Mixed Martial Arts Forum banner

The big bad Euro 2012 thread

7K views 85 replies 12 participants last post by  Rauno 
#1 ·


Who takes the title? Who will be the top scorer? Will Wayne Rooney even play a game? How excited are you for this badboy to kick off? All Euro 2012 discussion goes right here.




 
See less See more
2 2
#33 ·
The Spain vs Croatia match was played with caution and the pace at times was slow. That usually proves to be a boring football but I enjoyed the match because of the huge importance.
Still cant believe Spain went defensive at the end to play for a draw with a chance of a counter. Imagine if Rakitic took his chance, we perhaps could of seen an upset and Croatia in the last eight.

Great that Italy made it. I have a soft spot for Pirlo and Di Natale and this will be the last tournament we see them.
 
#35 ·
If Croatia got that penalty this game would have ended very differently (d'uh). At the very least they deserved a draw although it wouldn't have changed anything in the end. Don't really get their strategy either. Replacing Torres with a midfielder when it was still a draw was a huge mistake to me, even though Navas scored in the end. Then they sub in Negredo, a striker, once they were in front. Can anyone explain this to me? :confused05:

Anyway, Spain and Italy advance. Hopefully France and England make it through. If they do this quarter final will become very interesting. ;)
 
#38 ·
Norwegian media speculated that Ronaldo's shouting towards the camera after the goal was a "message" to Messi. I don't know if I believe that, but I wouldn't mind the two greatest players in the world having a feud that will help them push eachother to new levels on the pitch. Messi is still a small step ahead of Ronaldo right now though, sorry to say Inter, but it's true.

You Portugal guys over me, how far do you reckon your team can go? Czech Republic was a breeze, but Spain are likely waiting in the semis, and if you can get through them, I suspect it will be Germany in the finals. That's the two best national teams in the world today. You think CR7 can pull you all the way through? If he does, that will be the work of a true all time great, he will have a foot up on Messi who is yet to make a mark in the WC, and really put himself in the Pele/Maradona discussion.
 
#39 ·
Messi - Ronaldo discussion is pure speculation and your opinion. Anyone can argue that Iniesta and Xavi playing with Ronaldo would be the same.

Personally, I think we make it to the finals and lose to Germany. Spain don't seem to be their selves in this tournament and they don't have a healthy on form striker for us to worry about. If anything playing with Fernando Torres would only help US :D
 
#43 ·
Norwegian media speculated that Ronaldo's shouting towards the camera after the goal was a "message" to Messi. I don't know if I believe that, but I wouldn't mind the two greatest players in the world having a feud that will help them push eachother to new levels on the pitch. Messi is still a small step ahead of Ronaldo right now though, sorry to say Inter, but it's true.

You Portugal guys over me, how far do you reckon your team can go? Czech Republic was a breeze, but Spain are likely waiting in the semis, and if you can get through them, I suspect it will be Germany in the finals. That's the two best national teams in the world today. You think CR7 can pull you all the way through? If he does, that will be the work of a true all time great, he will have a foot up on Messi who is yet to make a mark in the WC, and really put himself in the Pele/Maradona discussion.
I suppose you didn't see the today's game.
It was so much more than Ronaldo, the all squad was superb.
It was the biggest display of domination of Euro 2012 so far imo.
 
#45 ·
Oh I absolutely watched the game, I have watched every Portugal game in the tourney along with most of the other games.

All the squad playing superb is a bold claim, CoentrĂŁo and Veloso played well as they have done in every game, the defense as a unit looked very solid, but the team showed weaknesses aswell, like squandering many passes in the final third. Portugal being the better team was clear as day, but let's get real, Czech Republic are way out of their depth in a quarterfinal of the Euro's and any other team that went trough the group stages, bar Greece, should have no problem beating them. For the biggest display of domination, look no further than Russia's game versus the Czech's the very first day of the tourney. Russia passed the ball quicker and penetrated the defense more often than Portugal was able to.

To set the record straight, I am 100% behind Portugal in a eventual semi final versus Spain. I really hope you chew them up and spit them out, crush their souls and send them home in shame. Will it happen? That's another story. But I feel like the football gods are smiling down on you at the moment, more so then Spain.

Inter: Five best national teams in the world based on relative squad strength in no particular order: Spain, Germany, Holland, Argentina, Brazil. On second thought, Italy probably is a better team then Brazil right now. Gotta think about that one.

In Europe: Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy and I'll give the last one to Portugal, ahead of France.
 
#40 ·
Yeah, it must be tough for Ronaldo having bums like Ă–zil and Alonso feeding him. It's not like they are world class passers or anything.

I agree about Spains striker problem, although it should be an easy one to fix if Del Bosque just get his finger out of his ass and play Llorente for the remainder of the tournament. Torres has been rubbish for two whole seasons now, and in no way does he deserve to play ahead of Llorente. Still, Spain with a rubbish striker is still Spain, with like four thousand world class midfielders in their squad. You're confident you can turn them over?
 
#47 ·
Good on you for mentioning the Holland game, Portugal impressed me more in that game than in this last one. Your midfield, again with Veloso as the standout performer did a great job in bossing the midfield and regaining possession of the ball quickly after you lost it. That's exactly what you will have to do against Spain, who are notoriously good at passing the ball around in midfield. I feel if you can break up the play in midfield often enough against Spain, you have a good chance of counter attacking them to shreds with Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos is a bit of a weak link in the spanish defence playing as a centre back, and I've never really rated Arbeloa either.

What Portugal is desperatly lacking though, are options from the bench. That's where Spain have a big edge on you. Quaresma is a decent option I guess, but the guy is so hot and cold. Hardly a player able to carry a team who have fallen on hard times on his back.
 
#57 ·
I'm not gonna lie i'm pretty pleased we've not got to play you guys! That would of ended badly! I think unless Ronaldo has a couple of those games where he plays like God this tournament is yours for the taking. Spain have look pretty poor and you guys have played some of the best international football i've seen in a while... Would be appreciated since half my fantasy team is German too!!
 
#61 ·
It's not like we were resting them, it's just that Podolski and MĂĽller didn't really offer any offense. Reus had a great game, SchĂĽrrle certainly did better than Podolski and I don't think I have to mention that Klose was great throughout the whole game. Schweinsteiger was awful though.
 
#64 ·
Better than our forwards who can't pass or score! Nor our midfield for that matter! I think for a game as big as the semi you gotta go with Podolski over Reus. Also gotta go Klose over Gomez, the guy has an INSANE knockout stage goal scoring record. Would be nice to see him pass Muller as top all time goal scorer (I always like seeing players i've had the opportunity to watch live break records.)
 
#67 ·
I haven't even seen the thread, damn been posting in the Vbookie thread.

I've got about 80% of my matches right via 1st and 2nd place and goals per game. The Worst bust for me was Russia in Group A and Netherlands in Group B.

Fast forward to the semis.... Portugal needs to step up and control the tempo. They need to score first. Spain love to control the ball with a ridiculous amounts of passes, frustrating the opposition and creating small chances and converting.

I see Spain winning this one.

Germany/Italy... My countrymen are going to the finals to avenge Euro 2008 (Germany). Baring a small miracle, the Italians have been playing to inconsistent and have been known to sit back and defend with an early lead. I see Germany winning 2-0 or 2-1. Germany has too much talent and I believe it's their tourney to win.

They play great as a team and have the youth, speed and chemistry to derail Spain in the finals. I love how Low set the team up; each part is integral and can plug different players to roles which make them a scary force now and for 2-3 tournaments to come.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top