Everything Euro 2012!

Dolph Starbeam

HalloweenJack

Re: above: Needs more Panenka:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp2HZNheCZ8

darkman2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11inKqaCdPI

kitakyushu

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Re: above: Needs more Panenka:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp2HZNheCZ8

The goalie should have guessed he was going to take a Panenka penalty.

briany

Read a story where Prandelli is quoted as saying he would not protest if UEFA decided to eject Italy from the tournament. Now, obviously this is impossible at this late stage but is such a statement a clever thing to make in the build up?

You'd think such a scandal, with players being accused left and right, would shake Italy mentally leaving the team vulnerable but then again, the last time they participated in a tournament with such a cloud over them they won the thing so I wonder if we can expect the team to be suitably galvanised this time around as well??

darkman2

Overall transfer price of full teams:


Spain - €658 mil
Germany - €459 mil
England - €403 mil
France - €340 mil
Portugal - €337 mil
Italy - €296 mil
Netherlands - €277 mil
Russia - €162 mil
Croatia - €150 mil
Sweden - €122 mil
Ukraine - €107 mil
Czech Rep. - €106 mil
Denmark - €86 mil
Poland - €85 mil
Greece - €84 mil
Ireland - €71 mil

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

darkman2 wrote: »

Overall transfer price of full teams:


Spain - €658 mil
Germany - €459 mil
England - €403 mil
France - €340 mil
Portugal - €337 mil
Italy - €296 mil
Netherlands - €277 mil
Russia - €162 mil
Croatia - €150 mil
Sweden - €122 mil
Ukraine - €107 mil
Czech Rep. - €106 mil
Denmark - €86 mil
Poland - €85 mil
Greece - €84 mil
Ireland - €71 mil

Is this of the first XI or the whole 23 man squad? Also, where are you getting your figures from? Just wondering how you put a price on players that have never been transferred before, e.g. Xavi, Iniesta, etc.

peabutler

darkman2 wrote: »

Overall transfer price of full teams:


Spain - €658 mil
Germany - €459 mil
England - €403 mil
France - €340 mil
Portugal - €337 mil
Italy - €296 mil
Netherlands - €277 mil
Russia - €162 mil
Croatia - €150 mil
Sweden - €122 mil
Ukraine - €107 mil
Czech Rep. - €106 mil
Denmark - €86 mil
Poland - €85 mil
Greece - €84 mil
*Robbie Keane - €71 mil

:pac:

klose

Not euro 2012 but for euro 2016 (yes getting ahead of myself) how will it work with 24 teams?
4 groups of 6 means it works the same ways but thatd be extreamly drawn out.
6 groups of 4 is grand but by my count thats 12 teams to progress and the tournament tree dosent work then.

kitakyushu

whippedcream wrote: »

Not euro 2012 but for euro 2016 (yes getting ahead of myself) how will it work with 24 teams?
4 groups of 6 means it works the same ways but thatd be extreamly drawn out.
6 groups of 4 is grand but by my count thats 12 teams to progress and the tournament tree dosent work then.

See format of World Cup 86-94

Rekop dog

It's kinda mad how similar peoples minds work and how disconcerting our English cousins can be at times when it comes to thier national teams hopes. The one phrase I've heard from almost every single pundit, fan and tipster alike has been along the lines of

"for once nobody is talking about us winning this thing" followed by "but you know because of this, we may actually win it"!

A) The reason nobody was building their chances up is because not even the biggest hypemerchant could make much of a realistic case for this side winning (aside from Greece won it, anything is still possible)

Due to the 2nd part of the phrase, ironically I don't think I've ever heard as much English actually say they can win a major tournament.

Paco Rodriguez

Are we going to have to listen to those awful air horns during the Euros?

kitakyushu

Paco Rodriguez wrote: »

Are we going to have to listen to those awful air horns during the Euros?

Nah , Poles & Ukrainians don't like even having Africans in their county, let alone in their football grounds.

briany

kitakyushu wrote: »

Nah , Poles & Ukrainians don't like even having Africans in their county, let alone in their football grounds.

You could get the fans of some countries who played in the WC bringing them. If you were Spanish (and a bit drunk), the drone of the vevuzela may have a pleasant enough sound to it. I think we will see some fans blowing on them in the stadiums but in no kind of number that would make it perceptible to the viewing audience though I'd say it would be an annoyance to people in close proximity

batistuta9

whippedcream wrote: »

Not euro 2012 but for euro 2016 (yes getting ahead of myself) how will it work with 24 teams?
4 groups of 6 means it works the same ways but thatd be extreamly drawn out.
6 groups of 4 is grand but by my count thats 12 teams to progress and the tournament tree dosent work then.

kitakyushu wrote: »

See format of World Cup 86-94

they probably will have to go with the 4 best third placed teams going through along with 1 & 2 from six groups of 4 but their not happy with it or set on that format. Remember reading this awhile back

Uefa admit expansion of European Championships to 24 teams 'not ideal'

MARTYN ZIEGLER WEDNESDAY 28 MARCH 2012

Uefa are struggling to devise a format for the 24 teams in the finals of Euro 2016, it was conceded today.

The final tournament has been expanded from 16 teams and organisers are now wrestling with the best way of having a group stage going into a knock-out phase.

Gianni Infantino, UEFA's general secretary, admitted the final tournament was "not ideal" and that some teams who finish in third place in the four-team groups will go through to the round of 16 knock-out stage.

Organisers also want to avoid teams being able to collude in a match so that both qualify at the expense of another team in the group.

