UEFA EURO 2012 (Fitbaw)

[Flagg]

I dont think Germany have ever beaten Italy in a Major tournament?

People were saying Germany were favourites, but they the bogey team of Italy still upsets them.

In other news, Nadal the number 2 seed in tennis just got knocked out by the 100 seed.

[darkelf]

Germany has never won over Italy in the Euro or World Championships. I think they've met 8 or 9 times now.

[sporty]

Pff, lies and statistics.

Disappointing performance by the players, utterly unnecessary goals due to individual mistakes and next to no fighting spirit to turn it around again. Even more disappointing performance by Löw, who sacrificed our right wing by starting Kroos, which also prevented Gomez from utilising the (little ) skill he has. Was rather joking when I said I expect his resignation if he can't produce a title, not anymore.

Well deserved defeat, fair result as well. Must admit that my club's relegation hit me harder than that.

[marmoo]

Has anyone else noticed how Gomez looks like George McFly out of Back to the Future?

[Tiresias]

Missed the game because I was stuck in a traffic jam for 4 hours. Sigh.

However feeling pretty smug about tipping Italy from the very start. Not feeling very smug about not putting my money where my mouth was and putting money behind them...

[Codex]

In my opinion, at half time it had been a really even game, but the scoreline did not reflect it. Then Italy defended like bosses, looked more threatening on the counter... they played a perfect counter-attacking game, allowing the Germans to pressure high with little reward for their efforts. Italy won all the midfield battles as time drew on and Pirlo's killer over-the-top balls tore apart a pressurising Germany. Desperation crept in a bit early for Germany imo. I was hoping for something like the last day of the Prem but no such luck.

Well played Italy, one of the best games of the tournament. Bringing the enigmatic telli has paid off so far then.

I dont think Germany have ever beaten Italy in a Major tournament?

People were saying Germany were favourites, but they the bogey team of Italy still upsets them.

In other news, Nadal the number 2 seed in tennis just got knocked out by the 100 seed.

Um, so? What has that got to do with anything?

England had never beaten Sweden in a competitive match before these Euros. Italy are a strong team, no doubt. Germany will continue to improve imo, so don't think that trend will last forever.

Re: Ronaldo taking the last pen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18621323

[TheWickedGerman]

Sorry Italy, no Bailout money for you!

[RVHW2]

Balotelli = Hulk

[Codex]

No I'm pretty sure Hulk is Brazilian :P

[scoiatollo]

So what's your guess for tonight? I think (and hope) that Iraly can pull it off, they really improved over the tournament wheras Spain "just" stayed the same. No matter how this game will end I think it will be pretty close.

[Kalimac]

If Italy can keep up what they did against Germany, while at the same time getting inspired by what Portugal did against Spain, I think Italy has a good chance of winning this. On the other hand, if Spain gets their shit together it could easily go the other way.

As Spain looked pretty bleak against Portugal I'll say 2-1 Italy.

[Coey]

It looks like Spain will play Fabregas in a yet to be determined position somewhere in front Iniesta, possibly with a plan to use beautiful passes to get into the box and completely balls it up because no-one knows how to finish because they're all midfielders. I'd rather watch Torres, at least he's always good to watch and he still terrifies defenders.Whatever happens I just hope it isn't boring or violent.

[Argonaut]

If Italy win there is no justice in the world. The most corrupt nation fielding what could be considered a corrupt team winning a major tournament? It could bve argued Italy don't even deserve to be at the tournament. Spain FTW.

[Kalimac]

Argonaut: What's corrupt about the team? That they beat England in penalties? :P

Italy has been playing far more entertaning than for example Spain, I don't see why they don't deserve the win.

[Codex]

In addition to the 2006 scandal, here's the 2011-12 scandal, brought to you by wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_Italian_football_scandal

It looks like Spain will play Fabregas in a yet to be determined position somewhere in front Iniesta, possibly with a plan to use beautiful passes to get into the box and completely balls it up because no-one knows how to finish because they're all midfielders. I'd rather watch Torres, at least he's always good to watch and he still terrifies defenders.Whatever happens I just hope it isn't boring or violent.

