OT: Euro 2012

[CalamityX11]

Didnt realize Mario took his shirt off..... back to square one again... *sigh*

 

[CalamityX11]

Muller just getting onto the pitch? wow...

 

[clyde_carbon]

Balo is dancing and making things scary for Germany.... finally playing like everyone expected of him.

Has Italy ever had a player that can shake like Mario before? I know the many greats of Italy but not necessarily the dynamic Mario presents... not annointing him the greatest or even close but its different seeing that from Italy IMHO

Roberto Baggio?

I agree though. Balotelli is quite different than most Italian players.

 

[trancemeister]

Balo is dancing and making things scary for Germany.... finally playing like everyone expected of him.

Has Italy ever had a player that can shake like Mario before? I know the many greats of Italy but not necessarily the dynamic Mario presents... not annointing him the greatest or even close but its different seeing that from Italy IMHO

I have to say Balotelli is definitely not the typical striker that Italy teams have featured. They have mostly had poachers (Inzaghi), short playmakers (Del Piero, Baggio), or just big awkward players (Iaquinta, Toni). Balotelli has great size, uses it well, and has a decent dribble too. Now if only he can get his head right

EDIT: about the only player that comes to mind who had both size and could control/finish was Christian Vieri.

 

[CalamityX11]

Italy moves on and rightfully so. Germany made interesting at the end... poor play by Germany.

 

[Yoshi]

Wasn't impressed with Germany's midfield. Podolski and Gomez didn't look great either but that could be due to the lack of link up from the midfield. Italy's defense was pretty solid as well, but Germany is not Spain, and neither is their midfield.

And for Vicente Del Bosque, we gotta see Torres play some in this game.

 

[TobyTyler]

I have a question for all you soccer nuts:

If a team plays poorly and gets relegated to a lower league do the players on that team have to go down as well? What if Christian Ronaldo or Lionel Messi's team goes down does a star like that get sent down? Also, if they do get sent down, what happens to their contracts, are they reduced?

 

[mem49er]

I have a question for all you soccer nuts:

If a team plays poorly and gets relegated to a lower league do the players on that team have to go down as well? What if Christian Ronaldo or Lionel Messi's team goes down does a star like that get sent down? Also, if they do get sent down, what happens to their contracts, are they reduced?

The team/players/coach all go, those that are under contract. Any team with real stars is not likely to get relegated. It's only the bottom few clubs each season.

 

[mem49er]

Side note, very proud of Italy and Mario finally showed up STRONG!

I think in the aftermath, there will be a lot of questions asked regarding the managers' decisions for Portugal and Germany.

 

[TobyTyler]

The team/players/coach all go, those that are under contract. Any team with real stars is not likely to get relegated. It's only the bottom few clubs each season.

Thanks for the info. I always wondered how they dealt with that. It seems like a great way to motivate teams to win. It would never work in the States though. Could you imagine a minor league club having to pay Albert Pujols 25 mil?

 

[mem49er]

Thanks for the info. I always wondered how they dealt with that. It seems like a great way to motivate teams to win. It would never work in the States though. Could you imagine a minor league club having to pay Albert Pujols 25 mil?

No problem. But, just to be clear...it would be more like the Royals going to AAA. There's a big disparity in payroll from the top to the bottom. And the teams that get promoted get millions more for getting into the big time, so even though they're setup to get crushed most days, it's worth it to the club.

 

[clyde_carbon]

Thanks for the info. I always wondered how they dealt with that. It seems like a great way to motivate teams to win. It would never work in the States though. Could you imagine a minor league club having to pay Albert Pujols 25 mil?

It most cases it's only for 1 year anyways.

 

[trancemeister]

Toby - just to add a little more to this discussion ...

There are also rare cases where a super team like my beloved Juventus gets shafted by dirty owners who fabricate a match fixing scandal (Calciopoli) which results in them being demoted to the second division for a year. I am still pissed off about that since Moratti (Inter) and Berlusconi (Milan) were just as guilty yet we were made the scapegoats. Alright, I'll get off that soap box now.

However, if a top team were to get relegated, even though they might have been under contract, they can still demand to be sold to a different team. Contracts are not as binding and as cash strapping as they are in the NFL. Every player has a "buy out" price, and with there being no salary cap implications, players can easily be sold back and forth. In Juve's case, it was Ibrahimovic and Zambrotta who were the highest profile players who refused to play the one year in Serie B and were thus sold.

With all that has happened, this years championship was that much sweeter and I'm so happy for players like Del Piero who remained loyal to the team through the relegation and tasted victory once more before calling it quits.

 

[trancemeister]

Forza Italia!!!!

 

[Yoshi]

Visca Espana!

Silva and Alba, and with no help from Torres or Villa. Del Bosque is a genius and we are witnessing perhaps the greatest run from a country in soccer history as not team has ever won three major tourneys in a row.

 

[Yoshi]

Toby - just to add a little more to this discussion ...

There are also rare cases where a super team like my beloved Juventus gets shafted by dirty owners who fabricate a match fixing scandal (Calciopoli) which results in them being demoted to the second division for a year. I am still pissed off about that since Moratti (Inter) and Berlusconi (Milan) were just as guilty yet we were made the scapegoats. Alright, I'll get off that soap box now.

However, if a top team were to get relegated, even though they might have been under contract, they can still demand to be sold to a different team. Contracts are not as binding and as cash strapping as they are in the NFL. Every player has a "buy out" price, and with there being no salary cap implications, players can easily be sold back and forth. In Juve's case, it was Ibrahimovic and Zambrotta who were the highest profile players who refused to play the one year in Serie B and were thus sold.

With all that has happened, this years championship was that much sweeter and I'm so happy for players like Del Piero who remained loyal to the team through the relegation and tasted victory once more before calling it quits.

Trance, wasn't Cannavaro sold to Real Madrid when Juve was relegated? I could swear there was another Juve player that played for RM as well.

 

[trancemeister]

Visca Espana!

Silva and Alba, and with no help from Torres or Villa. Del Bosque is a genius and we are witnessing perhaps the greatest run from a country in soccer history as not team has ever won three major tourneys in a row.

As much as I love Italy football I can't help but watch in awe and appreciate what we are all witnessing today. This truly is one of the best teams in the history of the game. Their passing is flawless, precision unbelievable and movement in space amazing! It is such quality that makes the game of football such a joy to watch! Much respect to the Spanish!

 

[trancemeister]

Trance, wasn't Cannavaro sold to Real Madrid when Juve was relegated? I could swear there was another Juve player that played for RM as well.

Yup! Cannavaro did indeed refuse to play for Juve in Serie B. If there was a market for Buffon, he would have left too which is why I'm not so fond of him. Del Piero, Nedved, Camoranesi and Trezeguet were the only stars who remained loyal through the relegation. Others that jumped ship included Thuram and Vieira.

 

[mem49er]

The Spaniards put on an ass whooping, almost would have been better for Italy to lose to Germany...

Nice dynasty for La Roja, wonder what the cup will bring.

 

[CalamityX11]

Visca Espana!

Silva and Alba, and with no help from Torres or Villa. Del Bosque is a genius and we are witnessing perhaps the greatest run from a country in soccer history as not team has ever won three major tourneys in a row.

Torres hasn't helped in nearly 4 years... :roll: