# [OFFICIAL] Euro Cup 2008 Thread



## plazzman

*Euro Cup 2008: Austria/Switzerland*

Every four years, Europe celebrates the greatest game on Earth with one of the biggest sporting tournaments known to man. The Euro Cup is the culmanation of Europe's 16 best footballing nations.

The Defending Champions, Greece, will be looking to prove skeptics wrong and successfully defend their title, however 15 other nations have come to Austria/Switzerland to try their luck at glory.



*Here are your 16 contendors and 1st round Fixtures*











*The Euro Cup will start in 9 days!*​

Talk picks, results, reviews and analysis here!


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## NikosCC

Gotta go with my Hometown.. GREECE


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## FunkYou

As England aren't in it due to ineptness I will be giving my support to Netherlands.


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## MJB23

I'm going with Portugal to win.


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## IhitU.uHITfloor

Portugal....Christiano Ronaldo... Enough Said....


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## Ebc_Kyle

Argentina.


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## Couchwarrior

Apparently my country isn't considered one of Europes 16 best footballing nations... *trying to act surprised* I guess I'll have to go with the closest there is then:

*Go Sweden!*

I don't know shit about football though. Btw, are we talking about the sport that Americans call soccer, or the thing where you run around holding the ball in your hands?


Ecb_Kyle said:


> Argentina.


Lol, great pick!:thumbsup:


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## Shamrock-Ortiz

Spain's team is full of class.

Through from each group...

Portugal
Czech Republic

Germany
Croatia

France
Italy (Holland are close)

Spain
Sweden (maybe Greece)

Check out my bet that I've got on for the opening matches..
£20 on.....

Czech bt Switzerland
Portugal bt Turkey
Croatia bt Austria
Germany bt Poland
Spain bt Russia
France bt Romania

£20 for a £759 return...
Considering the teams on the right of my list there are good and the teams on the left are bad, I think my odds are good. Although it's likely there will be a draw in there somewhere to ruin it.


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## wafb

mjbish23 said:


> I'm going with Portugal to win.





IhitU.uHITfloor said:


> Portugal....Christiano Ronaldo... Enough Said....


that makes three of us picking Portugal.:thumbsup:


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## Judoka

I got France to win here.

As long as Italy don't win:thumb02: Im still bitter from the World Cup.


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## Pyros

Spain is going to surprise everyone, you will see.


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## Judoka

Pyros said:


> Spain is going to surprise everyone, you will see.


It won't be surprising to see them do well, They have a fantastic team and chance. I hope they do very well but it seems they don't live up to the potential they have in big matches sometimes.


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## Pyros

Judoka said:


> It won't be surprising to see them do well, They have a fantastic team and chance. I hope they do very well but it seems they don't live up to the potential they have in big matches sometimes.


Yeah but this year I think it will be different, they have always had great individual players but didn't seem to know how to put it all together, however this year it seems that they are working really well as a team and have a flashy yet effective style of playing. I think they have a solid chance to get at least to the semis, maybe even win the whole thing.


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## Terry77

SMH @ England not in this


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## kilik

As my team England isnt in the Euro 2008 this time I am going to be supporting Netherlands.


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## Shamrock-Ortiz

Pyros said:


> Spain is going to surprise everyone, you will see.


It's hardly a suprise the 2nd favourites winning:thumbsup:


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## plazzman

Spain are the perrenial losers, they're never in the right state of mind, and they always lose the big games. I see them doing good in group stages, then falling short in the Quarters.


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## Pop'n'Shroomz

Hell yeah. Well, I beat all of you seeing as though I live in Switzerland and get to experience it all up close and personal. Going to go see Italy vs. France and France is gonna beat them this time!


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## FunkYou

Can't beleive I have decided to grace the Netherlands with my support only to check the groups afterwards and see they are in the Group Of Death. Please let France be rubbish!


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## plazzman

Ok boys. First game is tomorrow at 11:45 EST. *Switzerland vs Czech Repulic* and *Portugal vs Turkey at 2:00 Est.*


I got Portugal slightly beating Turkey in a match filled with fireworks and Czech tying the Swiss 1-1


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## FunkYou

My wife is off to watch Foo Fighters tonight so in return for babysitting while she does it I get to have control over the remote for the weekend. Football during the day and Bedlam at night. I think now is the time to crack open a beer to get me in the mood.


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## Pyros

plazzman said:


> Ok boys. First game is tomorrow at 11:45 EST. *Switzerland vs Czech Repulic* and *Portugal vs Turkey at 2:00 Est.*
> 
> 
> I got Portugal slightly beating Turkey in a match filled with fireworks and Czech tying the Swiss 1-1


I think Czech has a better chance at winning actually, Switzerland is solid but nothing great, and Turkey sometimes gives nasty surprises. Anyway I think both Portugal and Czech will win their matches.


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## plazzman

Pyros said:


> I think Czech has a better chance at winning actually, Switzerland is solid but nothing great, and Turkey sometimes gives nasty surprises. Anyway I think both Portugal and Czech will win their matches.


Turkey has always been a team you do no under estimate, they are capable of soo much its ridiculous.

I think Switzerland has some of the most solid Defense in this tourny. Czech doesn't have the same striking prowess as it once did, so it will be a bit tough for them.


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## FunkYou

Turkey have two settings - Crap and Upset. I'm hoping the latter against Portugal. I do love seeing the favourites lose early.


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## MLS

Todays my birthday and I've got a game tonight so hopefully we win.

Can't wait for tomorrow, UFC 85 and EuroCup starts as well.


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## mickkelly12

ive got a E20 on Russia 25/1.i saw St.Petersburg in the Uefa cup final and they impressed the hell out of me, ive also got a 10 on Croatia if they had eduardo it would be a 50.outside bets are the only way to go!


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## Terry77

The past year I've been trying to follow soccer, just a general sports fan and this shit seems good to throw some money down on. 

From what I've read the two best dogs in this whole Cup are Turkey and Russia. Good calls for underdogs? Germany would be the heavy favorite?


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## Pyros

Terry77 said:


> The past year I've been trying to follow soccer, just a general sports fan and this shit seems good to throw some money down on.
> 
> From what I've read the two best dogs in this whole Cup are Turkey and Russia. Good calls for underdogs? Germany would be the heavy favorite?


Russia? Personally I think Russia has no chance. Turkey, maybe they get going one of their crazy win streaks but I doubt it. Yes, Germany has a pretty good chance, but the favourite is Italy IMO.


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## plazzman

I'd put good money on Turkey and Romania as under dogs.

I'd also put Portugal as heaviest, with France or Italy second.


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## Terry77

France ain't the same team as in years past, with Zidane and others gone. I was hearing people talking about Portugal having trouble scoring goals, but I think that midfield will get it done.

Has anybody seen this shit on Austria? There are odds for if the team allows less than 4 goals


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## Pyros

plazzman said:


> I'd put good money on Turkey and Romania as under dogs.
> 
> I'd also put Portugal as heaviest, with France or Italy second.


Yeah Romania would have made a good underdog, but they had the misfortune to get into the group of death. I don't think they'll get to the next round.


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## plazzman

Terry77 said:


> France ain't the same team as in years past, with Zidane and others gone. I was hearing people talking about Portugal having trouble scoring goals, but I think that midfield will get it done.
> 
> Has anybody seen this shit on Austria? There are odds for if the team allows less than 4 goals


Well obviously you'r not going to be the same team once Zidane leaves. But they still have probably one of the most stacked teams in the tourny.

Benzama, Henry, Malouda, Makelele, Thuram, Ribery, Alladier, Govou, Anelka - Damn homie, that's Affliction territory.


Austria is straight up garbage, if they weren't the hosts they would have never even dreamed of getting in this thing. In fact, their fans begged them to pull out due to the fact that they suck horse plop.

And yeah, I strongly doubt Portugal will have scoring problems as they have a seriously dynamic midfield. Sans Figo.


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## MLS

plazzman said:


> Well obviously you'r not going to be the same team once Zidane leaves. But they still have probably one of the most stacked teams in the tourny.
> 
> Benzama, Henry, Malouda, Makelele, Thuram, Ribery, Alladier, Govou, Anelka - Damn homie, that's Affliction territory.
> 
> 
> Austria is straight up garbage, if they weren't the hosts they would have never even dreamed of getting in this thing. In fact, their fans begged them to pull out due to the fact that they suck horse plop.
> 
> And yeah, I strongly doubt Portugal will have scoring problems as they have a seriously dynamic midfield. Sans Figo.


Preach on, preach on.


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## Terry77

Austria > England :laugh:

You know your stuff Plazzman, but I'm just saying these guys aren't the powerhouses of years past.


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## plazzman

Well yes, that's true, but this tourny is all about prospects. Especially for France and The Netherlands. The Dutch team has some serious youngsters who fortunately, have already been tested on the international stage.

France has a couple younge boys as well. Their new 19 y.o striker, Karim Benzama has an appetite for goal, Ribery is only like 24 or something and is already being hailed as the new Zidane.


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## MJB23

I'm hoping Portugal wins and the crappy Turkey team shows up since I want Portugal to win the whole thing.


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## plazzman

I'd actually love for Portugal to not win it. Way too much hype for these guys (didn't say they can't back it up) mainly from C. Ronaldo.

I mean 90% of the people supporting Portugal don't even know 5 guys who play on the team.


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## MJB23

Your right there is a lot of hype about them but they are still good. I'm going with them since Englands not in it but I also like the Netherlands.


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## Judoka

For the first two games i am thinking.

Czech Republic 2, Switzerland 1
Portugal 2, Turkey 1.

In Australia without foxtel we only get 8 games of Euro 2008 and they are all around 2 am.


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## Pop'n'Shroomz

Well this sucks. Switzerland lost 0:1. Portugal had better win or I'll be ruined.


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## plazzman

What a frustrating day. Didn't really like any of the games, however I am glad that Czech Rep. won.


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## MJB23

How did Portugal do? I've been working all day so I missed the UFC and both of these games today.


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## plazzman

They weren't their usual selves for most of the game. Ronaldo did shit all. They had a few good spurts of attack but other than that, Turkey did a fine job of keeping them at bay. And I think if Turkey weren't their own enemy today, they could have scored a couple of goals. They had so many counter-attack chances only for them to screw it up every single time.


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## MJB23

That sucks they didn't play well. It sounds like it wasn't a good day for both of the games. Too bad they both didn't play better so that it was a more entertaining game.


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## Judoka

The Swiss/Czech game went exactly how i expected, It wasn't to bad.

I hope Frei's injury isn't bad enough to end his Euro 2008, He looked dangerous in that match.

I don't know why the Swiss didn't put Pascal Zuberbuhler in goals. 

It sounds like i didn't miss that much in the other game.


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## Ebc_Kyle

I really enjoyed those games man. What a shame with that penalty kick in the Croatia/Austria game.


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## plazzman

Today's games are gonna be insane (hopefully). I hope Italy doesn't play their usual negative football and challenges Holland.


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## Ivan

well it was a penalty but after the 4th minute and scored goal empire was more for austria but its good cause he cant score a goal as well .. croatia can play only better yesterday was bad.. 

i ll say better toi win 3 points bad then play great and lose.. if i could choose the first would make sense at this tournament


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## Pyros

Pyros said:


> I think Czech has a better chance at winning actually, Switzerland is solid but nothing great, and Turkey sometimes gives nasty surprises. Anyway I think both Portugal and Czech will win their matches.


Told you :thumb02:. Looking forward to the Italy-Netherlands match, right now I'm bored as ****. How is France doing?

Edit: Wow France only got a draw against Romania, I don't like their chances.


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## Pop'n'Shroomz

This ******* sucks. Like you said, France just got a Draw against Romania. And yes, if they're gonna keep playing as shit as they did in that match, they might as well bow down and beg Italy for mercy. But I've still got faith in them. Henry wasn't in it, and he could provide a very strong link in the tougher games. Something's up with his back though, so that's kinda worrying.

Anyway...just about to go watch Italy - Netherlands now. 
I've got 0:1 to the Netherlands, just because I can't stand watching Italy win again. They really got on my last nerves in the world cup with their friggin' defensive play right after scoring a goal, and they somehow always managed to claw in the win in the last few minutes of the match. We'll see what happens tonight though. My mind says they're gonna win, but I'm praying Holland beat them.


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## Pop'n'Shroomz

Judoka said:


> I hope Frei's injury isn't bad enough to end his Euro 2008, He looked dangerous in that match.


He's out of the tournament. You should see the loss of hope in the Swiss faces here.


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## Pyros

I think Italy is going to win the whole thing, so I think they are going to win today too. Yeah their defensive style is boring sometimes but it's effective. The match is on.

Edit: Wow I'm eating my words right now lol, Netherlands is looking impressive.


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## Ebc_Kyle

I'm so ******* pissed. I had to go to work and missed the games today. I want to kill myself.


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## Pyros

Ebc_Kyle said:


> I'm so ******* pissed. I had to go to work and missed the games today. I want to kill myself.


Italy and Netherlands are still playing.


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## FunkYou

2-0 netherlands so far but italy looking better in the second half. WAR Netherlands


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## All_In

3-0. Daaaaaaaaamn Netherlands!


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## Pyros

All_In_GSP said:


> 3-0. Daaaaaaaaamn Netherlands!


Yep but Italy was playing better in the 2nd part. But impressive win for Netherlands, I thought Italy had this in the bag.


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## plazzman

Wow, absolute Whompfest. Holland raped Italy. Those were some of the best counter attacks I've ever seen.

Too bad my boy Kuyt didn't score, and Huntelaar didn't play. I'm really impressed by Oijer.

Screw what I said before, I want to see Netherlands vs Germany in the finals.


