UEFA European Championship 2012

Only a couple of weeks to go until the European Football Championship.

Who are your pre-tournament favourites?
Which team will disappoint?
Which underdog will surprise us?
What's the poule of death this year?

Which animal replaces the late Paul the Octopus and takes that very important divination role this year?

As I am Dutch... my biggest question is... Will Arjen Robben score a penalty?

Tables

Group A
Fri 8 jun, 18:00 Poland - Greece 1-1
Fri 8 jun, 20:45 Russia - Czech Republic 4-1
Tue 12 jun, 18:00 Greece - Czech Republic
Tue 12 jun, 20:45 Poland - Russia
Sat 16 jun, 20:45 Czech Rep - Poland
Sat 16 jun, 20:45 Greece - Russia

Group B
Sat 9 jun, 18:00 Netherlands - Denmark 0-1
Sat 9 jun, 20:45 Germany - Portugal 1-0
Wed 13 jun, 18:00 Denmark - Portugal
Wed 13 jun, 20:45 Netherlands - Germany
Sun 17 jun, 20:45 Denmark - Germany
Sun 17 jun, 20:45 Portugal - Netherlands

Group C
Sun 10 jun, 18:00 Spain - Italy 1-1
Sun 10 jun, 20:45 Ierland - Croatia 3-1
Thu 14 jun, 18:00 Italy - Croatia
Thu 14 jun, 20:45 Spain - Ierland
Mon 18 jun, 20:45 Italy - Ierland
Mon 18 jun, 20:45 Croatia - Spain

Group D
Mon 11 jun, 18:00 France - England
Mon 11 jun, 20:45 Ukraine - Sweden
Fri 15 jun, 18:00 Ukraine - France
Fri 15 jun, 20:45 Sweden - England
Tue 19 jun, 20:45 England - Ukraine
Tue 19 jun, 20:45 Sweden - France

Yusss, it will start soon. Need to prepare my voice for the chants and I need to buy some warpaint.

Who are your pre-tournament favourites?
Germany and Spain
Which team will disappoint?
ITALY! *shakes fist*
Which underdog will surprise us?
England and Sweden
What's the poule of death this year?
Poule? Group? Then definitely B. With Germany, Netherlands and Portugal playing in the same group it's going to be no fun for one of them. Or maybe Denmark will be the big surprise. Haha

Which animal replaces the late Paul the Octopus and takes that very important divination role this year?
Tough question. There should've been a casting show to find the best for this job.

As I am Dutch... my biggest question is... Will Arjen Robben score a penalty?
If you ask Jupp Heynckes, he shouldn't be let close to the ball when it comes to a penalty.

Who are your pre-tournament favourites?

Spain, Ukraine

Which team will disappoint?

Germany, Netherlands

Which underdog will surprise us?

Russia, Ukraine

What's the poule of death this year?

It looks like it's a group B, but really group C may be even better, teams from group D may perform better than teams from any other group, and group A is beyond all competitions :)

Which animal replaces the late Paul the Octopus and takes that very important divination role this year?

It's already known - a pig from Kyiv.

As I am Dutch... my biggest question is... Will Arjen Robben score a penalty?

No, just because Holland won't have any penalties on this tournament :D

Who are your pre-tournament favourites?
Spain

Which team will disappoint?
England

Which underdog will surprise us?
Republic of Ireland

What's the poule of death this year?
Group B

Which animal replaces the late Paul the Octopus and takes that very important divination role this year?
Paul The Octopus

He's not dead. He faked his death

As I am Dutch... my biggest question is... Will Arjen Robben score a penalty?
Yes

But the ref will disallow it, and he'll miss the retake.

Who are your pre-tournament favourites?

Spain

Which team will disappoint?

The Netherlands. England, I would be surprised if they go far. Not impressed by them.

Which underdog will surprise us?

Ireland. Would be nice if it was Greece.

What's the poule of death this year?

B. I hope Ronaldo cries.

Which animal replaces the late Paul the Octopus and takes that very important divination role this year?

I am trying to train my own cat.

