OT: Euro 2012

[BINGO]

Denmark is up 1-0

 

[CalamityX11]

I'd agree that Spain and Germany are head and shoulders above everyone else, and its hard to pick one of them. No substantial holes on either team. France a quality dark horse, but if you look closely at their squad I think maybe only Ribery and possibly Evra could start for either of the top two teams. Next World Cup they'll have a lot of guys hitting their prime but not quite yet.

And in the case of Is Russia that Good vs. Is Czech that Bad......I'm going with Czech is that bad.

Don't sleep on Russia. Historically they're no known to be world beaters but over the years(evident in the last WC) they're actual skill through their individual players have improved and they play mostly in Russia which employs similar systems in their league similar to what Germany does.

 

[CalamityX11]

Denmark with a quality upset. good stuff DANES!

 

[mem49er]

Denmark with a quality upset. good stuff DANES!

Bit of a shocker, the Oranje couldn't capitalize on a ton of chances.

 

[CalamityX11]

Yeah, what really jumped out for me was their lack of defensive skill in the back.... Skilled forwards could kill them in one on one breakdowns.

 

[mem49er]

Yeah, what really jumped out for me was their lack of defensive skill in the back.... Skilled forwards could kill them in one on one breakdowns.

Yeah, they were known to be suspect prior to the match, but I'm sure Portugal and Germany were grinning to themselves.

 

[mem49er]

Pepe with a narrow miss....

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

First, I think the Dutch were simply too cautious, starting both de Jong and Van Bommel in the midfield. They are both hard-tackling, defense-minded players who do very little going forward, and one of them could have sufficed against Denmark.

Second, they have to think about sitting Robben next match. I've considered him one of the most dangerous attackers around, but recently he has just looked terrible, both selfish and lacking in ideas. Between van der Vaart, Huntelarr (? spelling) and Kuyt they have good options, though they may need to change style a bit. But Robben just killed their flow today consistently.

But on the other hand, Sneidjer (? spelling) was amazing today, he can put a pass through any defense.....and while RVP should be a perfect finisher, its somewhere Huntelarr can really help.

 

[mem49er]

Oh my......poor Portugal

 

[mem49er]

Spain/Italy putting up an entertaining match. Both have looked dangerous at times, Italy maybe playing a touch better. Cassano looking real good, Balotelli working on his 2nd yellow (shocker!).

 

[mem49er]

And Balotelli chokes...

 

[mem49er]

ITALY WITH THE FIRST BLOW! Wow.

 

[mem49er]

AND A BRILLIANT ANSWER FROM SPAIN!

 

[clyde_carbon]

Wow. Croatia scored really early.

 

[clyde_carbon]

Wow! And now Ireland responds. Crazy game so far.

 

[CalamityX11]

Mario... way to go blonde there.....

Dont sleep on the irish.... good matchup thus far

 

[clyde_carbon]

Given made a monster save earlier from a long range shot that was a bullet.

 

[mem49er]

Too many easy goals for Croatia...

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

I just had no idea how good Croatia is.....not only that they are #8 in the world, but can put so many good players out there. They have three guys that could play for just about any team, with Modric, Srna, and Jelavic (lesser known player but on fire of late), with a bunch of other solid contributors. They're a legit 2nd tier team behind Spain and Germany.

 

[CalamityX11]

Croatia was good(historically a good 2nd tier team) but I wouldn't put too much into their win vs Ireland.