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## MLS

How can you not enjoy the Dutch style of soccer?


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## ZeroPRIDE

Ebc_Kyle said:


> I'm so ******* pissed. I had to go to work and missed the games today. I want to kill myself.


ESPN has droped the ball on this one. One of the biggest tourneys in Europe, yet they show it live rather than tape delay. Some people have to work to make a living. duh espn. They promote the hell out of it only to get probly half the ratings it should if not more. Nice. Although i did want to see LSU tonight. But they still could have put it on ESPN and not the ocho


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## wafb

ZeroPRIDE said:


> ESPN has droped the ball on this one. One of the biggest tourneys in Europe, yet they show it live rather than tape delay. Some people have to work to make a living. duh espn. They promote the hell out of it only to get probly half the ratings it should if not more. Nice. Although i did want to see LSU tonight. But they still could have put it on ESPN and not the ocho


here in Toronto they show it live and a few hours later they show it again. Toronto has a large multicultural population so if the sportstations doesn't show they gane I can find it somewhere else even if I can't understand a word the commentator is saying.


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## plazzman

wafb said:


> here in Toronto they show it live and a few hours later they show it again. Toronto has a large multicultural population so if the sportstations doesn't show they gane I can find it somewhere else even if I can't understand a word the commentator is saying.


lmao OMNI TELEVISION in CHINESE FTW!


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## MLS

ESPN does replay the games at like 3 am.


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## MJB23

ZeroPRIDE said:


> ESPN has droped the ball on this one. One of the biggest tourneys in Europe, yet they show it live rather than tape delay. Some people have to work to make a living. duh espn. They promote the hell out of it only to get probly half the ratings it should if not more. Nice. Although i did want to see LSU tonight. But they still could have put it on ESPN and not the ocho


I know it sucks. I've missed all 4 games so far because i've been working.


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## wafb

plazzman said:


> lmao OMNI TELEVISION in CHINESE FTW!


or OMNI in Greek and Swahili!!!!:thumbsup:


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## plazzman

hahaha, I have yet to watch it in Swahili.

I actually skipped the first part of work today to watch the Holland game, as I didn't want to watch it in Chinese at work. Good times.


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## Ebc_Kyle

I'm not going to work today, I'm going to see the game, Woo-hoo!!!


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## wafb

Pyros said:


> Yep but Italy was playing better in the 2nd part. But impressive win for Netherlands, I thought Italy had this in the bag.


The Italians are notorious slow starters, remember the last World Cup? They still have an excellent chance of making it to the next round.


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## N1™

Holland vs Italy was one of the best matches i have watched all year ... WOW.... today its all about Sweden defending Scandinavias pride against Greece


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## plazzman

Man, I won't be watching the games today . Although I can try and bare to watch them in Swahili...

Sweden also has a deadly lineup this year. They're mostly all old (like Larsson) but damn, they have depth. However Greece has their usual, staunch defence.


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## Pyros

Spain-Russia is about to start, we really need this win, since Russia is the weakest team on the group I think.


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## MLS

I'm going to miss most of the games today. We have a game so I have to leave here in a little bit to go to our walk through.


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## bbjd7

Wow I'm late to this had no clue we had a thread like this on the forum.

Can't wait for Spain vs Russia.


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## MJB23

What time are the games today and what channel are they on. I finally don't have to work today so I want to watch them.


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## bbjd7

Spain vs Russia is on right now on ESPN 2.


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## MLS

Spain/Russia is on right now on espn2 and Greece/Sweeden starts right after that game gets over.


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## MJB23

Alright sweet thanks.


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## plazzman

the only channel I get here at work is showing a fuckin documentary on soccer in the new world, in Italian.

Why can't they just show the damn game!


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## Ivan

russia almost scored hit the bar around the 20th minute but still spain leads.. nice pass by torres for a easy goal


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## plazzman

shit man, just found the shittiest stream possible, and Spains winning? Was it a nice goal?


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## Pyros

Yeah, 2-0, go Spain! Nice pass by Iniesta.


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## MJB23

Damn I juss missed the second goal because I was watching Powerlunch trying to catch danas announcement. 

Was the goal nice?


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## Pyros

It was a regular goal but the pass by Iniesta was very nice.


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## MJB23

Sounds good. Thanks


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## plazzman

Wow, Spain are tairing it up! Nice work from Villa. Dudes a seriously good striker.


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## Ivan

Looks like a win for Spain and the next match should be also good


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## Pyros

Hat-trick from Villa, yes!


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## plazzman

Wow, just WOW!

Every single time I turn around Villa scores. THe man is magic!


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## All_In

Grotesque amount of skill on that through ball...


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## N1™

plazzman said:


> Man, I won't be watching the games today . Although I can try and bare to watch them in Swahili...
> 
> Sweden also has a deadly lineup this year. They're mostly all old (like Larsson) but damn, they have depth. However Greece has their usual, staunch defence.


i think its funny how you guys ( in the US ) get ALL the good shit on TV first and all the good shit on TV in general, but when it comes to the biggest sport in the world having the second biggest tournament then you have to watch it in mandarin.

and yeah i know the reason but still.... LOL


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## Ivan

Congratulations this is how a great start looks like in a tournament


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## MJB23

Villa is naaaaasty!!!!


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## plazzman

haha I know man, but funny thing is, people in N.A (Im from Canada) generally don't give a shit about Soccer unless Beckhams playing. I mean, yeah theyre broadcasting all the games, and Im whining because right now my TV only has arial, so I dont have cable ATM. But when it comes to soccer, there isnt toooo much interest.


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## MLS

I leave and spain puts up two more goals, did Villa score all three?

Russia just scored.


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## plazzman

Very well set up goal!

And yes, Hat trick for Villa


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## All_In

norway1 said:


> i think its funny how you guys ( in the US ) get ALL the good shit on TV first and all the good shit on TV in general, but when it comes to the biggest sport in the world having the second biggest tournament then you have to watch it in mandarin.
> 
> and yeah i know the reason but still.... LOL


What is the reason?

Haha, seriously, sometimes it sucks not being the "average" American sports fan. My two favorite sports to play/watch are ice-hockey and soccer - two sports at the bottom of the totem pole of American sports. Annoying analysts constantly debate mundane aspects of the MLB, NFL, and NBA on about 3 different shows saying the exact same thing, yet people tune in for it. Meanwhile, they crack oh so funny remarks like, "people still watch hockey?" or "AMERICAN FOOTBALL"! It's a damn shame.


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## MLS

**** and Russia were the ones to put England out.


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## plazzman

Croatia put England out.


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## MLS

Thats right.


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## Pyros

Yeah 4-1 great start for Spain.


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## plazzman

haha, Niiice goal.

I take it my stream is late, or Pyros is the fastest typer on the planet.


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## Pyros

I'm not very fast typing so probably the former lol. Spain looked really good even though they lost the ball a little too many times.If they can improve that they'll go far in the tournament.


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## MLS

How did they look in the second half, I missed much of the game.


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## Pyros

MLS said:


> How did they look in the second half, I missed much of the game.


Pretty much like in the first.


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## bbjd7

Spain looks real good and IMO are the team to beat with all the talent they have with Villa, Torres, Xavi, Fabergas, Alonso, Ineista(sp) and so many more.


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## plazzman

I don't think they'll quite win the whole thing. But that just shows you how freakin deep this tourny is. Spain has a ridiculously packed squad, but somehow, there are other teams with even BETTER squads. And thats why I love this sport so damn much.


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## plazzman

This game succkks. Damn you joppp, why cant your strikers work together!


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## Pyros

I hope Greece and Sweden end up drawing, that would be good for Spain's chances .


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## plazzman

WOOOOOWWW NICE GOAL! haha

Damn, 2nd best goal of the tourny so far.


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## Pyros

Sweden scores. I would have preferred a draw. Oh well.


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## plazzman

hahah YES! Another!


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## Ivan

funny second goal.. misses the header while pushing defender to the ground somehow taking a shot blocked by another defender only to be reflected back by that swedish player into the net


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## bbjd7

Pyros it won't matter neither of these teams are beating Spain.

And Plazz I would disagree this tourny is loaded but I don't think any team has more talent than Spain.


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## plazzman

bbjd7 said:


> Pyros it won't matter neither of these teams are beating Spain.
> 
> And Plazz I would disagree this tourny is loaded but I don't think any team has more talent than Spain.


Are you kidding? I can name 4 teams who have MUUUCHHH better players than Spain.


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## bbjd7

No way Plazz are you joking?


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## plazzman

Nope, not joking at all. In fact, let's break'm down.

*Germany:*

Goal Keeping:

Jens Lehman, arguably top 4 goalie in the tourny, or even the world. Dudes solid and has always shown it. Plus, head to head against Casillas, I think/know Jens is better.

Defense:

Germany's defense follows the traditional, uniform German wall. They have a very fast and solid dude in Lahm, who creates a lot more possibilities than Ramos, they don't have the greatest center back as Spain does in Puyol, but that's wht makes it better. Spain has to rely on just one guy when Germany uses all 4 guys.

Midfield:
Frings, Ballack, and Schwienstieger are all better than Fabregas, Iniesta and Garcia, IMO. Germany works much better as a team and it is evident in their midfield, while Spain is more free and sporadic.

Attack:

While Torres and Villa seem like an unstoppable force, Podolski and Klose are still much better strikers. They use the entirity of the pitch more and come back to help alot. Plus, Klose, aside from being an animal, is also a great passer, so he's always got his eye on the open Podolski.


*France:*

Goal Keeping:

You can say Casillas is indeed the better goalie compared to Coupet.

Defense:

I don't think there's a defense out there better than France's. Thuram, Sagnol, Gallas, Abidal, and Evra are world class players, whos defensive talents are only rivaled by the Italians or the Germans.

Midfield:

Ribery > Fabregas, anyday of the week. The dude is a genius and is being hailed as the next Zizou. They also have worlds of experience in their midfield. Viera, and Makelele are multiple world champions, no one holds down the middle better than those two.

Attack:

France has Thierry freakin Henry, better than Villa and Torres combined. Now aside from that, they have Anelka, Benzema and Gouvou, all world class strikers.


*Italy:*

Goal Keeping:

Gigi Buffon, one of the best goal keepers ever. Dude makes Casillas look like a child. Reyes as well.

Defense: 

Italy is notorious for their defense. Caniving and calculating, when theyre on, theyre on. They work like a special ops team, technically dissassembling the attack and creating their own. Theres absolutely no question here, who is the better defense.

Midfield:

Italy's midfield works a bit like their defense, but they have two aspects, they have the engine, which is Gattuso, and the maestro, which is Pirlo. Fabregas has literally nothing on Pirlo. Iniesta, who I believe is better than Cesc, still isn't AS seasoned as someone like Cameronnesi.

Attack:

You can possibly make a claim that Villa and Torres are better than Toni and Del Pierro, and I might agree with you, but with the rest of the team behind them, it's really hard to be 100% sure.


*Netherlands:*

Goal Keeping: Edwin van der Saar. Arguably the best goal keeper in the world right now. Reyes and Iker don't even come close.

Defense:

The Dutch defense was a bit questionable, but after yesterday's game, it is clear that Oijer, Van Bronkhorst and Boulahrouz are more than capable. Oijer showed that you can leave him alone against 3 guys and he's perfectly fine. And Giovani showed he can be right up there, helping with attack.

Midfield:

Sneijder, Van Der Vaart, Kuyt, Englaar, come on. Sneijder and Van der Vaart have been known to run teams all by themnselves (IE. Hamburg and Ajax). Kuyt is the dynamic midfielder/striker that can play almost anywhere on the pitch.

Attack:

Ruud Van Nistelrooy, one of the greatest strikers EVER to play the game, dude can smell a goal from a mile away, leaps and bounds better than Torres and Villa. But now you got Babel, Van Persie and Jan Venegoor. That's one of the most deadliest attacks in all of Europe.



You can also make a claim that Portugal's midfield is worlds better than Spain's, as well as their defense, but since they have literally ZERO strikers, I'll leave them out.

Spain are perrenial losers, they always have an amazing team, but they just can never pull it together, never. They don't quite have the chemistry and quite frankly they almost always switch up their roster, so you hardly ever get a formula going.

Hope that helped


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## MLS

That Kuyt guy is ok. 

Dutch FTW.