As I am Dutch... my biggest question is... Will Arjen Robben score a penalty?

Here they are hoping he scores three against Germany. But I am thinking AldeberanBlack´s option is more viable... :whistle:
Tables will follow at some point.[/QUOTE]

Tough question. There should've been a casting show to find the best for this job.
There I was joking around, but yesterday someone told me that there was really a casting. Turns out an elephant lady is the winner and will predict the German games.

Here they are hoping he scores three against Germany. But I am thinking AldeberanBlack´s option is more viable... :whistle:
Tables will follow at some point.

I think if Holland has penalty kicks on the tournament, rather van Persie or Kuyt will be allowed to score them, not Robben.

I think if Holland has penalty kicks on the tournament, rather van Persie or Kuyt will be allowed to score them, not Robben.

Well I hope so, but I am not convinced that Robben won´t claim them. He always wants to take everything. But I agree Van Persie should be taking them.

He always wants to take everything

Yes, and it's his biggest problem. Sometimes he doesn't work on team at all. He tends to overpossess the ball, and this overpossession sometimes costs too much for his team and it was felt in Champions League Final. If not this disadvantage and his injuries he could be a great player of his time.

Who are your pre-tournament favourites?
-Germany, i think that they shoved great play in world cup 2010 and now they are rdy to go all the way!

Which team will disappoint?
I believe France.

Which underdog will surprise us?
Denmark. Even though their group is called the 'death group', i expect great thing from them. (or at least,i hope they do well :))

What's the poule of death this year?
B..

Which animal replaces the late Paul the Octopus and takes that very important divination role this year?
Bring on another Octopus!! they r cool

As I am Dutch... my biggest question is... Will Arjen Robben score a penalty?
Umm, despite his bad play in the final of CL this year i still believe Arjen Robben is the strongest guy in Holland team. I mean, the man is a legend and he will carry the game.
Go Arjen!!! :D

Which team will disappoint?
England.

There is no hype or expectation here - no one expects the England team to do well at all - so surely they can't disappoint?

There is no hype or expectation here - no one expects the England team to do well at all - so surely they can't disappoint?

I'm sure there are some people who expect good score from England, :) I mean, it's England for Christ sake, they can be considered favorites in most matches. ... As long as they don't come across Germans :p


I don't know why English people themselves, are pessimistic about it, it's not like they have a bad team, i would kill for team like that :drool:
My country didn't even make to cup... #&^$#* losers :grumble:

There is no hype or expectation here - no one expects the England team to do well at all - so surely they can't disappoint?

I understand the reason why nobody believes in England, but suppose that actually it would help it. On all latest tournaments there were too much hopes and expectations for England, they were considered as favourites, though there were some evidently stronger teams on those tournaments. So the team was rather overrated. But now they don't have this kind of luggage.

And looking at the squad I don't find it bad. You have the most stable goalkeeper for many years, defense line from the Champions League winner, 'fresh blood' as Oxlade-Chamberlain and Henderson in midfield. Loss of Lampard is bad, but at least Hodgson won't have Gerrard-Lampard problem, preferations in the centre of the field would be clearer. The major trouble I see are forwards - without Rooney on group stage attacking line leaves much to be desired on the first view, but I think Carroll will try to justify expectations, but other players would have to adapt for his style of playing.

Last night's 1-0 win over Belgium ahs done nothing to convince the fans that england are on a roll.....

We await the result of scans on John Terry's leg and Gary Cahill's jaw......

Last night's 1-0 win over Belgium ahs done nothing to convince the fans that england are on a roll.....

We await the result of scans on John Terry's leg and Gary Cahill's jaw......

Why hadn't they convinced? Anyway they won the game against talented and young Belgium national team. England has been criticized too much I think. They have scored in last 12 games in a row (only in 2 of them they have lost) - it's a very good result, especially have beating such teams as Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium. And Germany, Italy, Netherlands have got painful kicks in friendly matches recently. Also England has the sharpest and fastest counter-attacks among all national teams I have watched for recently. So in this way it's quite OK, I suppose.