He's good to watch? Terrifies defenders? Have you seen what a terrible season he's had? The last few games, he's playing well, sure, but if you saw how static he looked for Chelsea and how often he scuffed his shots, you'd wonder if this was the same maestro who played for Liverpool some years ago.




Frankly, with a midfield like Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, etc, a number 9 running behind defenders should tear teams apart, running onto quality through balls. If Messi was Spanish I'm pretty sure he'd score a hat trick every game what with the number of good balls they can put through. Sure Torres has scored but I wouldn't be overly optimistic about how he'd deal with Italy.

[Kalimac]

Yeah, they rigged games in the second/third division. I'm fully aware i might be missing something, but I don't see the connection between that and the national team they field in the Euro?

[Codex]

There are plenty of people on that wiki page who are involved with Serie A, or were/are prominent figures in Italian football.

Sure they fixed matches below Serie A, but if your prominent figures are doing that...

[sporty]

Argonaut, German in spirit

Usually Italy have their best performance of the tournament in a match against us, so I'm rather sceptical of Balotelli's four goals promise. On the other hand, Spanish/Barca football is getting rather tiring to watch, so there's one reason why I wouldn't mind Italy taking the trophy.

[Kirjava]

Sod off Italy.

Come on Spain.

[Wargrim]

If Italy plays as well today as they did against us, they have a good chance to win. But it remains to be seen, i hope it will be an entertaining match and not a boredom inducing one.

[scoiatollo]

Well Spain improved their game and Italy lost their "flow" as it seems. Will be hard to come back from that.

[Wargrim]

Wow, beautiful game, beautifuly goals. I hope Italy can come back and bring some suspense to the game.

[scoiatollo]

So 10 Italians left, really unlucky, not that Spain doesn't deserve this victory but this is just meh...

[RVHW2]

Italy = 10 Zombie OMG

[Wargrim]

Second half is depressing to watch. Losing a player and not being able to replace him, in such a situation, is very, very bad luck. The game became completely onesided now. Sucks for Italy, nobody deserves to lose in such a way. Took the fun out of the game for non - Spanish watchers.

[scoiatollo]

Yeah, really sad=/ that really ruined a fun game, but losing 2players in a finale is gruesome...

[sporty]

Didn't fancy either of them as the tournament's winners, so one of them getting humiliated is one of the more acceptable outcomes of this final

[Warboss_Al]

Did spain win then? Pretty much everyone I know lost interest in the Euros when england went out, so I haven't been keeping up.

[scoiatollo]

As expected Spain won, 4:0 just that Italy was 1,5men down at the end and was really unlucky from the start on. That does not mean that I don't think Spain didn't deserve to win, rather that I'd have preferred a more even game and more of Hulk in action...

[SpinDizzy]

Usually Italy have their best performance of the tournament in a match against us, so I'm rather sceptical of Balotelli's four goals promise.

Balotelli the postman delivers yet again.

[Kirjava]

CUATRO CERO! Hurrah. The best possible outcome.

[Coey]

I was wrong about Spain, but Torres still finished the tournament with 3 goals and 1 assist getting the golden boot for the tournament.

[darkelf]

4 beautiful goals. Shame about Italy ending with 10 men, though. Not that it would have changed anything, Spain was dominating the entire game.

[Codex]

I am loathe to give Torres too much credit. I've seen him in the past, and during his time at Liverpool he was truly masterclass. Good for Torres for getting the Golden Boot, but I don't think he deserves it. A brace against the Republic of Ireland, and a goal and assist against a demoralised knackered 10-men Italian side. Nevertheless a good finish and a cheeky assist for a simple Mata finish.

Well, it goes to show that one big performance can win a Championship. And was it a big performance. Every Spanish player looked at the top of their game, and the relentlessness of their attacks and constant pressure was top class. Pirlo was shut down and couldn't work his stuff, while Iniesta, Fabregas, Alba and Xavi were giving the Italians all kinds of runs and through balls to think about. They broke with intent instead of just playing possession football. The Italians had nothing on that, and what with losing Chiellini, one of their best performers all tournament...

