Euro 2012 !

[pino]

3 weeks left before the kick-off so it's about time to start this :D



Group A

Czech Rep
Greece
Poland
Russia

Group B

Denmark
Germany
Netherlands
Portugal

Group C

Croatia
Italy
Rep of Ireland
Spain

Group D

England
France
Sweden
Ukraine

More here :

BBC Sport - Euro 2012 - Groups and Matches (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/european-championship/2012/groups-matches)

[Mark]

Just 3 weeks away? Normally there would be a massive build up by now. But if it's not Olympics it's ignored here.

[pino]

But if it's not Olympics it's ignored here.

That's because England has a crap squad :p :

[Lousada]

It'll be between Germany and Spain again. My guess is Germany.

[pino]

Btw here's Italy provisional squad :

ITALY SQUAD
•Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), De Sanctis (Napoli), Sirigu (Paris St. Germain), Viviano (Palermo).

•Defenders: D Abate (Milan), Astori (Cagliari), Balzaretti (Palermo), Barzagli (Juventus) Bocchetti (Rubin Kazan), Bonucci (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Criscito (Zenit St Petersburg), Maggio (Napoli), Ogbonna (Torino), Ranocchia (Inter);

•Midfielders: Cigarini (Atalanta), De Rossi (Roma), Diamanti (Bologna), Giaccherini (Juventus), Marchisio (Juventus), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Thiago Motta (Paris St. Germain), Nocerino (Milan), Pirlo (Juventus),Schelotto (Atalanta), Verratti (Pescara);

•Strikers: Balotelli (Manchester City), Borini (Roma), Cassano (Milan), Destro (Siena), Di Natale (Udinese), Giovinco (Parma)

[pino]

Spain's provisional :

Goalkeepers

Casillas Reina De Gea

Defenders

Iraola Sergio Ramos Arbeloa Albiol Monreal Dominguez Jordi Alba

Midfielders

Alonso Juanfran Jesus Navas Santi Cazorla Silva Javi Garcia Benat

Forwards

Soldado Negredo Adrian Isco

[Lousada]

Here is the Dutch provisional squad. The defense is awful.

Keepers
Maarten Stekelenburg (AS Roma), Tim Krul (Newcastle United) en Michel Vorm (Swansea City).

Defense:
Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax), John Heitinga (Everton), Joris Mathijsen (Malaga), Jetro Willems (PSV), Khalid Boulahrouz (VfB Stuttgart), Wilfred Bouma (PSV) en Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord).

Midfield:
Mark van Bommel (AC Milan), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur), Wesley Sneijder (Internazionale), Kevin Strootman (PSV), Vurnon Anita (Ajax), Ibrahim Afellay (FC Barcelona), Siem de Jong (Ajax), Stijn Schaars (Sporting Portugal) en Adam Maher (AZ).

Strikers:
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Dirk Kuijt (Liverpool), Arjen Robben (Bayern München), Luuk de Jong (FC Twente), Jeremain Lens (PSV) en Luciano Narsingh (sc Heerenveen).

[Lousada]

Spain's provisional :


No barcelona or bilbao players??

[pino]

England's :



Goalkeepers :Robert Green, Joe Hart, John Ruddy

Defenders :Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, Joleon Lescott, John Terry

Midfields :Gareth Barry, Stewart Downing, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Scott Parker, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott , Ashley Young

Forwards : Andy Carroll, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Welbeck, Jermain Defoe

[pino]

It'll be between Germany and Spain again. My guess is Germany.

Totally agree but we might get a surprise by either Netherlands, France or...Italy :p :

[Brown, Jon Brow]

England's starting team (Rooney suspended)


Joe Hart

Phil Jones, Joleon Lescott, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole

Gerrard (C), Parker, Barry

Walcott, Welbeck, Young


Utter garbage!

[odykas]

Greece provisional :mark:

Gooalkeepers: Halkias, Sifakis, Tzorvas

Defenders: Torosidis, A. Papadopoulos, K. Papadopoulos, Malezas, Holebas, Tzavellas, Papastathopoulos

Midfielders: Tziolis, Makos, Maniatis, Katsouranis, Karagounis, Fotakis, Fortounis, Kone, Ninis, Fetfatzidis

Forwards: Samaras, Salpigidis, Gekas, Liberopoulos, Mitroglou

[Rollo]

Has Matt Prior been named as keeper for the England squad yet? Oh... he plays cricket. I bet he's still better than Green.