But a bunch of injuries is a comlete catastrophe for England. Now Cahill is already out with a fractured jaw. Mertens' foul was awful, he should be disqualified not less than for 3 official games of his national team.

What you guys expect from 1st match... Poland-Greece?
Im thinking from 0 - 2 goals.. no more

I have no idea, Poland wants to do well naturally but might be nervous. I am not sure how good Greece is at the moment, haven't seen anything of them.

We can do a little prediction game.

Fri 8 jun, 18:00 Poland - Greece 1-2
Fri 8 jun, 20:45 Russia - Czech Republic 2-0

Well Poland is under pressure, it's not easy to play when expectations are high for the home team and Greece plays very 'rough' football with low number of goals and high number of fouls, so im thinking - hard job for Poland.
My prediction here is 0 - 0 .
Russia - Czech Rep 2 - 0. I believe Russians have better team and will most likely win.:)

I don't expect anything from either of those teams. Haven't seen Greece playing either, but I don't think they will be able to repeat something like 2004 ever again.

As for Russia-Czech Repulblic. My guess is that Russia will be better, cause they have the better resources (aka money).

My predictions:

Fri 8 jun, 18:00 Poland - Greece 2-0
Fri 8 jun, 20:45 Russia - Czech Republic 2-1

As for Russia-Czech Repulblic. My guess is that Russia will be better, cause they have the better resources (aka money).


Which way could money affect a parity of national teams?

Which way could money affect a parity of national teams?

Maybe he thinks more expensive players. :)

And we're off.

Pretty poor play from Greece, but well done to Poland for holding them off.

Excellent effort from Russia, absolutely obliterated Czech Republic.

Didn't expect the Czechs would be that poor.

Predictions for tomorrow?

Sat 9 jun, 18:00 Netherlands - Denmark 2-1
Sat 9 jun, 20:45 Germany - Portugal 2-1

I was only able to watch the first half of the first game. To be honest I didn't expect this result after that poor performance of Greece and with one player less.

For tomorrow:
Sat 9 jun, 18:00 Netherlands - Denmark 2-1
Sat 9 jun, 20:45 Germany - Portugal 1-1

I on the other hand think Greece played well, considering they had player off 1st and put a lot of pressure on Poland in 2nd half. I mean Poland played well in 1st half, but it's no use if you don't hold it together till the end. They actually cost me 15 euros on this bet i had (i guessed Russians :D)

Now, let's see... im thinking Germany 3 : 0 Portugal ; Netherlands 1 : 1 Denmark

I hope our defense holds... The Danes know us and our defense isn´t so great. Actually it never really is anyway.

Arrrg Netherlands... you need to put the round thing into the square one. How difficult can it be?

With a selfish Arjen Robben it´s very difficult.

Which animal replaces the late Paul the Octopus and takes that very important divination role this year?

Am I being remembered??? :yuhup:

As i said earlier Denmark will be the biggest surprise but no1 believes me... now they showed it, GO Denmark!!!! I try to guess 0-0 but they actually won... :)
Also i agree with Hes, Robben is quite selfish and arrogant player.. he plays alone.. no team play..
Things are starting to get very interesting in group B.
Now to see what Germans have to show, or maybe Portugal wins, one is sure, no1 will have it easy with the Danes!

Definitely two difficult games for us up ahead. I think Portugal is doing better then expected.

Sun 10 jun, 18:00 Spain - Italy 2-0
Sun 10 jun, 20:45 Ierland - Croatia 0-1

Wrong. Germany is doing worse than usual. :argh:

Sun 10 jun, 18:00 Spain - Italy 3-0
Sun 10 jun, 20:45 Ireland - Croatia 0-0

Both Germans and Portugal kinda disappointed. Worst game yet. Germans played, well, below their usual level and Portugal missed a lot of chances. . .
Tomorrow : Spain - Italy 0-1 ; Ireland - Croatia 1-0

So did we overestimate Spain or underestimated Italy...

Not sure what to expect of England tonight.

