Spain vs Ukraine

Pigman II

Who is the guy commentating on RTE?

Granted I'm only half-watching this match atm but I could have swore he has said some (if not all of the following)

1. called Ukraine "Kiev"

2. said Ukraine have no Champions League experience

3. He just said Fabregas will get his first taste of "World Club" experience?

Is this what I pay my licence fee for!! blah blah !

pp_me129

get in there
4-0

Pepe LeFrits

Ooooooooooh! Goal of the tournament that, perhaps?

RuggieBear

wow

Necronomicon

Torres, what a goal!

Feck the midfield, get in there Fergie

el rabitos

goal of the world cup so far methinks

MrJoeSoap

Definitely the move of the tournament so far, and a cracking finish.

Necronomicon

Spain have been a joy to watch so far.

Pigman II

Pigman II wrote:

Who is the guy commentating on RTE?

Hes just said the game is in the 98th minute. I think the heat is getting to him

kinaldo

Was it just my imagination or did the ITV commentator really say Emilio Butragueno scored 4 goals in Spain's 6-1 win over Bulgaria in 98?

galwaydude

Spain are an awesome site, best team preformance of the wc so far.

They are playing like brazil.

Good to see both liverpool players alonso and garcia playing their part too.

Pigman II

Did he? He was probably thinking of 86 v Denmark.

PHB

He also consistantly mixed up the names, he has no idea who is playing where, or what they look like.

But sure he's fun

Great preformance from Spain, I think only two of their players played an average game which would be their left back Perriera(sp?) and Luis Garcia.

I think Spain's real strength is coming from their depth.
No player would stop running towards the end cause they know they can be replaced instantly.

MrJoeSoap

Pigman II wrote:

Hes just said the game is in the 98th minute. I think the heat is getting to him

The guys is ridiculous, did you hear him for the penalty? Thick as a plank.

Necronomicon

I opted for the awful Pleat on ITV, almost wish I went for RTE just for comedic value. What's his name?

kinaldo

Pigman II wrote:

Did he? He was probably thinking of 86 v Denmark.

I don't see how anyone could confuse the two. Maybe I misheard him.

eirebhoy

According to my google homepage:

Torres 80 min (Puyol)
Villa 47 min (Xavi)
Villa 16 min (Xavi)
Alonso 12 min (Xavi)

Did Xavi really get a hattrick of assists?

kinaldo

Expect everyone to jump on the Spain to win the World Cup bandwaggon now. Hopefully the new found expectation won't get the better of the team. Still my tip outside Brazil.

Necronomicon

eirebhoy wrote:

According to my google homepage:

Torres 80 min (Puyol)
Villa 47 min (Xavi)
Villa 16 min (Xavi)
Alonso 12 min (Xavi)

Did Xavi really get a hattrick of assists?

Well technically it should be Torres for the second Villa goal, he got the penalty.

Although really, the ref should get the assist on that one.

PHB

Villa 47 min (Xavi)
Villa 16 min (Xavi)
Alonso 12 min (Xavi)

The Alonso goal was a corner which Xavi took.
The 16 min Villa goal was a free kick, which Xavi won.
The 47 min VIlla goal was a peno, which Torres won, from mb a pass from Xavi.

In conclusion, no

Anam

Spain looked impressive alright,but i'm not convinced that they can go all the way.A better side wouldnt allow them to play at such a tempo and they were fortunate with reffing decisions.

3 goals from set pieces and 1 from open play but against 10 tired men.

Ukraine had 3 unlucky offsides of which Sheva would most likely have scored one,but that said,you cant argue with 4-0.

Villa or Torres could get top scorer,bearing in mind the two poor sides they have yet to play.

zAbbo

Not such a bad bastard after all

Lou-iiis Garcia, he drinks sangria....

el rabitos

PHB wrote:

Great preformance from Spain, I think only two of their players played an average game which would be their left back Perriera(sp?) and Luis Garcia.

what are u smoking, some anti-liverpool grass or something? garcia had a good game, one of his better games for spain, made some nice incisive passes

Pepe LeFrits

eirebhoy wrote:

According to my google homepage:

Torres 80 min (Puyol)
Villa 47 min (Xavi)
Villa 16 min (Xavi)
Alonso 12 min (Xavi)

Did Xavi really get a hattrick of assists?

Not the second Villa goal anyway, that was a penalty which was won by Torres. Villa's first goal was a free-kick, dunno who won the free though.

PHB wrote:

Great preformance from Spain, I think only two of their players played an average game which would be their left back Perriera(sp?) and Luis Garcia.

I think Spain's real strength is coming from their depth.
No player would stop running towards the end cause they know they can be replaced instantly.

I'd agree with all that. You've a got a team when you replace 3 offensive players and still have Iniesta, Reyes and Joaquin sitting on the bench.

Spain and Italy look very similar so far. Same formation, both look to have a good blend of youth and experience, and both seem to have a good sense of unity and lots of desire to do well. Stuck £20 on them meeting in the final at 85-1, fingers crossed they can keep it up

Pigman II

kinaldo wrote:

Expect everyone to jump on the Spain to win the World Cup bandwaggon now. Hopefully the new found expectation won't get the better of the team.

I reckon Spain will blow it as they always do. Just like always they're great at running up cricket scores against dishonest teams like Ukraine but just like always put up against anyone with a bit of class and they bottle it.

eirebhoy

Anam wrote:

Ukraine had 3 unlucky offsides of which Sheva would most likely have scored one,but that said,you cant argue with 4-0.

Why not? As you said, Sheva would have scored, Spain shouldn't have had a peno and Ukraine should have played the match with 11 men. Of course you can argue with 4-0.