[Malbec]

or...Italy :p :

Luckily Slovakia didn't qualify so you might be right ;)

[Storm]

I would like Spain (or Greece) to win - sorry pino but I don't see Italy doing it :\
Have a feeling that Germany might do what they have been threatening for last few years - win a cup. tough group though.

[pino]

Luckily Slovakia didn't qualify so you might be right ;)

Miracles happens only once in our life dear friend ;)

[pino]

I would like Spain (or Greece) to win - sorry pino but I don't see Italy doing it :\
Have a feeling that Germany might do what they have been threatening for last few years - win a cup. tough group though.

Not surprised about your wishes :eek: ;) and agree about Germany, but our coach Prandelli, loves Barca playing-style and he's trying to bring it to our squad. That's why he brought players like Cassano, Di Natale, Giovinco etc...Won't be easy to play like Barca but at least he's trying :up:

[gadjo_dilo]

I'm fed up with the same powerful favorites.

I want an outsider to win.

[pino]

I'm fed up with the same powerful favorites.

I want an outsider to win.

Italy is an outsider :p : ;)

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Who voted for England to win? It's basically the same squad that got humiliated by Germany at the World Cup. I can see England coming bottom of their group without scoring a goal.

I can't see Spain winning again so I voted for Germany.

[EightGear]

We need a trophy sooooo badly. The country would explode... But I have a feeling we won't even make it past the group stage...

[pino]

We need a trophy sooooo badly. The country would explode... But I have a feeling we won't even make it past the group stage...

The will prove you wrong as I am sure they will reach at least the semifinal ;)

[EightGear]

We will see. Portugal is always difficult, Denmark should be fine and Germany.... Well, Germany-Netherlands always is war. :D

[odykas]

Not surprised about your wishes :eek: ;) and agree about Germany, but our coach Prandelli, loves Barca playing-style and he's trying to bring it to our squad. That's why he brought players like Cassano, Di Natale, Giovinco etc...Won't be easy to play like Barca but at least he's trying :up:

Prandelli's secret plan revealed :p :

http://www.ortwin-oberhauser.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/the_italian_plan.jpg

[A FONDO]

Would be nice if one or two "underrated" countries make surprise. Italy, France and England are in very poor form and give good oportunity for Croatia and maybe Ireland for reaching semi-final. About group "A", even if Czechia or Greece get out of the group they have to meet the best two teams from the monster B group.

[D-Type]

I don't know why, but the European Championship often goes to an outsider - unlike the World Cup which always goes to one of the three most fancied teams. It wouldn't surprise me if this one went to Portugal, Poland, Sweden or some other team like that. (But I didn't vote for an outsider)

[Lousada]

What does everybody see in Portugal? They played awful in the qualifiers. They are completely focused on Ronaldo but Ronaldo always chokes in the big games. I think they are the worst team of the group.
If I had to pick an outsider (France and Italy aren't outsiders), I'd go for Denmark. They've got a well balanced, disciplined, fit team. They've got a tough group, but I think they are underestimated.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

One thing that might favour England is that nobody expects much from them this time. Perhaps they will play with the freedom they have not shown since Euro 2004.

[pino]

David Villa out of Spanish quad !



Villa admits defeat in race for EURO ? UEFA.com (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=1800918.html)

[gadjo_dilo]

I've made up my mind. I'll support Poland, the only team without a reason to get on my nerves.

[F1boat]

I have a gut feeling about France...

[pino]

Spain's final squad :

Keepers : Casillas, Valdés y Reina.

Defenders : Arbeloa, Juanfran, Ramos, Piqué, Albiol, Javi Martínez y Jordi Alba.

Midfields : Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta, Cazorla, Silva, Mata, Cesc, Pedro y Nava

Forwards : Llorente, Torres y Negredo.


In a few hours I will post Italy's ;)

[pino]

I've made up my mind. I'll support Poland, the only team without a reason to get on my nerves.

