[Bauchelain the Evil]

Yeah sorry. I corrected it.

[Flawed]

dirty game, 31 fouls

[Gothos]

gah I missed the first half an hour of the second half :/
pity they didn't give a better replay angle on the 3rd goal, I'm not entirely sure that Quaresma wasn't offside there... those new offside rules are just idiotic, unless you make referee decisions changable with monitoring like in all decent sports...

[Optimus Prime]

Damn Greece got shut out but Portugal looks good...though their back line tends to get sloppy at times.....the Czechs had a lot of quality chances. Ronaldo is so freaking good it's ridiculous.

Ronaldinho who? He was the best player in the world at one point right? Now it's Cristiano Ronaldo I'd say

Gothos;327678 said:

not to mention they kept playing after the Swede's injury even though Sweden gave away the ball in fair play. shows Greeks as a people without honor, dignity and decency, I hope your regular Greek distances him/herself from such... primitive behaviour.
though I admit this style of enraging your opponent seems quite common in mediterranean football

I hope you are kidding. In no way does a group of men that play a sport represent a people's character. That's ridiculous. They didn't play well, leave it at that.

Who does Greece play next?

[Thelomen Toblerone]

The next greek game is against Russia, Xander.


Gothos, surely you're taking the piss. That sort of thing, while obviously wrong, does not reflect in any way on a culture or people, and is not confined by any means to the med.

Chelsea have done that sort of thing several times this season, an English team with players from all over the globe. Who does that reflect on? Every nation with a player at Chelsea?

[Gothos]

Xander;328086 said:

I hope you are kidding. In no way does a group of men that play a sport represent a people's character. That's ridiculous. They didn't play well, leave it at that.

Who does Greece play next?

how people play their sport represents their national qualities. the english fight to the last minute and to the last drop of blood (sweat?), germans are ogranised and tactical, brazillians go into the field with creativity, spirit and flair, and so on. it can represent a nation's character. this, of course, may not always apply and what happened on the pitch was just a bunch of bad players being frustrated... I really hope so. many greeks I've met online would support the theory, sadly, and I'm not sure what to think.

[Gothos]

Thelomen Toblerone;328095 said:

The next greek game is against Russia, Xander.


Gothos, surely you're taking the piss. That sort of thing, while obviously wrong, does not reflect in any way on a culture or people, and is not confined by any means to the med.

Chelsea have done that sort of thing several times this season, an English team with players from all over the globe. Who does that reflect on? Every nation with a player at Chelsea?

don't compare national teams to football clubs. though the chelsea coach does suggest they were told to play dirty.

[Bhurnae]

Xander;328080 said:

Damn Greece got shut out but Portugal looks good...though their back line tends to get sloppy at times.....the Czechs had a lot of quality chances. Ronaldo is so freaking good it's ridiculous. Ronaldinho who? He was the best player in the world at one point right? Now it's Cristiano Ronaldo I'd say

You wont find many to argue with on that point Xand. TBH most of his country performances are mediocre compared with what he does at ManU week in and week out.
http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/ for games coming up.

[Flawed]

Gothos;328101 said:

the english fight to the last minute and to the last drop of blood (sweat?), .

i have to disagree with you there gothos, England uaually play ok for half hour, score a goal, then sit back for the rest of the game fiddling with their todgers.

there have been exceptions like beating germany 4-1 and holland 4 -1 also but in recent times they are complacent to the point of ridiculousness and are about as much use as a glass hammer.

that being said its interesting to see your view point.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Holy fuck look at the rain!

How the hell are you supposed to play well in that?


EDIT: What a goal! Assist by the puddle.

2nd EDIT: And he misses an almost identical open goal! Hakan Yakin, tut tut. This is comic gold right here.

[Optimus Prime]

This rain is insane playing conditions. Come on Switzerland! Boo Turks!



EDIT:

Quote

EDIT: What a goal! Assist by the puddle.

2nd EDIT: And he misses an almost identical open goal! Hakan Yakin, tut tut. This is comic gold right here.

Damn you Toby! I'm on a delay! I knew they scored before they did it! Argh!

[Thelomen Toblerone]

I love the little puddles that splash up everytime someone steps, it's brilliant.

EDIT: Mwahahaha!! I shall endeavour to spoil the game for you Xandy.

Bloody hell, what a fight that was! The way Derdiyok punched that linesman was brilliant.








Just kidding. Or...am I?

[Bhurnae]

Those guys are going to be dropping like flies with cramp soon.......puddles making them really work. MOM has to be the puddle. both teams playing a damn sight better than their last games though.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

I feel sorry for the Turks, this weather completely neutralises their style of play. Before the rain, they were all set to win, now, their gameplans undone.

That said, the swiss have done some lovely little moves and touches, and they're tactically spot on. Be interesting to see what happens late in the game though, as you say Bhurnae, what with stamina playing a huge role.

Great game to watch though!

[amphibian]

Gothos;328101 said:

how people play their sport represents their national qualities. the english fight to the last minute and to the last drop of blood (sweat?), germans are ogranised and tactical, brazillians go into the field with creativity, spirit and flair, and so on. it can represent a nation's character. this, of course, may not always apply and what happened on the pitch was just a bunch of bad players being frustrated... I really hope so. many greeks I've met online would support the theory, sadly, and I'm not sure what to think.

The Brazilians have been stuck in a transition from "joga bonito" to the game played by most these days (big strikers, strong holding midfielders and counter-attacking first, slower-building opportunities second) for a while now. The last World Cup and more recent games have showed that their talent isn't always enough to overcome the inconsistencies in philosophy. Too often they get into a 4-2-4 set and when they can't get the fast breaks going, they lose possession in midfield.

I don't know if any sports team truly represents a nation's character, but they do reflect the guiding principles of the people constructing them.

On a different tack: Podolski's second goal against Poland was entirely the result of Schweinsteiger's hard work. The announcers on the ESPN match I watched went on a five minute gush all over Podolski without mentioning the other guy. Dern it.

[Bhurnae]

Thelomen Toblerone;328143 said:

Great game to watch though!

You are not wrong ....I'm at work and having to run into another room to catch it a couple of minutes at a time on a poxy little 14" screen. i'm expecting a lot of long ball punts for speed because as soon as it hits the deck it stops..........Swiss still showing surprising little touches despite the rain............and they are off

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/e...008/7442258.stm

You can watch it live online in a little window there, just put mute on and minimise whenever someone's around. It;s the sneaky way I use if footy's on at work.

[Bhurnae]

Pitch drying out well 1-1 with a sweet finish from Toikey

[Bhurnae]

Thelomen Toblerone;328152 said:

Go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/e...008/7442258.stm

You can watch it live online in a little window there, just put mute on and minimise whenever someone's around. It;s the sneaky way I use if footy's on at work.

Surprisingly I can access that from here.....no probs about peeps being around, just the telly is screwed to the wall in case anyone pinches it and flogs it on Antiques Roadshow. I've just bribed my colleagues so they will only scream for me if we are invaded by aliens

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Oooh, it;s getting tense! Could go either way!


Incidentally, that was a poor bit of keeping for the turkish goal, I think.