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View Full Version : Any fans of the only world wide ball game ?



Carygrant
06-24-2012, 09:43 AM
Just joined , but surprised there are apparently no vocal real football fans here .
The world's most popular sport is in the final stages of itsEuropean Championship with Poland and Ukraine as co- hosts .
I shall not inflict details on you if there are no other devotees .
But if there are , let's go .

Trinnity
06-24-2012, 09:53 AM
I'm interested....tell me about it.

Conley
06-24-2012, 10:15 AM
I'm a big fan...I think England has done a good job to get to his point especially without Rooney for two games, but I think Italy wins today. I'll be cheering for England though - can't stand the Azzurri game.

Carygrant
06-24-2012, 10:26 AM
I'm a big fan...I think England has done a good job to get to his point especially without Rooney for two games, but I think Italy wins today. I'll be cheering for England though - can't stand the Azzurri game.


Probably too close to call with confidence .
I can certainly make a case for England if we continue our learning curve and Rooney is 10-20% more match fit after his rest .
Possibly needs an uninspired day for Italy and two three inspired moves for us within a disciplined performance .
Beers are in the chiller and big hanky in pocket if it turns bad .

Conley
06-24-2012, 11:14 AM
Probably too close to call with confidence .
I can certainly make a case for England if we continue our learning curve and Rooney is 10-20% more match fit after his rest .
Possibly needs an uninspired day for Italy and two three inspired moves for us within a disciplined performance .
Beers are in the chiller and big hanky in pocket if it turns bad .

Oh, sure England definitely has a chance...and you're right, they have improved. The individual talents on Italy I think are slightly better (when they're not match fixing :evil::wink:) England did not look good against the French but that was before Les Bleus now traditional implosion. If England keeps getting better who knows... What are you drinking?

Carygrant
06-24-2012, 11:49 AM
I am going to watch at my father's place -- five minutes in the car .
I will share a couple of glasses of white wine with him and then move on to bulk standard Lager --- quantity to be dictated by the stress and score . lol

Conley
06-24-2012, 12:58 PM
I am going to watch at my father's place -- five minutes in the car .
I will share a couple of glasses of white wine with him and then move on to bulk standard Lager --- quantity to be dictated by the stress and score . lol

Haha I bet it will be stressful...but fun!

Carygrant
06-25-2012, 03:35 AM
Not an enjoyable night .
We were great for 25 minutes and probably shaded it at that point .
That's when we needed the ref to blow his whistle and move to a penalty shoot out .
It was not good for the remainder .It was approaching , bad .
Against that , we just about achieved realistic expectation .

Cigar
06-25-2012, 07:41 AM
No !

Conley
06-25-2012, 09:43 AM
Not an enjoyable night .
We were great for 25 minutes and probably shaded it at that point .
That's when we needed the ref to blow his whistle and move to a penalty shoot out .
It was not good for the remainder .It was approaching , bad .
Against that , we just about achieved realistic expectation .

I agree...I thought Italy was clearly the better side but England had a couple of opportunities to win it, one very early and when they led in the PKs. No reason for England to hang their heads. I really wish they could have been the ones to knock out Italy but I expect the German buzzsaw will do it on Thursday.

Conley
06-28-2012, 09:33 AM
Yesterday's game a bit of a snoozer, I'm betting this one won't go to PKs. Germany should roll.

Cary did you see the fouls for which Balotelli got sent off in the MC-ARS match? What scum...he fits in well with the Azzurri.

Sad to see Becks left of the the GB olympic team too. Hrrmph. Getting older is no fun.

Carygrant
06-28-2012, 10:37 AM
I have disliked the Spanish side for the last 18 months arguing that sideways pit- a -pat was for dwarves -- even though they are hugely skilled . Much prefer the German style which combines the best of European styles .
I think they should win comfortably tonight as the Italians had one day less recovery time and have been rotating their squad better .
Balotelli is an enigma . He interviews well and is no fool . But then he behaves like a retarded schoolboy desperately seeking attention . His fouls in that match were very bad and at the time I personally wrote him off and would have lost a lot of money betting he would never play for MC again . But he has confounded us all and will play for MC until the time when he next loses the plot . As a betting man ,I suspect he cannot change for long and it will be a dreadful waste of undoubted talent .
Poor David Beckham . As ever he was charming and gracious and his future is exceptional -- until he next gets caught playing away from home !! I know he would have sacrificed a great deal to be selected to play -- even for 20 minutes in one match . But it is not to be .
Life is hectic .Trying to run a business . Watch the Football , Wimbledon and European Athletics and talk to my Ukranian lady friend whom I will meet in a fortnight near Lvov ( Lyiv).
She likes Football so she is good news and knows her local politics in detail .
I did not know the Klitschko brothers were millionaires outside of Boxing because they own the Nemiroff Vodka business which is their most popular brand .
Cheers