Poland ? :s :p :

[donKey jote]

In a few hours I will post Italy's ;)

are you waiting for the outcome of the investigations? :devil: :p :andrea:

[pino]

Jee... Donkey you are updated on everything :eek: :(

[Storm]

its on the main page of BBC site :p :

[pino]

Stupid Italians :(

[gadjo_dilo]

Poland ? :s :p :

What? I said I'll support an outsider. I was a fan of their golden team ( with Lato, Boniek, Szarmach and Smolarek).

[donKey jote]

its on the main page of BBC site :p :

and also on El País and Der Spiegel :p

[Garry Walker]

Germany for the title!

[odykas]

are you waiting for the outcome of the investigations? :devil: :p :andrea:

Let it B :p :

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry injured and Scott Parker not fully fit leaves England with a dilema at center midfield. Why Michael Carrick wasn't in the squad I'll never know.

[MrJan]

Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry injured and Scott Parker not fully fit leaves England with a dilema at center midfield. Why Michael Carrick wasn't in the squad I'll never know.

I wonder if it was because he's actually a bit rubbish...although I'd rather take 22 men than include Stewart Downing in the squad.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I wonder if it was because he's actually a bit rubbish...although I'd rather take 22 men than include Stewart Downing in the squad.

Rubbish? Yet the most successful manager in English football picks him every week and he has far better possession stats than Parker or Barry.

I'm having a nightmare in which Englands midfield is: Walcott, Henderson, Jones, Downing. :s

[pino]

Italy- Russia 0-3 :eek: friendly match or not that was a crappy scary performance by the azzurri :angryfire :

[Lousada]

Russia surprise of the tournament? They have the easiest group.

[donKey jote]

Italy- Russia 0-3 friendly match or not that was a crappy scary performance by the azzurri

maybe it was fixed :eek: :erm: :arrows: :andrea: :p

[pino]

maybe it was fixed :eek: :arrows: :andrea: :p

Noway...Italy always play crap in friendly match... :erm:

[Storm]

and when a scandal breaks before a tournament, they go on to win it? :p : 2006

[pino]

and when a scandal breaks before a tournament, they go on to win it? :p : 2006

Not this time mate...Spain's still too strong for us :s btw I think France will be the biggest surprise ;)

[gadjo_dilo]

Portugal - Turkey 1-3

[pino]

Results so far :

Germany (4432) 25%

Spain (3870) 22%

Netherlands (2738) 16%

England (2195) 13%

France (1078) 6%

Italy (913) 5%

Portugal (795) 5%

Other (1361)


Not surprise...except for England's votes :eek: ;)

[Brown, Jon Brow]

To put England ahead of Italy, France, Portugal......Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Croatia.........Ireland, Ukraine, Greece is just stupid. England won't even get out of their group. England won't even string more than 6 passes on a row together.

[pino]

Wow John...is England that bad ? :eek: btw the poll is taken from Eurosport UK, thats says all :p :

[Rollo]

Not surprise...except for England's votes :eek: ;)

What's up with that? Either they're England fans trying to bugger up the results, or they honestly have no idea.
I support England all the way... to the quarter-finals, where they'll be knocked out because they'll play like a bunch or overpaid prima-donnas, the Sun will say "We Was Robbed", and the Daily Mail will blame it all on immigrants.

Pffft. England winning a tournament... Tim Henman will win one first.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Wow John...is England that bad ? :eek: btw the poll is taken from Eurosport UK, thats says all :p :

We have a winger who went the whole season without scoring and without making an assist. That doesn't fill me with confidence.

[pino]

Poll according gazzetta.it

Germany 34,6%

Italy 21,5%

Spain 19,5%

Netherlands 12%

England 2,9%

Sweden 2,1%

France 1,8%

:crazy:

[odykas]

and when a scandal breaks before a tournament, they go on to win it? :p : 2006

Natural doping? :p :

[Mark]

This has to be one of the lowest key build ups to a major championship. Normally you'd be hearing nothing but football, football, football from a few months out. But we've instead had the Olympics, Royal Jubilee etc with the Euros barely getting a mention.

It might also have something to do with the England team having zero expectations of doing anything following their World Cup embarrassment.

[odykas]

Voted for Italy.
Lets see :p :

[pino]

Same here :p :

[A FONDO]

to reach the quarterfinals?