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## bbjd7

plazzman said:


> Nope, not joking at all. In fact, let's break'm down.
> 
> *Germany:*
> 
> Goal Keeping:
> 
> Jens Lehman, arguably top 4 goalie in the tourny, or even the world. Dudes solid and has always shown it. Plus, head to head against Casillas, I think/know Jens is better.
> 
> Defense:
> 
> Germany's defense follows the traditional, uniform German wall. They have a very fast and solid dude in Lahm, who creates a lot more possibilities than Ramos, they don't have the greatest center back as Spain does in Puyol, but that's wht makes it better. Spain has to rely on just one guy when Germany uses all 4 guys.
> 
> Midfield:
> Frings, Ballack, and Schwienstieger are all better than Fabregas, Iniesta and Garcia, IMO. Germany works much better as a team and it is evident in their midfield, while Spain is more free and sporadic.
> 
> Attack:
> 
> While Torres and Villa seem like an unstoppable force, Podolski and Klose are still much better strikers. They use the entirity of the pitch more and come back to help alot. Plus, Klose, aside from being an animal, is also a great passer, so he's always got his eye on the open Podolski.
> 
> 
> *France:*
> 
> Goal Keeping:
> 
> You can say Casillas is indeed the better goalie compared to Coupet.
> 
> Defense:
> 
> I don't think there's a defense out there better than France's. Thuram, Sagnol, Gallas, Abidal, and Evra are world class players, whos defensive talents are only rivaled by the Italians or the Germans.
> 
> Midfield:
> 
> Ribery > Fabregas, anyday of the week. The dude is a genius and is being hailed as the next Zizou. They also have worlds of experience in their midfield. Viera, and Makelele are multiple world champions, no one holds down the middle better than those two.
> 
> Attack:
> 
> France has Thierry freakin Henry, better than Villa and Torres combined. Now aside from that, they have Anelka, Benzema and Gouvou, all world class strikers.
> 
> 
> *Italy:*
> 
> Goal Keeping:
> 
> Gigi Buffon, one of the best goal keepers ever. Dude makes Casillas look like a child. Reyes as well.
> 
> Defense:
> 
> Italy is notorious for their defense. Caniving and calculating, when theyre on, theyre on. They work like a special ops team, technically dissassembling the attack and creating their own. Theres absolutely no question here, who is the better defense.
> 
> Midfield:
> 
> Italy's midfield works a bit like their defense, but they have two aspects, they have the engine, which is Gattuso, and the maestro, which is Pirlo. Fabregas has literally nothing on Pirlo. Iniesta, who I believe is better than Cesc, still isn't AS seasoned as someone like Cameronnesi.
> 
> Attack:
> 
> You can possibly make a claim that Villa and Torres are better than Toni and Del Pierro, and I might agree with you, but with the rest of the team behind them, it's really hard to be 100% sure.
> 
> 
> *Netherlands:*
> 
> Goal Keeping: Edwin van der Saar. Arguably the best goal keeper in the world right now. Reyes and Iker don't even come close.
> 
> Defense:
> 
> The Dutch defense was a bit questionable, but after yesterday's game, it is clear that Oijer, Van Bronkhorst and Boulahrouz are more than capable. Oijer showed that you can leave him alone against 3 guys and he's perfectly fine. And Giovani showed he can be right up there, helping with attack.
> 
> Midfield:
> 
> Sneijder, Van Der Vaart, Kuyt, Englaar, come on. Sneijder and Van der Vaart have been known to run teams all by themnselves (IE. Hamburg and Ajax). Kuyt is the dynamic midfielder/striker that can play almost anywhere on the pitch.
> 
> Attack:
> 
> Ruud Van Nistelrooy, one of the greatest strikers EVER to play the game, dude can smell a goal from a mile away, leaps and bounds better than Torres and Villa. But now you got Babel, Van Persie and Jan Venegoor. That's one of the most deadliest attacks in all of Europe.
> 
> 
> 
> You can also make a claim that Portugal's midfield is worlds better than Spain's, as well as their defense, but since they have literally ZERO strikers, I'll leave them out.
> 
> Spain are perrenial losers, they always have an amazing team, but they just can never pull it together, never. They don't quite have the chemistry and quite frankly they almost always switch up their roster, so you hardly ever get a formula going.
> 
> Hope that helped


I agree with you on the goaltenders just remember that Van der Saar and Lehman are older guys so after long season there defiantly could be some letdown.

Except for France, Spain has the best defence in the world. Both Puyol, and Sergio are top flight defenders and Lahm isn't as good as you are givin him credit for.



You are forgetting Spain's depth in the midfield they also have Xavi and Alonso who are both very good. Best midfield in the world depth wise no doubt. And all their midfielders are top class.

Striker wise Torres is one of the best strikers in the world already and Villa is becoming one. And was the most dominant striker in qualifying for Euro 2008.

Ruud is getting older and not as explosive as he used to be.

Thierry Henry isn't the striker he used to be and is injured right now.

And as a Chelsea fan don't even get me started on the disappearing acts that Anelka can pull.

Klose and Podolski I would say are the only pair talent wise that matches Spain's talent. 


And yes Spain loses a lot and there is a good chance they lose this one to but talent wise I think they are the best in the world.


----------



## pauly_j

My money is on Spain to get the cup, but I want the Netherlands to win, just because I've always liked them and they're great sportsmen.


----------



## Pyros

Why do you think Lehman and Van der Saar are better than Casillas, Plazzman? Not saying you are wrong, just curious. Henry is shit right now BTW.


----------



## plazzman

bbjd7 said:


> I agree with you on the goaltenders just remember that Van der Saar and Lehman are older guys so after long season there defiantly could be some letdown.
> 
> Except for France, Spain has the best defence in the world. Both Puyol, and Sergio are top flight defenders and Lahm isn't as good as you are givin him credit for.
> 
> 
> 
> You are forgetting Spain's depth in the midfield they also have Xavi and Alonso who are both very good. Best midfield in the world depth wise no doubt. And all their midfielders are top class.
> 
> Striker wise Torres is one of the best strikers in the world already and Villa is becoming one. And was the most dominant striker in qualifying for Euro 2008.
> 
> Ruud is getting older and not as explosive as he used to be.
> 
> Thierry Henry isn't the striker he used to be and is injured right now.
> 
> And as a Chelsea fan don't even get me started on the disappearing acts that Anelka can pull.
> 
> Klose and Podolski I would say are the only pair talent wise that matches Spain's talent.
> 
> 
> And yes Spain loses a lot and there is a good chance they lose this one to but talent wise I think they are the best in the world.


So you're saying that Puyol and Ramos are better than, Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Matterazzi, Pannuci, Grosso, Carvallho, Pepe, Jankolovski, Ujafalusi?

I actually think guys like Toni, Koller, Kuyt, Van Persie, Frei, and Del Pierro rival Torres/Villa and at times beat them very well.

I understand fully why you support Spain, and honestly have nothing wrong with that, in fact, I love Spain. I just don't think they have the "glue" to hold them together or a designated leader to get them through the big games.

They are truely lucky to be in the group that they are, and I see them advancing very easily to the quarters, but once they start to meet some bigger teams, we will see the real Spain.


----------



## plazzman

Pyros said:


> Why do you think Lehman and Van der Saar are better than Casillas, Plazzman? Not saying you are wrong, just curious. Henry is shit right now BTW.


Well for one, they have both been tested on every stage. Casillas is young and has a lot of juvenile slip ups. He's a stud, don't get me wrong, but he hasn't been in the same games, and hasn't faced the same competition these guys have.

Lehman and EVS are dudes who can carry a team on their backs, I truely can't see Iker doing that. In fact, I think Reyes is a much better leader than him.


----------



## Pyros

Puyol and Ramos are better than Cannavaro right now. Casillas has very few slips, one of the reasons Real Madrid keeps winning matches is because Casillas is there to save their ass when the defense slips. To me Casillas is more impressive than Lehman and Van der Saar, but I haven't seen them play as extensively as I have Casillas so I could be wrong. BTW, Casillas has played in the biggest stages, you know he has won the Champions League twice, right?


----------



## plazzman

Pyros said:


> Puyol and Ramos are better than Cannavaro right now. Casillas has very few slips, one of the reasons Real Madrid keeps winning matches is because Casillas is there to save their ass when the defense slips. To me Casillas is more impressive than Lehman and Van der Saar, but I haven't seen them play as extensively as I have Casillas so I could be wrong. BTW, Casillas has played in the biggest stages, you know he has won the Champions League twice, right?


I don't know man, I actually think Madrid let's in way too many easy goals. 

And no Puyol aint what he once was, he's getting old and they rely way too much on him. And Ramos is far too young, he isn't as matured in the back 4 as any of the guys I named.

And yes, sure he has, but then again, how far has he gone internationally? In fact, how far has Spain gone internationally? And how many teams has he actually led, or saved from the brink of defeat?

The way I see it, this is how I rank the GK's.

EVS
Peter Cech
Buffon
Lehman
Cassilas
Reyes
Boruc
Ricardo
Coupet


----------



## Pyros

Who is Reyes? I think you mean Reina. And as I said, if it wasn't for Casillas Real Madrid wouldn't be winning titles, Casilla saves the team on a regular basis. And don't getting titles with Spain means nothing in regard to individual talent, as I said Spain has great players but doesn't seem to be able to get it all together, put Casillas on Germany or Netherlands and I guarantee you he will do as good as Lehman and Van der Saar, if not better. The only gatekeeper I think is better is Buffon, and I'm saying that because of history because I think he's going downhill lately, he's still very good but not as good as he used to be. Puyol is as good as ever, in fact he's one of the few players in Barca that is very regular and always gives 100%, while the rest of the team has been playing like shit lately. Ramos may not have the experience but he is very good and is better than Cannavaro, Cannavaro comitted quite a few errors this season with Real Madrid. Same with Pepe. I think of that list the only ones better are Matterazzi and Zambrotta.


----------



## plazzman

Pyros said:


> Who is Reyes? I think you mean Reina. And as I said, if it wasn't for Casillas Real Madrid wouldn't be winning titles, Casilla saves the team on a regular basis. And don't getting titles with Spain means nothing in regard to individual talent, as I said Spain has great players but doesn't seem to be able to get it all together, put Casillas on Germany or Netherlands and I guarantee you he will do as good as Lehman and Van der Saar, if not better. The only gatekeeper I think is better is Buffon, and I'm saying that because of history because I think he's going downhill lately, he's still very good but not as good as he used to be. Puyol is as good as ever, in fact he's one of the few players in Barca that is very regular and always gives 100%, while the rest of the team has been playing like shit lately. Ramos may not have the experience but he is very good and is better than Cannavaro, Cannavaro comitted quite a few errors this season with Real Madrid. Same with Pepe. I think of that list the only ones better are Matterazzi and Zambrotta.


Shit my bad, why did I keep saying Reyes, I meant Reina. lol

Look, I never said Iker isn't good because he hasn't won any international titles, neither have Cech, Lehman, and EVS. It is just the experience and leadership skills that set them apart.

Iker is an incredible athlete, but he's just not on the same level as any of those guys. And it's kinda easy to be a leader at Madrid, seeing as how feeble their whole team is.

Sure, you can add Puyol as the greatest defenders list, I'll agree, but Ramos is nowhere near the player the rest of the pack are.


----------



## Pyros

Man, me saying that he is better than anyone you mentioned except Zambrotta and Matterazzi is just my opinion, but if you don't include him in that list don't include Cannavaro either because he has looked worse than Ramos this season. Iker has good enough leadership and in pure goalkeeping ability (reflexes and such) he is above those goalkeepers, IMO. Leading the defense isn't that important, let the defense take care of themselves, and you take care of stopping the balls, it works for him in Real Madrid.


----------



## plazzman

Pyros said:


> Man, me saying that he is better than anyone you mentioned except Zambrotta and Matterazzi is just my opinion, but if you don't include him in that list don't include Cannavaro either because he has looked worse than Ramos this season. Iker has good enough leadership and in pure goalkeeping ability (reflexes and such) he is above those goalkeepers, IMO. Leading the defense isn't that important, let the defense take care of themselves, and you take care of stopping the balls, it works for him in Real Madrid.


To be honest, I never really considered Canavarro THAT great, I didn't even think he should have won the FPY, I'm just going by general consensus.

And yes you do need a goalie who can lead. I mean, who better in a position to tell the back 4 what to do?


----------



## mickkelly12

plazzman said:


> To be honest, I never really considered Canavarro THAT great, I didn't even think he should have won the FPY, I'm just going by general consensus.
> 
> And yes you do need a goalie who can lead. I mean, who better in a position to tell the back 4 what to do?


Canavarro had a rubish season but in the WC he was unbelievable and he deserved the award more than anyone else.sorry to but into your convo

Did anyone see Zlatans goal tonight what a strike


----------



## plazzman

mickkelly12 said:


> Canavarro had a rubish season but in the WC he was unbelievable and he deserved the award more than anyone else.sorry to but into your convo
> 
> Did anyone see Zlatans goal tonight what a strike


Yeah well thats when he was good, I didn't like him very much in Madrid.

My god man, what a beautiful goal. Zlatan always has great goals in the Euros.


----------



## Arlovski_Fan

I've never really sat down and watched a soccer game before, but I watched Spain vs Russia. Man that was actually pretty cool. The Russians were kinda killed but I still enjoyed it. I'm taping the rest of the games this week lol
I have a lot of German heritage so I'm hopin they beat Croatia!


----------



## MLS

I'm with Plazz, you need a goalie who is a leader on the field. He has a view of the whole field and will see things that others can't and he has to be able to vocalize those things. He also has to be able to control his back 4 and put them into position to make plays. Iker doesn't seem to have this just yet but he will most likely in time. IMO Cech is the best out there right now even though he had a less than stellar performance last game.


----------



## Judoka

Being a goalkeeper and i have had both bad days and days where the defensive wall in front of me has been anything but defensive.

Akinfeev played well and he was right to be pissed off, The defenders aren't completely at fault as Villa and Torres are some of the worlds best and most can't keep up with them especially at the level of the Russian defenders but they still made some very big mistakes.

Like Plazz and MLS said it is important to have a goalkeeper that can lead, Mainly the defense.

My top goalkeepers of Euro 08.

1. Buffon
2. Cech
3. Lehmann
4. Van Der Sar
5. Boruc
6. Cassilas


Honorable mention - Robert Enke, The Germans won't be missing a fantastic goalkeeper after Kahn and Lehmann have left. Not as solid as the names above but has pulled off some spectacular saves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svog-ENhoug


----------



## Pyros

Czech and Portugal playing now, 1-1 for now.


----------



## plazzman

Great game, I want the Czech to win this game. How was Deco's goal btw, I didn't catch it.


----------



## bbjd7

Was kinda sloppy at the end. Nice pass set it up but Cech came out to early and had to scramble. Did a nice job of delaying the goal but was just too far out of position.


----------



## Pyros

plazzman said:


> Great game, I want the Czech to win this game. How was Deco's goal btw, I didn't catch it.


