CZE have scored twice, and we are only 5:44 in...
Greece has a big deficit. Pun intended.
The worst(or best I guess) joke I saw in this vein on twitter was despite having a crappy economy, looks like the Greeks won't be bouncing any Czechs today.
There was also a joke at the draw of the potential of a Ireland, Greece, Spain, Italy group to be the Group of Debt.
The entire pre-game was about how Czech needs this, this, and this to even have a chance.... haha
These games have been, for the most part, very unpredictable
Anyone know why Theofanis Gekas doesn't get the start for Greece? I admittedly know very little about the Greek national team, and know that Gekas is 32. But having watched every Eintracht Frankfurt game for my German Fussball class at UM in 2010, the dude has a nose for the goal and was close to the top goal scorer in the Bundesliga in the 2010-11 season. After a quick google search, it seems that he was also the top scorer in 2010 World Cup Qualification for the UEFA groups.
And in any case with games every fourth day you'll see a lot of teams rotate their strikers, especially if they're getting up in years.
That's a good point. And I didn't get a chance to watch their game against Poland, but from what the commentators were saying...that's what I asssumed. Looks like he's getting the nod in the second half though
Can't even imagine what the police presence is going to be like at the Poland-Russia game. Some, er, bad history there. Plus a bunch of Russian fans attacked and sent four stewards to the hospital at the Czech game.
But, as Grant Wahl tweeted, this sign will surely avert any conflict.
Why is the sign in English?
Yeah, I was wondering that as well. Does the average Russian/Polish hooligan have a good command of English?
Then again, they're probably not going to let a little sign ruin their "fun".
I'm assuming it's in English because English is the international language these days. People understand it. I was a little surprised the first time I was in Greece and saw English everywhere, and not just in tourist locations. Haven't been to Poland, so who knows, but that'd be my guess.
Also, apparently, and not surprisingly, the sign didn't work: http://www.rt.com/news/poland-football-fans-clash-654/
And on another topic, but still football, here's a physics bit: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/1998/jun/01/the-physics-of-football
In Greece, I think part of the reason for the prevalance of English signage is the fact that the Greeks have their own alphabet, so they want to put something in the Roman alphabet to aid visitors' understanding (and so they use English, since there's no point in transliterating the Greek).
In European countries that use the Roman alphabet, English signage isn't as common outside of the big tourist spots.
post of the year
What a bad miscue by the Czech goalkeeper.
There are a lot of beautiful new stadiums in Ukraine and Poland for this event. Are they going to have a good use afterwards, or become white elephants like some of the South African ones?
I don't think you can compare Poland and Ukraine with a borderline 3rd world country like South Africa. From wikipedia (I know, it's wikipedia, but still):
Poland's high-income economy[62] is considered to be one of the healthiest of the post-Communist countries and is currently one of the fastest growing within the EU. Having a strong domestic market, low private debt, flexible currency, and not being dependent on a single export sector, Poland is the only European economy to have avoided the late-2000s recession.[63] Since the fall of the communist government, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalising the economy and today stands out as a successful example of the transition from a centrally planned economy to a primarily market-based economy. In 2009 Poland had the highest GDP growth in the EU. As of February 2012, the Polish economy has not entered a recession in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Given that there is actual disposable money in that country, I'd count on the Poles to make good use of those facilities.
My question is more about whether or not there are club teams with the fan support to fill those stadiums. Sometimes there just isn't a need for a bunch of 50,000-seat stadiums, even if the economy is strong.
Two of the stadia in Ukraine are for Shaktar Donesk and Dynamo Kiev, which have regularly qualified for Europe and seem to be the two best teams in the Ukranian league by a wide margin. I'd imagine they have significant fan bases.
Well, I can't pretend to know much about Polish soccer attendance, but I'm sure there are other events (e.g. concerts, monster truck rallies) that these stadia can hold which will get Poles out spending their hard earned Euros. I guess that's where my original info came in handy - if you have a strong economy and people with more money than they are used to having, it will be much easier to fill venues. Contrast with S. Africa, where a huge percentage of the population is poor and you have a much different result.
One of my favorite things about competitions like this is when they play all the countries' national anthems. I just think to myself, "Man, there's is so much better than ours."
England being the key exception. God Save the Queen is a total dirge.
Only Germany's anthem, Deutschlandlied, comes close. God Save the Queen is a magnificent song. In fact, I have it on my iPhone.
though I am part English so that may have something to do with it. There are a lot of great anthems though.
Ugh. Ponderous, just like England's national team.
I have to say that Russia's anthem sounds like it could be from the soundtrack of "The Hunt for the Red October.". Poland's is just plain terrible.
The Russian (then USSR) anthem actually was in that movie. They use the same music today, just with different lyrics.
Russians, not so much with the historical sensitivity...
How do you bring that into the stadium?
Well I think that was a PK not whistled for Russia
UEFA, trolling both Russia and Poland, assigns a German team of officials.
in a match between Germany and Russia.
history irony, ftw.
My favorite was in South Africa 2010 when France surrendered (their team literally refused to practice) and Germany was left to square off against England.
I'm not very pleased with the officials in this match...
What a great shot!
That goal by Poland was DIRTYYY!!! still think Russia pulls this one out though.
Nice rythm in this game, they're hitting hard, and the referee swallowed the whistle it seems
Where the hell has this Andrei Arshavin been while playing for Arsenal?
I remember watching Arsenal games this year hearing a chorus of boos whenever he came on for the Gunners, especially when he came on for Ox against ManU and promptly got beat to give up the winning goal by Welbeck.