MikeM
Who's rooting for who in tomorrow night's match?
guidothepimmp
Russia is pushing some good ball. Very easy on the eye. Impressed thus far..
Im rooting for Portugal. Cant help it. Its in my blood.
THat said it is a bittersweet relation. Having been privvy to some great footballers such as
Luis Figo, Paulo Sousa, Rui Costa, Fernando Couto, Paulo Futre, Simao Sabrosa, Nuno Gomes, Pauleta, Paulo Bento etc..
And now having to put up with a bunch of pre madonna ponces like Cristiano Ronaldo, Miguel Veloso, Nani, Raul Meireles et al... while patriotic and hoping for the best, we (portuguese "generally") are not overly a) interested b) excited, c) passionate.
This is mainly because the latter lot of players are arrogant, egotistic, full of shit, overpaid and a disgrace to the national jersey. Mr. C. Ronaldo has the dubious honour of being THE only EVER Captain of Portugal that has given the Portuguese fans the finger.
Which for those of you that may be more football savvy, is why he (and the rest of this "team") get booed when they play in Portugal.
That said,
Do I think Portugal can progress? no.
Am I certain? no
Why, because they blow hot and cold, and when they decide to have a go, they can beat anyone.
Realistically though, because they have been moaning about match pay pre tournament, i see them bowing out group stage.
We are in this tournament, in the same way France was at the 2010 WC. Complete disarray.
Gearhead
I just hope that In the last group match in group B we will be able to avoid the red cards of that infamous Netherlands-Portugal match, when was it? Playing nine to nine or something...
guidothepimmp
Gearhead wrote
I just hope that In the last group match in group B we will be able to avoid the red cards of that infamous Netherlands-Portugal match, when was it? Playing nine to nine or something...
lol, Battle of Nuremberg? WC 2006 Quarterfinal if memory serves... yup, that game got ugly quickly... for both teams sake, and irrespective of who goes through, I hope so too, they could certainly do with all their players accounted for in the knock outs
deefstes
guidothepimmp wrote
Gearhead wrote
I just hope that In the last group match in group B we will be able to avoid the red cards of that infamous Netherlands-Portugal match, when was it? Playing nine to nine or something...
lol, Battle of Nuremberg? WC 2006 Quarterfinal if memory serves... yup, that game got ugly quickly... for both teams sake, and irrespective of who goes through, I hope so too, they could certainly do with all their players accounted for in the knock outs
Is it just me or do the Netherlands have that tendency to turn a game ugly when it gets tough. The same thing happened in WC2010. Throughout the tournament they played with lovely discipline but in that final they were so frustrated that they started making one foul tackle after the other and started shoving Spanish players etc.
Portugal: I actually like them in a not so passionate sort of way. I would probably have liked them a lot if it wasn't for the Cristiano Ronaldo turd. I am looking forward to witness yet another top level competition where he fails to achieve anything. I always enjoy seeing him underperform when he thinks so highly of himself. I do like Nani though. Not sure, guidothepimp, what your gripe with him is?
How about this RUS-CZE game huh? Almost done now and Russia is all over these poor Czechs. From a fantasy football point of view, I'm having mixed results. My goalie is Petr Cech. Obviously I'll be losing a few points there but my team's captain is Dzagoev, who's netted two goals already. Booyaaaaa!
Gearhead
If compared to the standard of Dutch team that lost the final in '74, modern football is for sissies. A foul tackle today is much like the norm in those days. If you compare to the team that won the Euros in '88, they were the sweetest boys ever; I don't remember Gullit ever actually touching anyone.
The 2010 team did not play nice all the way to the final, just look at how they pushed Brasil into a corner... It's not a typical Dutch thing I think. I seem to remember that the Hollands 2010 squad had the most players playing abroad of all nations, so they merely reflect the standards of their time.
guidothepimmp
Nederland and Portugal can both be physical teams.. I don't think that's their nature though.
There was a time when being physical was part of the stategy. I think that fifa and referees are turning modern football into a game for pansies..
Look at England for example, would a Wimbledon with Denis Wise and co do well in the modern premier league? I don't believe they would..
Referees are also between a rock and hard place. In the past you expected center backs and central midfielders to be hard men, keane, desailly, vieira, sousa, ince,
These types of players are almost a thing of the past. Now its almost about have to dribble out anything and if you get touched you fall over and try milk a card..
Some modern day footballers are disgraceful trying to get other players booked. If they focused as much time trying to stick the ball in the net as they do trying to simulate injury and foul, football would be better off
deefstes
guidothepimmp wrote
Nederland and Portugal can both be physical teams.. I don't think that's their nature though.