Mon 11 jun, 18:00 France - England 1-0
Mon 11 jun, 20:45 Ukraine - Sweden 1-1

I agree, France - England 1-0 ; and also Ukraine - Sweden 2-1

Oh, and i do think Italy is underestimated by the press. They might just go all the way this year. You know Italians are the most dangerous when nobody expects :D

My seer qualities are terrible as usual.

Tue 12 jun, 18:00 Greece - Czech Republic 0-1
Tue 12 jun, 20:45 Poland - Russia 0-2

There was an incident in Poland, fans from both Poland and Russia engaged in fight and also there are rumors that a person got killed. It's not clear yet. Still, a sad day for Euro Cup..

On topic : Let's see what the group B situation turns out. I do believe that Holland could win and they still got chance! Portugal - Denmark , 1-0 maybe.

Well Holland are going to have to get their act together tonight....

Rumours from the England camp of concerns about the fitness of Gerrard and Parker..... the former is sadly very predictable.....

Well as long as Gerrard can still give a pass or two just put him on the pitch ;)

I am not predicting anything for tonight. Because I will be wrong and we need that win...

Im sure Holland can win this. They are top class players, simply no luck in 1st game plus the ref didnt give them penalty when it clearly was one.

Well as long as Gerrard can still give a pass or two just put him on the pitch ;)

I am not predicting anything for tonight. Because I will be wrong and we need that win...

That's been the England policy as regard injuries for years.... I'm personally not certain it's a good idea - esp as they are playing in conditions that they are unused to - ie it's VERY hot!

I'd much prefer England to put 11 fit players on the field of play...

Of course that would be better. I am not sure how the midfield will do without him though.

Well i guess everyone plays football but Zee Germans always win somehow :hmm:

Well i guess everyone plays football but Zee Germans always win somehow :hmm:
Haha I guess this is the wrong time to complain about Germany playing really bad this tournament. I know a lot of people who expected more of them, e.g. beating the Netherlands with 4:1. Everything besides being champion or runner up is disgraceful. Our expectations are very high... unfortunately.

They don´t need to play their best football at this stage. Reserve that for the next round. I am sure they can win easily against the Danes.

There is a possibility for Holland to pass, for example: If Germany wins over Danes, and Holland wins over Portugal with 3 : 0 or more; than Holland would have 4-3 in goals, and will go further with 3 points. :)
Miracle could happen you know...

Wow, this is clearly the most disappointing group. I cannot believe those many misplaced passes and the bad defense on both sides.

Sweden 0-1 England (Half Time 0-0) Yes, i'm going that far :D
Ukraine 1-3 France (Half Time 0-1)

This is my actual online ticket on bet-at-home site.. let's see how it goes!

Well England sneaked a win - but it was touch and go!

Crucial victory for England! Have to congratulate Sweden for fighting 'till end. Great game, maybe the best so far.

Woah didn´t expect today´s results. I think it´s nice for Greece though (and Germany) that they go through. They need something positive.

What a surprise. I dare say hardly anybody expected this. Good for us indeed, especially with Karagounis missing the QF.

Edit:
I don't really understand why Greece went through and not Russia, even though they had the worse goal difference. Greece had 1 home and 1 away goal, but Russia 4 home and also 1 away goal. I read the regulation but I'm still confused.

Where 2 teams are level on points it's decided by the score in the match they played against each other - ie Greece beat Russia 1-0, so they go through, despite Russia having a better goal difference.

I know where you're coming from - it makes no sense to me either!

My OH is pleased - he has drawn Greece in the sweepstake at work...

OMG Russia failed i still cannot believe this. I didnt watch it, just heard the scores, i mean good for Greece but what happened to Russia? And also Czech Rep. is 1st in group. Who expect it? Srsly weird... Now Germans will probably go against Greece in next round.

Where 2 teams are level on points it's decided by the score in the match they played against each other - ie Greece beat Russia 1-0, so they go through, despite Russia having a better goal difference.

I know where you're coming from - it makes no sense to me either!

My OH is pleased - he has drawn Greece in the sweepstake at work...
Right, I thought about that, but disregarded it as stupid and too obvious.