I don't know, I'm just following a pbp, this match is not broadcasted here. I think Czech and Portugal are going to be the ones advancing to quarter finals, pretty easily.


----------



## Pyros

2-1 for Portugal.


----------



## plazzman

3-1 Portugal.

Man, I hate Portugal.


----------



## Pyros

plazzman said:


> 3-1 Portugal.
> 
> Man, I hate Portugal.


Lol, why? The match looked pretty entertaining from what I read at least, was it a bad match?


----------



## bbjd7

Fun match. It was very entertaining. Ronaldo looked great as did Deco. Czech looked to be just as good as Portugal they just couldn't finish.


----------



## ToeZup

Portugal is tough and the Czechs didn't play all that well. They can't pass and handle like Portugal. Great game to watch though.
I still can't belive Italy got spanked by the Netherlands.


----------



## bbjd7

While the Czechs can't pass and handle like the Portugese they had enough chances to get a draw or even win the game they just couldn't finish.


----------



## mickkelly12

the czechs really missed rosickys creative passing in midfield without him they had no play maker and had to resort to hard work and set pieces to get a result.

IMO ronaldo did not have a great performance and is totally over rated


----------



## plazzman

mickkelly12 said:


> the czechs really missed rosickys creative passing in midfield without him they had no play maker and had to resort to hard work and set pieces to get a result.
> 
> *IMO ronaldo did not have a great performance and is totally over rated*


Word, I haven't been too impressed by Ronaldo all tourny. He's done literally nothing but run into the path of a ball.


I thought the Czech's looked great. And I was incredibly impressed by Sionko and Jankulovski, great great players.


----------



## MLS

Ronaldo may not have looked spectacular so far but I don't think he is overrated by any means.


----------



## All_In

MLS said:


> Ronaldo may not have looked spectacular so far but I don't think he is overrated by any means.


Yes, it's not his fault he's everything you wanna be! Stop hating, people!


----------



## Ivan

goal for switzerland was interesting like that second from sweden .. cause of the water the ball suddenly stops close to the goal line and yakin only needs to put it in ..

and a comeback from turkey makes even a win perfect in the end of the match


----------



## Ebc_Kyle

I really enjoyed the game today. Portugal played a good match.

I think Ronaldo is trying to do too much, it's not like he's playing for fun, but playing to impress people. That shit is getting him stuck.


----------



## Judoka

Just saw the highlights, Portugal looked like they played well. Bad luck for the Swiss, Looked like a sloppy game because of the water.

Ronaldo is exceptionally good and i admit that but i do hate him, He is one of the worlds best but there quite a fair few i would prefer to have on my squad over him if i was a manager.


----------



## mickkelly12

yeah theres no denying cronaldo is good but i think hes over rated because:

he claims to be a midfielder but contributes nothing to the game apart from his goals and occasional assists

hes greedy, he takes too many shots on when there are more intelligent passing options on

he cries and moans worse than most players.

he dives more than most players

towards the end of the season occasionally if someone was challenging him for the ball he would stop running and look at the referee, some weak ass premiership refs would give him a free even though they would not have if he had kept playing.that shit sickens me you have to play to the whistle.he tried it yesterday but the ref was having none of it.thank God

those are just dome of the reasons i dont like him and they are based soley on football


----------



## Ivan

gotta laugh at the way u spelled his name CRONALDO .,,

and i gotta agree he is bitching around for years now and everybody knows he really don´t need that cause he could be much better without that ... but there is no1 who can controll him anymore .. he thinks he knows everything better and when challenged only thinks about gettin some easy FK and with acting making the ref give the other guy a card... thats a bit shit


----------



## plazzman

Holy hell Germany's losing!

I love both teams but I really want Germany to win this whole thing.


----------



## bbjd7

Germany hasn't looked good so far. Their Defense has had some major holes and Lehman looks like his age is catching up with him. I love Germany because Ballack is the man and I think they will win this game but Lehman might become a concern.


----------



## bbjd7

As I entered that Lehman made a great save.


----------



## plazzman

No way man, Lehmann's the only one holding the team together right now. He's been fantastic. I don't know why Germany isn't playing their usual selves today.

I think they need Podolski in and Gomes out, he's giving up too many chances.


PS: I freakin love Croatia's coach, dudes an animal.


----------



## bbjd7

I don't think Lehman looked good for about the first half of the first half. 

There Defense has been horrid so far and I agree idk what's up. Germany is usually a machine and they don't look like that right now.


----------



## plazzman

Seriously man, Germany's always been known for their Defense, and now Croatia's tearing them apart. Gotta give it to the Croats though, theyre playing amazing football.


----------



## Pyros

Lehman is not looking impressive at all. I still think Casillas is better.

Edit: Huge error by Lehman.


----------



## MLS

Well this isn't what I expected from this game.


----------



## plazzman

Pretty biased opinion really.

I can't belive it, 2-0. WOW


----------



## All_In

plazzman said:


> Pretty biased opinion really.
> 
> I can't belive it, 2-0. WOW


There is life! What a finish!


----------



## plazzman

Well, I mean, does this game really matter, win or lose for both teams? We all know that both teams will make the next round. So I no longer mind who wins.


----------



## Pyros

plazzman said:


> Well, I mean, does this game really matter, win or lose for both teams? We all know that both teams will make the next round. So I no longer mind who wins.


Well I would prefer having to play against Czech or Turkey instead of Portugal in the quarter finals .


----------



## All_In

RED card?! That was stupid, but give me a break. Complaining about Ronaldo diving? Everyone does it. That last FK was pathetic against Ballack too.


----------



## Pyros

Yeah Croacia wins! Hopefully Germany and Portugal play on quarter finals because that would be a great match.


----------



## Pyros

Damn Austria and Poland are terrible, Austria is going to receive a bunch of goals when they face Germany in their next match.


----------



## plazzman

Haha yeah, this game blows kinda. Austria's gonna get raped against Germany.


----------



## Pyros

Hahahaha 1-1 now both teams are fucked.


----------



## Ivan

who won .. we won

u boj u boj za narod svoj..

ps . u can neg rep all u want biatch

we win


----------



## Pyros

Ivan said:


> who won .. we won
> 
> u boj u boj za narod svoj..
> 
> ps . u can neg rep all u want biatch
> 
> we win


Why should people neg rep you? :confused02: I understand from your location that you are from Austria and obviously you have to support you team, but a draw doesn't make either team any good :dunno:.


----------



## Ivan

I am in austria living there but not austrian .. that rep was in NBA topic and don´t know who it is but .. nevermind that lets see how the next games end..

And i read today that 1 Croatian Fan has died without any guilt of the surrounding .. they will tell afterwards why that occured .. Rest In Peace


----------



## MLS

Lets see what Italy has for us today.


----------



## bbjd7

Italy looks solid but Toni needs to step it up and finish something. To bad they lost the goal due to offsides.


----------



## Shamrock-Ortiz

My bet was one off If France won I woulda had 6/6 and £750 from £20, seeing as Spain won the next day.



Oh well, even though France were shit, I wouldn't be suprised if they beat Italy and Holland, seriously. They can still win it.


----------



## Pyros

If Italy draws this match they are going to be in trouble.

Edit: And Rumania scores, maybe they'll make it through the group after all. 

2nd edit: Shit Italy too lol.


----------



## bbjd7

Wow Italy is screwed. They better comeback or this would be a huge upset. Italy not even making the 16.

I know they are in the group of death but this is getting sad they need to wake up.


----------



## Shamrock-Ortiz

hahahahhahahahahahahahhahahah, thats nasty... That is football right there.


----------



## bbjd7

NVM they just scored.


----------



## Shamrock-Ortiz

This game has turned class.


----------



## Pyros

Good save by Buffon I thought Rumania was going to take the match right there.

Edit: Hell yeah, Italy is fucked. I hope Netherlands beats France, that would be two tough teams almost out of the tournament and Spain would play against Rumania in the quarter finals (hopefully we end up 1st in the group).


----------



## plazzman

God damn, they almost had it! 

Man of the Match has to go to Labont, dude had some serious saves.


----------



## bbjd7

Labont looked great and I can't wait to see them face Netherlands. 


Buffon had a great performance as well.


----------



## dontazo

Buffon and del piero are my heros ! i started to love buffon when he was in PARMA than in Juventus he is such a ******* monster! 
holland vs france! 
WAR HOLLAND!
my predictions are HOLLAND VS CROATIA in finales


----------



## plazzman

Man oh man oh man, this is gonna be a killer game!


----------



## FunkYou

Hopefully Holland can do to the French what they did to the Italians. Holland FTW.

EDIT: And so it begins. Again.


----------



## Pyros

Netherland scores, yeah. All goes according to plan for now.


----------



## dontazo

YEEEEEEEEESSSS MARCO van basten IS Such a great coach... And he was a ******* legend his scissors kicks were legendary


----------



## plazzman

Yyyeeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


Hop Holland!


----------



## dontazo

damn france needs to change coach like Italy ... I dont think Donadoni is as good as marchelo LIpi cuz lipi is a legend ...


----------



## bbjd7

France has picked up the pace but haven't been able to finish. They lack a top level striker that the other top teams in Europe have. Henry is hurt all the time and even when he is healthy he has looked very old latley. I like him a lot though so hopefully he comes back and looks good.

He hasn't looked very good today IMO.

Just made a nice shot but was wide.


----------



## dontazo

riberi is the best from the france team but the thing is hollands defense is really really awesome. marco van basten is a legend!


----------



## FunkYou

Holland just look better everywhere and importantly are bossing the midfield. Feeling good about picking them to win the whole thing.


----------



## plazzman

Wow, Bouhlahrouz is making Henry look like his bitch. But still, Henry's not doing bad, he's giving Gouvou a lot of chances, they should bring in Anelka or Benzema to finish the job.

Man, I have THEEE greatest avatar ever


----------



## bbjd7

Holland is the one team that Plazz claimed is better than Spain that actually looks good. France, Germany, and Italy have all looked pretty bad especially France and Italy.


----------



## plazzman

All I need is Holland baby, all I need is Holland.

Man, I have so much pride in Holland, and I'm not even Dutch, but I have been there


----------



## dontazo

marco is a legend and thanks MARCO FOR BRINGING BACK RUD VAN!


----------



## plazzman

He sure is man. He's put together a great line up, which could have been EVEN better if Babel, Makaay and Saedorf were here. But it's all great.

Hell yeah they're bringing in Robben!


----------



## dontazo

Omggggg Henry Is Fooo ******* Awsome


----------



## dontazo

plazzman said:


> He sure is man. He's put together a great line up, which could have been EVEN better if Babel, Makaay and Saedorf were here. But it's all great.
> 
> Hell yeah they're bringing in Robben!


i wish there was seadorf man he is a ******* monster... but i think holland looks ******* strong ,, maRCo I LOVE U!


----------



## dontazo

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa nistelrooy IS A ******* LEGEND AAAAAAA gooooooaaaal


----------



## plazzman

Holland have masterd the art of teleportation, their counter attacks are untouchable and deadly.

**** yes, HOP HOLLAND HOP!


----------



## dontazo

DUDEEEEE nistelrooy DID some awsome world class shit ! THANK u MARco for bringing HIm THANK U


----------



## Ivan

Sagnol to Henry and goal.. 2-1

and while writing Robben with the answer makes it 3-1 from a funny angle .. well done


----------



## dontazo

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Hollaandddddddddddddddddddddddddd


----------



## MLS

That was interesting.


----------



## dontazo

the best game in whole euro cup 2008 IMO


OMG nistelrooy is my hero


----------



## Pyros

Holy shit great goal, what a whooping by Netherlands. They are looking great, and against France no less.


----------



## dontazo

OMFG OMFG OMFG THAT WAS beautifull OMFG


----------



## plazzman

Greatest game I've seen in a long time. If anyone thinks theres a better team than Holland right now, you gotta be kidding yourself. Incredible performance.

Hop Holland!


----------



## dontazo

NOOOO holland is in there prime with awesome coach and awesome team 
FORZA HOLLAND


----------



## Judoka

Great game, What a goal by Robben. Netherlands are looking very dangerous in this tournament.

Bad luck for Coupet, He was close a couple of times...Fantastic showing by Netherlands.

Thierry Henry won't be happy i would imagine with his performance as well, Didn't play that bad but he usually converts from some of the chances he had but he finally got there with Netherlands replying in less then a minute.


----------



## plazzman

Yeah man, great showing by Henry, he did enough in my opinion. In fact, most of the French squad did great, the only ones that stunk like shiat were the back 5, which were garbage today. But then again, they're facing Holland!!!11ONE!

Man, Im so happy, all my favourite players scored today. Even Henry


----------



## Ebc_Kyle

Man, Netherlands is ******* good.


----------



## dontazo

plazzman said:


> Yeah man, great showing by Henry, he did enough in my opinion. In fact, most of the French squad did great, the only ones that stunk like shiat were the back 5, which were garbage today. But then again, they're facing Holland!!!11ONE!
> 
> Man, Im so happy, all my favourite players scored today. Even Henry


ribery was best imo from france


----------



## Judoka

dontazo said:


> ribery was best imo from france


I agree, Ribbery played well and i thought Malouda played fairly well for France as well. Dirk Kuyt played exceptionally well for the Netherlands but then again so did the rest of the team.


----------



## dontazo

Netherlands played as a TEAM... thanks too a legend marco VAN BASTEN ... 
and riberry could ev scored in 1 half... Van der sar did a good job


----------



## dontazo

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KysjEyRsZ_k
marco van basten highlight !


----------



## bbjd7

Spain vs Sweeden just started. Hopefully Spain joins Holland and Portugal as the top teams in the Tourny and doesn't join the ranks of France, Germany, and Italy in teams that haven't looked very good yet.


