I will probably be banned for this but... Footie Thread

**pino** · 25th May 12, 21:28

Good Night then !

**donKey jote** · 25th May 12, 21:30

ref missed a clear penalty from Piqué on Llorente, maybe because Llorente exagerated it a bit too much

**donKey jote** · 25th May 12, 21:30

Originally Posted by pino

Good Night then !

VERY good night so far !

**race aficionado** · 26th May 12, 04:04

The end of an era.

And hopefully the continuation of Barcelona's winning football.

Sent from my iPhone

**donKey jote** · 26th May 12, 11:58

hey Race, did you see Montoya was also playing ?

**pino** · 26th May 12, 12:13

Originally Posted by donKey jote

hey Race, did you see Montoya was also playing ?

Shut up Donkey...and get ready for Euro 2012

**pino** · 26th May 12, 12:32

Maradona's talking about Di Matteo's Chelsea (spanish only) sorry

Maradona ensalza al Chelsea de Di Matteo - MARCA.com

**donKey jote** · 26th May 12, 15:05

Originally Posted by pino

Shut up Donkey...and get ready for Euro 2012

All set for tonight, don't worry... go mandinga !

**race aficionado** · 26th May 12, 15:59

Originally Posted by donKey jote

hey Race, did you see Montoya was also playing ?

Yep, he doesn't look as chubby on a football uniform . . . .

**race aficionado** · 26th May 12, 18:44

On a serious note:
Donks, can you explain to us what is the deal with the whistled and jeered national anthem? Give us ignoramus a short historical lesson here.

That was pretty intense.

**donKey jote** · 26th May 12, 18:51

Euskadi and Catalonia are part of the Spanish State but are in many ways nations in their own right (culturally, linguistically, historically,...). They were particularly oppressed by the Franco dictatorship, and are often spoken of or treated with disdain by the right-wing Spanish/Centralist PP party.
The more nationalist basque or catalan elements will always boo the King or any other symbols of the State, and the Cup Final -being the "Copa del Rey"- is usually attended by the royal family.
But what really made it happen this year was the stoopid Madrid President Aguirre, -from the right-wing Spanish-nationalist ruling party PP- stirring up controversy and provoking before the match, with comments along the lines of "if anybody whistles the anthem, the match should be called off" etc

http://politica.elpais.com/politica/...03_208589.html

**Big Ben** · 26th May 12, 19:08

You've got your answer race. Now is there a right leaning Spanish guy in here to tell us the other side of the story so we could understand where the middle point is and find out the truth.

**donKey jote** · 26th May 12, 19:11

you could always ask Priorat

**pino** · 26th May 12, 19:22

Not in this thread thank you

**donKey jote** · 26th May 12, 19:25

hehe

**race aficionado** · 26th May 12, 21:22

Thanks for the information.

Sent from my iPhone

**Garry Walker** · 28th May 12, 18:50

Originally Posted by Brown, Jon Brow

But upsets like that are why football is exciting. Chelsea being set up to defend and then counter-attack is what made the semi-final so exciting.

Did you see the quarter-final between Barcelona and Leverkusen? Bayer Leverkusen tried to go toe-to-toe with Barca and got destroyed, and I found that game quite boring because the result was never in doubt. The same could be said about last years UCL final between Barcelona and Man Utd.

I didn't see the leverkusen game, but I would love if every team tried to play like Barca and actually played creative wonderful football. Imagine two really defensive teams playing, how interesting would that be?
I actually thought the semi-finals were not that great, with one team being on the defensive all the time and just waiting for an opportunity. That is not proper football.

**Brown, Jon Brow** · 28th May 12, 19:41

Originally Posted by Garry Walker

I didn't see the leverkusen game, but I would love if every team tried to play like Barca and actually played creative wonderful football. Imagine two really defensive teams playing, how interesting would that be?
I actually thought the semi-finals were not that great, with one team being on the defensive all the time and just waiting for an opportunity. That is not proper football.

But I think the way Barca play probably encourages other teams to approach the game in a defensive (yes defensive, not anti-football

) way. In last years Champions League final Manchester United took on Barca by playing a positive 4-4-2 formation yet hardly managed to get out of their own half. United didn't approach the game to defend, they were just forced to defend by Barcelona's dominance.

Excellent view from the new Wolves stand.

**Garry Walker** · 28th May 12, 20:06

Originally Posted by Brown, Jon Brow

But I think the way Barca play probably encourages other teams to approach the game in a defensive (yes defensive, not anti-football

) way. In last years Champions League final Manchester United took on Barca by playing a positive 4-4-2 formation yet hardly managed to get out of their own half. United didn't approach the game to defend, they were just forced to defend by Barcelona's dominance.

Excellent view from the new Wolves stand.

That just proves that Barca is by far the best team in the world.