What you think, can Greece keep surprising and win over Germany?
I mean, don't forget they used to play exactly like this 2004 in Portugal and they actually won :)

I really don't want Greece to advance any further.

Germany should absolutely clean them up.

When did they change the rules for group ties? It makes no sense to focus on just one game to decide Russia's fate. Am glad Germany made it through. Here is to hoping Italy do the same today.

Italy will. Croatia is out prob.

Very poor refereeing in Ukraine against England today. A clear goal scored by Devic - Terry took the ball out after it had crossed the line. To be honest, at he beginning of that episode Milevskiy was in offside. But still five referees hadn't managed to fix a goal, and one of them was just on the line in a couple of metres from the episode. Lampard's case against Germany hadn't taught FIFA and UEFA - only a ghost of video-replays on the horizon. After that there was a handball by Terry in penalty area in the end of the match.

Also in a game against France Menez had made a bad foul against Selin deserved a yellow card, and it would had been the second card for him in that match, but he didn't get it. After that he scored the first goal against Ukraine.

As for Russia, I don't even want to comment that on. Just say that Greek players desired a victory much more than Russian players. And attitude of our players towards fans, their interviews after the game - it's a disrespect towards us.

Very poor refereeing in Ukraine against England today. A clear goal scored by Devic - Terry took the ball out after it had crossed the line. To be honest, at he beginning of that episode Milevskiy was in offside.

You win some, you lose some. England got screwed at the World Cup (although I freely admit we'd have lost the game anyway) and they did nothing about goal-line technology.

Now it's England benefiting from the screw-up, you can bet they'll have Hawkeye in place for the quarters :lol:

Well i saw a lot from Sweden today and i must say they are quite refreshing :)
As far as refereeing goes it's not just on Ukraine games, there were a lot of mistakes since beginning of the tournament... But what can you do? I mean everyone in the world knows Maradona scored a goal with his hand and Argentina still has the trophy and nobody can take it away from them, ever! Once the game is over, that's that.

England in the quarter finals.

Do I dare to dream?





No

England - Italy. Im guessing it will be 0 - 0

I don't really care what they score and who will win, I just hope that they will actually play a decent game the viewers can enjoy. What some teams (I am talking about you Spain) delivered the past days was an imposition.

I agree with Tenshi, I hope there will be some decent games. Please no games where they are terrified to conceive a goal and thus hide on their own half all the time.

Well i truly believe that Portugal plays the most attractive football so far.
And also i think that Germany - Greece will turn out to be the worst game, since Greece will defend the whole time (there's not much else they can do, i know)

I don't really care what they score and who will win, I just hope that they will actually play a decent game the viewers can enjoy.
I agree. Personally, I'm a die-hard Brazil fan so I can't really bring myself to support any other team, even in a tournament where Brazil isn't playing, lol. I usually just watch the Euro Cup for the entertainment and I have to say I haven't seen that flair in any of the big-name teams yet. Saw a bit of Spain in their match against Ireland...but then, they were playing against Ireland. :p Germany is efficient enough, but hasn't really shown that spark as of yet.

I was actually surprised by Ukraine - I think they did a fantastic job in their match against England, considering that England is one of the big-name teams and this is Ukraine's first ever Euro Cup. Loved the determination and stamina they showed - I was actually rooting for them by the end of the game. :)

Well i truly believe that Portugal plays the most attractive football so far.
Can't say I've noticed - during Portugal games, my mind is usually too busy being irritated by the commentators' obsession with Cristiano Ronaldo. :rolleyes:

I am loving Euro 2012 so far! So exciting!
Considering their flop in World Cup, I think England are doing pretty well so far. I am supporting them -- got all my England flags out for their upcoming Italy defeat :rolleyes:
Anyway, I was totally surprised when Holland and Russia were knocked out :no: I expected them to go through. Never expected Czech Republic to go through, though. But I hope Portugal beats them later. I love Portugal team :D
Germany vs Greece upcoming..how ironic. Take Greece out!
And upcoming Spain vs France? France hasn`t been playing as well as I thought..so I would be surprised if they won.