Conley
06-28-2012, 06:12 PM
Well, now I see why people are willing to put up with Balotelli's idiocy. :facepalm: It was an entertaining match...the Germans had chances but Italy was far superior, have to give them kudos. So you've got a Ukrainian lady friend, nice...too bad you couldn't make it to Lyiv during the matches but it will probably be a great time to visit once all the rowdies have cleared out.

Deadwood
06-28-2012, 06:19 PM
Nope sorry. We have a professional team here, and I find it boring. But then, compared to hockey pretty much everything is...

And besides, I get sick of watching those drama kings faking shin injuries. Hockey players take a 100 mile-an-hour puck in the face and keep playing.

Conley
06-28-2012, 06:20 PM
Nope sorry. We have a professional team here, and I find it boring. But then, compared to hockey pretty much everything is...

And besides, I get sick of watching those drama kings faking shin injuries. Hockey players take a 100 mile-an-hour puck in the face and keep playing.

European soccer (not counting Italy and Greece) and especially EPL is a lot better than the South/Central American countries who specialize in flopping and whining. It's an ugly part of the sport. :(

Carygrant
06-28-2012, 07:14 PM
Nope sorry. We have a professional team here, and I find it boring. But then, compared to hockey pretty much everything is...

And besides, I get sick of watching those drama kings faking shin injuries. Hockey players take a 100 mile-an-hour puck in the face and keep playing.


We love Field Hofkey also and have medal chances for both the Men and Women at London next month .It's a great fast tough game unlike so much of that fake fighting in the showbiz ice version .

Carygrant
07-02-2012, 03:03 AM
The amazing facts behind Spain's winSome of the amazing facts and figures after Spain's 4-0 victory over Italy in the Euro 2012 final.By Reuters | Eurosport – 10 hours ago





[*=left]http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/FCTiWwboxcTQr4vB.kFU8Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MzYwO2NyPTE7Y3c9NjQwO2R4PTA7ZH k9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD0zNTU7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_GB/Sports/Eurosport/858595-14538175-640-360.jpg (http://media.zenfs.com/en_GB/Sports/Eurosport/858595-14538175-640-360.jpg)Spain's Alvaro Arbeloa (4th R) holds up the trophy after defeating Italy to win the Euro 2012 final match at the Olympic stadium in Kiev






* Spain are the first team to win back to back European Championships with a World Cup triumph in between. It is their third European title, equalling Germany's record.
* The four-goal winning margin was the biggest in a European Championship or World Cup final.
* Vicente Del Bosque is only the second coach to win a European Championship and a World Cup, joining Helmut Schoen, who led West Germany to victory at the 1972 European Championship and the World Cup two years later.
* Sunday's victory was Spain's first outright win over Italy in eight major tournament matches (they won a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw in Euro 2008 quarter-finals)
* Spain striker Fernando Torres is the first player to score in two European Championship finals and wins the Euro 2012 golden boot for top scorer, by virtue of also having an assist and having played fewer minutes than Germany's Mario Gomez who also had three goals.
* Spain are unbeaten in their last 12 European Championship finals matches and have not conceded a goal in their last five, both competition records. They have kept clean sheets in their last 10 knockout games at the European and World Cup finals.
* Their last defeat in European Championship play was a 2-0 loss to Sweden in qualifying in 2006 - a 29-game undefeated run.
* The last time Spain lost after taking a 1-0 lead was a 3-2 defeat at Northern Ireland in September 2006.
* It is only the third time a team has scored twice before halftime in a Euros final. Italy beat Yugoslavia 2-0 in 1968 and Czechoslovakia beat West Germany on penalties in 1976 after leading 2-1 at the break.
* Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas is only the second player along with Franz Beckenbauer (1972-1976) to captain their country in three European Championship/World Cup finals.
* Casillas is also the first player to reach 100 international wins and has a record 79 clean sheets in his 136 appearances.
* Spain midfielder David Silva was directly involved in five goals at Euro 2012 (2 goals, 3 assists), more than any other player.
* Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon passed Dino Zoff's record for the most appearances at the European/World Cup finals with his 25th game. Only Paolo Maldini (36) and Fabio Cannavaro (26) have played more times for Italy.