[pino]

To win the title :p :

[steveaki13]

I think its a three horse race, in many ways.

I mean another team could win it, but the three favourites should be quite a bit better than the rest.

So a Greece v England final is almost garanteed. :s mokin:

No seriously: I think Spain are still the best team by a tiny margin, but I wonder about there hunger. I mean to win a 3rd major tournament would be amazing, so they may not quite turn up as pumped as before.

Germany is the another true powerhouse. They were decent in 2010 and have improved alot and so could be favourites given what I said about Spain above.

The other team with a good chance are The Netherlands they have quality and showed last time they can get to a final. So if Spain aren't at their peak and Germany stutter then Netherlands could win.


Other that that can't see many others having a chance. Maybe an outside shout for France who are improving and shouldn't have any revolts this time.

[donKey jote]

Voted for Italy.
Lets see :p :

you donkey! :arrows:

CdGo2FFxhSU

:p

[Storm]

No seriously: I think Spain are still the best team by a tiny margin, but I wonder about there hunger. I mean to win a 3rd major tournament would be amazing, so they may not quite turn up as pumped as before.


sound logic, but might be different in reality..All positions in the spanish team except for the strikers is either a Barca/Real player, who never have any trouble with hunger with their clubs. I think they have the same mentality with their national team and hence their success of the last 4 years.

[odykas]

Kickoff today!

Poland vs Greece @ 18:00 CST

Vamos Grecia :hot:

[pino]

Forza Grecia ! :s : :p :

[gadjo_dilo]

Booo!!! Go Poland!!!!! :laugh:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

sound logic, but might be different in reality..All positions in the spanish team except for the strikers is either a Barca/Real player, who never have any trouble with hunger with their clubs. I think they have the same mentality with their national team and hence their success of the last 4 years.


Despite Real/Barca not having a top Spanish striker available, Fernando Llorente has been one of the top forwards in Europe this season. But one does wonder how much David Villa will be missed.

[pino]

10 min to kick-off, any predictions ? I say boring match and 0-0...hopefully they will prove me wrong :p :

[pino]

Great match so far and Poland is leading 1-0...I was wrong :p :

[pino]

Stupid Spanish referee :eek: :down:

[donKey jote]

Stupid Spanish referee :eek: :down:





45+1'
http://estaticos02.marca.com/iconos/v1.x/v1.0/cronica/jugadaPolemica.gif
¡Posible mano de Perquis en el área polaca! Los griegos se comen a Velasco Carballo que lo soluciona con una amarilla a Holebas.



44'


Velasco Carballo es un gran árbitro pero se ha equivocado gravísivamente. Para mí no hay ni falta porque Murawski se va cayendo antes de que le toque el central griego. Y la primera amarilla también se la pudo ahorrar. Una lástima que el partido se condicione así por un error del árbitro.



44'
http://estaticos03.marca.com/iconos/v1.x/v1.0/cronica/tarjetaRoja.gif
La que acaba de liar Velasco Carballo. Segunda amarilla a Papastathopoulos. Madre mía... imposible echar a un futbolista por estas dos acciones.



:down:

[A FONDO]

The referee is good, the greeks cant do anything on the pitch and only complain for fouls

[MrJan]

Wonder if anyone will genuinely say that the ref got both of those decisions right? To my mind neither of them were even certain fouls, the first was an arm on the shoulder like we see 20+ times a game and the second one the Polish guy slipped (albeit helped after that by an arm on his back). Terrible decisions and has probably ruined what was becoming quite a good game as Greece started pushing forward.

Other than that Poland have looked good, some good passing around and good movement.

[pino]

How can you say the referee is good, that red card was a big joke :down:

[Brother John]

Stupid Spanish referee :eek: :down:

I think he's right, not stupid!!!http://www.motorsportforums.com/images/icons/icon14.png Another sport that´s just about money.

[pino]

1-1 :eek:

[A FONDO]

How can you say the referee is good, that red card was a big joke :down:

The greek pushed the polish downwards with hands, he was absolutely not playing for the ball and he was the last man before the goalkeeper. Some referees cant give direct red card for this.

About the penalty, every conscious human being moves his hand when falling sideways.