There was a time when being physical was part of the stategy. I think that fifa and referees are turning modern football into a game for pansies..
Look at England for example, would a Wimbledon with Denis Wise and co do well in the modern premier league? I don't believe they would..
Referees are also between a rock and hard place. In the past you expected center backs and central midfielders to be hard men, keane, desailly, vieira, sousa, ince,
These types of players are almost a thing of the past. Now its almost about have to dribble out anything and if you get touched you fall over and try milk a card..
Some modern day footballers are disgraceful trying to get other players booked. If they focused as much time trying to stick the ball in the net as they do trying to simulate injury and foul, football would be better off
You're absolutely right and I think it's a very sad state of affairs. It means we will never ever see a player of the calibre of Maradonna or Pele again. There might be players who match (or better) them in skill but they will never get to show it as the game has changed into one where you rather fall down at the slightest touch seeing as a free kick or a penalty is a safer way to continue than to risk dribbling it through the opposition's defence.
I think one of the best goals ever must surely be Maradonna's second goal in WC1986 against England (not mentioning that his first goal in that game might well be the most terrible goal of all times). Below is a video clip of that goal. During the course of dribbling this goal from the half line to the goal box, he probably had three or four opportunities to fake a foul and milk a card. But he didn't, he kept going and scored a goal that will be remembered for many more decades.
=
Even if they have the same skill, I just don't see modern day players show this kind if tenacity.
giggsy
deefstes wrote
From a fantasy football point of view, I'm having mixed results. My goalie is Petr Cech. Obviously I'll be losing a few points there but my team's captain is Dzagoev, who's netted two goals already. Booyaaaaa!
I took out Szczesny at the last minute and replaced him with Neuer... good call. But confident that my team with Ribery, Young, RVP, Ronaldo, Jelavic and Iniesta will score me some points. But Dzagoev was a great pick.
guidothepimmp
well well... talk about a surprise.
Netherlands a bit lucky to be only 1 behind.. they also missed some sitters...
Gearhead
Eish, lost it as well ?
One hopeful thought remaining: we also lost the opening match in 88 against Russia, whom we then beat in the final...
greetings
deefstes wrote
Portugal: I actually like them in a not so passionate sort of way. I would probably have liked them a lot if it wasn't for the Cristiano Ronaldo turd. I am looking forward to witness yet another top level competition where he fails to achieve anything. I always enjoy seeing him underperform when he thinks so highly of himself. I do like Nani though. Not sure, guidothepimp, what your gripe with him is?
I don't know how you can like Nani, but dislike Ronaldo ? I dislike Nani more, and I dislike them both ?
Reason: They both think they are way too good. (Yes, they are good, but you know what I mean ? it's the attitude). Ronaldo has at least calmed down a little since he moved to Madrid. Nani just keeps getting worse.
Tokai-SA
Phew!...it's getting tough to stay awake during these games, it's like watching nitro dry.
Having said that, Ronaldos hair really looked incredible yesterday...the highlight of the match for sure. :?
I really liked his touch of genius where he had a different hair style in the first half to the second half.
Oh!, it's a soccer tournament, someone tell Ronaldo. ?
MikeM
Never realised you were so interested in hair Lance ?
I enjoyed the match, Özil got a lot of ball time, so I'm happy ?
On the topic of Ronaldo, was interesting to see Pepe, Özil and Khedira all greeted before the match.
Tokai-SA
I think this is going to be a good one...Italy might even cause an upset here?
Although, Spain is still the best team in the world.
Interesting to see how Balotelli behaves tonight. ?
guidothepimmp
Watching portugal play a defensive game is not an enjoyable experience. After conceding when they started attacking the entire game changed. I can never understand why they do that.. They created more opportunities in the last 10minutes than the entire previous 80 minutes.. Germany were cagey too.. Strange game. Thought it was the least exciting so far.. Tactically helluva intense though
But someone please let bento know.. A team with meireles, moutinho, ronaldo, nani and postiga is hardly setup for defense.. Counter attack maybe.. But for that you need to be a team that plays that style..
Deserved win for the germans
Of course what this means is that portugal - holland should be a humdinger as both teams will need a win
Tokai-SA
Now this is a great game...loving it.
Italy had their worst tournament I've ever seen them play right here in 2010, looks like they're back.
MikeM
Thanks! Started watching maybe 1min before this goal!!!
deefstes
Oh for Pete's sake! This ENG-FRA game started off promising but it's degenerated into an acting contest. So far I think England is winning the acting contest. It has to be said though, the goal by Nasri may well be the best goal of the tournament so far. What a corker!
deefstes
In contradistinction, how about this UKR-SWE game? The scoreboard is still empty but this is riveting football.
