EURO 2008 Discussion Topic

Iori E · Post by **Iori E** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 22:38

Hey, Switzerland. Here's something you should try once in a while:

PUT THE BALL IN THE NET.

A simple concept, really.

Sheba · Post by **Sheba** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 22:41

The ukraine goalkeeper sure got an upgrade from his match against Spain o.o

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 01:25

denieru wrote:heartbreaking... a great game where Italy got one red card (deserved, dont start with that).. and Australial gave it their all..

I'll start. Fuck OFF that was a sending off. Dangerous, studs-up challenge? No. Covering defender? Yes (right beside the runner in fact). So, sending off? Absolutely not. Just a completely insane decision. Up till then the game was being played well by two teams that didn't seem interested in diving and rolling about, unlike the night previous (and how many times can you say THAT about an Italian team??). Then the ref decides to fuck up the game.

And I think a lot of you must have been watching a different game than me. Italy were far superior when they had 11, and weren't in any way dominated when they lost a man. Australia looked so slow and laboured in attack you'd swear they were the ones with 10 men.

Face it, Australia were weak. Without Kewell (what the hell happened to him anyway?) they just looked bereft of imagination in attack. And, dare I say it, Hiddink played conservatively. He didn't push his team on to score despite the numerical advantage, didn't make any attacking subs until too late. I think he was waiting to outlast the Italians in extra time, and for that he was deservedly punished.

As for the penalty, well clearly the Italian didn't need help going down, but that tackle was just dumb dumb dumb. Why would you slide like that unless the guy's about to shoot into the net?

Basically, when my team loses to a contentious decision I try to take time to reflect on who actually played better. If my team did, I'll stay pissed. If not, then I'll let it go. Face it, Italy were better today.

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Switzerland - Ukraine: ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............

So glad the Swiss team got knocked out. No flair or imagination or ambition whatsoever. WAKE UP GUYS, YOU'RE IN THE QUARTER-FINALS OF THE WORLD CUP!!! At least Ukraine has Shevchenko. Almost scored a blinder tonight.

=======================

btw, I know it's a day late, but I thought England did ok. No SUPER-DUPER ATTACKING FOOTBALL, but a really good, tidy win. We created some good chances (really should have scored another), didn't give away too many, and, most importantly of all, kept possession well (except for the last ten minutes). That's what I want to see, not our midfielders pinging it about and giving it away all the time. By passing it around we just sucked the life out of Ecuador on such a hot day.

A few more ugly wins like this and we'll be in the WC final! I really fancy our chances.

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 01:32

Iori E wrote:How did Italy make that penalty kick? Everyone knows Italy chokes on penalty kicks!

I was thinking the EXACT same thing when Totti was lining it up. It just seemed set up for another classic Italian Tragic Football Moment. I saw it in my head: Golden boy of Italian football misses last-kick-of-game penalty and then Australia go through on penalties, with Totti missing ANOTHER in the shootout.

But no, the guy was icy cool with the kick. Good on him.

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 04:38

Not to sound bitter, but the refs so far have been the story of the tournament, ruining many games. The goal that Kewell scored against Croatia was offside, I'll admit, so maybe the penalty is karma. Lucic and Materazzi's red cards were debateable. Many debateable penalties have been given, while some clear handballs have not. Graham Poll and the 3 yellow cards. The Portugal Vs Netherlands fiasco. It's like they are trying to outdo eachother for worst referee ever. There have been more cards given out this WC than any other, and there are still 10 games to be played. It really is ridiculous.

Kyosuke Kagami · Post by **Kyosuke Kagami** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 05:54

Hey, as far as I can tell, Germany 2k6 is better than Japan-Korea 2k2

denieru · Post by **denieru** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 09:14

hell yea, still way better than japan 2k2...

GS: that send off was done because the the player had clearly gone thru him, is was a bit shocking, but only considering how the ref was all over australia.

Besides that Italy, despite having obviously more talent than australia, just played exactly like australia, both hoping for a long pass to go thru, is that playing better? Italy's sin is to defend too much.

Anyway, once a player gets a red card, the field opens up... doesnt matter which side, as yes we saw Italy still attacking... but again, doing so much better going thru the field and making things happen, but guess what, it was too late for that, and Italy got tired, simple as that.

And what did australia do? They sure as hell tried they ass to score, unlike Ecuador vs england, even after the goal, Ecuador just took it, and never really went for it... Australia was all over the Italy and had the ball most of the time... even the ref was out running Italy when they "counterattacked", the narrators even made fun of that.

Italy had their 3 substitutions by minute 25 of the 2nd half, nothing shocking since they were running so much more. australia had only 1 sub at that time.

Everything was on Australia's side, they just had to run them till they drop... Italy would eventually screw up, they would not survive another 30 minutes of extra time.

One could say, "hey, the Italian shot for a penalty and he got it, great actor" or " the ref was blind" but none of this is true. The ref was 5 meters away and saw the whole thing, he just made a bad call. the defender slided before and didnt hit the ball OR the player... and the italian just decided to not make a small jump and trip over the defender.

Thinking about it, Im more proud of MExico now, I would've hated to win or lose like that.

Moriya · Post by **Moriya** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 15:00

Oh, fuck. Brazil is gonna play with Adriano and Ronaldo together again.

