OT: Euro 2012

[CalamityX11]

How about Eusébio?

I grew up watching Figo...

Eusebio is before my timeline....

Niether are available to aid Ronaldo lol....

 

[dredinis21]

Eusebio was amazing in his own right, but there was a 20 year gap between Eusebio and the next time that Portugal was relevant at the world stage with Figo, hence the reason that I did not bring him up. But if it were not for Pele, everyone would be talking of Eusebio as one of the greatest of that generation.

 

[Yoshi]

The intensity of the Poles vs the Russians is based on politics/history - one of the many reasons why soccer has that flair that you can't find in other sports.

I don't know if you guys have seen the documentaries regarding Football Rivalries or International Rivalries, but some of these rivalries amongst clubs (Barca vs Madrid, Man U vs Pool, Rangers vs Celtic, etc) and countries (England vs Argentina, Germany vs Netherlands, Brazil vs Argentina, etc) is just flat out fascinating since there is a historical, political, and sociocultural component to these confrontations. Man I love futbol!

 

[dredinis21]

Eh, they played a decent Portugal team and I don't think the Germans ever really looked in trouble. I think they'll get rolling, not changing my pick.

The Portuguese team simply played that game content with a draw. They stacked the box defensively and showed really no willingness to push the ball up. It was only when Germany scored did the Portuguese "Oh shit!" meter turn on and they finally starting attacking. Poor showing by the Portuguese. It wasn't as much that Germany won as much as Portugal set themselves up for failure.

I love my country. I hate my team.

 

[Yoshi]

The Portuguese team simply played that game content with a draw. They stacked the box defensively and showed really no willingness to push the ball up. It was only when Germany scored did the Portuguese "Oh shit!" meter turn on and they finally starting attacking. Poor showing by the Portuguese. It wasn't as much that Germany won as much as Portugal set themselves up for failure.

I love my country. I hate my team.

I agree with that although Germany along with Spain and perhaps the Netherlands (before their loss to Denmark) are the favs in this tourney. The German side that lost to Spain in WC 2010 looked their part - a young team that was overwhelmed by a star studded, experienced Spanish side. This time around, Germany has some experience under their belt.

 

[Yoshi]

Being a hardcore Azzurri fan, I have to say I too was pleasantly surprised by their performance. If Mario had scored on that one-on-one with the keeper, who knows how that would have altered the game. Probably not a whole lot since DiNatale scored when he came on but ya never know!

I don't know, one can argue that Spain could have walked away with 3 points considering Torres' absolutely horrible finishing moves/touches with those 2 chances he had. No question the Old El Nino would have scored on both occasions had he truly been in form.

As talented as Spain is, you can see how losing Villa is hurting this team, a player who runs fast and is very direct in his attacking approach. Torres is many ways is still recovering and although Spain has arguably the best midfield in the world, they need forwards with pace who can stretch that defense considering Italy was clogging a lot of Spain's midfield during their possession.

 

[trancemeister]

I don't know, one can argue that Spain could have walked away with 3 points considering Torres' absolutely horrible finishing moves/touches with those 2 chances he had. No question the Old El Nino would have scored on both occasions had he truly been in form.

As talented as Spain is, you can see how losing Villa is hurting this team, a player who runs fast and is very direct in his attacking approach. Torres is many ways is still recovering and although Spain has arguably the best midfield in the world, they need forwards with pace who can stretch that defense considering Italy was clogging a lot of Spain's midfield during their possession.

Completely agree with you Yoshi. I have no idea what the heck has happened to Torres. Lack of confidence is one thing, but his struggles have been going on for years now. Spain is also going to miss Puyol. Even though it is up there in age now, you cannot replace that experience and how he pulls together the defense.

I also have to give the Italians some credit - their defense held up much to my surprise. But then again, with Chiellini and Bonucci playing side by side for club as well helps a little with that.