----------



## bbjd7

Nice goal for Torres. But Sweeden is putting a lot of pressure on Spain.

This might not be the group of death but Sweeden Russia defending champs Greece and Spain is a pretty tough group.

Bad News for Spain Puyol just came off in the 25 minute. That is some bad news for Spain since he is the main part of their defense.

Edit - Well Ibrahimovich(Sp) put one i for Sweeden. Ramos misplayed him and it cost Spain.

They are missing Puyol.


----------



## dontazo

great job by spain ... but i still think finals will be croatia vs holland if they did not meat before in that case spain vs holland


----------



## Ebc_Kyle

Man, I was digging that last goal scored by Villa! I jumped out of my chair clapping, was so happy!

Greece/Russia is turning out to be a good game. Good chances by both sides.


----------



## bbjd7

Spain didn't do great but they pulled off a win against a very good team without their best defender.


----------



## plazzman

Still can't see Spain beating Holland


----------



## bbjd7

If Puyol isn't healthy they could be screwed. I think with Puyol they stand a good chance against Holland because in the midfield they are better than Holland and Puyol can help hold Holland's amazing attack at bay.

But without him Ramos isn't ready to fill Puyol's shoes as he showed so they would be screwed.


----------



## plazzman

I think Spains attack would be more of a problem than their midfield. Hollands forwards and Mids shouldn't have too much trouble attacking. Torres and Villa could be trouble, but as we've seen Oijer and company are great at shutting down the attack.


----------



## bbjd7

IDK Villa seems to be on fire. I'm not sure if anyone can stop him.


----------



## dontazo

i think spain needs RAul i still believe in him , i think croatia and spain will collide and croatia will beat spain. SO My predictions are holland vs croatia 
HOlland Is just soo well rounded and they have one of the best coaches in the world next to marcelo lippi


----------



## Judoka

It very well could be Spain vs Netherlands in the Semi finals, That would be an amazing match to watch.


----------



## MLS

I see Spain having issues with the pressure that the Dutch apply.


----------



## Bazza89

I don't rate Puyol TBH, I just think he's too slow to hang with world class international strikers. At club level playing week in week out with the same centre half one of you can lack a bit of pace but at international level they both need to be quick. I could see the Dutch attack exposing him.

I'd like to see Spain or Holland win though TBF because they play football the way it's supposed to be played.


----------



## dontazo

i think its hollands time and they look ******* awesome 
holland vs Croatia imo ,,,


----------



## dontazo

War Czech Republic!
YES THEY SCORED


----------



## Pyros

Looks like the first confirmed quater final will be Croatia-Czech, next Portugal-germany.

Edit: Big error by Cech, Turkey draws the match and this gets ineteresting.

2nd edit: Damn great job by Turkey, they turned the match in the final minutes.


----------



## dontazo

OMG great job by turkeys Awesome! they never gave up!!!!!!!!! LOT OF respect for turkey


----------



## Judoka

dontazo said:


> War Czech Republic!
> YES THEY SCORED





dontazo said:


> OMG great job by turkeys Awesome! they never gave up!!!!!!!!! LOT OF respect for turkey


Haha, Switching teams?:thumb02:

Excellent by Turkey, I was supporting Turkey here but being a goalkeeper i was hoping it would go to a shootout.

Bad blunder by Cech and even bigger mistake by Volkan but not as costly for this game. Recber is likely the Turkish goalkeeper to be stepping up for the next game, He is quite good as well and former number 1 for Turkey, Just got edged out for number 1 spot by Volkan recently.


----------



## dontazo

i am not a biggest czech fan but i LOve NEDVED so thats why i was on czech side. even though nedved is not playing but i was very impressed by turks


----------



## bbjd7

One of the greatest games I've ever seen. I'm rewatching it now it was so good.

Turkey had crazy heart and I have to say Czech had a terrible gameplan once Turkey's goalie got thrown out. They kept kicking long bombs they should've just tried to get one good shot off and test the outfielder playing goalie.


----------



## dontazo

cech is an awesome keeper every great goal keeper makes a mistake .
Turkey was awesome IMo BUTTTTTTT croatia vs holland finals! xD


----------



## Ivan

Thats the second time they came back and this time even bigger .. since we all know they play us i hope for good game ..

but theres still 1 left in group first thing first


----------



## dontazo

turkey will fight german ... if they beat austria  and thats a big if IMO cuz i am sure that Croatia will beat poland


----------



## Ivan

Isnt Portugal as 1st in group A VS the 2nd of group B and that could be Germany .. time will tell

With that said its then Croatia - Turkey and we finally get to play in our first Jersey kit with all checkers :thumb02:


----------



## dontazo

u guys need to beat german! =) 
i hope u will cuz i hate german. !


----------



## Judoka

dontazo said:


> u guys need to beat german! =)
> i hope u will cuz i hate german. !


Not going to happen, Go Germany!:thumb02:


----------



## dontazo

ye i think german will win 2


----------



## Judoka

dontazo said:


> ye i think german will win 2


I am hoping they win the whole thing.


----------



## Ivan

hahaha well i said it once i ll might do it 1 more time ...

i am Croatian but living in austria .. that means i don´t support austrian team .. my team is Croatia.. 

its gonna be hard for austrians to win but if they don´t do it now they wont do it anytime soon.. this is their best chance they got and will get in years to do something in sport other than skiing...

Come on Croatia !!


----------



## All_In

Judoka said:


> I am hoping they win the whole thing.


Me too, but I gotta say I am in love with Holland's style of play.

Turkey's third goal was just a goal of a player's dreams. What the hell was that ball doing? It had absolutely zero business kissing that crossbar and falling into the net. That was just...that was the Alessanda Ambrosio of goals.


----------



## Ivan

Czechs messed up badly .. lead 2-0 then started to run less after their players and thats how the turks got back in the game .. unlucky i must say and the turks got the better of it in the end .. 

Turkey has lost their GK and a Midfielder through card suspension .. 2 are injured and couple of players are questionable for the quarterfinals .. 

So :thumb02: we gonna beat em and send em on vacation like we did with england :dunno: .. Germany can sing a song about that as well


----------



## dontazo

yep croatia vs holland will be finals! remmember it


----------



## dontazo

WOW ballacks goal was awesome


----------



## plazzman

What the hell's up with them playing both games at the same time? I'm only getting Poland/Croatia here.

PS: I thought Klasnic was Polish, why is he with Croatia now?


----------



## dontazo

they are playing at the same time because they wont know results so they will reduce risk of selling a match and making money


----------



## plazzman

Good point, good point.


----------



## dontazo

croatia will play a winner of Sweden vs russia


----------



## Pyros

Mmm no, Croatia is playing against Turkey. I think you mean Netherlands.


----------



## plazzman

I don't know about you, but Ballack is playing some fine football this tourny. Like, 06 football. The guy can be magic when he wants to.


----------



## dontazo

Pyros said:


> Mmm no, Croatia is playing against Turkey. I think you mean Netherlands.


ye ye sorry my bad

ye ballack was only one who basically played in Germany .. they look very week imo ... i think portugal will beat em


----------



## MLS

I always hate when keepers step up like that on set pieces. It does cut down on the angle somewhat but hurts your reaction time and with a shot like Ballack's you need all the reaction time you can get.


----------



## 18573

Man who the hell cares about soccer




























..........................



















THAT'S RIGHT I SAID SOCCER


----------



## dontazo

lol get out of here before we shoot u =))) 

FOOTBALL OWNZ ! not soccer  FOOT BALL not hand ball


----------



## plazzman

Damn, red card AND penalty, that ref is retarded. Italy sucks big time, they're drawing way too many fouls.


----------



## MLS

That was such an ugly tackle.


----------



## mickkelly12

He had no choice, Abidal should have let him take the shot that useless mama-mia faced retard wouldnt have scored anyway

Italy wont have pirlo for the quarter finals, so even if they win they're screwed


----------



## plazzman

It was a weak tackle.

Why is Pirlo gone. I'm running back and forth, and its in Italian, so I'm not getting much of this game.


----------



## FunkYou

plazzman said:


> It was a weak tackle.
> 
> Why is Pirlo gone. I'm running back and forth, and its in Italian, so I'm not getting much of this game.


The problem with the tackle was A) he came through the back of him and B) he as judged to have prevented a scoring chance.

I think Pirlo has f'd up his achilles badly.


----------



## mickkelly12

plazzman said:


> It was a weak tackle.
> 
> Why is Pirlo gone. I'm running back and forth, and its in Italian, so I'm not getting much of this game.


Pirlo's out on yellow cards


----------



## mickkelly12

Gattuso just got banned on yellow cards too, if this keeps up it will be a walkover for spain


----------



## plazzman

FunkYou said:


> The problem with the tackle was A) he came through the back of him and B) he as judged to have prevented a scoring chance.
> 
> I think Pirlo has f'd up his achilles badly.


I know, I know, it was just a weak tackle.

Hopefully this will open up some chances for France. They need Anelka, Benzema is screwin up too much.


----------



## mickkelly12

I feel so sorry for Henry


----------



## plazzman

Why's that?


----------



## dontazo

FOeza italia !!!!!! FORZA AZZURE!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEE ITALAIAAAAA

OLE OLE OLE OLE

AND Holland is winning YEEEEEEEAH


----------



## FunkYou

plazzman said:


> I know, I know, it was just a weak tackle.
> 
> Hopefully this will open up some chances for France. They need Anelka, Benzema is screwin up too much.


It is the sought of tackle were he will be siting on the sidelines not able to quite believe that he did it. I can't believe that I asked at the start of this thread for France to rubbish and they have been.

"Let me have lots of money and a supermodel wife!"


----------



## dontazo

DUDe Italy is aLMost in quarter finals OMFG so excited


----------



## mickkelly12

plazzman said:


> Why's that?


He put out his foot and caused the deflection for Italys second goal, watch his reaction after he did it.Heartbreaking


----------



## plazzman

Oh, damn. Yeah I've felt bad for Henry for a while. He's trying so hard but just can't put it all together today.

I guess it was never meant to be for France. They would have been so great with Viera.


----------



## dontazo

patrick viera was good once>.. so was thuram and viltord but france like italy is a very old team they dont have young players


----------



## plazzman

France has PLENTY of young players.


Fuckin AWESOME goal by RVP


----------



## dontazo

can u name some of em? with any perspective ? ?????
Fact is France needs a refreshment and a new coach


----------



## bbjd7

Spain shold trash Italy in the next round. Italy really hasn't looked very good this tournament.


----------



## dontazo

its quarter finals anything can happen and besides marcelo lippi is helping donadoni


----------



## plazzman

dontazo said:


> can u name some of em? with any perspective ? ?????
> Fact is France needs a refreshment and a new coach


Benzema
Samir Nasri
Clerc
Maloud
Abidal
Goumis
Boumsong



bbjd7 said:


> Spain shold trash Italy in the next round. Italy really hasn't looked very good this tournament.



For once I'm on your side with Spain


----------



## mickkelly12

'hey Domenech jupiter and mars had a meeting and well YOUR FIRED'


----------



## dontazo

yea and which of em have any perspective ? which of em played well against italy? abidal got red card , clerc did not do a shit .... 
fact is italy beat france 2:0


----------



## plazzman

You asked for young players, and I named them. I'm not too sure what you mean by perspective, but these guys all are capable of alot. Obviously they're young and havn't been tested as much, but they still have potential.


----------



## dontazo

ye agree but most people in team are still old like in italy . france did not played well in this euro cup i can say same thing about italy


----------



## Ebc_Kyle

I'm really looking forward to the Spain/Italy game! 

Italy always seems to come through in big games, and Spain looked really good in the group stages, should be a good game.

And I got a feeling that the Dutch are about to lose..


----------



## mickkelly12

Ebc_Kyle said:


> I'm really looking forward to the Spain/Italy game!
> 
> Italy always seems to come through in big games, and Spain looked really good in the group stages, should be a good game.
> 
> And I got a feeling that the Dutch are about to lose..


Do you think italy can do it without Pirlo and Gattuso? With Inniesta Xavi Silva and Cesc running wild in midfield, i think it will be a decisive win for Spain and im willing to put points on it.You up for it Kyle?


----------



## bbjd7

mickkelly12 said:


> Do you think italy can do it without Pirlo and Gattuso? With *Inniesta Xavi Silva and Cesc* running wild in midfield, i think it will be a decisive win for Spain and im willing to put points on it.You up for it Kyle?


And that's not even half of the talent they have in the midfield. I mean Alonso, and Cazorla.


----------



## mickkelly12

an embarasement of riches i believe is the term for their midfield, Senna is having an amazing tournament also.


----------



## dontazo

yea it will be hard especially OMG we would need gattuso and pirlo... but as someone said Italy was in tougher times


----------



## bbjd7

Honestly I'm still not sure how Plazz tried to tell me Spain didn' have the best midfield in the tournament. I mean come on. Maybe Netherlands who has Robben coming off the bench to go along with all their talent but besides them no one else is a s good as Spain in the midfield.

Unless Toni or Cassano really steps it up I don't see them winning this game without Gattuso and Pirlo in their Midfield. I mean Spain loves controlling the midfield and Italy's missing two fotheir best.


----------



## dontazo

yea gattuso is a top hustler and pirlo is a play maker so it will be hard


----------



## Pyros

Shit, I thought we were going against Romania in quarters. Bah, I guess Italy will make a nice tune-up match for the semis against Netherlands :thumb02:.


----------



## dontazo

i have a filling that italy will win in penalties


----------



## Ebc_Kyle

mickkelly12 said:


> Do you think italy can do it without Pirlo and Gattuso? With Inniesta Xavi Silva and Cesc running wild in midfield, i think it will be a decisive win for Spain and im willing to put points on it.You up for it Kyle?