This is amazing. I can't believe the sheer ignorance on Parreira's part. I can't believe he's the only one who thinks Brazil can play well with that team, even after the Croatia and Australia fiascos. And this time, Robinho's not even there to actually make the team decent in the second half.

Everyone, get ready to see another lackluster performance by Brazil. That team simply CANNOT play with Adriano and Ronaldo. Ronaldinho is not made to play in the midfield; he must have total freedom, playing as a forward, as he does in Barcelona. Kaka and him are not the ideal players to make the ball reach Ronaldo and Adriano. And those two stay together in the same part of the field, hurting each other's performance, taking away from each other's possibilities. Adriano barely plays when the other forward is Ronaldo, and vice-versa.

That team simply can't put on a decent performance. Those players can't achieve what they're capable of (in theory) playing like that. I really hope I'm wrong about this, but this is gonna be another disappointing match by Brazil. I'm so pissed I'm very close to start rooting for Germany instead.

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 15:30

Eczema wrote:Not to sound bitter, but the refs so far have been the story of the tournament, ruining many games. The goal that Kewell scored against Croatia was offside, I'll admit, so maybe the penalty is karma. Lucic and Materazzi's red cards were debateable. Many debateable penalties have been given, while some clear handballs have not. Graham Poll and the 3 yellow cards. The Portugal Vs Netherlands fiasco. It's like they are trying to outdo eachother for worst referee ever. There have been more cards given out this WC than any other, and there are still 10 games to be played. It really is ridiculous.

Yeah, the refs have been shocking. I can't even remember a good one in this WC, so I'm baffeld as to who's gonna take the final. Probably Michel from Slovakia, but it's pretty bad when you can't think of more than one candidate. I thought the Mexican ref in the Swi-Ukr match was good, until I realised that not only was he not giving out yellow cards, but he wasn't giving out fouls at all!

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 15:41

denieru wrote:hell yea, still way better than japan 2k2...

GS: that send off was done because the the player had clearly gone thru him, is was a bit shocking, but only considering how the ref was all over australia.

Besides that Italy, despite having obviously more talent than australia, just played exactly like australia, both hoping for a long pass to go thru, is that playing better? Italy's sin is to defend too much.

Anyway, once a player gets a red card, the field opens up... doesnt matter which side, as yes we saw Italy still attacking... but again, doing so much better going thru the field and making things happen, but guess what, it was too late for that, and Italy got tired, simple as that.

And what did australia do? They sure as hell tried they ass to score, unlike Ecuador vs england, even after the goal, Ecuador just took it, and never really went for it... Australia was all over the Italy and had the ball most of the time... even the ref was out running Italy when they "counterattacked", the narrators even made fun of that.

Italy had their 3 substitutions by minute 25 of the 2nd half, nothing shocking since they were running so much more. australia had only 1 sub at that time.

Everything was on Australia's side, they just had to run them till they drop... Italy would eventually screw up, they would not survive another 30 minutes of extra time.

One could say, "hey, the Italian shot for a penalty and he got it, great actor" or " the ref was blind" but none of this is true. The ref was 5 meters away and saw the whole thing, he just made a bad call. the defender slided before and didnt hit the ball OR the player... and the italian just decided to not make a small jump and trip over the defender.

Thinking about it, Im more proud of MExico now, I would've hated to win or lose like that.

When a player has an opponent running beside him he is NOT clear through. A sending off just changes a game so completely that a ref should be absolutely sure that it's the right decision before he does it. Sadly, that no longer seems the case any more and refs are seemingly all too happy to cock up good games, as yesterday's was before the sending off.

Sure, Australia had a lot of possession, but had absolutely nothing to show for it. Didn't create many chances and lacked imagination. Italy were superb in defense, which is hardly surprising, but it was the sending off that forced them to put up the barricades.

Still don't see why Australia didn't make their subs earlier. If Hiddink was waiting for extra time then I've overestimated his coaching genius. When a guy's sent off with 40 mins of regulation to go, you have to go for it, right then! If you wait till extra time you've only got 30 mins to try to win. I think Hiddink was dreaming of 2002 and an An Jung Hwan moment.

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 15:47

Moriya wrote:I really hope I'm wrong about this, but this is gonna be another disappointing match by Brazil.

More than disappointing - I think they're gonna lose. I've got a bet on Ghana to win this. Especially seeing as Cafu and Roberto Carlos are also back in the side.

Watch Ronaldo's 'movement' in this match. It consists of jogging back and forth in a vertical line just to stay onside. He doesn't even try to get away from defenders. In fact, he stays right next to one almost all the time. Makes me laugh when commentators said he's 'back' after the last game.

I'm so pissed I'm very close to start rooting for Germany instead.

Whoa whoa WHOA. That's just crazy talk, man. Snap out of it! Supporting Germany = SIN. Don't go over to the dark side. Resist!

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 16:33

nice triple post GS.

And Ronaldo scored a pretty good goal.

7d3j · Post by **7d3j** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 16:46

No! It's 2-0!!

C'mon Ghana!

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 17:59

aw fuck i hate football sometimes

Sheba · Post by **Sheba** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 18:06

Second goal was bullshit.