Euro 2012

[10spro]

Those pesky danes...

I am telling you guys, another dark horse...But let's not kid aside, it's been all orange so far including a hand ball that should have been called in their favor. Watch out for those quick counter attacks by the Danes. It's the group of death after all. Good intentions but poor aim so far for the Dutch.

[XXXIV]

Van Persie too much fall down go boom so far.

The Dutch seemed to retire with a bit over ten minutes to play.

Didnt we see this same performance from Robben a couple of weeks ago?

You had to like how Denmark didnt sit on it.

[rhymes450]

Easy to be wise in hindsight but maybe Portugal could've been a bit more ambitious before they conceded.

[pk500]

Flew from Madrid to Dublin yesterday. Not surprisingly, things are still pretty low key in Spain for the group stages. In Dublin, the atmosphere is such that you'd think Ireland were already in the final. My intrepid 86 year old mother contrived to win a couple of tickets on Irish radio for the Croatia match, so I'm heading to Poznan with my sister tomorrow. I'll be back in Madrid for the Spain-Ireland match so it should be a fun few days.

Very cool. Go, Mom!

[wco81]

Tough scheduling for England and France which should get high US TV ratings.

Watch ESPN is only available to subscribers of services which caved to ESPN. Hoping espn3 still streams at work.

[Naples39]

Tough scheduling for England and France which should get high US TV ratings.

Watch ESPN is only available to subscribers of services which caved to ESPN. Hoping espn3 still streams at work.

firstrowsports.eu is your friend. I can't remember the last time I couldn't find a game.

[Naples39]

Picture of the day. The italians surround and dance around Iniesta;

[Jimmydeicide]

Great pic Naples.

[wco81]

Well ESPN3 is no more. WatchESPN only works for subscribers of the 3 services which caved to ESPN and took Longhorn Network and other stupid sub channels that ESPN pushed.

Guess the DVR will have to do. Not sure about streaming a site that violates copyright through the office network is a good idea.

[10spro]

Balotelli is still a selfish childish punk and if Torres was more cooperative, Spain should have won that game last night.

[RobVarak]

I was very down on Croatia's chances after an iffy qualifying campaign, tough draw and a series of indifferent tune-up matches. I'm certainly not going to let a single game against a fairly dreadful Irish side change my tune completely. That said, if Modric is allowed that freedom, they will have a good run. He was absolutely masterful.

The running against the Italians and Spaniards won't be so easy, but the Croats have at least put themselves in a good position with those 3 points.

[rhymes450]

Had a good time in Poznan. Have always found Polish people to be very nice so I wasn't surprised by the friendly hospitality. Great atmosphere and a fairly good vibe between Irish and Croatian supporters. Things didn't go well for Ireland on the pitch. They looked very limited when they had the ball so the defensive mistakes were costly. In fairness, they kept giving it their all to the final whistle but the quality doesn't look to be there. Croatia looked good but obviously the big test for them will come in the next couple of games. The three points and three goals they picked up yesterday does mean if they can get anything out of the games with Italy and Spain, it could be enough to get them out of the group.

[JRod]

Remember the time I said I have a hunch England will get to the semis and we all had a good laugh at that.



I'll just leave it to Dave T. to give us a recap of the match. That was a very dull match!

[10spro]

Remember the time I said I have a hunch England will get to the semis and we all had a good laugh at that.



I'll just leave it to Dave T. to give us a recap of the match. That was a very dull match!

I just don't see how a team that plays not to lose can go that far.

Ukraine just scored the go ahead goal, good game going...

[RobVarak]

Congrats to Ukraine for a great result despite the fact that Kasey Keller was commentating on the match.

Edit:

In all seriousness, the Sheva stuff was just incredible.

[RobVarak]

Jonathon Wilson with some insight about the problems the tourney is having in Ukraine:

There has been disorganization all over the place. The England fans' band has been a constant at matches for 18 years. Many find it irritating and would prefer that it wasn't present, but what happened in Donetsk is a disgrace: The band had permission from UEFA to enter the stadium, but Ukrainian security confiscated their instruments. It's not clear yet whether they will even be returned or not.

It's also not possible to take a Polish hire car across the border into Ukraine, making it nearly impossible for foreigners to travel from Warsaw to games in Lviv. The train takes a minimum of 11 hours because of the need to change the gauge of the wheels at the border, and essentially, the only way to attend the matches is to fly to Kiev and out again, something both time consuming and costly. This is almost certainly the most irrational football tournament ever staged in Europe.
Worse yet, once fans get into the stadium, they're treated like children with attention deficit disorders (and sponsor-appropriate credit cards). Throbbing music makes conversation impossible. Embarrassing cheerleaders attempt to whip the crowd into a frenzy with some terrible version of how they think fans act or talk. (Does any England fan really need a Ukrainian with a microphone shouting "1966" at them?) Then there's the most egregious innovation for this tournament: a countdown to kickoff.

Put simply, it's embarrassing. It's not New Year's Eve -- it's a football match that, for 149 years, has happily been started by the elegant simplicity of a referee's whistle. The authorities should have put the effort and money they put into making the hour before kickoff eye-wateringly annoying into thinking about basic logistics instead.

