Euro 2012

[notredomer23]

if you told me after the first 10 minutes that at half time Russia was going to be up 2-0 I would tell you that you're crazy. Russia took advantage of their opportunities on the attack and bent but didn't break once that half. I hope for a second half full of goals.

 

[notredomer23]

I have never seen a team just completely miss frame with good chances as many times as Russia has today. Czech fighting for a draw but seem to be running out of gas

 

[aubeirish]

I have never seen a team just completely miss frame with good chances as many times as Russia has today. Czech fighting for a draw but seem to be running out of gas

It was one guy in particular lol. In the end though, the Russians were too good for the Czech.

 

[mgriff]

Euro 2012: Polish thugs hurl racist abuse and monkey chants at Holland stars in Krakow | Mail Online

Maybe my comments about them being a very small minority were out of bounds. Maybe UEFA never should have given these countries EURO2012.

 

[irishrecruiting]

Not really a red. He pushed the ball away from goal and straight to a defender. Yellow for Scezney, not a sending off. The Greece yellows weren't even yellows either, so getting sent off for two was atrocious. The Ref blew it.

Refs will give keeper a red for that 10/10 times. The Greek two yellows/sending off was definitely atrocious. When keeper is last man back and knocks down Greek player who is running around through on goal, it's a straight red. Sad that it worked out that way, but kudos to the backup for making a stop. Poorly taking penalty, but still solid stop.

 

[notredomer23]

Portugal and Germany today is gonna be good. I think Germany will take that one 2-1. Netherlands should handle denmark

 

[STLDomer]

Another choke job by the Dutch

 

[mgriff]

Portugal deserved a draw. Unfortunately, you don't always get what you deserve.

Brilliant match by the Danes. The Dutch better turn it on.

 

[mgriff]

Refs will give keeper a red for that 10/10 times. The Greek two yellows/sending off was definitely atrocious. When keeper is last man back and knocks down Greek player who is running around through on goal, it's a straight red. Sad that it worked out that way, but kudos to the backup for making a stop. Poorly taking penalty, but still solid stop.

It's supposed to only be red on a clear goal scoring opportunity. If he takes a bad touch, gets fouled, he still gets the PK, but the goalie would then only be cautioned. It's designed to keep 11 men on the field. I'm of the mind that he took a bad touch into the defense, and was still fouled. He gets the PK since it was in the box, but the goalie stays on. The ref most likely saw how atrocious his decision was to send of the Greek in the first half and wanted to reciprocate. It's really up to the ref whether or not to send him off in that scenario; I've seen them sent off, cautioned, and even nothing done in those scenarios. Human discretion, while infuriating, creates talking points.

 

[notredomer23]

Thought the German-Portuguese match today was boring to be honest. I was very disappointed. Loved the Danes beating the Dutch though. That game was awesome and I didn't expect them to score at all. I was expecting Netherlands easily by 2 at least, but I like the Danes style. They took advantage of the few opportunities they had, and the Dutch did not take advantage of the many opportunities they had. it was simple as that

 

[NDinMich]

What in the H3LL is Giuseppe Rossi doing on American ESPN's halftime coverage of the Italy Spain match??? With Alexi Lalas of all people? Think ESPN has any idea?

 

[Lepresean]

Giussepe Rossi and Michael Ballack provide some pretty obvious insight, and have no presence at all. I don't blame ESPN for trying to get people on there that know what they are talking about, but there are a lot of better choices than those two. Alexi Lalas has the personality and practice for it, the other two can't even look at the camera when they talk.

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

I hated Ballack as a player. And he is even worse as a commentator.

 

[NDinMich]

Giussepe Rossi and Michael Ballack provide some pretty obvious insight, and have no presence at all. I don't blame ESPN for trying to get people on there that know what they are talking about, but there are a lot of better choices than those two. Alexi Lalas has the personality and practice for it, the other two can't even look at the camera when they talk.

Not speaking about personality really...speaking about this:

Giuseppe Rossi is one such example. Rossi was born to Italian parents in New Jersey, and he lived in the United States before being offered a spot in the Parma youth team. To cut a long story short, Rossi turned down a chance to play for Team USA as he hoped to earn a spot in the Italian National Team. He was called up to the Italian Under-21 team in August of 2006, and the rest is history. Rossi was labeled a traitor ("Giuseppe Rossi traitor" is a top-of-the-list Google auto-fill) by American fans, and many US Soccer supporters took to Twitter to abuse the player following Team USA's 1-0 victory over Italy this past February

US Fan: Timmy Chandler Tells US Soccer “Thanks but No Thanks” - Yahoo! Sports

 

[ChiRish]

Anyone else witness the continued fall of Fernando Torres at the end of Italy-Spain? Boy has that talent come a far way since the winning goal in Euro 08... did he even do anything this year Chelsea?

 

[STLDomer]

Missed the game, why wasn't Giuseppi Rossi playing?

 

[STLDomer]

Croatia was better but more bad luck for the Irish

 

[ChiRish]

Yeah, a tough group for the Irish to get out of anyways, but still. Was hoping badly for them to pull this one out

 

[irishrecruiting]

Missed the game, why wasn't Giuseppi Rossi playing?