[pino]

Push? You call that a push ? :s you need to watch that again my friend ;)

[pino]

Stupid keeper :p :

[pino]

What a match !!!

[MrJan]

The greek pushed the polish downwards with hands, he was absolutely not playing for the ball and he was the last man before the goalkeeper. Some referees cant give direct red card for this.

About the penalty, every conscious human being moves his hand when falling sideways.

Are you watching the same game as me? The Polish guy slipped, the Greek guy turned and, in failing over, put an arm on the back of the player (who was already falling). It's a foul, it's not a yellow car.

As for handball, it has to be intentional and very few are (even those that are given), Greece should certianly not have got a penalty.

[EightGear]

Poland threw it away, they had a 1-0 advantage with 11 vs. 10.

[Garry Walker]

How on earth did Poles give away a certain victory like that?

Also nice to hear the soviet union anthem played again, next up Horst Wessel Lied perhaps (and yes, I know it has been the anthem of Russia since about 2000, but it is as disgusting as ever).

[Garry Walker]

If this finishes 3:1 I will be VERY angry. Need just one more goal, from whoever. :mad:

[pino]

If this finishes 3:1 I will be VERY angry. Need just one more goal, from whoever. :mad:

4-1 :D

[odykas]

Great game by Greece in the 2nd half with 10 men http://users.softlab.ece.ntua.gr/%7Esiochos/smilies/bowdown.gif

The ref must check his glasses :hmph: :down: :angryfire

[Garry Walker]

4-1 :D

I actually yelled a loud YES when that happened (which incidentally was about 20 seconds after I had posted that post) :D


I needed to avoid 3:1 score because of a prediction competition we have with some friends, quite a nice sum of money involved in it as well and some guys had 3:1 as the score (I had 2:0)

[EightGear]

Tension is starting to increase here..... :D

[pino]

Go Denmark !!! :D

[donKey jote]

Go Denmark, Holland and Portugal !!! :D

[pino]

Goal!!!!!

[donKey jote]

Goal Goal !!!!

[pino]

Netherlands plays better but can't score so far...

[donKey jote]

Go Catenaccio !!! :p

[odykas]

Very nice goal but where was the defence? ;)

[pino]

Happy for Denmark but Netherlands deserves more

[pino]

Time to switch to f1 now ;)

[odykas]

Me watching both :p :

[donKey jote]

meat ooh :p

[pino]

Mee tuu :p :

[EightGear]

Well, guess I was right saying we won't get trough our group.

[pino]

Well done Denmark :up:

[pino]

Well, guess I was right saying we won't get trough our group.

Still 2 matches for them to play and anything can happen ;)

[EightGear]

Yes but our defense is too weak. Portugal and especially Germany can score goals easier than Denmark. It will be very, very difficult.

[pino]

Germany vs Portugal now... Guess what ? Go Germany !!! :eek:

[odykas]

Go Portugal!

Ahh that vampire Mou is there :vader:

[pino]

Go Portugal!

Ahh that vampire Mou is there :vader:

No thanks I will never support players like Pepe and arrogant Ronaldo...

[odykas]

You've got a point :)

Go Germany :p :

[Malbec]

To put England ahead of Italy, France, Portugal......Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Croatia.........Ireland, Ukraine, Greece is just stupid. England won't even get out of their group. England won't even string more than 6 passes on a row together.

Cheer up, Hodgson specialises in getting the most out of mediocre teams and inspiring them to punch above their weight. He's in his element and England don't have the usual unbelievably high expectations they've had to enter previous tournaments with, the pressure is off. England doesn't expect. They might surprise...

[MrJan]

No thanks I will never support players like Pepe and arrogant Ronaldo...

Such a difficult game for me. Obviously as an Englishman I have a nurtured dislike of the German football team...but Portugal have Ronaldo and Nani, both of whom look like objectionable *******s. On balance I'll side with Portugal, as long as Ronaldo has a terrible game :D

[odykas]

The Portuguese coach must be a huge fan of Mou. He just copied his defensive tactics :crazy:

[pino]

Totally agree ody, I had expected a bit more from them...considering their quality strikers.

