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Euro 2008

axl blaze said:
like I said, I am relatively new to UEFA. is it too much to ask for, to my friends across the pond, for a short synopsis of all the teams in the semi finals? just a couple sentences about their playing style, strong/weak points, history, fans, etc?
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Germany - Admired by most, liked by no-one (except Germans). Completely live up to the National stereotype of efficient bastards who get the job done. Will probably win it. Their fans can be Naz....er....bad boys, rivalling English and Polish fans for the number one hooligan spot.

Turkey - 8/1 to beat Germany? C'mon! Those are great odds. But....still an emerging nation really, though following the World Cup this is their second semi-final at a major tournament. Definitely the weakest team in terms of skill and organization but they really never, never give up. Fans can be deadly. Ask Leeds United. When not killing opposition fans they are known as 'passionate'.

Russia - I think the term is 'dark horses'. Have surprised everyone. If they can play as they did against Holland, no-one will touch them. But we were saying similar things about Holland before Russia whooped their asses. Transformation almost totally down to the tactical and motivational skill of Dutchman Guus Hiddinck (coach), who took South Korea to the semi's of the World Cup. Best international manager you can get. Gets teams to perform beyond the sum of their parts. Fans are either very rich or very violent. Quite possibly both.

Spain - "What is this 'semi' final thing?" Perennial quarter-finalists. Broke three long standing hoodoos by a) beating Italy for the first time since about 1652, b) winning a penalty shoot-out and c) getting beyond the quarters. Highly skilful individuals who usually haven't got a clue how to play as a team. Coached by Aragones who is an asshole for a) being directly racist about Thierry Henry and is also an asshole for b) seemingly hating Cesc Fabregas, one of the greatest players in Europe. Can only make the subs bench for Aragones' Spain though. Spanish fans are about as non-violent as it gets and knowledgeable about football. And usually miserable as perennial quarter-finalists.

That do?

this tourney is truly exciting
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Yes it is. The best major football tournament I can recall, and I can recall a lot. Exciting, skilful, unpredictable. And four teams in the semis who all try to win a game, as opposed to stopping the opposition playing.

Its great not to have England there. And yes, I'm English.
 
StoneHappyMonday said:
Yes it is. The best major football tournament I can recall, and I can recall a lot. Exciting, skilful, unpredictable. And four teams in the semis who all try to win a game, as opposed to stopping the opposition playing.

Its great not to have England there. And yes, I'm English.
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Precisely. It's the first time I've been able to watch a football tournament and really enjoy it for the football. It's actually quite strange not having the tabloids going mental and slipping into neo-fascism.
 
axl blaze said:
like I said, I am relatively new to UEFA. is it too much to ask for, to my friends across the pond, for a short synopsis of all the teams in the semi finals? just a couple sentences about their playing style, strong/weak points, history, fans, etc?
Click to expand...

Germany:

The Germans never ever underachieve. Like pretty much everything else German their football teams are always efficient, clinical, not particularly pretty but do the job supremely well. Their mental fortitude is legendary, & hence if a game ever goes to penalties they are virtually guaranteed to win it.

In Britain, as you'd expect they're the recipients of plenty of barbed comments, but there's a grudging respect for their continued success.

This particular team though has some really good attacking options with the likes of Ballack, Podolski & Klose. I was expecting them to play with a little more flair than they've shown so far, but hey, as usual they've made it to the business end of the tournament & I wouldn't be at all surprised if they confirmed their reputation as pre-tournament favourites & went on to win it.

Turkey:

An under-rated & deceptively talented team in my opinion. Their domestic football has been slowly growing in influence & stature over the last decade or so.

They don't play particularly beautiful football, but you only have to look at their frankly crazy comebacks in this tournament so far to see that they have a fighting spirit like few others.

Their luck has to run out at some point though & it's worth pointing out that they've only been ahead in games for a grand total of something like 2 & a half minutes so far throughout the whole tournament....

Still, based on previous matches who would count them out now? Could definitely cause an upset against Germany.

I spent about 5 weeks travelling around Turkey around 10 years ago & so I have something of a soft spot for them as they are really wonderful people. Probably the most hospitable race I've ever had the fortune of spending time with & very, very proud indeed of their country, so I imagine their support back home will be immense.

Russia:

Undoubtedly the revelation of the tournament so far, although those who closely follow football will have seen the warning signs from the rising powers of Russian club teams recently & the astonishing amounts of money that are being pumped into their domestic game by the oligarchs & such like.

They're a very young team (the youngest in the whole tournament, in fact) & weren't really expected to do as well as they have.

They have a very good set of technically gifted & pacey players (in particular the fantastically diverse & intelligent playmaker Andrei Arshavin, who is the one to watch) but a large part of the credit must go to their coach, Guus Hiddink. A master tactician, he's one of the best international managers working today & his record with lesser footballing nations in recent years speaks for itself: he managed to take South Korea to a World Cup semi-final when they had never previously won a single game, coached Australia to their first World Cup finals in 32 years & now with Russia has guided them to their best position in a major tournament ever (at the expense of England in qualification, I should point out).

By so comprehensively outplaying the up to then scintillating Dutch (Hiddink's native countrymen) in the quarter-finals Russia produced the upset of the tournament so far & if they keep up that standard then they have every chance of winning it.

Spain:

Ahhh Spain.......

