If Greece invades Poland in the next hour or so it will be in protest over that sketchy red card the ref just handed out, followed by the non-call of a would-be penalty in the box on Poland. So far Poland is better than I expected, but the games won't really get going until the next few days.
Here's the schedule for the group stage.
Group A 8 June 2012 Poland Match 1 Greece Russia Match 2 Czech Republic 12 June 2012 Greece Match 9 Czech Republic Poland Match 10 Russia 16 June 2012 Czech Republic Match 17 Poland Greece Match 18 Russia
Group B 9 June 2012 Netherlands Match 3 Denmark Germany Match 4 Portugal 13 June 2012 Denmark Match 11 Portugal Netherlands Match 12 Germany 17 June 2012 Portugal Match 19 Netherlands Denmark Match 20 Germany
Group C 10 June 2012 Spain Match 5 Italy Republic of Ireland Match 6 Croatia 14 June 2012 Italy Match 13 Croatia Spain Match 14 Republic of Ireland 18 June 2012 Croatia Match 21 Spain Italy Match 22 Republic of Ireland
Group D 11 June 2012 France Match 7 England Ukraine Match 8 Sweden 15 June 2012 Ukraine Match 15 France Sweden Match 16 England 19 June 2012 England Match 23 Ukraine Sweden Match 24 France
Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
Geez, is Russia this good, or have the Czechs taken a step back?
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
Russia are pretty good (they beat Italy 3-0 just before the tournament) and the Czechs haven't brought many young players through recently, so they still rely on their old guard.
Originally posted by Big BadGeez, is Russia this good, or have the Czechs taken a step back?
The Czechs are that bad. I still weep over Scotland's decision to employ a 4-6-0 formation against them when they were clearly there for the taking. Terrible, terrible side.
Russia don't suck though.
Italy looked mighty good against Spain yesterday. I expected them to just stick 11 men behind the ball and play for a 0-0 but their passing was really slick at times and they created plenty of chances. Of course Spain would still have won if Torres could hit a cow's arse with the proverbial banjo.
I still have no clue how Holland lost to Denmark, or who that imposter they had running around up front pretending to be van Persie was. He was lousy.
If Greece & Czech Republic both win: #1Czech, #2 Greece If Greece & Poland both win: #1 Poland, #2 Greece If Russia & Czech Republic both win: #1 Russia, #2 Czech If Russia & Poland both win: #1 Russia, #2 Poland
If Greece wins by 1-2 goals & Czech/Poland draw: #1 Russia, #2 Greece If Greece wins by 3-5 goals & Czech/Poland draw: #1 Greece, #2 Russia If Greece wins by 6 or more goals & Czech/Poland draw: #1 Greece, #2 Czech If Russia wins & Czech/Poland draw: #1 Russia, #2 Czech If Czech wins & Greece/Russia draw: #1 Czech, #2 Russia If Poland wins by at least 4 goals (or 3 if they score 4 more than Russia) & Greece/Russia draw: #1 Poland, #2 Russia If Poland wins by less than 4 goals (or if they score 3 or less than Russia) & Greece/Russia draw: #1 Russia, #2 Poland Both games end in draws: #1 Russia, #2 Czech
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-- 2006 Time magazine Person of the Year -- -- July 2009 Ordained Reverend --
Originally posted by Captain FerretYou had Ireland getting out of that group? Crikey.
Crikey indeed! Ireland over Croatia, Italy and Spain would've been a pretty exciting prediction even if they were still the team they were in the mid-90s.
I say this having brilliantly tipped Russia as my dark horse to at least make the semis of course.
It's a shame we've got two pretty lousy teams (Greece and Czech Rep) going through while two pretty good teams go home from the other group. Holland really only have themselves to blame though. They never seemed to figure out what their best team was and van Persie missed more chances in three games for them than he did in a full season for Arsenal.
Originally posted by Captain FerretYou had Ireland getting out of that group? Crikey.
Crikey indeed! Ireland over Croatia, Italy and Spain would've been a pretty exciting prediction even if they were still the team they were in the mid-90s.
I say this having brilliantly tipped Russia as my dark horse to at least make the semis of course.
It's a shame we've got two pretty lousy teams (Greece and Czech Rep) going through while two pretty good teams go home from the other group. Holland really only have themselves to blame though. They never seemed to figure out what their best team was and van Persie missed more chances in three games for them than he did in a full season for Arsenal.
Russia have got no-one to blame but themselves, either. They were far too confident they were going to get through (especially after the first game) that they didn't really try until it was too late.
Poland just plain caved under the pressure.
The Dutch are hopeless at the back, and had no link at all between all the attacking talent and the rest of the team.
Originally posted by Captain FerretRussia have got no-one to blame but themselves, either. They were far too confident they were going to get through (especially after the first game) that they didn't really try until it was too late.
That's a fair assessment of their performance in the second half against Poland but they tried plenty against the Greeks and just couldn't score. Bad finishing and a touch of bad luck did for them.
The Dutch are hopeless at the back, and had no link at all between all the attacking talent and the rest of the team.
I still think they're a good team. Vlaar's hopeless (despite having a fantastic name) but the rest of their back four should be good enough, especially with de Jong and van Bommel providing cover in front of them. They just never seemed to figure out their best shape which is weird given that it's basically the same team that reached the World Cup final.
The Dutch are hopeless at the back, and had no link at all between all the attacking talent and the rest of the team.
I still think they're a good team. Vlaar's hopeless (despite having a fantastic name) but the rest of their back four should be good enough, especially with de Jong and van Bommel providing cover in front of them. They just never seemed to figure out their best shape which is weird given that it's basically the same team that reached the World Cup final.
Apparently lots of arguments and jealousy led to their downfall. Two years ago, they all wanted it together, now they all wanted it for themselves. There's even a rumor of a fight in the locker room.
The Dutch back four (and crucially, van Bommel) are all two years older. Mathijsen was injured, and they had an 18 year old at left back (who had a horror show of a tournament).
The biggest problem was there was no link between the defenders and the forwards (which was the role van Bommel, and to a lesser extent, Dirk Kuyt filled) so other teams could just totally overrun them in midfield. And they're famously stroppy buggers who could have an argument in an empty room
Well, Portugal and Germany have both looked pretty impressive in their quarter finals (though both were expected to win without too much trouble). Tomorrow will see just how much gallic contretemps there's been (though they'll lose to Spain, regardless)
Man, Spain didn't even blink. Just another cruise control 90 minutes. What are the odds on Spain 1-0 Portugal (semis), Spain 1-0 Germany (final)? That's my call.
They need to make a movie of this Spanish squad, if only because while watching the game, my friends were convinced Val Kilmer was playing Center Half and Jason Bateman scored two goals.
Originally posted by MoeGatesMan, Spain didn't even blink. Just another cruise control 90 minutes. What are the odds on Spain 1-0 Portugal (semis), Spain 1-0 Germany (final)? That's my call.
I didn't think they looked great. Their passing in the second half in particular was really poor by their standards but France were too inept/scared to really have a go at them. Germany have looked the best side in the tournament IMO although I'd still be worried about relying on Mario Gomez in a big game.
Both semis look great on paper. All four sides play good football and even the Italians look much more willing to attack than they have in recent years.
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