I don't really care what they score and who will win, I just hope that they will actually play a decent game the viewers can enjoy. What some teams (I am talking about you Spain) delivered the past days was an imposition.

On my view, the game against Croatia may wasn't the most spectacular, but it was tactically perfect from both sides, so I enjoyed it. Spain attacked the whole game, trying to find free areas to score a goal from, but they didn't forget about the defence as well. Croatia performed high-class in defence, also the had two fantastic moments to score after counter-attacks.

I think, we must remember that Spanish national team is not Barcelona F.C., even if we would want it :) Though players from Barca make up a frame of the team and their football has a lot from Barcelona's football, they still have other scheme, they don't have Messi and Danni Alves :)
On World Cup they also didn't perform very bright playing, beating other teams with the score 1-0.

What really bothers me on this Euro - is refereeing as I said. Especially very poor refeering against Greece, for example. And there hasn't been any penalties so far after the first scandalous game. 23 games in a row without penalties - what will probability theory say on this?

Im thinking it will be a lot of games that ends up on penalties in the quarter finals and further... Basically teams are much more careful from now on, so i predict a lot of 0-0 games. We will watch extra time or penalties on England - Italy i can bet!

Portugal - Czech 2 : 0

England in the quarter finals.

Do I dare to dream?





No

Not if you've been watching England for as long as i have!;);)

England have done their best but they aren't good enough to win.

I like to see skillful, adventurous play whichever National team it is. The posession game "passpasspasspasspasspasspass-strike-passpasspasspasspasspasspass, passpasspasspasspasspasspass" is a snoozefest for me.

The referees influence the games. Some are inconsistant in decisions, others whistle-happy. The Italy/Ireland game was marred by an over-fussy ref. He just frustrated the flow of the game and irritated the players.

The ref for the next England game has a high card-count per game percentage so I hope he doesn't blow for every nudge or fall for theatrics.

Not sure why Czech Republic bothered to show up if they weren't going to launch any attacks. Such negative tactics. A Portugal goal was inevitable.

England have done their best but they aren't good enough to win.


England so far seem to be riding on the same luck that made Chelsea the European champions. So I really wouldn't be surprised if they won by having 10 players in their half and one lone striker to get them the one necessary goal. Although I am hoping they dont do that and atleast give us some entertaining foot ball against Italy. Italy will obviously play a better game, But so far luck hasn't been with them (The first two games were sure wins for them)

Greece could surprise us today, they surely did in 2004. But I am hoping for a German win. A German Italy Semi should just be an amazing watch. (I find Semis more interesting than finals). Though I would also love to see Spain Germany too.

Germany is epic

They're good but they've also had it kinda easy so far. The harder teams are coming up in their next match.

They're good but they've also had it kinda easy so far. The harder teams are coming up in their next match.

True, but they also have the youngest team. Their time is yet to come.
Plus they are the most efficient so far. 4 games - 4 wins.
Let's see if they can keep it up!

I think we're in for another Germany-Spain finale which is cool, I guess. Spain seems to be the only team capable enough of standing up to and possibly winning against Germany. They did it before, after all.

Meh...I'm getting bored of this SpainGermanySpainGermany phase. I'm hoping something new will pop up. However, having seen the rest of the European teams, I also have a feeling we're in for another Spain-Germany final.

Unless England surprises!!! :)

we will see 2night...

I certainly hope England wins. I can handle losing against any team but Italy. Germany lost all their championship games against Italy. Time to break that record.

Well, Alan Hansen just predicted an England win. We're screwed. :D

as i expected england playing a very boring football. Though they will end up winning. Ballotelli is wasting too many chances

as i expected england playing a very boring football. Though they will end up winning. Ballotelli is wasting too many chances
I fear there will be penalty shoot-out and with Buffon in the goal... urrg. My hope to see a Germany-England semifinal is getting slimmer by the minute.

I fear there will be penalty shoot-out and with Buffon in the goal... urrg.

You guessed it right :D
And who can beat Italians when it comes to penalties?