Knee injury rules Italy's Giuseppe Rossi out of Euro 2012 | Football | guardian.co.uk

 

[notredomer23]

Croatia was not better than the Irish. The Irish gave away two easy goals in their own territory that simply were inexplicable mental errors. They had a few bad breaks toward the end too such as missing a goal on a header by inches, a hit post, and another header that the keeper was able to get a hand on. Croatia's first goal probably shouldn't have happened, and the second definitely shouldn't have happened. The Irish had the talent, I hope they get it together and upset Spain or Italy

 

[gkIrish]

Croatia was not better than the Irish. The Irish gave away two easy goals in their own territory that simply were inexplicable mental errors. They had a few bad breaks toward the end too such as missing a goal on a header by inches, a hit post, and another header that the keeper was able to get a hand on. Croatia's first goal probably shouldn't have happened, and the second definitely shouldn't have happened. The Irish had the talent, I hope they get it together and upset Spain or Italy

Have to disagree with you. Ireland doesn't have a lot of talent and doesn't have the experience (generally) to make up for that lack. Led to a lot of "inexplicable" goals as you said. Fun to root for because they play with passion but they won't be winning any games in this group.

 

[STLDomer]

Croatia was not better than the Irish. The Irish gave away two easy goals in their own territory that simply were inexplicable mental errors. They had a few bad breaks toward the end too such as missing a goal on a header by inches, a hit post, and another header that the keeper was able to get a hand on. Croatia's first goal probably shouldn't have happened, and the second definitely shouldn't have happened. The Irish had the talent, I hope they get it together and upset Spain or Italy

That's soccer, your gonna get close a lot and not come away w/ a goal but you can't make dumb mistakes. Croatia is better.

 

[notredomer23]

That's soccer, your gonna get close a lot and not come away w/ a goal but you can't make dumb mistakes. Croatia is better.

On any given day the score would have been 3 1 Ireland instead. I agree with what you are saying until Croatia is better. The talent was on par. They just played smarter

 

[NDty9]

FORZA AZZURRI !!!

Ill take that opening draw against the world #1 all day !...But more than that I was pretty pleased with the way Italy played yesterday ! They did not sit back adn wait for Spain ( and their Odd midfield loaded formation) to attack , they challenged the ball almost all the time, adn then turned that into attack as well. Cassano was GREAT, and i thought De Rossi played pretty damn well seeing he was not playing his normal position...... and obv Di Nitale off the bench was stellar. He may have to start over Balotelli next match!

Croatia is a GOOD team with some very good players... Modric is GREAT ! , I cant wait to see how this all unfolds! GO ITALIA !!

 

[rock_knutne]

Hahahaha...............anyone doubting Italy now? They should have won the match versus Spain, they created several clear cut scoring chances, especially Balotelli's blunder. Prandelli's 2-5-3 formation was brilliant to say the least, caught the Spainish off guard.

If Balotelli can keep his head straight, the partenership with Cassano could be prolific.

I've got a very good feeling they will make a serious run in this tournament.

 

[Cackalacky]

FORZA AZZURRI !!!

Ill take that opening draw against the world #1 all day !...But more than that I was pretty pleased with the way Italy played yesterday ! They did not sit back adn wait for Spain ( and their Odd midfield loaded formation) to attack , they challenged the ball almost all the time, adn then turned that into attack as well. Cassano was GREAT, and i thought De Rossi played pretty damn well seeing he was not playing his normal position...... and obv Di Nitale off the bench was stellar. He may have to start over Balotelli next match!

Croatia is a GOOD team with some very good players... Modric is GREAT ! , I cant wait to see how this all unfolds! GO ITALIA !!

I could watch Pirlo play 24-hours a day. That man is an unbelievable talent. He seems to know exactly where the other 19 field players are at anytime. I definitely agree Italy played fine, but I have to seriously question a 4-6-0 formation by Del Bosque...... As we wll as some of his player selections.

 

[rock_knutne]

FORZA AZZURRI !!!

Ill take that opening draw against the world #1 all day !...But more than that I was pretty pleased with the way Italy played yesterday ! They did not sit back adn wait for Spain ( and their Odd midfield loaded formation) to attack , they challenged the ball almost all the time, adn then turned that into attack as well. Cassano was GREAT, and i thought De Rossi played pretty damn well seeing he was not playing his normal position...... and obv Di Nitale off the bench was stellar. He may have to start over Balotelli next match!

Croatia is a GOOD team with some very good players... Modric is GREAT ! , I cant wait to see how this all unfolds! GO ITALIA !!

I think Prandelli stay with the same starting lineup.......if Balotelli screws up one more time then obviuosly Di Natale will start. I also think he will not hesitate to play the "Atomic Ant", Giavinco.

 

[STLDomer]

Fernandon't Scores missed two easy goals, Italy played better for the first ~60 minutes but the three man defense made it easy to break at the end when they became tired. both teams deserved no more than a draw

 

[rock_knutne]

Fernandon't Scores missed two easy goals, Italy played better for the first ~60 minutes but the three man defense made it easy to break at the end when they became tired. both teams deserved no more than a draw

..............and Italy could have also won the game late. They blew two clear cut chances on goal. Spain's defense will be their downfall, it's not very good.

Obviously I'm looking through "Azzurri" tinted glasses but Italy deserved a win more than Spain would have.

 

[rock_knutne]

What a finish: