EURO 2012

yeah i don't think either inclusion is ludicrous tbh. it's a big (and wholly imaginary) squad.

Lol at both the Golden Boot winner and the dude he narrowly edged out both failing to make the squad.

I would say the inclusion of Balotelli is somewhat debatable. Though i'm not sure who you would put in his place

Samaras, clearly.

Actually Greek right sided frwd who came on as sub in first game, scored and who set up Samaras goal vs Germany? Was also good vs Russia iirc.

Or Madzukic.

I was just spotting the odd ones out.

Gerrard's probably the only one who can only speak one language.

they have filled 3 of the 5 spots with non-strikers

(re forwards)

which is appropriate really

nice blog apart from the 'boring' bit. no-one's calling what they did last night boring. i understand zonal marking and net spend. i understand resting with the ball. there are 14 triangles and 4 diamonds in a 4123 formation. spain are probably the greatest team of all time, they're usually lovely to watch. but that spain-france match was fucking tedious.

the best national side, maybe, certainly not the best side

they nicked everything from cole-yorke

"Striker" denotes 'pure' goalscoring, whereas "forward" (or "attacker") denotes something slightly different. Balotelli as striker, Cassano as forward.

But yeah, I was careful to put 'international team' in the body text, and not talk about Milan or Real Madrid or Barcelona or Ajax etc etc.

i'd like to see brazil 2k2 vs this spain team, hopefully someone will arrange it

PES 2012
COM vs COM

brazil classic vs spain?

That Brazil front three is probably pretty lardy right now, I wouldn't like their chances.

where is kleberson these days

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGF_ZfH_kOE

don't think about shakira don't think about shakira don't think about shakira DOH

lol!

the HUNGER and the DESIRE from these guys

the brazil front three

wrt hunger

love this shot of the airport workers

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/02/article-2167715-13E4FE37000005DC-843_634x441.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/wv4CL.gif

Is this really such a great gesture?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvg5DxMR0EA

idgi

Casillas tells little ref behind the goal to stop the game "out of respect". Whistle goes a few seconds later. Everyone calls Iker a true sporting gentleman etc.

shortening a contest because you're battering a team wouldn't be very respectful imo

yeah they could've just respectfully stopped scoring

It's a suspiciously American way of thinking to my mind. Plus what's dude behind the goal supposed to do anyway?

FINISH HIM

xpost how is that american?

isn't it frowned upon to run up scores in some American sports

slam dunks are considered bad form in some Ivy League b-ball teams

maybe at like recreational or high school level xp

aren't quarterbacks expected to kneel in the last minutes of games instead of scoring another touchdown etc. iirc belichick and the patriots got some flak at some point because they kept scoring against helpless teams and people thought that wasn't nice or something ?

In Italian football teams generally don't go beyond 4 goals.they'll just be a tacit agreement to pass the ball around and run down the clock.

aren't quarterbacks expected to kneel in the last minutes of games instead of scoring another touchdown etc. iirc belichick and the patriots got some flak at some point because they kept scoring against helpless teams and people thought that wasn't nice or something ?

― Jibe, Tuesday, July 3, 2012 11:53 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is usually done in close games when a quarter or half is about to end to eliminate an interception or fumble which could allow the team on defense to score.

yeah i got a bit confused there. i'm still pretty sure about that story about teams being very resentful towards the pats and accusing them of running up the score when there was no need for that.

like a few teams whining about being destroyed by the pats or somethingin a couple of articles

Casillas comes across as patronising more than anything there IMO

every day, new ways to hate Spain

baseball is full of this 'running up the score' crap. Don't steal bases if you're up by 6 or 7 in the late innings, don't swing hard on a 3 ball 0 strike count if you are handily ahead etc etc etc.

The only time I've ever heard of American teams in any sport not running up the score is this situation: baseball team ahead by seven or more runs, runner on first. If the manager sends the signal for him to steal second, that's considered bad form.

Otherwise, guys don't stop because of their STATS. Why would a guy purposely lower his own stats? Cause he loves giving himself a weaker hand in the next round of contract negotiations?

i think maybe it seems american because the formal mercy rule for kids/amateur play is not used in britain afaik

He probably just wanted to get down the pub.

Kids' football, in my day anyway, always had brutal scores - the local papers were full of 13-0 and 14-0 wins. Even that might indicate a bit of mercy though - with two totally mismatched teams one could run in a goal a minute if it really wanted.

The pro game can't've had any truck with mercy in ye olden days, but I reckon there's usually a tacit understanding that four or five is enough, with seven as an absolute upper limit. Man Utd putting eight past Arsenal seemed horribly transgressive, and the couple of nines they've managed too.