Sunken mountain Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 it was pretty smooth although i thought torres' goal was one of the best i've seen in a long time. Hey free beers for everybody!!! Repeat with me: ESPA Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 I imagine every Turk in the world is going apeshit right about now. What a second half. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stickman Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Anyone watching Austria - Germany right now? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Anyone watching Austria - Germany right now?Yes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stickman Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 That PK was pretty dirty. I had to keep switching back and forth between this and golf. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 "constant bickering" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Griddles Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Has everyone else noticed how terrible the commentators are? It seems like they all need to take a ref course because they constantly criticize the officials, only to have UEFA come out and say that the officials did it correctly the next day. If only they had a certified ref there to tell them to shut it. Or even on the little things, the commentators seem to have no idea what officials are calling. (Who can guess how I spend my Sunday mornings?) Hopefully Italy can sneak into the next round with a win. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 I imagine every Turk in the world is going apeshit right about now. What a second half.I watched the rebroadcast of that match this afternoon. Wow. We were in Little Italy in San Francisco last week while the Dutch were mopping the floor with Italy. That was fun, especially when a handful of Dutch fans walked through in orange uniforms. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pillowy star Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Hopefully Italy can sneak into the next round with a win. Sorry but I fear that's not gonna happen Seeing as Holland is already through, they would be silly not to send their B-Team out tonight & not risk their A-team being insured in an obsolete match, and give Romania the chance to win . Like Portugal did too, and Switzerland won 2:0. Hup Holland Hup!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Griddles Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Sorry but I fear that's not gonna happen Seeing as Holland is already through, they would be silly not to send their B-Team out tonight & not risk their A-team being insured in an obsolete match, and give Romania the chance to win . Like Portugal did too, and Switzerland won 2:0. Hup Holland Hup!! Well, it did happen, and I could not be happier. The next round games all seem very good on paper. Portugal-Germany: Croatia-Turkey: Netherlands-Russia: Spain-Italy. I choose Portugal, Croatia, Netherlands, and Italy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 I choose Portugal, Croatia, Netherlands, and Italy.Just my opinion, but I don't think Italy gets past Spain. I agree on the others, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pillowy star Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Well, it did happen, and I could not be happier. The next round games all seem very good on paper. Portugal-Germany: Croatia-Turkey: Netherlands-Russia: Spain-Italy. I choose Portugal, Croatia, Netherlands, and Italy. I totally agree with your assumptions, although I am hoping for Turkey because they were the only team that really made an effort to win so far. About Romania-Holland - it's all about money meanwhile. Romania is a poor country with basically no merchandise market because the people simply haven't got the money to buy trikots, flags, balls etc, whilst Italy & France are two of the biggest merchandise markets. For Italy (as well as for France in case they had won it) probably means hundreds of millions in the long run if they stay in the tournament - and it was so obvious that the Romanians just didn't want to win, no matter how hard Holland tried to show them "hello, look, there is the goal, just go and score for Christ's sake! We can't more often miss your goal in return than we already did!". I am sure Romania will have some nice new soccer academies/orphanages very soon with a sticker "Italy" on them, as well as some of their players will earn their money in Italy from now on. Still, I am of course glad that Italy is still in the tournament. Will be an interesting match against Spain, and although I do think that Italy will make it in the end, Spain won't make it easy for them. They seem to be quite good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
m_thomp Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Well, it did happen, and I could not be happier. It always happens. I thought for once, just once, that Italy's boring unadventurous football would get found out and they would be bounced out of the tournament in the group stages. Now I can see them grinding out resounding 1-0 victories all the way to the final and winning it. I hope not, but I was convinced it would happen the moment Buffon saved Mutu's penalty: just when it looks like Italy face humiliation something happens to turn it round just before the death knell sounds. It's like the mythological Gods are always smiling on them, but prefer them to suffer a bit of pain at the outset. I thought Russia were really good last night, they play some neat exciting football. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunken mountain Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Just my opinion, but I don't think Italy gets past Spain. I agree on the others, though. Not easy,but we will try Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Italy annoys me. I hope Spain crushes them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunken mountain Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Italy annoys me. I hope Spain crushes them. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted June 20, 2008 Author Share Posted June 20, 2008 I got home from work and switched on the Croatia-Turkey match just as extra time began. Holy crap, what an ending. I hope some of you got to see that. The first 28 or so minutes of extra time were a bit dull, but... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gobias Industries Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 I was kinda intent on Croatia going far but kudos to Turkey for a good job cleaning up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I DVR'd the match but it stopped during extra time. One day I'll learn to also record the show after matches so that I don't miss the ending. It's a bummer to watch that long and then have to check the web to see who won. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moltisanti Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I really want Russia to win this match. Kind of getting sick of hearing how awesome the Dutch are at soccer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Russia is looking pretty good so far. Van Der Saar is earning his guilders today! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 1-1 going into extra time. The Dutch have looked listless for the most part. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Kind of a disappointing effort today from the Nederlanders. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 I choose Portugal, Croatia, Netherlands, and Italy.Now 3-1 Russia with about 2 minutes left. Pretty much guarantees that Spain will win tomorrow, right? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 Toni's dive at around 48 minutes encapsulates nearly everything I hate about the Italian style. He wasn't actually fouled by his opponent, made no attempt to play the ball, and opted instead to take a dive in the hope that it would produce a card for the other player. It wasn't even close enough to goal to have yielded a useful free kick. I know that players on all teams take dives, but the Italians seem to rely on it as game strategy. The Italians have played with a "dive first" mindset as far back as I can remember, which is at least thirty years now. The ESPN commentators have really been hammering the ref, and I agree that he's been horrid, but not quite as bad as these guys would have everyone believe. Wow, the Spaniards just had a hell of an escape there in the 61st minute. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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