The 2012 UEFA European Championship - Poland/Ukraine - The Thread!

[united]

I was rooting for Portugal but as soon as it came down to penalties I was glad Spain won. Portugal advancing to the Finals without registering a shot on goal would just be so wrong in every way.

I don't agree with Ronaldo shooting fifth, either. Unless he asked to be put in that spot, that is a coaching blunder. May not have made a difference but it may have...who can say for sure?

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by united

I was rooting for Portugal but as soon as it came down to penalties I was glad Spain won. Portugal advancing to the Finals without registering a shot on goal would just be so wrong in every way.

I don't agree with Ronaldo shooting fifth, either. Unless he asked to be put in that spot, that is a coaching blunder. May not have made a difference but it may have...who can say for sure?

UEFA's site had them with two shots on target.

2 or none, I'd agree with your stance if Spain were peppering the Portugal goal and dominating play. But that wasn't the case. For much of the game, Portugal were right there with Spain. The last 20 minutes or so of extra time, that's when Spain turned it on and dominated.

[IgnitedSoul]

Van Marwijk quits as Netherlands coach

On a completely different note...

I'm going to be in London the day of the final. Any tips on finding somewhere to watch the match? It's going to be absolute madness, isn't it?

[NBC]

Originally Posted by IgnitedSoul

Van Marwijk quits as Netherlands coach

On a completely different note...

I'm going to be in London the day of the final. Any tips on finding somewhere to watch the match? It's going to be absolute madness, isn't it?

Quite the opposite in fact. The interest in the Euros has greatly diminished with the exit of the England side. While I am quite sure that pubs will be moderately busy with people watching, it will likely be relatively subdued.

Now if you were going to be in Madrid for the final...

[SebC]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I don't know why the ref calls that crap. Have you noticed that over the years there are more and more offensive fouls (especially on corners)? I think forwards used to be able to challenge for balls against the defender more... now the defender just has to basically fall down and he'll get a free kick. Makes attacking and scoring alot harder.

Not sure if rhetorical, so yes, I have.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by moon

Not a lot to choose from considering the last 3 (well 4 actually) teams left. Unlikeable teams and unlikable fans.

Unlikeable teams? Personally, while there might not be some cinderella story team to root for, but I think all 3 teams are pretty likable in different ways. I'm a pretty big fan of this Spanish team....there's a reason they've been so good the last few tournaments. They put the team first, don't have any overblown egos, and don't flop around too much (for a Mediterranean country at least). There might not be as good of a story around this team compared to 08, but that's because they're more mature and experienced.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by SebC

Not sure if rhetorical, so yes, I have.

Not rhetorical at all, over recent years I've noticed (and I'm sure you have as well) more little fouls against forwards. For example, the defender is sheparding the ball that is slow rolling out for a goal kick, if the forward just nudges the defender the ref will call a foul.

On corners, if the forward's hand just touches a defender's shoulder as he's leaping, the ref will blow it dead. I don't know about you guys but I think it would be pretty difficult to jump for a header with your arms at your sides. There has to be a little bit of incidental contact allowed but this is not the case.

Just something to keep in mind watching the game later today

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by united

I was rooting for Portugal but as soon as it came down to penalties I was glad Spain won. Portugal advancing to the Finals without registering a shot on goal would just be so wrong in every way.

I don't agree with Ronaldo shooting fifth, either. Unless he asked to be put in that spot, that is a coaching blunder. May not have made a difference but it may have...who can say for sure?

Portugal coach Paulo Bento said his side had planned their penalty shoot-out strategy - and Cristiano Ronaldo was down to take the fifth spot-kick.

I've seen Ronaldo shoot everywhere in the shootout so he doesn't care or he doesn't have the right to care. He's shot 3rd or 4th in those shootout wins over England. He shot first and missed last month in the CL semifinal against Bayern. Remember the classic CL final in Moscow I think he shot 2nd or 3rd for ManU and missed. He would have been the goat if Terry hadn't slipped and fallen on his ass.

[GirlySports]

Italy will attack

And we know Germany will as well. This will be a fun match I think, it'll seem like a sprint compared to yesterday.

[united]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

UEFA's site had them with two shots on target.

2 or none, I'd agree with your stance if Spain were peppering the Portugal goal and dominating play. But that wasn't the case. For much of the game, Portugal were right there with Spain. The last 20 minutes or so of extra time, that's when Spain turned it on and dominated.

Ahhh. I only got to watched extra time so was just blindly going off of Skysports who have 0 when everyone else seems to have 2. My mistake.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...-penalty-order
"I was going to take the fifth penalty but we missed two," said the Real Madrid forward.
"It was just a question of me speaking with the coach. He said to me: 'Do you want to take the fifth one?' and I said 'yes'.
"Sometimes I take the first, the second or the third. I agreed to take the fifth.
"I hope Spain win the tournament now because I have a lot friends there and I play there and it will be a tough final for them.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18355490

Schweinsteiger says he is fit. I am looking forward to this match a lot

[d_phaneuf]

I like Kroos coming in

he's better than Muller

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

I like Kroos coming in

he's better than Muller

Agreed. Muller has been a no show so far. I wouldn't have minded Reus staying in either

[d_phaneuf]

ya Podolski hasn't been great either, and I thought Reus was great against Greece

same with Klose and Gomez, Klose and Ozil just work so well together, surprised he didn't keep that going

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Podolski has been better than Muller, which isn't saying a whole lot.

Not surprised they went back to Gomez. If he isn't able to create anything Klose will come on early, I'd imagine.

[Locke]

The Germans march on Warsaw once again!

We were invited!

[Table 5]

Man, great game so far....

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Nice header. No chance for Neuer

[NBC]

Ha ha. Stupid Germans.

[North East Goon]

that settles it, England would have crushed the Germans!