[pino]

And now the most exciting match of 1st round...Spain vs Italy :bounce: let's hope we will see a nice open game with plenty of goals ;)

Forza Italia ! :D

[Brown, Jon Brow]

And now the most exciting match of 1st round...Spain vs Italy :bounce: let's hope we will see a nice open game with plenty of goals ;)

Forza Italia ! :D

I didn't know that Italians were aware of open football? :p

[pino]

I didn't know that Italians were aware of open football? :p

Neither...but I still hope for :p :

Italy will play as follow :

Italia (3-5-2): Buffon; Bonucci, De Rossi, Chiellini; Maggio, Marchisio, Pirlo, Motta, Giaccherini; Balotelli, Cassano.

[race aficionado]

Happy for Denmark but Netherlands deserves more

The Robben Curse.

[pino]

Torres out...Cesc in, no strikers for Spain ? :eek:

[donKey jote]

The Robben Curse.

Robben? I thought he played for Bayern :erm: :arrows:

[odykas]

Torres out...Cesc in, no strikers for Spain ? :eek:

The Mou curse :laugh:

[donKey jote]

Spain is going to get slaughtered :s

[donKey jote]

Juve vs Barca without Messi :uhoh:

[donKey jote]

San Iker :eek:

[odykas]

Lucky Ilker ;)

[pino]

San Iker :eek:

Yes San Iker :mad:

[donKey jote]

San Buffon :mad: :p

[donKey jote]

Iniestaaa :mad:

[donKey jote]

Ramos :eek: Balotelli :D

[pino]

Stupid Balo :s

[donKey jote]

probably couldn't believe it :p

[odykas]

Balotelli out
Di Natale in

Common sense :)

[pino]

Goaaaaal

[donKey jote]

common sense indeed :mad: :s

[race aficionado]

Oh dang!!!!


Sent from my iPhone

[odykas]

Balotelli out
Di Natale in

Common sense :)

I told you ;)

[race aficionado]

Forza España!!!!


Sent from my iPhone

[donKey jote]

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool :D :D

[pino]

Forza España!!!!


Sent from my iPhone

I thought you were from Colombia :s :p :

[donKey jote]

nice Conti ads ;) :bandit:

[donKey jote]

Jordi Alba put yer glasses on :p

[donKey jote]

Torres !! :crazy: :mad:

[donKey jote]

phew :eek:

[race aficionado]

Forza Pino!!!!!! :)


Sent from my iPhone

[donKey jote]

Torres !!! :crazy: :mad:

[pino]

Forza Pino!!!!!! :)


Sent from my iPhone

Lol race ;)

[odykas]

There's a huge gap in Italian defence :crazy:

[pino]

Torres I love you :p :

[donKey jote]

^ :laugh:

[odykas]

I would be surprised if Torres scored :p

[pino]

Noooooo

[donKey jote]

San Iker :eek:

[race aficionado]

I'm off to see my son play his soccer game with his traveling team. I'm recording the game but will follow your knowledgable ;) comments.


Sent from my iPhone

[pino]

Have fun race :)

[donKey jote]

Race you'll miss the race ! :(

[donKey jote]

uuuyyyyyy !

[donKey jote]

good game :)

either could have clinched it. :bandit:

Specially Torres :p

[pino]

Totally agree donkey ;)

[odykas]

Very good match and fair result :)

[donKey jote]

compared to the crapfest the other two are treating us to :dozey:

[Garry Walker]

How overrated is Torres? It seems that 90% of the superb chances he gets, he messes up.

Also good that Balotelli didn't score when he had the chance - I pretty much always root for the team that is playing against a team that has Balotelli playing for them. Italy should send him home, my like for them would increase about 150 times.

[gloomyDAY]

I saw a documentary about hooligans in Ukraine and Poland. Apparently, if you're not white, then you're going to have a bad time. I think some of it was BS and was showing the most violent stadiums to spice up the story.

So, being a man of color, would I have anything to worry about if I attended a game for Euro 2012? Just curious. Don't mean to be a troll, but I'm an American and have 0 idea as to what it's like to be in a full soccer stadium.

[Storm]

How overrated is Torres? It seems that 90% of the superb chances he gets, he messes up.



He actually used to be quite good hence the hype, last night 1-on-1 with Buffon was a carbon copy (except for the mess-up) of him vs Lehmann in Euro 08 final.