That was the most exciting, nerve-wracking, and entertaining game so far in this tournament. :D But I'm glad Italy won. They played better than England throughout the game and definitely deserved to win, I think.

If Buffon's passionate belting of the national anthem didn't endear him to Italy fans before, his awesome goalkeeping definitely has. ;)

You guessed it right :D
And who can beat Italians when it comes to penalties?

apparently they had previously lost 2 penalty shootouts in quarter finals after 0-0 draws......

Which just goes to show how useless statistics are!

Italy deserved to win - they were the better team, but I'd like to know why Rooney played so deep... and why we played for a draw when we are so USELESS at penalty shootouts....

apparently they had previously lost 2 penalty shootouts in quarter finals after 0-0 draws......

Which just goes to show how useless statistics are!

Italy deserved to win - they were the better team, but I'd like to know why Rooney played so deep... and why we played for a draw when we are so USELESS at penalty shootouts....

Yeah, England does not have a good score when it comes to penalties. And not just your national team, i noticed that your clubs also don't have luck on penalty shoot-out when they play international games. Well Chelsea did but it had to happen sometime. :)

I agree. Italy totally deserved the win. Well Italy have hard both bad and good luck when it comes to penalty shoot outs. I will always remember 94 final and 2000 semi final. England played a really weird game. Having all those names in the lineup and playing a defensive game doesnt realy suit England. I dont know what Roy was thinking.

That's why I didn't dare to dream

England need to take classes on how to pass the ball. Pirlo had an excellent match that ended with that really cheeky penalty.

Which way could money affect a parity of national teams?

Better training facilities and staff spring instantly to mind.

As i said earlier Denmark will be the biggest surprise but no1 believes me.

No one believed in Denmark in 1992 (especially after they failed to qualify).

Semis today. Who thinks Portugal will make it?

England need to take classes on how to pass the ball. Pirlo had an excellent match that ended with that really cheeky penalty.

I think Pirlo made 99 more passes than Steven Gerrard - and a radio commentator was heard to say 'Stevie G - he's got one more campaign in him hasn't he?' To which I was shouting NOOOOOO at the radio - lets start by getting some young legs in there now....

In England we need to rethink the way kids play football - at age 11 kids are playing on adult pitches, which means that the bigger stronger lads get picked and 'succeed' because they can kick the ball further down the pitch. We need to play on smaller pitches for longer and learn to value skill - the ability to pass the ball....

A small part of me is looking forward to watching the semis as a neutral.... I hope Spain v Portugal is a thriller..

Possession is something England need to learn. The ease in which they gave the ball away needlessly became comical.

Yeah, but England always had that fast counter attack strategy, it's how i see their style. Long passes, good jumping, fast counter attacks...
Not everyone can play that Barcelona style... Like Spain does. To be honest, it bores the #$%&^ of me!

I wish Portugal won..

At the moment, England don't even do the fast counter attack strategy well.

So Italy or Germany tonight?

I am hoping for Germany.

Germany for me. Euro 2008 final rematch!

Well it seems I´ve underestimated Italy once again. Still some time to go but I doubt Germany will come back from this.

Spain will have to play much better to beat Italy.

Germany could have had a shot at the finals if only Low hadn't been so overconfident. What was the point in benching Muller, Reus, and Klose and bringing Kroose and Podolski on when the first three had already delivered in previous matches? You keep meddling with the lineup too much and players will lose confidence.

I applaud Buffon, Pirlo, and Ballotelli for their amazing work today. :)

Well, i don't think many people saw that result coming!

Well played Italy - lets hope we get some goals in the final on sunday..

Germans have srsly bad score with Italians. But im glad the final is Spain - Italy.
Perhaps Italians could break the Spanish winning streak, or else they would win 3rd title in a row.

I absolutely did not expect that, but Germany were completely manhandled all game.

Fabulous effort for Italy, just a bit unfortunate in my eyes because I'm not sure they'll beat Spain.

You never know, Overdose, nobody was expecting them to beat Germany either. ;) I'd give anything for Spain's winning streak to be broken!

just a bit unfortunate in my eyes because I'm not sure they'll beat Spain.

