group a is a creep.
― ooooiiiioooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaoooooh un - bi - leevable! (LocalGarda), Sunday, 17 June 2012 09:23 (twelve years ago) link
Probably the biggest surprise for me was that this terrible Czech team ended up topping the group.
Scots gonna hate but they improved after that disastrous opener - they were so dominant in the 2nd half last night it was embarrassing.
Can easily see them reaching the semis now.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 17 June 2012 09:52 (twelve years ago) link
Oops sorry wrong tag there.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 17 June 2012 09:53 (twelve years ago) link
I'd be surprised if they did, tbh. They looked very fragile for much of the Greece game and were probably lucky to get three points. I like a couple of their midfielders, and Cech when he's on form, but reckon they'll struggle against Portugal. Might have a shot against Denmark, though.
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:14 (twelve years ago) link
holland, tho
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:15 (twelve years ago) link
i haven't seen this strootman goon at all but if he is half as good as he is espoused to be, they should play him because otherwise the team is broken between two dmids and sneijder or if vdv plays, two amids and whichever of de jong and van bommel is retained
portugal's midfield is one joao moutinho away from being a lot of nothing, even denmark are probably better with eriksen and kvist atm
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:19 (twelve years ago) link
czechs have improved since hubschman came in but i'd definitely take them to go out in the qf. thought their dominance in the 2nd half said more about poland's spent force and lack of plan b than it did about them. xp.
― second only to popcorn (or something), Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:20 (twelve years ago) link
Portugal are just as flakey as Russia.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:26 (twelve years ago) link
Nobody's as flaky as Russia, except their little brothers Serbia
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:40 (twelve years ago) link
nigeria has a claim
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:44 (twelve years ago) link
Portugal are flaky, but not against the Netherlands ;_; (10 matches, 1 loss)
― Ludo, Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:50 (twelve years ago) link
nah they aren't flaky, assuming they are judged by their record over the last decade or so rather than looking at preening eejit ronaldo shanking forty shots a game into the stands
2k4 you could make an argument but they did reach the final and greece were just on dis ting, 2k6 semifinal, 2k8 quarterfinal, narrow loss to spain two years ago
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:54 (twelve years ago) link
and throughout all of that (since the demise of figo and especially ruí costa) they have largely been a solid, aggressive, defensively minded team....they tend to wobble in qualification but they get there in the end so
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Sunday, 17 June 2012 10:58 (twelve years ago) link
2k6 was an awful perf against France (terrible SF all round), 2k8 Spain were doing the 1-0s but it should have been 4-0 morelike (only the Dutch figured out a tactic). Can see them doing nothing again come crunch time if they get through tonight.
Greece were magnificent Greece, but they were at home. Even Eng managed to win at home, once.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 17 June 2012 11:03 (twelve years ago) link
that neglects how 'crunch time' for portugal is usually at a stage beyond their actual talents
they lost 1-0 to france playing defensively vs the best side in that world cup, they forced spain to alter their natural playing style more than anyone else has managed in the last four years
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Sunday, 17 June 2012 11:07 (twelve years ago) link
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Sunday, June 17, 2012 12:19 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I too would put Strootman in the starting eleven, but our manager is just too chicken and stubborn to do it. He brings all these wonderful bright hot prospects to the tournament only to start with the same old players and in a system that hasn't worked for a year now.
― HO WBEAUTIFUL IS THE GENTLYFALLINGBLOOD? (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 17 June 2012 14:15 (twelve years ago) link
Holland: Stekelenburg; vdWiel, Vlaar, Mathijsen, Willems; De Jong, VdVaart; Robben, vPersie, Sneijder; Huntelaar
So Heitinga, Afellay and Van Bommel (his son in law) are sacrificed. Could have been worse. I don't think Van der Vaart will last 60 minutes though, he's not in good shape. Fat and slow tbh.
― HO WBEAUTIFUL IS THE GENTLYFALLINGBLOOD? (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 17 June 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link
That's the Spurs way afaict.
― Desire is withered away from the sons of men! (aldo), Sunday, 17 June 2012 17:40 (twelve years ago) link
True dat. He's been extremely vocal and eager about wanting to start though. So tonight's the night to show he deserves it.