Anam

eirebhoy wrote:

Why not? As you said, Sheva would have scored, Spain shouldn't have had a peno and Ukraine should have played the match with 11 men. Of course you can argue with 4-0.

Fair point.Indeed if Sheva had scored we have no idea how Spain would cope when things arent going well fo them,it certainly could have been a different game but Spain always looked the better side.I'm definately not convinced they can do it against the big sides though.

Ruskie4Rent

kinaldo wrote:

Expect everyone to jump on the Spain to win the World Cup bandwaggon now. Hopefully the new found expectation won't get the better of the team. Still my tip outside Brazil.

I tiped them at about december. Now if only i can find where i posted it:(

redspider

A solid win for Spain. They would have won it even if the penalty was not given and the Ukranian defender was not sent off.

It remains to be seen how Spain will go on from here. Their achilles heel in prevoius WC's has been attitude and performance rather than ability. Today they showed they have the ability.

I have them as a final-8 team, which is:

Brazil, Argentina
Italy, Holland, Spain, Czech R, England, France

(no shocks in that selection).

redspider

copacetic

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Definitely the move of the tournament so far, and a cracking finish.

great run by puyol (sp?), if all spain's players play as well as this for the rest of the cup they have a great chance.
although I always say that..

copacetic

el rabitos wrote:

what are u smoking, some anti-liverpool grass or something? garcia had a good game, one of his better games for spain, made some nice incisive passes

exactly and he caused trouble at the near post for the alonso goal and for the villa one from the free kick (they looked for him from the corner again)

RE*AC*TOR

if garcia played like that for liverpool on a weekly basis i'd be a very happy man.

Anam

Garcia did alright but i would much sooner have Fabregas in the side.

MrJoeSoap

Anam wrote:

Garcia did alright but i would much sooner have Fabregas in the side.

Whats the deal with him having 'Cesc' on the back of his jersey, with about 18 inches between each letter too.

Not like Fabregas is a huge name.

TheMonster

redspider wrote:

A solid win for Spain. They would have won it even if the penalty was not given and the Ukranian defender was not sent off.

It remains to be seen how Spain will go on from here. Their achilles heel in prevoius WC's has been attitude and performance rather than ability. Today they showed they have the ability.

I have them as a final-8 team, which is:

Brazil, Argentina
Italy, Holland, Spain, Czech R, England, France

(no shocks in that selection).

redspider

Give you any odds against that - hint look at the groups they come from

Anam

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Whats the deal with him having 'Cesc' on the back of his jersey, with about 18 inches between each letter too.

Not like Fabregas is a huge name.

I guess some players just prefer their nickname on it.Tevez of Argentina uses "Carlitos" afaik.

Roddy23

Who is the guy commentating on RTE?

Stephen Alkin - all over the kip for that game. When the peno was given he didnt have a clue what was going on, also in the first half he kept getting the names mixed up, didnt really matter as I was very pleased Spain won.

Hopefully now me mates will stop laughing at me for tipping Spain to win the tournament. I know its early days and ukraine were unlucky to lose by that much, but the whole Spanish squad look very hungry.

Kingp35

Yes Spain played some lovely football at times but Ukraine were very unlucky. The first two goals had a huge slice of luck associated with them and the penalty and sending was an absolute joke. Ukraine had some bad offside decisions against them as well.

4-0 was very flattering to Spain and I can still only see them reaching the quarter finals. I agree with whoever said Fabregas should start ahead of Luis Garcia. Garcia had an ok game with some good passes but still doesnt do enough for me.

eirebhoy

Spain have overtaken Italy in the odds. I think people are getting carried away with this result considering the circumstances. They were excellent but I still don't see how they can be way behind Italy in the betting and overtake them on this match alone.

Pepe LeFrits

eirebhoy wrote:

Spain have overtaken Italy in the odds. I think people are getting carried away with this result considering the circumstances. They were excellent but I still don't see how they can be way behind Italy in the betting and overtake them on this match alone.

Yeah, odds of an Italy - Spain final just went from 85-1 to 38-1 on Betfair.

haha, forgot I had a bet on someone being sent off earlier

redspider

TheMonster wrote:

> Brazil, Argentina
> Italy, Holland, Spain, Czech R, England, France
Give you any odds against that - hint look at the groups they come from

True, Italy and Czech R and Brazil cant ALL be in the final 8 at the same time as E plays F at the final 16 stage. It all depends on which team gets the E1 slot between Italy and Czech R. And of course I 'forgot' Germany. The pairings are looking something like:

A1 Germany v B2 (Paraguay/Sweden)
B1 England v A2 (Ecudaor?)

C1 Argentina v D2 (Mexico?)
D1 Portugal v C2 (Holland/Ivory C)

E1 Italy v F2 (Croatia/Australia)
F1 Brazil v E2 Czech R

G1 France v H2 Ukraine
H1 Spain v G2 (CH, South Korea)


So that would make a top-8 of:
> Brazil, Argentina
> Italy/Czech R, Holland, Spain, Germany, England, France

13572468

I'll then predict that:
Argentina will beat Germany
Italy will beat France
Holland will beat England
Brazil will beat Spain

Looking like a Brazil v Argentina final.


But there has to be a couple of shocks (if not more) in this tournament though, and I would more than glad if my 'prediction' was wrong. England look as vulnerable as any of the big guns.

redspider

zAbbo

Spain will beat Brazil as they have better players in at least 7 of the 11 positions.

Anam

zabbo wrote:

Spain will beat Brazil as they have better players in at least 7 of the 11 positions.

You could say the same about England,its how they play as a team that matters.I think Brazil will go further than Spain if Ronaldo is on form.