Italians feel comfortable NOT being favourites here. Pressure is on Spain!

Germany could have had a shot at the finals if only Low hadn't been so overconfident. What was the point in benching Muller, Reus, and Klose and bringing Kroose and Podolski on when the first three had already delivered in previous matches? You keep meddling with the lineup too much and players will lose confidence.
Klose is too old. He's not able to run for 90 min. Podolski is experienced and I guess that's why he's playing. Reus is a Noob and even though he did score I wouldn't put him on the pitch in such a game.

Overall I think Germany has a good line up and a lot of good choices. Hey, even the defenders score and attack. It just annoys me that Löw took Gomez off the pitch so late. That guy was useless yesterday. And then I don't understand either why Boateng had to leave, even though he did a great job.

I applaud Buffon, Pirlo, and Ballotelli for their amazing work today. :)
I thought Buffon delivered a rather poor performance. Too many mistakes and the defense in general. How many times did they slip and how many corners did Germany get?

I am so angry at the ref. His decisions made no sense at all. A player gets fouled and the other team receives a free kick? Or when Hummels got the yellow card in the last minute. The heck was that? And then he stopped the game right, when Germany was about to get close to the Italian goal. Every other sane ref would let them finish the attack and blow the whistle after the goal keeper shot the ball into the middle of the field again. To stop a game at such a point is plainly stupid.

Well it was either way for me yesterday. I like both the Italian and the German teams. Hoping Italy beat Spain though. Balotelli is really unpredictable. after all the chances he lost against England, I never expected him to be the hero of the semi final.

2006 - Italy won!
2008 - Spain won!
2010 - Spain won!
2012 - Both teams in final, we are watching same football AGAIN! I hate it -.-
Is it possible there is no 3rd team in whole EUROPE that could win the title?!?!?!?!?

2006 - Italy won!
2008 - Spain won!
2010 - Spain won!
2012 - Both teams in final, we are watching same football AGAIN! I hate it -.-
Is it possible there is no 3rd team in whole EUROPE that could win the title?!?!?!?!?

You know....in cricket, we went through nearly a decade with the Aussies winning absolutely everything. Three world cups in a row and almost everything else in between. Thankfully, no-one is absolutely dominating in football (even at club level where Barca haven't managed to win stuff consecutively).

I remember that time in cricket. Australia were just unbearable. Well look at the runners up for the last 3 tournaments
2006 France
2008 Germany
2010 Netherlands

Plenty of variety there. Am hoping for an Italian win though.

Well, that turned into a rout. Pity that because italy played better than that. The injury to the italian player changed the match. It would have been really interesting if Italy had taken one of their chances early in the second half and not had one of their players go off injured.

Dazzling from Spain. Pure masterclass. From 2008 to the present day certainly the best team I have ever seen.

Well, wasn't that an exciting match? :rolleyes:

That said, Spain played very well and certainly aren't undeserving champions. I also think Italy deserve some credit for their brilliant comeback from the fiasco they were 2 years ago.

And now....................

BRAZIL FOR 2014! Let's make it to six-time world champions! :D

I love that Torres who has been on the pitch hardly at all has won the golden boot.

That was ruthless from Spain.

What an awesome game! Spain was crushing Italy, which made me so happy. I don't mind if they become champions for the 6th times in a row. They are great and they deserve to win.

My prediction almost came true. Which was 5-0. Yes, I am a sulky unforgiving Italy disliker.

Ok that was brutal !!! Spain owned them. As much as it hurts me to admit, Spain is simply unbeatable at the moment. 3 titles in a row, don't know if anyone pulled it off, till now.
But hey... Let's focus on World Cup qualifications and see how that goes..
Starts in September. :)

I watched the game until Italy was down by three. That was when I lost hope and put on the Yankees game. It was a disappointment for Italy (I think their team is better than how they played this game). Spain was on their game and deserved to win. The injury was a setback for Italy, but I doubt they would have won either way.

It should also be noted that Spain are now tied with Germany as three-time EURO champions.

1964, 2008 and 2012