Oh, and Germany, two major tournament finals in a row they crash out in the semis, having arguably played the best football. Spain emerge triumphant after some 1-0 grinds and scares, but at least they finished off with style today.

Totally agree with the sentiment expressed earlier. Losing Motta with no subs left, having brought him on but 5 minutes prior, having already lost Chiellini to a thigh injury, was brutal and ruined the game. As if Spain needed help at 2-0. Italy played with a lot of heart and Spain keep another good clean sheet. So, we shall see if they can pull it out of the bag in 2 years time?...

Biggest surprise for me:

Spain had 51% possession.

EDIT:

Amusing tidbits from the BBC online text:

Andy in Edinburgh on text:"So far best game of tournament. Both teams working well and the team with no strikers winning! Is this the end of natural strikers as we know?"

2118 SUBSTITUTION FOR SPAIN - Fernando Torres on for Cesc Fabregas Now then Fernando, you are playing for the future of all of striker-kind. Time to turn in a performance...

I actually think Torres showed what a Striker can do for a fantastic pinpoint supporting midfield. Crossing and having wingers is all good and well when you're playing a numbers game up front or you can pick out an unmarked man, but if you have a clinical finisher that can run in behind defenders onto inch perfect through balls (Jordi Alba's goal, anyone?) then you are going to absolutely dominate any team. Why cross at all when you can do that?

Nabil in London on text:"Italy sitting too deep when they've been most successful against Spain actually pressing the action and playing a higher line."

This I completely disagree with. You want to play an open game against Spain? They tear you a new one. They needed to play more compact than that (they were about right I think) and hunt the ball in packs , like Spain did, trying to break up their passing. One on one pressing it's incredibly difficult to shut down that level of passing. I know they can switch the play very quickly and expose other flank, but really you have no choice. There's really no other way to win the ball. That Italy had a small majority of possession (53%) in the first half hour is a credit to their pressing and really giving it a go.

2204
If you could somehow clone footballers, I'd quite like to see this Spanish team take on the current Barcelona team. That would be a decent game.

YES

Iker Casillas - what's he ever done in his career? I hear you ask. Well at the age of 31, he has now won five league titles, two Champions League trophies, a Copa del Rey, a World Cup and two European Championships.

Tonight he won his 137th cap for Spain and recorded a 100th win. A record, and an incredible one.
He is also engaged to Sara Carbonero.
He wins at life.

lol. I love that BBC writer.

Apparently Carbonero was voted the World's sexiest reporter. Damn, so envious :P

[TheWickedGerman]

TAKE THAT ITALY!

Funny German media is funny. Until the Italy match Jogi Löw was the Messiahs of German football, now he is the anti-christ.

Another frustrating tournament, can I have back the boring German football back that won us actually tournaments?

fancy pansy sissy football doesnt work.

[Codex]

Iker Casillas lifts the trophy - this is a man who hasn't conceded a goal in the knockout stages of a tournament since 2006.

That's Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 all won without conceding after the group stage. Incredible.

Quote says it all.

[Alliance]

thank god this is over, I can finally rest.

[Flagg]

Spain made history tonight and to be honest im hard pressed to think of anyone toppling them in Brazil 2014.

[Coey]

Maybe...Germany? lol

[Shoota Fodder]

Ah, disappointing for Italy. Really wanted them to win. Although Spain weren't as boring and clinical as usual which made for a very interesting game. Although as soon as Italy dropped to 10-men the heart just went out of them. Before that they might just have been able to clinch a couple of goals and push it onto penalties.

I think the best moment for me was at the end when it was shown on the BBC, the camera zoomed in on Pique, the commentator said "Got to be the happiest man in the world, here's a man who enjoys a whole lot of sex-SUCCESS... I said success..."

Clearly was thinking the same thing as me: This man shares a bed with Shakira.

