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Euro tournament
June 8, 2012 - 6:50am
in serious matters, the Euro football tournament starts today in Poland... viva Espana again?!?
.... Italy not convinced:
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=1808938.html#italys+chiellini+c...
http://www.uefa.com/
Why Spain Won't Even Get Out Of Their Euro 2012 Group
I think Spain will make it further than that, obv, but they are exhausted right now, and they'll miss David Villa (and Torres of old). I don't expect them to win. I like Germany or Holland, with Germany nudging ahead in my heart right now. They have a very attractive side. Their group, Group B, has four teams in the FIFA top ten! (Germany - 2, Holland - 3, Portugal - 7, Denmark - 10) It's the worst group of death in the history of football. I also expect France to do well. Especially since their toughest competition in their group is pathetic ol' England.
But the real story of Euro right now is racism. Aside from the John Terry - Rio Ferdinand row I've mentioned in the footy thread, neo-Nazi groups in Poland and Ukraine have made a point to target players of colour. UEFA's response has been disgraceful thus far. They said they will book players who walk of the pitch in protest to racist chants, and when two Dutch players were abused during a training session yesterday (!), they inexplicably refused to admit it was for racist reasons (they were monkey chants) and has chosen not to investigate the incident. With Balotelli a vibrant and, shall we say, lively player for Italy who has already threatened to "kill" racist fans, has promised to walk off the pitch, and ha a history of responding violently to antagonism, this will surely come to a boil at some point this tournament.
... well, maybe the tournament will have the merit of bringing all that out of the shadows in Ukraine and Poland, long overdue for international reprimand ...
on the pitch, national teams tend to peak a few years and decline and, like France with its consecutive World Cup and Euro victories 1998-2000, they can hobble along for a while, then drop precipitously
Spain may not be quite there, and I do think Torres has more gas in the tank, but their miracle run may well be ending
five contenders:
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/bite-size-previews-of-five-euro...
Poland is leading Greece 1-0.
ETA: Game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Spain- Italy 18h CET:
who is on the way up, and who down ?
Pleased to hear that Denmark beat the Netherlands! If I were a betting person, I would be putting my money on Germany.
Two great goals in Italy-Spain so far, one each.
Tied game between Italy-Spain and a win for Croatia against Ireland.
England 1- France 1. England opened the scoring. France had the balance of the play but could not get the winner.
hope Russia-Poland does not turn nasty; situation in the streets, with a Russian supporters march scheduled through the city pre-match, a bit troubling...
England have a team that I haven't seen in red & white in decades: one that's hard to play against. Even with much more talented players (when Hodgson brought on Henderson and Defoe I had to laugh -- an inspired substitution sure to strike fear in the hearts of, er, Sunday league teams everywhere). But this one -- sure, they had eight players behind the ball at all times -- repeatedly frustrated the French (Patrice Evra complained that England "played like Chelsea." Ha!). Their only goal came from distance (it was a nice strike, but Joe Hart is likely disappointed he didn't stop it) and they only rarely troubled the penalty area. James Milner (James Milner!) had the best chance of the match and missed a sitter, so England might feel they could have nabbed all three points.
Shevchenko looked like he was ten years younger when he scored those goals. Group D could get interesting with a desperate Sweden.
Group A doesn't interest me. I want Russia to get through and then we'll see what they're made of, yes?
Czech Republic scored 2 before the game was 7 minutes old and held on to defeat Greece 2-1.
Pretty entertaining game today with England beating Sweden 3-2. The first three goals of the game had laughable defending, although Andy Carroll's opener was an outstanding header once given the chance. After Sweden's calamitous second goal, a 34-year-old bearded viking put them ahead--and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who should have been the best player on the pitch but wasn't, shouted some spiteful invective in England keeper Joe Hart's face he would come to regret.
Because then Danny Welbeck scored the goal of the tournament so far. Oddly reminiscent of (though much slicker than) Ibracadabra's goal against Italy in 2004.