I'm half-Spanish so interpret this how you will, but supporting the Spanish football team is a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

They have been unquestionably the biggest underachievers in international football for decades. That their best result in the World Cup was a fourth place in 1950 just defies belief. The amount of world-class talent that Spain has produced down the years is exceptional, but it has all counted for nothing because time & time again they simply fuck it up.

There is an air about this current team though that feels different somehow - or at least that's what I keep telling myself. Technically the most gifted side left in the tournament - watch their crisp, sharp passing to see what I mean - and in Torres & Villa have one of the most deadly attacking duos in all of world football. They also have in my opinion the finest central midfielder in Europe in Cesc Fabregas. No-one can orchestrate a game like he can, & his situational awareness & vision is peerless, but because Spain's coach Luis Aragones is a complete arsehole he's only being used as sub. If someone can explain why this is to me, I'd love to know.....

Their record in penalty shootouts is even worse than England's (and trust me, it doesn't get much worse than that) so by finally beating the Italians in such fashion the other night they have banished some of their worst demons.

As regards their fans: the phrase "long-suffering" was designed for them & so beneath all the colourful Latin exuberance & passion lies a quintessentially Spanish predilection for pessimistic woe. If the hail of text messages that I received from my Spanish relatives following their recent victory over Italy is anything to go by though, should they happen to win it the party will go on in Spain for about a month, I should think.


In summary: I want Spain to win dearly, but if I had to put money on it it would go on the Germans.
 
and I am glad that brevity is not your forte, Pinhole. thanks a lot to you and StoneHappyMonday, those were wonderfully insightful paragraphs written about those soccer clubs. I particularly enjoyed reading about the fans... sports culture and incredible fanhood have always interested me.

why can't Wednesday come soon enough? I am a very excited American that will now follow all UEFA tourneys.
 
Turkey VS Germany in a little bit.

it seems like Turkey is the ultimate underdog in this whole tourney, and Germany is pretty favored. if the odds are 8/1, myself being a gambling man, I think I you know who I would throw down for - just for the hell of it.

can the Turkish miracle keep on shining?
 
Christ the Germans were lucky. Couple of good goals but on the whole they were woeful, particularly in defence.

Massive round of applause to Turkey though, as they were the far more deserving team. They took it right to Germany & I thought they'd managed to pull of yet another closing stage recovery, but it just wasn't to be. :(

It's been great following them though as they've provided some truly memorable moments in this tournament. <3

So, come on España! :D

Whoever wins out them & Russia I dearly want to beat the Germans in the final.
 
Btw axl, that was a classic example of how the Germans always manage to do it, somehow.

Played poorly, totally undeserved the win, yet still ground out a result.
 
from what I could see, the Germans really used all shots on the goal brilliantly. I wouldn't say they are a constantly attacking team, but they had very smart ball placement whenever they were near the goal.

those Turks were fierce, I was really pulling for them.

I agree, go Spain.
 
Fucking Germans!!!!!! :! Bunch of talentless cheats ! See the fucking full back get "scythed down" by the Turkish right winger - MAKES ME FUCKING SICK! :X


Russia to win it, their game against Spain was a "foot off the gas lets see what these fuckers do or don't have" - they coulda scored 3 times in the last ten minutes of that game - when they actually probed Spain a little. I think Spain will be probed a lot tonight. :)
 
so do these teams play one another earlier in the year or something? it sounds like they did, but I thought the UEFA was one-out elimination.
 
axl blaze said:
so do these teams play one another earlier in the year or something? it sounds like they did, but I thought the UEFA was one-out elimination.
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There's a whole load of fixtures over the preceding year or so that determines who goes through to the tournament. So yeah, two teams can (and do) play eachother in the earlier "qualifiers" before they meet in the tournament.
 
Woo hoo, the atmosphere was great here in Germany last night, what a party. Indeed they didn't play as well as against Portugal, but I think much of that can be attributed to great play of the Turkish squad. They wanted it bad, I wish my favorite American college football team would play with such ferocity..with their talent they would be unbeatable. Anyways I hope Spain beats Russia, and Germany beats Spain in the finals. It is hard for me to cheer against Spain because they are my 2nd favorite team (my best friend from Europe is from Spain). Anyways, GO GERMANY!!
 
va Espania!

it looks like David Villa, the hottest commodity as of yet in the UEFA with something like four gouls, just got injured.

it would be very detrimental, but Fabregas replaced him, and from what I've heard he is also a top-notch player who deserves to start...
 
^^villa got hurt?! i completely forgot the game was on and just now turned it on. fabregas had an incredible season this year in the EPL for arsenal with 11 goals in the first 16 games.
 
yeah, David Villa got hurt when he was trying to set up a shot on the goal. I didn't really see what happened and I don't think there was any contact on him. he hit the ground with a very sour face and just hugged the grass.

at least he got up and limped to the sideline on his own accord.

wow... Russia really looked like they had no life to them. they didn't even appear as if they wanted to win. the Spanish players were dribbling circles around them all night long.
 
Olé! :D

Great stuff from the Spanish; when their confidence was up they looked so composed on the ball. And see how much invention Fabregas brings to the side with his incisive vision. He has to be in the starting line-up for the final now.

A destruction of the Germans in the final now, por favor. :)

Think Villa will be OK, but I have one big worry against Germany, & that's set pieces. They're a very tall side, excellent in the air & against Italy Spain showed their weakness in this department - had Luca Toni been capable of hitting a barn door they probably would have been punished by it.

But that's just my pessimistic Spanish side talking. They're gonna do it. %)
 
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