The hype about Balotelli is unbelievable..everybody says he is as good as Messi or what not without seeing him deliver the goods.
Oh and btw I know everyone is hooked on the Euros (like me) but did anyone see Messi's hat-trick vs Brasil yesterday/day before?!! If not, youtooob it guys!!!

I wish he would play like that in a world cup and shut up peoples faces for once :p :

[odykas]

France vs England @ 18:00 CST

Lets get in on ;)

[gadjo_dilo]

On typical romanian note, half of the matches could be seen only on a channel that belongs to a certain cable company. I'm afraid that I'll miss France vs England.

[pino]

France vs England @ 18:00 CST

Lets get in on ;)

My prediction : 1-1

[Big Ben]

On typical romanian note, half of the matches could be seen only on a channel that belongs to a certain cable company. I'm afraid that I'll miss France vs England.

If you brought it up I shall add some details about this...the national television (state owned of course) bought the rights for the euro 2012 with 9 millions something and then sold 50% of the matches to this private owned cable company for 1.5 millions... they say... funny business

[Brown, Jon Brow]

My prediction. France 3-0 England

How has it happened that Englands first choice striker is between Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll? :s

[pino]

My prediction. France 3-0 England

How has it happened that Englands first choice striker is between Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll? :s

Ask Roy :p :

[Brown, Jon Brow]

France might be one of the best teams to watch at the Euro's. England will be one of the most dull.

[odykas]

I hope Roy manages put an effective team together, unlike Fabio C in the past.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

At least he hasn't selected Heskey, unlike Capello did.

[pino]

What a chance for England :eek:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

We might not get many chances like that. :(

[pino]

Goalll

[odykas]

1 - 0 for England!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Well this is interesting now :)

Classic English goal.

[odykas]

Good goal for France... but where was the Keeper? :crazy:

[pino]

Crappy Hart :s

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Ever since England scored they have played awful.

[Garry Walker]

If this score changes there is a good chance something will be thrown out of the window of my house. 1:1 must stay!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Why won't the ref give England a free kick?

[pino]

If this score changes there is a good chance something will be thrown out of the window of my house. 1:1 must stay!

Don't you want England to win ?

[Garry Walker]

Don't you want England to win ?

Why would I want england to win? I am not english and Rooney is not exactly a likeable character (I know he is not playing today).

In my predicition league I predicted 1:1, so many points for me if it ends 1:1.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Not a good climate for the English style. We could have done with Carrick now.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

The french look more likely to score the winner.

[race aficionado]

How many games will Rooney miss?


Sent from my iPhone

[Garry Walker]

How many games will Rooney miss?


Sent from my iPhone
2 altogether, can play in the last group stage match.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

2. He is back for the last group game.

[race aficionado]

Thanks. :)


Sent from my iPhone

[pino]

I said 1-1 and that's how it will end ;)

[pino]

How many games will Rooney miss?


Sent from my iPhone

Two games

[race aficionado]

And Pino and Garry are the winners !!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Boring. But I'm happy with that result. :)

England looked like a good team in defence, but in attack they really missed the creativity of Rooney.

[Garry Walker]

Awesome result, just awesome.

Now a victory for Sweden over Ukraine and it will be just perfect

[Garry Walker]

What nationality are you Garry, I've always assumed you were English? Not meaning to offend with that assumption btw :)

I am almost offended by the assumption that I might be offended because someone assumes I am english :p It's not like being english is bad.

As for my nationality, I have said it here before I think that I prefer to keep it a secret. Nothing against any one person, but just a certain like for privacy :)

[Big Ben]

I only caught the second half and I was quite surprised to see Welbeck being subsituted with Walcott... wait who? which one played?

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I only caught the second half and I was quite surprised to see Welbeck being subsituted with Walcott... wait who? which one played?

Welbeck is the best striker in England...apparently.

Tbf he did well with what he was given, which wasn't an awful lot. I can see Young and Welbeck linking up well against some of the lesser teams.

[pino]

Boring. But I'm happy with that result. :)

England looked like a good team in defence, but in attack they really missed the creativity of Rooney.

