Euro 2012

Mo, your France pick is shaping up nicely. England with a great comeback win, and w/Roy in charge it makes rooting for the 3 Lions a lot easier. The winning goal by Welbeck was a sick running back heel volley. Poor Sweden, 2 games, 2 leads after 60 minutes, 2 losses, and it's too late.

 

Agreed that Welbeck's goal was sweet. Walcott has to start from now on - the entire England attack changed for the better when he came on for Milner. England's last match against Ukraine is going to be tough.

 

Wellbeck goal was nice, a strikers goal - just get the ball in the back of the net. Roy is managing the situation and the tournament for England about as well as could be expected. Ukraine will be tough, but Rooney will be back and I suspect hungry. It may actually end up being a real positive that he was banned the first two games.

 

The team who defends and fakes injuries go through. I guess the football gods like to reward teams who sit ten men behind the ball when they get a lead? Kinda like Chelsea was rewarded all throughout the Champions League. Sorry, can't stand teams who do that.

 

I didn't think I would be able to do this again until late summer, but my Czechs winning the group.... :banana-guitar:

WIll say that's it's a shame the Russians didn't advance also, that was as bad a defensive blunder as you'll ever see, and off a throw in? Poor dude has got to feel he disappointed an entire nation.

 

Russia deserved to go through but such is soccer.

I got group A about as wrong as one could, but I imagine I have some company in that regard. Poland just cant perform for 90 minutes and as a result will never get out of group play in such of tournament.

 

It's a Ronaldo sighting!

 

Man, how bad was this Tourney for the Dutch?!?

 

Pretty bad, but I suspect it'll motivate them for 2014 in Brazil.

 

Cheesy Peeps, huh?

Greece are the big shock so far. To me, the Poles and Greeks looked to be 2 of the worst sides in the Euros not named Ireland. But credit to them for pulling it off. It may not be pretty, but they'd have been epically stupid to try and get into a shootout with the Russians. If anything, shame on Russia for not putting away their chances or unlocking the Greek defense after falling behind. Surprised it wasn't mentioned, but Pog came on late in the loss to Greece. Played about 20 minutes and outside of handling the ball and picking up a yellow for it, he did very little. No shots.

The problem for the Dutch is their defending was shocking and their midfield was ineffective in keeping possession. Once teams took the fight to them, they were exposed. Portugal are looking a very dangerous side. I don't have the stats, but I won't be surprised if they've created more chances than any team in the tournament. They've squandered a lot of them, but if they get that sorted, I won't be surprised to see them run all the way to the final.

I had Spain and Croatia going through today. I normally hate Italy and all of their antics, but they've been surprisingly pleasant to watch so far. I'm hoping for Croatia and let the chips fall where they may on the other two. ***edited b/c I don't get the tie breaker at all. If Croatia, Spain and Italy were all 1-2-0 and 0-2-0 against each other, how would Italy have won the group head-to-head?

I'm expecting we'll see a full on meltdown in England tomorrow. I give Roy a lot of credit for the results he gets, but I still question if he (or anyone for that matter) is big enough to overcome that soap opera. Ukraine are Sweden with better defense, so it won't surprise me if England come up short & France and the host nation go through.

 

Balotelli with a sick insurance goal vs. the Irish. Spain tops the group with their win over Croatia. One of England, France or Ukraine get Italy in the quarters - not a favorable draw.

 

That goal was sick, and his reaction to it was classic. He looked pissed off and wanted to basically tell his manager to stick it and his teammates came over and covered his mouth, mercurial talent with a couple screws loose.

 

Totally - Balotelli is crazy, he sports a mohawk and isn't named "Sid," 'nuff said. But, he's a damn good footballer when he bothers...

 

Methinks the Ukrainians got SCREWED!

 

screwed is a little harsh. That was a very close call and as everyone pointed out it started with a missed offside.

I think the better way of looking at it is that England got very lucky. They looked awful and won the group. But it's called getting the job done and somehow Roy knows how to do it. Man they were dire though. Rooney was awful too. They better get their offensive game in order or they are in trouble. Their D is not good enough to blank Italy.

 

Let's go back and give them the goal to draw 1-1...they still don't advance.

That said, it was a goal. Without a doubt (having the benefit of a replay).

 

I dunno....sometimes an equalizer spurs a shift in moe-mentum...and another goal in that scenario.