

4 nothing which as sarcastic as it is it's pretty much conclusive.

[sharept]

bad final.

[LemOnzoo]

I expected to Italy win.

[mjmacky]

I tried to watch, but every streaming site I found was ad ridden or taken down. Then I tried installing sopcast since I haven't used it since maybe the last euro cup and couldn't remember exactly how it worked. I was easily able to watch the world cup last time around on ESPN by using a VPN to my university's network, but that wouldn't work this time and their site required some kind of login. Overall, it seemed to be a big pain in the ass for a game I didn't really feel like watching, so fuck them. I stayed so far away from it, I learned that Italy lost in this thread just now.

[manker]

Ffs, as long as you've got adblock installed in the browser that you use, wiziwig.tv will get you every game of consequence with nary an inconvenience.
Why didn't you just post here, the tournament was on for like a month.

The only thing is that the high-end streams tend to be choppy no matter what connection you're using so it's often better to use a 350KBps stream so substituting clarity for smoothosity.

[mjmacky]

Like I said, I wasn't that interested (I was supposed to get it set up for everyone else, a last minute request), and if they want to be such bastards about making it viewable, fuck them and their faggoty fuckness. I told everyone to leave the house and leave me alone.

[manker]

Like I said, I wasn't that interested (I was supposed to get it set up for everyone else, a last minute request), and if they want to be such bastards about making it viewable, fuck them and their faggoty fuckness. I told everyone to leave the house and leave me alone.117947

[redwhitevision]

Are you talking about the final game or the whole competition ? Cause if you're talking about the final .. well.. you didn't miss much. I knew the general outcome since the second goal was scored.

[manker]

New world puntsphere rankings compiled just after Euro 2012

1. Spain
2. Germany
3. Uruguay
4. England <--- rofle
5. Portugal
6. Italy
7. Argentina
8. Netherlands
9. Croatia
10. Denmark
11. Brazil
12. Greece
13. Russia
14. France
15. Chile
16. Ivory Coast
17. Sweden
18. Czech Republic
19. Mexico
20. Japan

[LemOnzoo]

Spain is now best team of all times, they won 3 competitions in a row.

[manker]

Barcelona would beat them.

[LemOnzoo]

Only difference is messi :D

[IdolEyes787]

Spain is now best team of all times, they won 3 competitions in a row.

Greatest isn't measured by how many wins you have but by who defeat.

If you can tell me that Spain faced the best teams that other countries have ever produced then I will concede that Spain is "the best team of all times".

[LemOnzoo]

Statisticly best, because nobody won euro cup,world cup and euro cup in 4 years so far.

[redwhitevision]

Barcelona would beat them.

Meh.. comparing a club team with a national team can never be really relevant. Not to mention that in this case, half of the Spanish team is actually comprised by Barcelona players.
Or.. was that sarcasm ?

[manker]

Well spotted.

[mjmacky]

117947

The one in which people left the apartment in general fear.

[manker]

Both could cause that.
I'd be more inclined to fear the spaz-out on the left for one reason alone; mongo strength.

[LemOnzoo]

Further step is this

118295

[mjmacky]

I called them suckers, not cockaroaches.

[redwhitevision]

What is the meaning of this off-topic?
I angry.

[manker]

Don't be mad, we're just trying to find out whether Mary's spaz out was caused by lunacy or mental illness.

It's obviously the latter, but she feels better about it if people countenance the other option for a wee while.

[mjmacky]

How about pure unadulterated rage? Why is that left out of the options?

[manker]

I couldn't think of a movie equivalent.

[IdolEyes787]

I couldn't think of a movie equivalent.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjmjtOnDyYs

And yes it is.

[mjmacky]

Hey, is that Trumpkin from Chronicles of Narnia?

[IdolEyes787]

Maradona.

[manker]

98% of actual dwarfs in the UK hold an actor's equity card.
Which actually explains a lot since you don't see much of them in other lines of work :eyebrows:

[mjmacky]

Circuses are out of style.

[redwhitevision]

Makes more sense when it can be explained scientifically ? Just a thought.

[manker]

Makes more sense when it can be explained scientifically ? Just a thought.
Which thing.
The dwarves or Mary's menopause.

[redwhitevision]

Dwarves i guess since Mary is out of options anyway.