EURO 2012! (8.6. - 1.7.2012)

Kuuso on 24/6/2012 at 21:40

Thank god England is out. It reminds me of when Germany was uberboring in the nineties and early noughties, albeit they actually won stuff then as well.

Brian The Dog on 24/6/2012 at 21:49

I'm actually impressed England got as far as penalties in the quarter-finals, considering how poor their squad was. When Jordan Henderson comes on for your team, you know the quality is a bit low.

SD on 24/6/2012 at 22:11

Right, because Alessandro Diamanti, last seen shitting up the Premier League with West Ham, is a real world-beater, isn't he? :rolleyes:

It's nothing to do with the strength of the squad, which is as good as any other at these championships outside the Spanish and Germans, and everything to do with Hodgson's dinosaur tactics. It was crying out for 5 in midfield tonight to nullify Pirlo but the old man was allowed to stroll around the centre of the park like he owned it.

Brian The Dog on 24/6/2012 at 23:51

Certainly most teams I've watched so far kept the ball far better than England, and there was practically zero innovation going forwards either. I won't deny that Hodgson can be negative, but I can't imagine any coach would have made us champions.

The Premier League is great for entertainment and goals and action, but the technical skill on display isn't the greatest, certainly by the English players.

nickie on 25/6/2012 at 06:56

I agree with that - they couldn't keep hold of a ball to save their lives. I enjoyed it anyway and wasn't terribly disappointed. They need to get rid of Young though and someone else I can't remember now. It was clean, very few refereeing gaffs really, and Balotelli continues to rise in my human being estimation.

And I'm sorry Italy is beset by yet another scandal.

N'Al on 25/6/2012 at 07:45

Admittedly, Italy deservedly won that game in the end, but seriously? Penalties, again? I'm half expecting Ashton Kutcher to jump out and yell: "You've been punked!" As an added bonus, people would then probably proceed to punch Kutcher repeatedly in the face.

Ah well, at least Germany can now look for some (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7HUMGvvwf8) payback...

nickie on 27/6/2012 at 18:15

Well I thought there might have been some sort of Tomi update by now. :(

I think we're rooting for Portugal on the basis that we'd like to see the planned Spain v Germany final upset by either Portugal or Italy or both. And I'm very pleased that the last 3 matches will be on BBC, so no adverts and lots of scintillating conversation from the pundits. And hopefully Alan Hansen will remain reasonably sober 'cos he was pissed as a fart the other night.

Tomi on 27/6/2012 at 18:30

Quote Posted by nickie

Well I thought there might have been some sort of Tomi update by now. :(

Me too! :o Sorry, been way too busy for the last few days.

Sympathy Cup quarter-final update!

Portugal vs Czech Republic:

Portugal (total -6 points)
-1 CRonaldo Penalty! (he's like a mystery bag full of annoying surprises)
+1 Guilty Bonus! (I felt a bit bad about having to give so many minus points for Portugal, they're hardly that annoying :erg:)

Czech Rep (total +4 points)
-1 Boring Tactics Penalty! (maybe Portugal were just so much better, but the Czechs didn't even have any shots on target)

Spain vs France:

Spain (total -4 points)
-1 Boring Tactics Penalty!
-1 Annoying Player Penalty! (Cesc Fabregas)

France (total +0 points)
-1 Annoying Player Penalty! (Samir Nasri)

Germany vs Greece:

Germany (total +4 points)
+1 Nice Football Bonus! (4 goals vs Greece, an enjoyable match too)

Greece (total +6 points)
+1 Fighting Spirit Bonus!
+1 Nice Football Bonus! (good game vs Germany, they weren't even close to being the most defensive team in this tournament)

England vs Italy:

England (total +1 points)
-1 Goalless Match Penalty! (first 0-0 game of the tournament, boo!)
+1 Roy Sympathy Bonus!
+1 Yet Another Penalty Shootout Loss Sympathy Bonus!
+1 Great Defence Nickie Special Bonus!

Italy (total -3 points)
-1 Goalless Match Penalty (first 0-0 game of the tournament, boo!)
+1 Cool Player Bonus! (Andrea Pirlo - what a performance, and THAT penalty kick...)

Tomi on 27/6/2012 at 18:47

So, the semi-finals look like this:

Portugal (-6) vs Spain (-4)

Germany (+4) vs Italy (-3)

It shouldn't be hard to guess what team I want to win Euro 2012 at this stage. :p

However, despite of Portugal having the most minus points, I kind of want them to surprise Spain in tonight's match. I just couldn't stand all the Spain hype for two more years if they go on and win the tournament. :erg: Germany vs Spain final would be a rather epic repeat of the 2008 final though...

And indeed, I want Germany to beat Italy in tomorrow's match. I'm quite happy to say that I like the current Italy team more than any other Italy team since 1994, but I still want to have a clear favourite in the final to make things a bit more exciting. In fact I haven't found any team that annoying so far (only some individual players) which is quite unusual but a good thing, I suppose. Hate will get you nowhere. ;)

nickie on 27/6/2012 at 19:37

Fast and furious and the most entertaining match so far although starting to degrade into el classico cheatio.

Snippet of information from rubbish BBC commentators. The referee was selected by the head of UEFA referees who also happens to be head of the Spanish FA and is Spanish.

And thank you for the fine update though I think England could have had a +1 for a great defence.