Euro 2012

No luck for the Irish today.

I must say no matter how much the commentators try to explain how that second Croatia goal was onside I dont see it. He was offside on the original kick, he was offside when the defender kicked it, he was offside the entire time. How is he allowed to score that goal? :think:

 

Another rule I don't understand....handballs and offside seem to be subject to very liberal interpretation by the officials.

 

The Irish need to get Duff on the ball more. That route one stuff isn't going to work against the best teams. When Duff is cutting inside, he's very dangerous. His best play was when that happened. They stuck to the route one stuff so much that they would pass up opportunities to bomb forward and instead play the ball in the air to a forward.


The Irish really need some luck of the Irish. And yes, I know that's a bad joke.

 

Totally agree that the Irish played way too much long ball. Given should of stopped the first one, and the second one was a terrible call.

England have to be happy with the point. Almost pulled off the smash and grab at the end. The 3 Lions look like they have bought into what Woy preaches. Not the greatest of performances, but a decent result going forward and haven't put themselves behind the 8 ball.

 

Totally agree about Ireland and England. Haven't seen such poor form from Given in a while. Duff was clearly good with the ball, they didn't seem to captialize on that. They also wasted Keane, in my opinion. They're underdogs, but they can do better.

England did what they needed to do. Joleon Lescott scoring? What are the odds of THAT happening in this tournament?

 

Ukraine is not weak!

/Seinfeld

 

:lol: For you Lax; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzLtF_PxbYw


My Czechs w/a win in spite of Peter Cech's calamity. Will probably only need a draw to advance, but the Poles have looked great on the attack. Russia to get the result needed against Greece and Poland to give the home fans reason to cheer by beating the CR and getting to the knockout stages.

 

Ballack is so bad on ESPN. His agent better give him a greenie or something to perk him up, or his post pitch future looks bleak as far as pundit work. They ask him a question and he just sits there for what seems an eternity, like he doesn't understand or is incredulous at the question they just asked him, then gives the most basic response known to humankind.

They need to get him off the set before he embarrasses himself and the network.

 

Handball is subjective and as such is always going to be questionable...like balls and strikes in baseball.

Offsides is more cut and dried. If you're in an offside position when a teammate plays a ball to you, then you are offside. However, if you're in an offside position when the other team plays the ball to you, you aren't offside. In the Ireland match, the Irish player (Ward, I believe) clearly attempted to play the ball, he just did a piss poor job of it and shanked it right to Jelavic.

I could live without the shenanigans (faking injuries, diving) but that's int'l football. It's club football too, just to a much lesser extent (in the Prem at any rate).

So far, the Irish have looked the worst team in the tournament. I'll admit Fulham have been hard on the eyes at times over the years, but I can usually blind myself to it to a point with my fandom. Ireland, not so much. They are brutal.

England surprised me to an extent. I agree with Heather, it's Fulham under Roy, circa the Great Escape season. We were incredibly negative when Roy first took over. In hindsight, there was a clear method to his madness, but he left it until the death for us to save ourselves and he was pretty lucky we did, especially the City match. I expected him to go negative to instill that defensive discipline with England, but not to the extreme he took it against France. The question is, will this be the way England play going forward until he's got that discipline instilled? Or was this a stop gap until Rooney returns? I think they're going to struggle to get out of the group if they don't open it up a little more. Sweden and Ukraine both have some fire power and can take a result off England if given the lion's share of the possession.

Speaking of, I like Ukraine to get out of their group over Poland getting out of their's. And the "group of death" hasn't really panned out that way. Germany look good, but the Netherlands look very over-rated. Did I say Germany would ship too many goals and the Dutch were my 2nd favorites? Oops. The Dutch defending has been terrible.

Agree on Ballack. That's the German way though, no? Aren't they known for having a poor sense of humor and not being very animated? Agree with Joe on Rossi as well. In fact, most of the people ESPN have put in front of camera have been crap. And why in the blue hell do we have to keep being subjected to Lalas? Roberto Martinez and the blonde gal. That's about the end of the good. Even Bob Ley feels out of place to me.

 

This tournament has been boring. We finally got a game where two teams scored at least two goals, but even that game was only average. Seems like most teams are happy with a point so they do nothing attacking wise. This certainly isn't as good as the first Euro I watched in 2004.

 

I suspect things will liven up when the knockout stage arrives.

 

Possibly. That didn't really happen in the World Cup though. The final was an absolute bore and most games weren't that great. Maybe I'm being a whiny spoiled person because I get to watch a very attractive team play week in and week out.

 

Nice article about Ukraine's Shevchenko. He wants to play in MLS and DC United seems a distinct possibilty. If his kids end up being any good at soccer, they would be eligible to play for the USA since his wife is American.

Oh and ESPN's ratings for the Euros are up 214% over 2008. A very good sign for soccer in the USA.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...6/14/andriy.shevchenko.ukraine.mls/index.html

 

Great, another Russian goalscorer representing DC. :roll: That said, from what he's shown since escaping chelsea, he'd likely be one of the best strikers in MLS. Smart runs and great at getting on the end of service. Depending on DCU's ability to provide service, I think he could have a similar impact to Henry.

Good result for the Croats. Italy looked like they backed off of the 3 pts more than Croatia took the point, but it keeps them above Italy in the table for now. Dreading this Ireland/Spain affair.

 

There is just no talent in the attacking third for the Irish. Duff is the best they have and he's probably at the end of his Irish career. Keane is old and McGeady shows nothing going forward. And lol at that center midfield. This is the best they have and it's a pretty old team. The future definitely isn't bright for the Irish.

 

Ouch is right. Watching Ireland in this tournament feels like watching Derby Co in the Prem several years ago. They just don't look they have any chance at all.

On the bright side, those are the happiest fans on the wrong end of a whipping I've ever seen.

 

Both Italy games have been very entertaining. The Azzurri have created so many chances, but haven't put them away (credit to the Croatian GK for standing on his head in the first half). Could easily be sitting on 6 points, but only have 2. They shouldn't have too many issues w/Ireland, but will need Spain or Croatia to win outright. If those two draw and Italy wins, there is a series of tiebreakers if 3 teams are involved that I'd rather not think about.

The Irish just look so out of depth, that just getting to the tournament had to be an amazing accomplishment.