 Yeah, I'm willing to put all 300 of my points up....... :confused03:


----------



## All_In

Ebc_Kyle said:


> Yeah, I'm willing to put all 300 of my points up....... :confused03:


Did you lose them all on one fight?


----------



## plazzman

bbjd7 said:


> Honestly I'm still not sure how Plazz tried to tell me Spain didn' have the best midfield in the tournament. I mean come on. Maybe Netherlands who has Robben coming off the bench to go along with all their talent but besides them no one else is a s good as Spain in the midfield.
> 
> Unless Toni or Cassano really steps it up I don't see them winning this game without Gattuso and Pirlo in their Midfield. I mean Spain loves controlling the midfield and Italy's missing two fotheir best.


That's because Sneijder, Van Der Vaart, Robben, and Kuyt aren't as well known as Spains mids. But I still believe/know they're better.

And Robben didn't come off the bench, he's a regular starter but started the tourny injured :thumbsup:


----------



## dontazo

i think holland has a better midfield only because of the better coach . 
and also italy has bad goleadors Toni is cursed , giraldino cant score either o i am sorry giraldion is not even in a ******* teaM! **** u donadoni


----------



## bbjd7

plazzman said:


> That's because Sneijder, Van Der Vaart, Robben, and Kuyt aren't as well known as Spains mids. But I still believe/know they're better.
> 
> And Robben didn't come off the bench, he's a regular starter but started the tourny injured :thumbsup:


He only played 45 minutes in the first to games right? I don't know if they are going to mess with the guys they've been starting now that Robbens healthy because they trashed France and Italy.

I think Netherlands might be better they are damn good in the midfield but IDK because Spain is to. 

I think we will find out in the semi finals.


----------



## plazzman

Yeah, Robben's always been a starter, Van Basten's just been shakey trying to put him in all the way. Plus, these guys are killing the other teams no problem, that's why he played the B-Squad yesterday, he doesn't want his boys getting hurt.

And yes, we shall def see.


----------



## bbjd7

Really maybe I just forgot or something I could've sworn Robben has been coming off the bench. W/e.


----------



## dontazo

who will win russia or sweden?


----------



## plazzman

bbjd7 said:


> Really maybe I just forgot or something I could've sworn Robben has been coming off the bench. W/e.


Well yeah, this tourny he hasn't been playing full time, but it's due to him being injured at first, and Vas Basteen not wanting to exhaust his best players.


Sweden is gonna murk Russia.


----------



## mickkelly12

Ebc_Kyle said:


> Yeah, I'm willing to put all 300 of my points up....... :confused03:


Cool man so if italy win i have to donate 300 to you and the same for you if spain win.

Vamos Espania


----------



## mickkelly12

plazzman said:


> Well yeah, this tourny he hasn't been playing full time, but it's due to him being injured at first, and Vas Basteen not wanting to exhaust his best players.
> 
> 
> Sweden is gonna murk Russia.


Ive got 50 credits that says Russia take it


----------



## plazzman

lol sure, I've got 67


----------



## Pyros

I don't know, I think Russia may take it, but I hope Sweden wins because they have a better chance of taking Netherlands out of the way (I know it's a big if but I prefer facing Sweden in semis than Netherlands lol).


----------



## mickkelly12

plazzman said:


> lol sure, I've got 67


Fukc it im feeling brave ill go the whole 67 if you want


----------



## bbjd7

Sweeden will take this.


----------



## mickkelly12

Sweeden do have the better players but i like the way Russia Function as a unit and they could be class


----------



## kaiser1041

if russia play arshavin they have a great chance if not they will fail


----------



## Pyros

Russia scores, holy shit, I'm so glad I didn't bet on this match lol.


----------



## mickkelly12

im glad i did, Arshavin looks class
larsson just got robbed


----------



## Pyros

Russia is whooping Sweden, impressive. They look nothing like when they played against Spain, it's like if they've improved a lot in just 1 week lol.


----------



## dontazo

russia is whooping man! Gus hiding is a world class coach !


----------



## mickkelly12

Anyone else psyched for germany portugal?
Germany will be without Frings and possibly Podolski


----------



## All_In

mickkelly12 said:


> Anyone else psyched for germany portugal?
> Germany will be without Frings and possibly Podolski


Why Podolski?


----------



## mickkelly12

he had to come off with a calf injury against austria and i think hes about 50/50 to play today.Frings got a broken rib in the same game but played the full 90 minutes tough mofo


----------



## dontazo

i think portugal will beat german and i am hoping italy will beat spain , maybe it is even better that they wont have gattuso and pirlo so new players will make team fresh


----------



## mickkelly12

yeah i think thats true about gattuso, aquilani would do a good job in his place, but Pirlo is a huge miss his passing crossing and overall creativity cant be matched by anyone in their squad.


----------



## dontazo

ye pirlo is a play maker but who knows! lets hope that Lippi will help donadoni


----------



## mickkelly12

dontazo said:


> ye pirlo is a play maker but who knows! lets hope that Lippi will help donadoni


i hope spain take it i have a 300 credit bet on this


----------



## dontazo

italy did beat spain world cup 2006 but with a very very different team and awesome coach so its hard to say


----------



## plazzman

dontazo said:


> italy did beat spain world cup 2006 but with a very very different team and awesome coach so its hard to say


The only difference was Totti


I got Germany over Portugal today. They showed just what you need to beat Portugal last time they played, so Im confident they'll win.


----------



## dontazo

NO they had cannavaro ... and canavaro is the best defense in the world, he is the reason of winning world cup and he was named a best player of the year and also giraldino


----------



## mickkelly12

plazzman said:


> The only difference was Totti
> 
> 
> I got Germany over Portugal today. They showed just what you need to beat Portugal last time they played, so Im confident they'll win.


there missing frings and possibly podolski so id put 100 credits on that


----------



## plazzman

dontazo said:


> NO they had cannavaro ... and canavaro is the best defense in the world, he is the reason of winning world cup and he was named a best player of the year and also giraldino


Not really



mickkelly12 said:


> there missing frings and possibly podolski so id put 100 credits on that


Damn, Frings is SOLID, and no Poldi COULD mean trouble. Im still betting on them though.

I know for a fact Gomes is going to f*ck something up, he's horrible.


----------



## mickkelly12

its on so, lets see if that shit haired spastic Cronaldo can do me a favour


----------



## plazzman

Ok I got 250 on Germany if anyone wants to bet.


----------



## Pyros

I would take that bet but I only have 65 . I hope Portugal wins this.


----------



## kaiser1041

kaiser1041 said:


> if russia play arshavin they have a great chance if not they will fail


i wish i was this good at predicting mma


----------



## Pyros

On second thoughts, I'm glad I didn't have the points lol. Shit I wanted to see Portugal vs Croatia, not Germany vs Croatia again.

Edit: Good pass by Deco, let's see if they can turn the match.


----------



## Pyros

Great match, even though it didn't go down as planned lol.


----------



## plazzman

HAHAHAH NICE!

I knew it, I said it before and I'll say it again, Germany are the best at exposing Portugal.

Incredible performance. I freakin loved this game.


----------



## Pyros

Yeah but man, now Croatia vs Germany at semis again, pfff .


----------



## Ebc_Kyle

Man, I was extremely disappointed in Portugal's performance against Germany.


----------



## mickkelly12

Let it never be said Cronaldo is a great player, great players step it up when there team isnt performin ala ballack against austria. he did dick all today apart from shoot at stupid times


----------



## dontazo

croatia will play in finals ... and RUssia has an incredible coach Guss hiding ... guy took Korea up to semi finals in 2002 , he is one of the most expensive coaches in the world 
BTW russia is a youngest team in euro cup i think average age is 26 so yea they looked really strong against sweden and i think it will be a great war


----------



## bbjd7

Germany, Croatia, Netherlands, and Spain will make the next round.

It will be a fun Semi.


----------



## dontazo

i think italy will manage to beat spain ... they always start slow and than play much better in finals


----------



## dontazo

WOW war turkey great job they are such a warriors


----------



## Pyros

I don't know why Croatia wasn't allowed to make that change in the final minutes, but whatever. At least this way I don't get to see Croatia-Germany again in the semis.


----------



## Ivan

i was still in my thoughts about our goal and we blew it... now i could use some vacation .. those 120 minutes plus penalties was just too much


----------



## dontazo

i loved it ! turks are such a warriors ! WAR TURKEY!
I truly believe that they have a chance of beating germany ...


----------



## mickkelly12

they would if they had a team to put out, yellow cards and injuries seem to have hit them way too hard.

they are the football equivalent of the 300 (which is ironic considering they come from the country which was formally the persian empire)

i really shouldnt post on this forum when im drunk


----------



## dontazo

6 of the main guys including captan of turkey was out , and goal keeper lol 
but Rustu is a veteran and he proved that he can still play ! WAR TURKEY


----------



## Judoka

dontazo said:


> 6 of the main guys including captan of turkey was out , and goal keeper lol
> but Rustu is a veteran and he proved that he can still play ! WAR TURKEY


Volkan is awesome but personally for this tournament i would still have put Rustu Recber as my number 1 choice to go between the posts for Turkey.


----------



## Pyros

Come on, Rustu is horrible, it's a miracle Turkey didn't receive more goals because he comitted a lot of errors. In fact the goal Croatia scored was completely his fault.


----------



## dontazo

ye he is old , but there is no other choice


----------



## Ivan

OK lets say Rustu was guilty for the goal Klasnic scored and modric assisted but about that in a moment.. he made everything better when kicking that desperate last long ball which went in and i still kinda cannot believe we allowed them to do.. so Rustu held a penalty and is a hero.. 

Luka Modric played well and said after the game when no other player would talk that he wishes he played worst game but won then to play great and lose.. so i come back to Ivan Klasnic .. everybody who knows that guy should be happy that he is still playing and he scored in 2 games 2 goals.. that´s what makes me kinda happy and sad .. 

Would have been nice to score winning goal after all hes been through last couple of years .. but fair enough we didnt earn it in the end


----------



## dontazo

croatia could have scored in first round easily


----------



## Ivan

It was clear to me that with every missed chance we had the turks are gonna believe even more in playing in semi finals ... Olic could have scored hattrick in first half but thats what happens then .. and even worse we were leading for Gods sake how can anybody throw that away in less then minute.. 

and again conclusion is we didnt earn it .. neither did they but the score is official and we are out


----------



## bbjd7

Turkey is crazy to bad Germany is going to destroy them to get to the final.


----------



## dontazo

why are u so sure ?
turkey will fight and win via split decision ! LOL


----------



## bbjd7

I'm sure because half of Turkey is gone because of supension.


----------



## dontazo

ye they were gone against croatia 2 but they still fought... soccer is unpredictable and besides i hate germany ... 
FOrza Italia


----------



## dontazo

OK let me make something clear... 
Croatia VS poland croatia played with there 2 team because of the risk of injury ... they lost to turkey 
Portugal vs Greece they played with there second team because of the risk... they lost to germany 
Holland played with there second team against romania soo its kinda interesting ... from my observations russia has a great chance! they are young and motivated and there is a quote ," Never change a winning team "
and also russia coach is dutch well he was in holland for most of his life he was PSV eindhoven coach and knows holland a lotttttttt it will be a hard game


i was wright!


----------



## dontazo

my theory is true soo far
good job nostelrooy ! but holland still playas bad ...


----------



## plazzman

OOOOMMMMYYYY GOODNESS!

What a f*cking game!


Why the hell didn't Van Basten play Robben?


----------



## dontazo

he is injured 
man russia deserves to win... holland plays like a trash


----------



## bbjd7

Wow Russia is much better than they looked against Spain. Netherlands is taking all they can handle.

I'm hoping Netherlands wakes up a bit and can win this because I want Netherlands vs Spain.


----------



## dontazo

i am 99 precent sure italy will beat spain , like germany beat portugal italy is just soo experienced they always start slow and than build up


----------



## bbjd7

I will bet you however many points you want that Spain beats Italy. Spain is the most talented team in the tourny.


----------



## dontazo

Yessss War Russiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa


----------



## dontazo

bbjd7 said:


> I will bet you however many points you want that Spain beats Italy. Spain is the most talented team in the tourny.


so was portugal but germany beat em it just my opinion


----------



## bbjd7

Nice goal for Russia. And also Portugal wasn't the most talented team in the tournament their defense has holes everywhere and their goalie is terrible.


----------



## DJ Syko

Russia deserve to win this game, Gus Hiddink is a genius.


----------



## bbjd7

Well that's the game Russia is very impressive.


----------



## dontazo

holy shit , russia looked incredible ... cant wait for spain italy


----------



## DJ Syko

Sunderland need to buy Arshavin what ever the cost, he is a great player.


----------



## dontazo

whenever arshavin got the ball ... OMG he was awesome , they demoralized holland


----------



## dontazo

dontazo said:


> OK let me make something clear...
> Croatia VS poland croatia played with there 2 team because of the risk of injury ... they lost to turkey
> Portugal vs Greece they played with there second team because of the risk... they lost to germany
> Holland played with there second team against romania soo its kinda interesting ... from my observations russia has a great chance! they are young and motivated and there is a quote ," Never change a winning team "
> and also russia coach is dutch well he was in holland for most of his life he was PSV eindhoven coach and knows holland a lotttttttt it will be a hard game
> 
> 
> i was wright!


i was wright


----------



## DJ Syko

well done Russia, well deserved win, good luck in the semi's.