[Naples39]

Jonathon Wilson with some insight about the problems the tourney is having in Ukraine:

There has been disorganization all over the place. The England fans' band has been a constant at matches for 18 years. Many find it irritating and would prefer that it wasn't present, but what happened in Donetsk is a disgrace: The band had permission from UEFA to enter the stadium, but Ukrainian security confiscated their instruments. It's not clear yet whether they will even be returned or not.

It's also not possible to take a Polish hire car across the border into Ukraine, making it nearly impossible for foreigners to travel from Warsaw to games in Lviv. The train takes a minimum of 11 hours because of the need to change the gauge of the wheels at the border, and essentially, the only way to attend the matches is to fly to Kiev and out again, something both time consuming and costly. This is almost certainly the most irrational football tournament ever staged in Europe.
Worse yet, once fans get into the stadium, they're treated like children with attention deficit disorders (and sponsor-appropriate credit cards). Throbbing music makes conversation impossible. Embarrassing cheerleaders attempt to whip the crowd into a frenzy with some terrible version of how they think fans act or talk. (Does any England fan really need a Ukrainian with a microphone shouting "1966" at them?) Then there's the most egregious innovation for this tournament: a countdown to kickoff.

Put simply, it's embarrassing. It's not New Year's Eve -- it's a football match that, for 149 years, has happily been started by the elegant simplicity of a referee's whistle. The authorities should have put the effort and money they put into making the hour before kickoff eye-wateringly annoying into thinking about basic logistics instead.

I read elsewhere that it's a mess in Ukraine, and the country is embarrassing itself. Some teams playing in Ukraine are actually staying in Poland then flying in just for the matches. Then there's the political factors of foreign dignitaries boycotting games because of Tymoshenko's imprisonment, etc...

The highlighted bit, however, is your typical NFL game, at least for the Eagles (I assume it's the same elsewhere).

[Jimmydeicide]

Remember the time I said I have a hunch England will get to the semis and we all had a good laugh at that.



I'll just leave it to Dave T. to give us a recap of the match. That was a very dull match!

I just don't see how a team that plays not to lose can go that far.

Ukraine just scored the go ahead goal, good game going...

Totally agree. But hey this is what they wanted. Old Roy at his finest. At least im not itching to take time off work for the England games, id rather dvr and ff thru Roys face rubs.
Sweden and Ukraine now that was a game. At first i was oh no Shevchenko? but man what a performance i guess hes only 36 not as old as i thought, he looked sharp.

[GB_Simo]

Remember the time I said I have a hunch England will get to the semis and we all had a good laugh at that.



I'll just leave it to Dave T. to give us a recap of the match. That was a very dull match!

I just don't see how a team that plays not to lose can go that far.

It can't, but - and you've no idea how much it pains me to write these words - France are better than us. Not losing, more specifically the disciplined way in which we went about not losing, will do me very nicely for tonight. The only thing that massively alarmed me was that we seemed somehow lost and confused upon realising we'd taken the lead.

[Jimmydeicide]

You really think it was a tactic Adam? Thats how they would play against Montenegro and Sweden and Ukraine.

Just ask any Liverpool fan when he was in charge.

Our only hope is he gets Defoe on earlier he looks like the only one with any fire. But watch they will go further with this system than ever and it will be all praise Roy ...until we dont qualify for the next world cup.

[GB_Simo]

You really think it was a tactic Adam?

No mate, I know it wasn't just for the France match. That's how England are going to look for the next however many years, but - and I admit I haven't watched enough top-flight football this season to really, truly know this - I don't see who we've got or who we could have selected to make a great deal of difference anyway. If the papers are genuinely talking of Grant Holt going to a major championship, we're only a step away from having me and you up front. At least it's a system that so far seems to suit the personnel we've got.

The other thing is that I support a club who offered season tickets for £100 last season, practically sold the stadium to capacity and then lost 9 home matches in a row. It's just nice to watch 11 men who look like they've played the game before.

[Jimmydeicide]

Gerrard's current position doesnt suit anyone thats for sure. I dont see any defenses Grant Holt couldnt be a menace too and hes an upgrade from Heskey.
I know what your saying though dont get me wrong it just pisses me off hes in charge and im already bored shitless with his method. We have Mr 2 yrd pass Scott Parker we dont need Gerrard standing next to him doing the same thing.
Hopefully the system will be a more traditional 442 when Rooney gets back but i doubt it.

Ill put it this way, what if your team played like this and lost 9 in a row anyways, its whats going to happen at this level when you invite a team on.

[JRod]

The Poland / Russia match is one of the better matches so far.

[rhymes450]

The Poland / Russia match is one of the better matches so far.

Caught the 2nd half and I'd go along with that opinion. Russia look as if they're going to create a lot of opportunities in this tournament and maybe not a bad outside bet to take the title. Poland were solid in defence and dangerous on the break. Lewandowski looks a fabulous player for them. Great strike for the equaliser. Good result for the Poles. Hope they make it to the quarters.

[10spro]

The Poland / Russia match is one of the better matches so far.

Considering the pre-festivities, I was really worried about the match. Turned out a back and forth match. My dark horses still unbeaten.