One thing I'm curious about are the comical fake injuries the players always seem to receive, then when there's no penalty they get back up and play on as usual. And yet we're treated to PR spin about how these very players represent the very best of their respective nations. This duality is disconcerting.
Answer here.
A little drunk but really impressed with France passing against Ukraine. So fluid and easy and effortless that I thought the ref had blown for frees a few times DURING passing movements! That stuff mentally kills other teams. Doing that against the hosts means that other teams will get a "shitkicking" later. France to win the tournament.
I picked France as a potential tournament winner early on, so I'd like to see them do well, although they've been frustrated by England and Ukraine for long spells, which means they need to improve. That said, I also picked Netherlands as a team to go far, and they look like they'll be out at the group stage. Euros: where anything can happen.
Teams on the best form are Spain, as expected; Germany, as expected; and Russia, as (kind of) expected. I'd like to see Italy go through, since they've been playing well even if the results haven't shown it. If Holland don't get the goals and results necessary to go through, I hope Portugal nip it over Denmark. I still expect Spain to tire before the final -- it won't be until the semi-finals before form really starts to tell, I think.
At least the games are starting to show a bit of urgency and excitment now.
Well shut my mouth.
'In The Name of Sporting Solidarity': Top European Athletes Call for Israel to Release Mahmoud Sarsak (and vid)
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/name-sporting-solidarit...
"In the name of sporting solidarity, justice and human rights, we declare our support for Palestinian footballer Mahmoud Sarsak. As European sportsmen we believe that every person has the right to a fair and independent trail'. This call came from two dozen top European athletes including Seville striker Frederic Kanoute, as international concern continued to mount over the life of Sarsak, 25, who began a hunger strike in March against his prolonged detention without charge or trial by Israel.."
yeah really! I even skipped this match, assuming Russia would win; I was so looking forward to watching them play further on. Disappointed: they play a very pretty game.
As a bonus anti-prize, the anti-Russia and abominable Greece, somehow made it through. If Germany don't knock the stuffing out of them in the first knockout stage, I'm done with fitbah.
The tournament so far has been, dare I say it, a cracker: Holland crashing out like a grotesque multiple motorcycle accident; Cristiano Ronaldo singlehandedly catapulting Portugal into the next round and silenicng his critics that he can't play International football; England's rugged winning ways; Germany and Spain's quiet ruthlessness; Greece's against-the-odds perseverence.
I rescind my optimism about the French's chances. They're going out to Spain next round after a turgid display against already-eliminated Sweden, who destroyed them -- and scored a contender for goal-of-the-tournament so far. By Ibrahimovic, who again cemented his reputation as small-game scorer, big-game bottler.
I still think Italy will pip England in the quarterfinals, although it will be closer than I originally thought. Germany over Greece, Portugal over the Czechs, and Spain over France. Bring on elimination football!
Okay. I'll go with England over Italy, Germany over Greece (although every political bone in my body wants the opposite result), Spain over France, and the Czechs to upset Portugal.
I hear you.
OK, final 4:
Spain-Portugal
and
Germany vs winner of today's England-Italy
Depending on Ronaldo's hair, Portugal might surprise Spain. I don't see Germany having much trouble with either England (who I'm rooting for) or Italy.
The racism issues around the English team, especially in relation to John Terry, is getting a lot of press.
See for example Fury as John Terry faces racism charge - but ISN'T stripped of England captaincy
Anton Ferdinand (or a brother? not sure) was not invited to play for England around this issue.
Top 10 Euro Goals 2012
A tossup between Ibrahimovic's and Balotelli's scissors kicks. And Walbeck's is a cheeky one against Sweden.
My understanding, back in February, is that he would not be named captain unless the issue was resolved.
So I went 2 for 4 in my quarter final predictions. Bowing to Catchfire's clean sheet. Okay. I'll take Spain over Portugal, and Germay over Italy.