Euro 2012 - day four open thread
France vs. England right now, with Ukraine vs. Sweden later.
Great matchup of the cross-Channel rivals today, who are the two favorites in Group D. A pet peeve: announcers always say England has had "46 years of misery." But obviously, they weren't miserable immediately after 1966, when they won it all. It should be more like 42 years.
Yup. Should be the last international tournament of his career
I don't follow the Russian league so I had no idea. I forgot all about him after he got sent to the Chelsea reserve squad.
Yeah I didn't know either but I was interested after your comment. Quick google search answered for me
Well this game is getting boring... That's why I hate the 1st round
That is because England doesn't really play what I would consider to be "exciting" soccer.
They're just trying not to lose at this point. Bunkering down and counter-attacking slows a game considerably
Crowd's gone almost completely silent.
I hate Ribery.
most people do.
Has France made any substitutions? I'd like to see Hatem Ben Arfa and Olivier Giroud get a shot.
Hatem Ben Arfa is on his way in. Other than that Menez and Martin have been the only ones warming up
France looks a lot better than I expected them to. They haven't done anything comically abysmal yet.
I'd like to see them have Marvin Martin play in the middle, he's got a very bright future.
That is because they got rid of the idiot that used to pick starters based on zodiac signs.
I wish I could rate this as both "funny" and "informative"
They've got tons of talent. Their problem the past couple of years was the coach and hotheads like Anelka. Now that Laurent Blanc is in, everything should go swimmingly.
I wasn't online during Spain match. What did you think of the idea of going with 6 MF and no striker?
I wasn't the biggest fan of the idea because I think having that one striker makes a big difference.
Incredibly dumb. They had no one to finish. Everyone was looking to make the extra pass, no one would take a shot. They had no presence in the box the entire game. Against Italy's defense, Spain's quick passing was not working
My philosophy is that you should put the 11 best players on the pitch. And everyone on the pitch should be able to do everything. I think compartmentalizing players into one thing or another limits them. Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso... all those guys can pass, defend, and score.
That said, I think the world of Fernando Llorente and I think it was silly to keep him on the bench.
This totally has the feel of a killer late goal from France.
Poland - Russia? There may be more police than spectators in the stands for that one.
Ugh. Moment that totally sums up England's approach. Walcott steals ball in dangerous position. Stumbles over it, backpasses to Gerard, who hammers it out of bounds to the corner.
Thanks Benzema. Good try.
Hope England enjoys their tie that they played for in the second half
Not the most remarkable second half. England was a tad on the timid side.
"England offer an interesting perspective on geometry. As I see it, their midfield triangles often have only two sides with the third disappearing into touch."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jun/11/euro-2012-france-england…
Now we get to see this.
England's tactics seemed to be successful in getting a result against a solid French side...but unfortunately were not exciting enough for this French fan
Love that the XX is playing for the team entrances.
Europe showing superiority in even entrance music.
has gotten some great opportunities so far.
Impressive comeback from Ukraine. After Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored for Sweden, Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko (35 years old) has scored twice in 10 mins to give Ukraine a 2-1 lead in the 64th min.
Oldest player to score twice in a UEFA tourney. УКРАЇНО, ВПЕРЕД!
That was most impressive!
What an entertaining match. Unfortunately, I think I may have picked the wrong host team to advance to the quarters, as I thought Poland would be the team, but now I think UKR may advance pretty far.
I regret falling asleep during the 2nd game. :(
No more naps during Euro games. Really missed a good game.
Ribery is a beast. That is all.