 

[dredinis21]

I agree with that although Germany along with Spain and perhaps the Netherlands (before their loss to Denmark) are the favs in this tourney. The German side that lost to Spain in WC 2010 looked their part - a young team that was overwhelmed by a star studded, experienced Spanish side. This time around, Germany has some experience under their belt.

I am certainly not questioning Germany's chops as I agree with you that they are one of the favorites. It just pisses me off to no end that the Portuguese play NOT TO LOSE as opposed to playing to win. Hell, Nani didn't get into the game until it was already decided. That was more my beef with the game.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

The intensity of the Poles vs the Russians is based on politics/history - one of the many reasons why soccer has that flair that you can't find in other sports.

I was just going to bring this up after reading this on SI.com......(btw Jonathon Wilson is also required reading for all things soccer):

During the playing of their national anthem, Russian fans unfurled a huge banner that spanned the height of the two-tiered stand, surely the most patriotic display at Euro 2012. It read "This Is Russia" and depicted the warrior prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who led the Russian resistance to Polish-Lithuanian rule in the early 17th century.

Read more: Poland, Russia clash; Czech Rep. restores hope - Jonathan Wilson - SI.com

Its like Cal vs. Stanford, if they had fought 5 or 6 near-apocalyptic wars over the past few centuries. There are a lot of great rivalries in American sports, but its just not even on the same level as this stuff.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

It just pisses me off to no end that the Portuguese play NOT TO LOSE as opposed to playing to win.

Portugal makes no sense to me. Unlike you Dre, I think they do have some pretty good players past the top few.....their whole starting-11 is quality. But for whatever reason it doesn't add up to near the sum of its parts. My best guess is that the chemistry is just all wrong, as their attacking dept. consists of a striker that can't score and two very selfish wingers who only want to score. I can't really fault Ronaldo too much, as he's so obviously the best player by so far AND has succeeded on plenty of big stages. They've tried him at striker and on the wing and it doesn't make much difference.

 

[dredinis21]

Portugal makes no sense to me. Unlike you Dre, I think they do have some pretty good players past the top few.....their whole starting-11 is quality. But for whatever reason it doesn't add up to near the sum of its parts. My best guess is that the chemistry is just all wrong, as their attacking dept. consists of a striker that can't score and two very selfish wingers who only want to score. I can't really fault Ronaldo too much, as he's so obviously the best player by so far AND has succeeded on plenty of big stages. They've tried him at striker and on the wing and it doesn't make much difference.

Euro 2012 Roster: Portugal

I have given the link for the Portuguese roster. I completely disagree with the notion that their whole starting 11 is quality. Our starting 11 consists of one superstar, one overhyped "scorer", one solid defender, and a bunch of marginal starters that require other people to create for them to be able to find any value within their system. Miereles basically plays off of Drogba and Torres to a lesser extent to open himself up. He is also prone to turnovers as he decision making skills look more like he is trying to make SportsCenter as opposed to just simply getting the ball where it needs to be. Almeida plays with a chip on his shoulder, but other then crosses that must be placed right at him, his offensive game is lacking. Coentrao is the only other starter worth mentioning (having already referenced Ronaldo, Nani, and Pepe as the main three) but he is not without a lot of warts. He is simply not very good at on ball defending and tends to get himself in bad positioning more often then not on runs.

Their dribbling, outside of Ronaldo, is unimaginative and they get themselves into trouble because their passing is stationary and lacks aggression...and frankly much movement at all. They are a disjointed group of players that need to find their respective roles on the team and haven't yet....which leads to the clusterfuck that is their offense.

I would love nothing more then my team to be better then they are, but this is me being more realistic then pessimistic, especially considering the International track record that both Nani and Ronaldo have.

 

[mem49er]

Germany/Holland today, should be entertaining!

 

[CalamityX11]

A post to cover some posts/topics:

Torres of Spain has never been the same in the mental and physical department since his big injury back in 08/09... Never came close and it's a shame. Spain does need some upgrades in Forwards eventually. Villa or not, he's getting up there and they'll need some gunners up front.