What you expect ? Roy has been Inter Milan coach twice and he loves italian style ;)

[odykas]

Ibra scores :p

[odykas]

Shevchenko the equalizer :s hock:

[odykas]

Shevchenko beats Ibra: 2-1 :eek:

[pino]

What a great match is this...2nd goal for Ukraine and Shevchenko :eek:

[odykas]

I think Sweden deserved a second goal in the end but that's football.

It's not going to be easy for France and England ;)

[cali]

Glad for Sheva and Ukraine's performance.

[steveaki13]

Happy with the point against France, it wasn't pretty but its a point like Italy, Spain, Poland and Greece got.

Now to stay solid against Sweden and just try to create a bit more. Sweden wont be quite as dominant in possesion terms hopefully, but its going to be tough.

[Storm]

Sheva beating Ibra was the best part! Still alive at 35..I feared for him when he missed a chance in the first half which he would have easily scored in the past.

[odykas]

Greece vs Czech Republic @ 18:00 CST

Go Greece :hot:

[odykas]

Well, we were terrible in the first 30 mins just like the previous match.

See you in 2014 :p :

[pino]

Go Denmark !!!

[pino]

Pepe 1-0 :(

[donKey jote]

Meeessi Meeessi :D

[donKey jote]

Goalll :D :D

[donKey jote]

balls :(

[pino]

Denmark - Portugal 2-3 :(

[donKey jote]

oh well... go holland :D

[janneppi]

No holland. :D
I sort of like the way they play but their final game against Spain in the worlds cup turned too ugly so it's difficult to root for them now.

Shame that Denmark lost.

[EightGear]

You form your opinion of a team based on a match 2 years ago? Get over it, it was a world cup final, Spain didn't play too fair either.


The whole country is looking forward to the game against Germany, it is basically the only thing people talk about here. :D

[Malbec]

You form your opinion of a team based on a match 2 years ago? Get over it, it was a world cup final, Spain didn't play too fair either.

I'm with Janeppi on this, some of the fouls in that WC match were unbelievable. For me its hard to root for a team that thinks a boot in the chest is fair play.

That said I'm looking forward to the match in a few minutes as well, hopefully it will be a humdinger.

[odykas]

Go Holland :p :

[pino]

Great start by both sides...exciting :D

[pino]

Go Holland too :D

[donKey jote]

I'm with Janeppi on this, some of the fouls in that WC match were unbelievable. For me its hard to root for a team that thinks a boot in the chest is fair play.

Hard for me too, but in this game they are playing against Germany... :D

[donKey jote]

oh well, at least a half-Spaniard scored :p

[pino]

Crappy defense :s

[odykas]

I jinxed :(

[donKey jote]

Spaniard 2 - Oranje 0 :D :D

[pino]

Germany just too strong :(

[Big Ben]

Go Holland too :D

home? :p :

[Brown, Jon Brow]

The Dutch have one of the worst defences in the tournament.

[EightGear]

I feel sorry for my eyes. Idiotic defense and Van Marwijk, wel.... Let's just not talk about him....

[odykas]

Where was the defence? :(

[Malbec]

Germany just too strong :(

I like watching the way they play though. After England they're my second favourite.

Can someone explain to me exactly how one climbs pigs?

[pino]

Lucky Germans :mad:

[pino]

Goaaaaal

[Malbec]

Great goal!

[donKey jote]

Özil you clown :eek:

[odykas]

Come on Holland!

[pino]

Huntelar you clown :eek: :p :

[donKey jote]

bunch of donkeys :p

[donKey jote]

You form your opinion of a team based on a match 2 years ago? Get over it, it was a world cup final, Spain didn't play too fair either.
yeaON2fLeno
vs
po5TJSllge0

:p

[donKey jote]

a chance for Holland yet: Robben is substituted ! :p

[donKey jote]

fan the fart ! :eek:

[odykas]

crap :mad:

[donKey jote]

Oh well... go Denmark and Portugal ! :D

[race aficionado]

Donks, don't you live in Germany?



Sent from my iPhone

[donKey jote]

Donks, don't you live in Germany?


yes :andrea:

[Josti]

Netherlands 2nd half system is better, but too late. laughable defence, but nothing new there.

Amazing we still have a chance...

[gadjo_dilo]

I felt asleep on the second half but I'm always happy when Netherlands lose.