----------



## dontazo

yea man , they played so much better than holland those kinda teams like holland,spain , portugal play good in groups on the other hand german, italy, france play bad in groups but in playoffs its opposite


----------



## Ebc_Kyle

The Netherlands get beaten 3-1 by Russia? Who saw that coming?


----------



## dontazo

i did , i predicted it actuallly lol


----------



## Judoka

I said Netherlands but also said i wouldn't be surprised to see Russia win, Being Australian i have been on the same side as master coach Guus Hiddink.


----------



## dontazo

yep he helped australia in world cup 2006! he is soo great


----------



## Ivan

Australia vs Croatia 2006 what a complete joke.. 3 yellow cards for Simunic .. makes me wanna quit watching .. Australia loses to Italy and italy never ever till this day won against CRO .. and they become World Champions.. one month after they lose in Livorno italy at home against us 0-2 .. what a world champion


----------



## dontazo

ye i remember that , not my favorite world cup ... but this euro cup is one of the best from last 5-6 ...
Italy will beat spain (quote me if u want) and than will loose to russia? idk man russia looks strong!


----------



## ZZtigerZZ81

Where the hell did Russia come from? WTF?


----------



## dontazo

emmm from russia? lol


----------



## Judoka

Ivan said:


> Australia vs Croatia 2006 what a complete joke.. 3 yellow cards for Simunic .. makes me wanna quit watching .. Australia loses to Italy and italy never ever till this day won against CRO .. and they become World Champions.. one month after they lose in Livorno italy at home against us 0-2 .. what a world champion


Both strange matches. Kewell equalized and i can't fully remember but something about him being just offside is still in my mind, 3 yellow cards, a massive mistake by Kalac letting in an easy ball and then Australia being the stronger side only for Grosso to take a dive in injury time and Italy win 1-0 due to a penalty.

For other news with Australia they were beaten 1-0 by China a few hours ago and fielded a very inexperienced side as they have already qualified for the final stage of 1020 qualifying. Australia and South Korea will be in different groups. The 2 groups are of 5 teams with top 2 in each group going through and the 3rd teams play off and the winner plays the winner of Oceania for the 5th spot.

I have Italy for the next game but again won't be surprised to see Spain win, I hope Spain do have some success, For such a good team they are lacking success. I still have Germany to win this tournament.


----------



## Ivan

Italy got that penalty yeah .. thats why i don´t like them , they tend to throw themselfs all the time and pretend to be killed like materazzi against zidane or so.. hope spain thrashes them like Holland did.. yep that 2006 world cup was shit.. i was betting on first couple of games and i think japan australia screwed me up but not them really then that fool of a empire who let that goal count from almost half of the field and plus the goalie was fouled and he still let that goal and i was robbed of some $ .. and then comes graham poll with his 3 yellow cards .. they deserve to work in some kindergarden league and not at big tournaments


----------



## dontazo

zidan was still going to get a red cart and btw italy will beat spain u ll see man =))


----------



## Pyros

I think Russia is going to win the whole thing, they just look phenomenal. Spain looking good so far.

Edit: WTF, clear foul and the ref says nothing.


----------



## plazzman

For the first 20 minutes, I was completely convinced that this match was in fast forward, I thought there was something wrong with the broadcast. 

But it turns out they were just running really fast lol!


----------



## bbjd7

Spain seems to be the better team but Italy's defense has been fantastic.

Casillas made a fantastic save to keep this game tied.

Now that Cesc is in the game I think it will open up.


----------



## plazzman

This game is so god damn frustrating.


----------



## bbjd7

I agree Italy has no interest in really doing much besides defending they miss Pirlo.


----------



## bbjd7

The Spainish were clearly the better team. Man I hate penalty kicks because if Spain loses this way it will be messed up.


----------



## Pyros

Yeeeeeeeeessssss!!! What did I tell you about Casillas Plazz? Best goalkeeper in the world.


----------



## plazzman

You say alot of things about Spain. Penalties are hit and miss, shit Buffon's saved 2 penalties as well in this tourny. I still firmly believe there are better keepers ahead of him.


----------



## bbjd7

I personally think Buffon and Cech are both better than Casillas and I love Spain's team. I'm not so sure about Van der Sar though.


----------



## MLS

Pyros said:


> Yeeeeeeeeessssss!!! What did I tell you about Casillas Plazz? Best goalkeeper in the world.


Saving a couple PK's doesn't make you the best goalkeeper.


----------



## Pyros

He hasn't only saved two penalties, but whatever. Anyway we are in the semis, we are going to win this.


----------



## Ivan

funny .. something about croatia losing to turkey reminded me of cro cop vs nogueira .. we had it all and bam .. then again boston celtics reminded me of the GP cro cop .. they wanted it baaaad and made it happen ... 

maybe its just stupid but.. makes some sense to me 

italy is out .. join the penalty kicks club


----------



## Judoka

bbjd7 said:


> I personally think Buffon and Cech are both better than Casillas and I love Spain's team. I'm not so sure about Van der Sar though.


I think Casillas is a very skilled goalkeeper but i think Buffon, Cech and Van der Sar are very safe goalkeepers that do the basics exceptionally well and while Casillas does it also the other three do it better.


----------



## Pyros

Ivan said:


> funny .. something about croatia losing to turkey reminded me of cro cop vs nogueira .. we had it all and bam .. then again boston celtics reminded me of the GP cro cop .. they wanted it baaaad and made it happen ...
> 
> maybe its just stupid but.. makes some sense to me
> 
> italy is out .. join the penalty kicks club


Oh yeah Croatia being eliminated against Turkey was totally unexpected, I still can't figure why they didn't allow them to make that change at the end to lose time.


----------



## Ivan

Hurts to go home after 3 wins and 1 draw which ended with PK .. bad timing in the end takes all that hard work be4 and leaves u with almost nothing .. as i said i found some positive things which could have been really positive like klasnic being very close with a winning goal.. 

Khalid Boulahrouz lost most then any other though.. RIP Anissa


----------



## e-thug

Wow, cant believe this will be my first post in thie thread! Anyhow, its been about as good a tournament as it could be without my perennial losers not making it (England).

I hope for just one thing, and that is Turkey losing.


----------



## dontazo

FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK i lost my 100 dollars on turkeY! damn!


----------



## Pyros

I wanted Turkey to win because I really don't like facing Germany in the final, if we beat Russia that is.


----------



## Judoka

Tough match.

Russia have the master coach, strong form but weaker side. Spain have the better side but have a history of screwing up in the finals. We saw what Russia did to Netherlands and it could be repeated because Netherlands were on fire before that. I really have no clue about this game to predict.

I would like a Germany/Spain grand final though but i will settle for whichever. Both will be good games as will the one to decide the other team that will be in the final, I am expecting 3 goals atleast. For what it is worth i will say Spain to win 3-2.


----------



## dontazo

dude Hollands midfield is one of the best and arguable better than spains soo i don't think it will be an issue Russia via tko imo at least 2- 0


----------



## IhitU.uHITfloor

dontazo said:


> dude Hollands midfield is one of the best and arguable better than spains soo i don't think it will be an issue Russia via tko imo at least 2- 0


Have you forgot that Fabregas and Xavi and Alonso and Iniesta control the mid for Spain compared to Van Der Vaart and Sneijder for the Dutch side. And you are trying to say that Hollands' mid is one of the best, you must either be joking, making shit up, or just pulling it out of your ass to make yourself sound more adapt to speaking about the situation. There is no question that the midfield of Spain is much more skilled and much more experienced.


----------



## Bazza89

Everyone keeps going on about how good Russia are and what a genius Hiddink is but if England had drew with Croatia at Wembley in the last qualifier Russia wouldn't even be there and Hiddink would most likely be out of a job.

Russia lost to Israel in qualifying, it seems to me that they're just having a good tournament spurred on by the HUGE bonus they'll likely get if they win with the ammount of money behind Russian football right now.

I'm not writing them off but I think it will be a Germany - Spain final.


----------



## plazzman

IhitU.uHITfloor said:


> Have you forgot that Fabregas and Xavi and Alonso and Iniesta control the mid for Spain compared to Van Der Vaart and Sneijder for the Dutch side. And you are trying to say that Hollands' mid is one of the best, you must either be joking, making shit up, or just pulling it out of your ass to make yourself sound more adapt to speaking about the situation. There is no question that the midfield of Spain is much more skilled and much more experienced.


Actually, I'd go with Sneijder, Kuyt, Van Der Vaart, and Robben over Iniest/Alonso/Xavi. Those guys have much more ptotential and they clearly did much more than Spain's midfield. They each scored, they assisted and they defended. Spain's been relying too heavily on Puyol in the back and Villa/Torres in the front.

In fact, IMO, I think Sneijder should get some sort of award for his performance, the dude was outstanding.


----------



## bbjd7

I'm so exicted for this game today. 

Also Plazz you can't forget Senna who has been the best defensive midfielder during this tourny.


----------



## plazzman

As has Englaar. I'm nominating Andre Oijer as my Defender of the tourny, dude worked his ass off.


----------



## Pyros

Yeah this game should be good, I think we are going to pull it off. Come on Torres and Villa, make the shitty russian defense pay!


----------



## bbjd7

Spain looks fantastic so far. Very impressive.


----------



## Pyros

Good 1st half by Spain, too bad Villa got injured.


----------



## Pyros

Spain scores!!! Yesssss!


----------



## Ivan

maybe this goal will be better for the rest of the game .. somebody needs to do something if they wanna go to d finals


----------



## bbjd7

Spain really seems to be the better team but they need to finish better.


----------



## Pyros

F*ck yeeeeessssss!!!!!


----------



## Pyros

Lol, we are whooping on Russia, go Spain!! Spain has played really well all match, a well deserved result I would say.


----------



## bbjd7

Well it's over now. Spain looks real good in the 5 midfielder 1 striker set.

They might want to pull Torres and just put Fabergas, Xavi, Iniesta,Senna, and Silva in midfield. And then put Villa as the lone striker if he is ok. If not than go Torres and the 5 mids.


----------



## Pyros

Villa will probably not play in the final, so I guess the striker will be Torres.


----------



## Ivan

Spain should win in the end ..


----------



## Pyros

Ivan said:


> Spain should win in the end ..


For sure man, if Germany wins at the end it would be totally undeserved, they struggled with Turkey even though they had half of their team grounded by sanctions FFS.


----------



## plazzman

Pyros said:


> For sure man, if Germany wins at the end it would be totally undeserved, they struggled with Turkey even though they had half of their team grounded by sanctions FFS.


Are you fuckin serious?


----------



## Pyros

plazzman said:


> Are you fuckin serious?


Yes, totally serious, but I'm spanish, maybe I'm a little biased . But I honestly think we deserve it more.


----------



## bbjd7

So if Germany beats Spain they won't deserve to have won?

That makes zero sense.

Spain was the best team in the tourny but that doesn't mean if they lose to Germany that Germany didn't deserve it.


----------



## plazzman

Surely you can't be that ignorant. How did Germany struggle, and against such a good team, who has been known to give the big dogs a tough fight?

To be honest with you, sir, Spain hasn't had a very difficult road to the finals.


----------



## Pyros

bbjd7 said:


> So if Germany beats Spain they won't deserve to have won?
> 
> That makes zero sense.
> 
> Spain was the best team in the tourny but that doesn't mean if they lose to Germany that Germany didn't deserve it.


Well, they classified second on their group and struggled to beat Turkey, so right now I would say Spain is more deserving because they have beaten everybody and just steamrolled through Rusia, who whooped on Netherlands, and beat the World Champion's in Italy, it would be sad if Germany got lucky and won on the finals, unless it's a total dominating performance like the one today by Spain, I would be very sad.

Plazz come on, beating Russia (who whooped on Netherlands, who were huge favourites to win the whole thing) and Italy (World champions) is an easy road? Maybe Spain's group was easy, but Germany was easier still and they just classified second.


----------



## bbjd7

I agree Plazz. They had a average group. That wasn't bad but it wasn't great. Sweeden, Greece and Russia probably the 2nd toughest group but was no group of death.

Then they played Italy which is a tough game. Then they played Russia again.

Spain didn't destroy the tourny however IMO they have shown that they are clearly the best team. They just don't finish well.


----------



## MLS

Pyros said:


> For sure man, if Germany wins at the end it would be totally undeserved, they struggled with Turkey even though they had half of their team grounded by sanctions FFS.


Someone take his posting privileges away. How the hell do you even think that logic is right?


----------



## plazzman

Pyros said:


> Well, they classified second on their group and struggled to beat Turkey, so right now I would say Spain is more deserving because they have beaten everybody and just steamrolled through Rusia, who whooped on Netherlands, and beat the World Champion's in Italy, it would be sad if Germany got lucky and won on the finals, unless it's a total dominating performance like the one today by Spain, I would be very sad.
> 
> Plazz come on, beating Russia (who whooped on Netherlands, who were huge favourites to win the whole thing) and Italy (World champions) is an easy road? Maybe Spain's group was easy, but Germany was easier still and they just classified second.



Let's use your logic. 

Spain struggled against a team who The Dutch absolutely creamed. The Dutch also creamed the French, and the Romanians. All tougher teams than Greece, Russia, and Sweden.

My friend, I strongly encourage you to stop posting if you are going to be so blindly biased.


----------



## Pyros

MLS said:


> Someone take his posting privileges away. How the hell do you even think that logic is right?


Have you read my following post, where I tried to explain my logic on that opinion, or just decided to flame me for no reason?

Plazz yes they destroyed Italy and we couldn't score against them even though we played better for the most part, but saying that Spain has had an easier road to the final than Germany is very biased, and we are not to fault because Netherlands couln't beat a team we whooped twice. What's with all you mods flaming me lately? Has Chris put you all against me or what?  j/k


----------



## MLS

I read it and it still makes no sense.