Spain's days of midfield terror is coming to an end!!!! muahahhahhahahaha

Dredenis hit it perfectly about Portugal. It's one world class player, an overrted player in Nani and a solid defendor in Pepe. Coentrao is good but if he's your top 5 player on any team, that's a bad indicator of the team overall IMHO.

Portugal at the moment does not have any real threats to take advantage of or even use with Ronaldo. There was the sub though that got me interested(forgot his name). I would almost play him more minutes and try to build a stronger team by 2014(if they qualify)

Portugal once again was on the ropes in qualifying, they're not that good anymore as a team. Not sure if Mourinho could change that.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

You guys are missing it a bit......first, the whole midfield trio of Meireles, Moutinho and Veloso is both talented, and a proper combination of players for that formation with a defender (Veloso), passer (Moutinho) and runner (Meireles). Past that, they're all well-rounded players who contribute in all phases.

Alves and Pepe are both very strong defenders, and Coentrao and Periera are solid enough while being strong going forward.

I'd say its true that they don't have much in terms of dribbling, but no team in this tourney outside of the elite is stacked in that dept. and none have two with the flair of Nani/Ronaldo. I think if those guys were better team players the whole thing would add up much better. Like I said, in my opinion the only weak player in the whole team is their striker, and unfortunately that's crucial.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Went back to see what my favorite football expert said......and he notes that the midfielders are all well-rounded, but lacking either a true playmaker or true destroyer. Fair point. Not about a lack of talent, about a lack of chemistry.

Euro 2012 preview: Portugal | Zonal Marking

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

And just like that.......2-0 romp early. You could make a case that Portugal is better at every single position on the field than Denmark......with the possible exception of Simon Kjaer at DC. But that was also true of the Dutch and that didn't go so well.

 

[Yoshi]

A post to cover some posts/topics:

Torres of Spain has never been the same in the mental and physical department since his big injury back in 08/09... Never came close and it's a shame. Spain does need some upgrades in Forwards eventually. Villa or not, he's getting up there and they'll need some gunners up front.

Spain's days of midfield terror is coming to an end!!!! muahahhahhahahaha

Dredenis hit it perfectly about Portugal. It's one world class player, an overrted player in Nani and a solid defendor in Pepe. Coentrao is good but if he's your top 5 player on any team, that's a bad indicator of the team overall IMHO.

Portugal at the moment does not have any real threats to take advantage of or even use with Ronaldo. There was the sub though that got me interested(forgot his name). I would almost play him more minutes and try to build a stronger team by 2014(if they qualify)

Portugal once again was on the ropes in qualifying, they're not that good anymore as a team. Not sure if Mourinho could change that.

Not sure Cal what you mean by Spain's midfield ownage coming to an end considering both Fabs and Mata are pretty young and that Iniesta at 28 is not that old either.

As for Torres, he's had a string of injuries but I'm not going to give up on him yet - he's still quality and the best forward option for Spain considering Villa is out. A quality run against Ireland should hopefully lead to more consistency on his play. When I saw him sail that second goal attempt against Italy the other day, I knew that his lack of consistent form was behind that one.

Btw, this Portugal - Denmark game is getting pretty interesting.

 

[clyde_carbon]

And just like that.......2-0 romp early. You could make a case that Portugal is better at every single position on the field than Denmark......with the possible exception of Simon Kjaer at DC. But that was also true of the Dutch and that didn't go so well.

I think Bendtner can start on the Portugese team as well, but I agree with you. Portugal's talent is pretty underrated, and they should be dominating Denmark - and they are.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

I think Bendtner can start on the Portugese team as well

Yeah...I'd forgotten about him until after.

This game really should be 4-1, now its 2-2 as I type this. Unreal. That has to be the easiest miss of Ronaldo's career.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Awesome match.