Quote:
Originally Posted by Raptor
Looking forward to todays games, should be a party  + your other comments |
in footballing terms, this has been an amazing tournament, if you'll excuse my biased hyperbole; poland didn't disgrace themselves quite as badly as they have done in the past decade, and england still lack any element of disgrace themselves, and with 2 quarter finals, 2 semis and the final to go there STILL hasn't been a 0-0 draw. come on! goals throughout!
as for estonia not making it, perhaps you're right, but the experience could still help. they say that poland isn't really a football country either, and this could explain a lot of things - such as why huge nations like the USA, india, china, even russia really have done nothing in football, comparatively, while countries as small as the czech republic, hungary, the netherlands, uruguay etc. have such hugely impressive footballing histories, cultures and traditions themselves. i don't know if it's such a good thing missing out - then again you may be right, latvia went to euro 2004, but haven't done anything since then.
and referees - really, the less said about them, the better. :/
i'm actually surprised howard webb's in poland and hasn't been assassinated yet, after the wildly hyperbolic reaction to him awarding austria a last minute penalty against us in the last euro. hopefully he doesn't get any trouble from idiots, even though he is an undoubtedly detestable referee.
and yeah, the blaszczykowski goal against russia ended up being one of the few highlights of the tournament for poland; disappointing overall. and russia are surprising in their underachievement after the performances they put in to reach the semi final of the last euro; it definitely seemed like they just wanted to get on with the quarter final from what i saw of their match with greece; greece took advantage, punished a mistake with an opportunistic run into the box and a goal, and then held out for the win and progress. amazing
and i was disgusted by both russian and polish idiots, hooligans and nutters fighting on the streets; it was a terrible misjudgement to allow a march for national russia day - it's just downright provocative to hold a march in the capital city of a nation who has such a long-standing grudge with your country, i mean come on. it doesn't excuse the thugs who attacked them, but what on earth did they expect holding that march?
and england? well, cautious optimism and a distinct LACK of hyperbole from our media, yes, it's all rather perplexing
difficult to believe really. we topped our group, after sweden beat a lacklustre france and we held out against the co-hosts ukraine - that devich strike and terry's clearance off the line shouldn't have happened because milevski who put devich through was offside when the ball was played long to him. but since the linesmen and referee didn't see that, the ball DID cross the line.
here's the thing - if goal-line technology had been introduced and the goal was given, then EVERYONE would be whinging about the offside that was missed in the build-up. i just think that with technology in football, you should either implement systems to deal with EVERY situation, or none at all. it's not fair to just introduce additional technological support for one specific situation in the game.
and yes, whether the ball crosses the line or not is the most important situation in the game. however, offsides, fouls/dives, whether the ball goes out for a corner or a throw in or not - these are all things that count in the build up to goals, and can define whether a move that would lead to a goal is valid or not - it all counts, it's all significant. add video and technology to identify the correct decisions in every situation, or rely on the human element for all situations as we have done for so long. that's my take on it.
it's always better with rooney man
he may be a chav, but he's by some distance the most naturally gifted player in england's team right now.
may the party continue! no trouble since russia poland from what i've seen, although UEFA did fine niklas bendtner 100k for advertise paddy power on his boxers, but only 60k to the croatian FA for racist banners some of their fans displayed at matches... wait, what??
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anceh
How many of Messi's goals were assists from Xavi or Iniesta?
Why am I disappointed with Hazard joining Chelsea? I dislike Chelsea very much.
I don't really cheer for any Country in the Championship. I dont like the dutch cunts tho. Thats for sure.
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i assume most of messi's goals were from assists from those 2
and a fair amount of penalties too. but he still had to put them all in, and some of his goals were jaw-dropping - the various chips, the free kick which won that match against atletico i think - some of ronaldo's goals were breathtaking too, don't get me wrong
2 of his goals against APOEL stuck in my mind.
and why dislike chelsea? we're a friendly family club
he might make us more likeable, you never know. marin's joined too and he's another skill-based player.
and you must be delighted at the dutch demise
i was surprised that they turned out to be the big team that flopped in this one, i have to say, but they were prima donnas from start to finish, and even though they should have scored double figures against the danes, helped produce one of the most open, entertaining matches of the tournament against portugal with their change of system and scored 2 lovely goals by VP and VDV, they were a hugely temperamental, disappointing, embarrassing team. i shouldn't even use the word team.
so, portugal will play spain or france - plenty of history there either way - in the semi final, while germany shall face either england or italy - again, plenty of history there whichever team faces the germans. 4 previous winners, including the holders, still in it, with portugal and england looking to win their first euro. roll on france vs. spain!!
p.s. germany vs. greece was much more fun then i expected it to be; great goals from the germans, resilience shining through incompetence from the greeks, 6 goals and a throroughly entertaining match.