[Codex]

See this is what I don't understand. How are Spain boring? Sure, when they don't play well it's not entertaining. Hell, when Manchester City don't play well it's not entertaining (yes, this is the team that put SIX past Manchester United at Old Trafford.) unless you're the kind of "neutral" who takes some pleasure from seeing good teams struggle against teams like Sunderland. But what last night's performance shows is when they're playing well, they're as entertaining as any team out there. Hell, yesterday's game was a hell of a lot more entertaining than most internationals, or even El Classicos that I've watched.

Spain's style wins games. Their recent record is impeccable. Hell, when I was competitive in DOW2, I wouldn't care if my opening build was cookie cutter, or "standard": if I thought that this was the ideal way to play against this race I would play the same every time. Sorry if it's "boring". If England, or Scotland or (insert personal team here) could dominate world football, would we care that they played "boring"? I wouldn't.

Re: quote. I saved the quote, I couldn't resist writing it down immediately. It was Shearer: (focussed on Pique): "All these players, they've had incredible amounts of sex- success"

He could not cover that up at all. Hilarious.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18671377

Name your team of the tournament:

I'm going to think on this, but apart from Danielle De Rossi, I agree with all of those.

[Kalimac]

Judging by the amount of children that entered the pitch after the match, I'd say Shearer wasn't entirely wrong.

Amazing game by Spain, who won fair and square. Italy gambled and played a offensive game, which gave big openings for the Spanish team, and they were very efficient on all their chances. They completely shut down Pirlo as well, which was a big part of winning I believe.

[Codex]

Agree with Kalimac on all points.

Judging by the amount of children that entered the pitch after the match, I'd say Shearer wasn't entirely wrong.

LOL

[Makenshi]

No I'm pretty sure Hulk is Brazilian :P

That's Blanka, from Street Fighter... Hulk is north-american.

[Codex]

You are joking right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulk_%28footballer%29

[Flagg]

I know the EURO's are over, but I saw this last night and really im shaking my head in disbelief:

http://www.givemefootball.com/premie...world-rankings

[Codex]

Why are you shaking your head in disbelief?

FIFA world rankings are calculated using an algorithm:

Each individual game:
M*I*T*C =P
(Result)*(Importance of the Match)*(Strength of Opposition)*(Confederation Strength Weights)= Points.

So the result is done similar to league points: 3 for a win, 2 for winning on penalties, 1 for a draw (or losing on penalties), 0 for a loss. So if you lose you get 0 points, no matter how many goals you score.
Importance: Friendlies give a modifier of 1, major competition gives a modifier of 3.
Strength of opposition I have no idea how it is calculated, but it's pretty obvious how that works- the better your opposition the higher the number.
I have no idea what the 4th modifier is.
Finally this gives a points total.

The way that the 1294 points England sits on is calculated is by taking the average score of all the matches of a year.

So say in 2012 so far they got
200
300
400
Then the average for 2012 would be 300 points.

The 1294 points we sit on is then calculated from:

3 years ago is given a 20% weighting
2 years ago is given a 30% weighting
1 year ago is given a 50% weighting
and current year is given a 100% weighting

Now let's look at our record for these Euros:

W3 D2 L0, most notably our exit on penalties counts as a draw.

That means we were scoring in every single match, and our average for this year is 702.5
For reference Spain have 815.4 (worse than Germany!)
Germany have 818.4
Italy have 678.5
Portugal have 679.5

So in fact our 2012 average is better than 2 of the other semi-finalists, in no small part due to the fact we were eliminated on penalties!

TL;DR

Algorithms aren't smart. They are completely results based and results wise England has done much, much better than their skill would suggest. It's not like someone at FIFA had decided to boost England in the face of their subpar play.

[Flagg]

I can't tell if you're taking the piss or not.

That is how international results are tallied up and worked out? Someone get rid of that corrupt dinosaur running this sport please.

[Codex]

I'm being totally serious. Algorithms aren't smart. And they use an algorithm.

Who would put that much effort into analysing an algorithm in order to take the piss? =/