At this point no one is flaming you, you bring this on yourself when you make such biased posts and this goes out to other threads not just this one. Do yourself and us a favor and think out what you post.


----------



## Pyros

MLS said:


> I read it and it still makes no sense.
> 
> At this point no one is flaming you, you bring this on yourself when you make such biased posts and this goes out to other threads not just this one. Do yourself and us a favor and think out what you post.


I'm just saying that the more deserving team is Spain because they had a more difficult road to the finals than Germany and have won all their matches, maybe I came off too brash with my post, but that is basically what I meant, surely you can agree with that?


----------



## plazzman

How am I biased, Im neither German nor Dutch.


----------



## Pyros

plazzman said:


> How am I biased, Im neither German nor Dutch.


I'm not brazilian and I'm biased towards Nog, you could be biased towards Germany because you like their team better. You can't honestly believe that Germany had a tougher time than Spain to get to the finals?


----------



## plazzman

Considering they lost a game, I'd say they had a tougher time. Spain had a very easy group.


----------



## Pyros

plazzman said:


> Considering they lost a game, I'd say they had a tougher time. Spain had a very easy group.


Germany's was easier. Yeah they had a tougher time, I guess I formulated the question wrongly, they had an easier road, but Spain had an easier time.


----------



## FunkYou

The team that deserves it is the team that wins the final. There are no flukes in Football. If Germany win it is because they will have done ehat they always do ie not look great but get wins. and if Spain lose it will be because they will have done what they always do as well ie look great but choke.


----------



## Pyros

FunkYou said:


> The team that deserves it is the team that wins the final. There are no flukes in Football. If Germany win it is because they will have done ehat they always do ie not look great but get wins. and if Spain lose it will be because they will have done what they always do as well ie look great but choke.


Well this year I'm pretty sure we are not going to choke, I have said a few times in this thread that I believe this year is Spain's year, and so far, so good. And of course there are flukes in football, there have been a bunch of matches where a team is dominating the whole match but is not able to finish and then the other teams gets a lucky goal and end up winning.


----------



## Ebc_Kyle

When you get to past the group stages Pyros, it doesn't matter who you beat then, it's a new slate. We saw Dutch dominate a group called "The group of death" only to get beaten by a very very underated German team. Spain, I don't think it surprised anyone that they made it, but I don't think that they will beat Germany.


----------



## Pyros

They were beaten by Russia not Germany. And Spain is going to beat Germany, you just wait .


----------



## Ivan

.. if spain does as croatia in group did ..then z germans lose.. simple


----------



## Pyros

I think they can win playing like they have been doing so far, controlling the ball and the pace of the match. Seriously guys, all that I'm saying is that Germany has had an easier road to the finals than Spain, don't know why you people are getting so worked up :dunno:.


----------



## FunkYou

I for one am not worked up but i don't think Germany have had it easier. Not biasd as I don't particularly like either team.


----------



## Ivan

i think it can happen .. and i never liked z germans so that can only tell that i hope spain wins


----------



## Pyros

FunkYou said:


> I for one am not worked up but i don't think Germany have had it easier. Not biasd as I don't particularly like either team.


Well, look at their groups, Austria had the worst team in the whole Euro 2008, Poland is awful too, and then you have Croatia which is a good team. Then on Spain's group you have Sweden which is nothing great but is solid, Greece who were the reigning Euro champions until this tournament, and Russia who has just whooped Netherlands, Sweden and Greece before being whooped themselves by Spain. Then at the quarter finals, Germany had Portugal, very good team, and Spain had Italy, world champions, I would say this round was even. Then at semis Germany played against Turkey who had half their team grounded because of sanctions, they were considering putting their 3rd goalkeeper as a player in the 2nd time FFS, while Spain had Russia which, like I said, was just coming off a big whooping of Netherlands. It's pretty clear that Spain had the tougher road.


----------



## Judoka

I have got Germany to win 2-1 in the final, Wouldn't mind seeing both teams win this one as they both deserve it. I will be supporting Germany though.

germany had a tough time as some poor performances means they had to face the Portuguese and they won, The Portuguese played well and i am fairly certain they were the tournament favorites(?). Turkey had half of their team out but still proved a very tough opponent and rattled Germany a couple of times, Proving they are a team that can hang and win against the heavyweights of the world.

Spain have played exceptionally well but versed a under performed Italy side and an on fire but much weaker side in Russia.

Both had tough roads but i think Spain had the tougher group but Germany had the tougher finals.


----------



## FunkYou

Pyros said:


> Well, look at their groups, Austria had the worst team in the whole Euro 2008, Poland is awful too, and then you have Croatia which is a good team. Then on Spain's group you have Sweden which is nothing great but is solid, Greece who were the reigning Euro champions until this tournament, and Russia who has just whooped Netherlands, Sweden and Greece before being whooped themselves by Spain. Then at the quarter finals, Germany had Portugal, very good team, and Spain had Italy, world champions, I would say this round was even. Then at semis Germany played against Turkey who had half their team grounded because of sanctions, they were considering putting their 3rd goalkeeper as a player in the 2nd time FFS, while Spain had Russia which, like I said, was just coming off a big whooping of Netherlands. It's pretty clear that Spain had the tougher road.



Actually I would say the groups were about even.Austria are rubbish no doubt but I would class Poland as an average team capable of upsetting anyone. And croatia are a good team though nt as good as they once were. Germany were clear favourites for the group. And they did enough to get through the group.

SPain's Group - Sweden are a poor team nowadays who I would put on a par with Poland. Greece, despite beig Champs 4 years agao are not much better. You can't say Russia are a good team cos they beat Holland in this tournament. Prior to it on ability you wouldn't put them much higher than the first two teams. Spain were clear favourites for the group.

This I would say was even between the two. Just cos Germany didn't win their group doesn't mean they deserve it less. they did what they had to do.

1/4 Finals as you say is even with Germany having the slightly harder game.

Semi's Both teams hadgames they would have bitten arm off to be offered at the start of the tournament so Iwouldn't say one team had it easier. if anything it could be argued that Germany have had it harder as they have had to work a lot harder toget to the final

Deserving it will come down to who wins on the night. Frankly my money would go on germany just cos winning while looking poor is what they do. Loking good but screwing up is what Spain does.


----------



## Ivan

Hah of course .. but after watching this championship i noticed that pretty much anything can happen .. turkey is the best example.. i was so sure that we will play germans in semi final and couldnt believe that we didnt .. now germans are known to all as favorites and themselfs also say that they are .. honestly i don´t see them win this .. who is gonna do it poldi schweini klose.. if spain takes care of these few dangerous players they have a big chance of controlling d game.. and thats when i say yippy ka yay


----------



## wafb

I'm going with Germany, the Spanish side always finds a way to collapse when it matters. I hope I'm wrong though since I'm a big fan of Villa.


----------



## joppp

Pyros said:


> They were beaten by Russia not Germany. And Spain is going to beat Germany, you just wait .


Congratulations on Spain's success! Spain was the team I was rooting for when it came down to the final 4 teams.


----------



## Pyros

joppp said:


> Congratulations on Spain's success! Spain was the team I was rooting for when it came down to the final 4 teams.


Thanks man, I'm confident that this year we will win, the curse of quarter finals has been broken.


----------



## Judoka

Pyros said:


> Thanks man, I'm confident that this year we will win, the curse of quarter finals has been broken.


Sig bet on that?


----------



## Uchaaa

„Football is a simple game: 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.“


----------



## Pyros

Judoka said:


> Sig bet on that?


Ok, if Spain wins you'll put in your sig "Pyros has opened my eyes to the Red Fury, Spain Euro 2008 champions".


----------



## Judoka

Pyros said:


> Ok, if Spain wins you'll put in your sig "Pyros has opened my eyes to the Red Fury, Spain Euro 2008 champions".


You have to put "Germany>>>Spain, Ballack>>>Fabregas. I should have listened to Judoka, The great Germany 2008 Euro champions".

Not the most creative thing i have ever made but it will do.


----------



## kaiser1041

i hope spain win they deserve it they play the best football.and although the germans are weak in central defence how can u bet against those crazy towel stealing bastards


----------



## Pyros

Judoka said:


> You have to put "Germany>>>Spain, Ballack>>>Fabregas. I should have listened to Judoka, The great Germany 2008 Euro champions".
> 
> Not the most creative thing i have ever made but it will do.


How much will it last? It's until July 19th ok with you? Because I have two sig bets that day and I don't know if I can fit everything in my sig lol.


----------



## dontazo

germany playis like shit this euro cup imo they almost lost to turkey and turkey was missing 7 main guys ... as much as i love italy spain was whooping italys ass for 90 minutes and 2 extra times so i think spain wins 2-1


----------



## plazzman

VBookie for the finals is up in the lounge boys.


----------



## Judoka

Pyros said:


> How much will it last? It's until July 19th ok with you? Because I have two sig bets that day and I don't know if I can fit everything in my sig lol.


Yeah that should be fine.


----------



## dontazo

damn i thin Germany will pull this upset but idk torres is the shit and hopefully he plays well..
wAR Casilas !


----------



## Judoka

dontazo said:


> damn i thin Germany will pull this upset but idk torres is the shit and hopefully he plays well..
> wAR Casilas !


How will either team winning here be considered an upset? Germany are the favorites i believe(According to Plazz's vBookie:thumb02.

I am looking forward to this match, I honestly have no clue what is going to happen.


----------



## dontazo

lol i was just jk but i think spain deserves it more i dont know after what happened to them in 2002 spain vs Korea that was a total **** up , and i am sure if spain looses aragones will die that dude is OLD


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## Ivan

Its time for Spain to revenge all them bad championships and great generations they had who didnt win a damn thing in WC or EC .. of course luck is needed and i wish that team good luck .. germans can come to Croatia on vacation this year and every1 is happy


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## dontazo

ye i think its time for spain to [email protected]
ill be watching it from spains fan club bar half drank lol


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## Pyros

It has started good luck to everybody with their bets .


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## Composure

Pyros said:


> It has started good luck to everybody with their bets .


I was going to put 10k. But I guess you can't put commas in your bet. :sad02:

Go Germany.


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## Pyros

Damn, Spain almost scored . Oh well, Spain looking good now.


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## Composure

I remember watching Podolski back whne Germany played Italy a few years ago. He looks the same.


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## Pyros

**** yeah! Go Spain.


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## plazzman

Ugh man, the panel in my broadcast are all over Spain's nut, it's so annoying.


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## Pyros

plazzman said:


> Ugh man, the panel in my broadcast are all over Spain's nut, it's so annoying.


Well so far they are the superior team.


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## plazzman

So? Annoying fanboys don't make the game any better.


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## Pyros

plazzman said:


> So? Annoying fanboys don't make the game any better.


Well but if they are playing better what do you want people to say? :confused02:


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## plazzman

You don't want them devoting a 30 minute segment on how gorgeus Ramos is and how Spain is the next Brazil.


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## Pyros

plazzman said:


> You don't want them devoting a 30 minute segment on how gorgeus Ramos is and how Spain is the next Brazil.


Well if they are making comments about Ramos' beauty then I can see why you are annoyed .


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## Ivan

Well well well.. germany sucks


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## Pyros

What did I say? Campeones, campeones, oeoeoeeeee.


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## bbjd7

Spain is crazy talented can't wait till the world cup to see them face off with Argentina and Brazil hopefully.


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## Pyros

bbjd7 said:


> Spain is crazy talented can't wait till the world cup to see them face off with Argentina and Brazil hopefully.


Yeah, the only thing I can criticize is their finishing skills, they create a lot of opportunities but they seem to suffer a lot to score. They have played very well and dominated the whole match against Germany which is no easy task.


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## bbjd7

I agree I know Torres had a great goal but he didn't look good this tournament. I personally think they need to find themselves a great finisher to go with their fantastic midfield. Also whoever replaces Aragones should use Fabergas more.


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## Pyros

bbjd7 said:


> I agree I know Torres had a great goal but he didn't look good this tournament. I personally think they need to find themselves a great finisher to go with their fantastic midfield. Also whoever replaces Aragones should use Fabergas more.


I just hope the new coach doesn't start bringing everyone from Real Madrid to the National Team like they used to, the team is great as it is.


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## Judoka

Spain played well, they fell over at the drop of a pin and the referee didn't see through it which i hate but they played well. Spain didn't dominate that much, Germany more did it to themselves, They had the chances but didn't take them.

I don't get Germany's defense, Such great defenders but they can't keep it together when playing for Germany. It is no where near what it can and should be at.

It is about time Spain won something, They have a good side.


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## Pyros

Judoka said:


> Spain played well, they fell over at the drop of a pin and the referee didn't see through it which i hate but they played well. Spain didn't dominate that much, Germany more did it to themselves, They had the chances but didn't take them.
> 
> I don't get Germany's defense, Such great defenders but they can't keep it together when playing for Germany. It is no where near what it can and should be at.
> 
> It is about time Spain won something, They have a good side.


Well, except for the 1st 15 minutes and some time in the second half of the second part, it was pretty much all Spain.

Remember our sig bet Judoka .


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## Judoka

Pyros said:


> Well, except for the 1st 15 minutes and some time in the second half of the second part, it was pretty much all Spain.


What im saying is, Spain played well but they only seemed to dominate because Germany let them.

Edit - Way ahead of you.


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## Ivan

What an ending .. Group 2nd GERMANY 0-1 SPAIN Group 1st and what more they looked better and deserved the Trophy, i knew it but hell its.. Fiesta 

nunca digas nunca hamas .. i liiiike


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## dontazo

holy shit torres is awesome he is sooo fast .,
told u spain is the winner


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