― HO WBEAUTIFUL IS THE GENTLYFALLINGBLOOD? (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 17 June 2012 17:43 (twelve years ago) link
Good stuff, might as well go for it. What are the chances of a Battle of Nuremberg repeat?
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 17 June 2012 17:43 (twelve years ago) link
Vlaar for Heitinga (player of the year of Everton!) seems surprising, but Heitinga has been dire in building up this tournament I think.
― HO WBEAUTIFUL IS THE GENTLYFALLINGBLOOD? (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 17 June 2012 17:44 (twelve years ago) link
Van Bommel kicked it all off last time iirc, he could be sorely missed.
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 17 June 2012 17:45 (twelve years ago) link
IK, with Portugal versus Holland, there's always the chance of that. Portugal is the single team Holland has won the least against. 10 losses, only 1 win in 11 matches. Yikes.
― HO WBEAUTIFUL IS THE GENTLYFALLINGBLOOD? (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 17 June 2012 17:45 (twelve years ago) link
@Ismael Klata, Sunday, June 17, 2012 7:45 PM (33 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I saw the footage again last night. The images of Van Bronckhorst, Bouhlarouz and Deco, all sitting next to each other having been sent off, is so beautiful.
― HO WBEAUTIFUL IS THE GENTLYFALLINGBLOOD? (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 17 June 2012 17:46 (twelve years ago) link
Heartwarming stuff. I just had a look again there, van Bommel was indeed booked first, but Boulahrouz's foul on Ronaldo a few minutes later is the real beauty.
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:01 (twelve years ago) link
Heh, I remember being outraged at the refereeing at the time. I think I'd be happier tonight if we do get a repeat.
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:04 (twelve years ago) link
Not sure how VdVaart and De Jong are going to stop the three midfielders of Portugal though. Robben and Sneijder are notoriously lazy when it comes to their defending tasks.
― HO WBEAUTIFUL IS THE GENTLYFALLINGBLOOD? (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:05 (twelve years ago) link
100th cap for Podolski today
― Steve Youngblood (dan m), Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:08 (twelve years ago) link
some kind of landmark in my life to see someone younger than me get 100 caps.
― Merdeyeux, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:10 (twelve years ago) link
There's still time. And it'd be easier for you.
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:33 (twelve years ago) link
nothing like seeing a middle aged man in an orange animal costume singing the national anthem to fill a team with patriotic fervour
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:41 (twelve years ago) link
not this ref again
― sonderangerbot, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:43 (twelve years ago) link
which game should i watch
― mookieproof, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
portugal
― dis civilization and its contents (nakhchivan), Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:49 (twelve years ago) link
muller just missed a sitter
― pandemic, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:50 (twelve years ago) link
muller with a shock miss there
― sonderangerbot, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:51 (twelve years ago) link
A SITTER!
― pandemic, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:51 (twelve years ago) link
it was quite horrible actually xp
fat that
― pandemic, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:56 (twelve years ago) link
RAFA!
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:56 (twelve years ago) link
Absolutely beautiful hit.
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:57 (twelve years ago) link
Stellar.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:57 (twelve years ago) link
fuckin ell itv, my stream just neatly hopped from nothing much happening to holland fans celebrating.
― Merdeyeux, Sunday, 17 June 2012 18:58 (twelve years ago) link
Ronaldalmost!
― StanM, Sunday, 17 June 2012 19:00 (twelve years ago) link
Postigalmost!
― StanM, Sunday, 17 June 2012 19:02 (twelve years ago) link
van der weezy wtf
― pandemic, Sunday, 17 June 2012 19:02 (twelve years ago) link
POLDI
― pandemic, Sunday, 17 June 2012 19:04 (twelve years ago) link
postiga is pathetic
― moullet, Sunday, 17 June 2012 19:05 (twelve years ago) link
Postiga close again, but forgot to shoot
― Totally committed to the Corrs (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Sunday, 17 June 2012 19:05 (twelve years ago) link
gomez touch to lay in poldi was sweet
― pandemic, Sunday, 17 June 2012 19:06 (twelve years ago) link