Infantino said: "This will be done by the end of this year. It is 24 teams and that is a problem - it is not an ideal final tournament because you will have to have a few of the third ones who qualify as well [for the knockout stage].

"The question is how you make it in a way that results cannot be organised and you don't know in advance what you need to be the best."

Infantino said UEFA would also review the Euro 2016 qualification competition to ensure that it was not "boring".

He added that UEFA may stick with extra assistant referees in Champions League and European Championship matches even if goal-line technology gets the go-ahead in July.

He said: "If the technology is approved on July 2 we have to see what is approved, how it will work, how complicated or not it will be ... and then it will go to our executive committee.

"On goal-line technology you can see whether a goal has been scored or not. An additional assistant next to the goal can see this, but also some other things."

link

mike65

24 teams is a farce anyway.

UEFA has 53 members and 45% will qualify.

batistuta9

yeah i don't think the should increase it either but they are, is it just for more money?

this is the last proper euro's & it's good ireland qualified. From 2016 on i'd be expecting ireland to be regulars

kitakyushu

mike65 wrote: »

24 teams is a farce anyway.

UEFA has 53 members and 45% will qualify.

Agreed. Although 24 pretty much guarantees Ireland a place every time (as we are generally a 16-24 range team even at the worst of times) it will weaken the competition overall and make too many nothing games.

leggo

mike65 wrote: »

24 teams is a farce anyway.

UEFA has 53 members and 45% will qualify.

Eh yeah...but it also means we're guaranteed a massive, countrywide sesh at least once every four years, so happy days!

darkman2

Fast Hungarians.

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

steelcityblues

Czech Republic looked pretty poor against Scotland last year, so I am not that surprised by this result. They are lucky to get a wide open group in the Euros.

tolosenc

Not really, UEFA is the only continental confederation that has, give or take, the same number of nations qualifying for the World Cup as its own competition.

Here's a table:

Assosciation | Member Countries | Countries at Brazil 2014 | Countries at last Championships (Year)
AFC | 47 (45 FIFA - 43 competing) | 4.5 | 16 (2011)
CAF | 56 (53 FIFA - 52 competing) | 5 | 16
CONCACAF | 40 (35 FIFA) | 3.5 | 12 (2011)
CONMEBOL | 10 | 4.5 + Brazil | 10 + 2 (2011)
OFC | 14 (11 FIFA) | 0.5 | 8 (2012)
UEFA | 53 | 13 | 16 (2012)

Renn

steelcityblues wrote: »

Czech Republic looked pretty poor against Scotland last year, so I am not that surprised by this result. They are lucky to get a wide open group in the Euros.

Didn't look that poor vs Scotland. Played the better football and had numerous chances to kill the game (15 shots/3 on target). Same vs Ireland, thought they were handy enough (20 shots/5 on target/60% possession) and were generally better than Ireland in most areas. Early iffy result vs Lithuania at home and two defeats vs Spain but they were still solid enough in qualifying.

Tipping either them (as is Jonathan Wilson) or Italy to lift the trophy.

steelcityblues

Renn wrote: »

Didn't look that poor vs Scotland. Played the better football and had numerous chances to kill the game (15 shots/3 on target). Same vs Ireland, thought they were handy enough (20 shots/5 on target/60% possession) and were generally better than Ireland in most areas. Early iffy result vs Lithuania at home and two defeats vs Spain but they were still solid enough in qualifying.

Tipping either them (as is Jonathan Wilson) or Italy to lift the trophy.

I meant the match at Hampden, where they certainly were lucky with that late penalty to equalise.

Your own stats contradict your claim that they are contenders, a fifth of shots on target vs Scots and a fourth on target v Ireland, is hardly encouraging. Plus, their top scorer in qualifying was the full back Kadlec.

They can get out of the group because it is pretty weak, but Jonathan Wilson (who is he?) must be mad if he thinks they are potential winners. They are poor compared to the time of Euro 2004.

Renn

I meant the game in Scotland too. Talk about luck all you want - Baros was bundled in the box in the 1st half - nothing given. Fortunate to get the late peno from the dive but then Scotland tried to do the exact same (with Berra) but didn't get the decision from the ref. Also didn't help that Cech was missing that day - vital for them to progress far.

Wilson is an author of some football books out there. Writes for The Guardian too.

darkman2

Ronnie Whelan tipping Ireland for the quarters

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/european-championships-2012/9306153/Euro-2012-Giovanni-Trapattonis-Republic-of-Ireland-team-can-go-one-better-than-the-great-run-we-had-in-1988.html

Renn

I have been surprised by their lack of star quality.

In other words, he doesn't bother to watch Serie A and is basing his opinion of star players from ten years ago.

darkman2

Just saw Croatia v Norway. Norway dominated that game and had loads of chances. They should have won comfortably. I have to say Croatia look pretty poor in that game to my eye. But of course it's only a friendly.

kitakyushu

Renn wrote: »

In other words, he doesn't bother to watch Serie A and is basing his opinion of star players from ten years ago.

He was never a great one for foreign league players.

After Ireland drew 1-1 with USSR in 88 Ronne Whelan was asked who's shirt he had got from the game. His reply "something-ov".

batistuta9

average ages of the squads from goal.com link

jetro willems of the netherlands is the youngest, kostas chalkias - a keeper - is the oldest.(shay given 2nd oldest)

england had the oldest average age at the WC in 2010 but have the third youngest for this & germany who had a WC 2010 average age of 25 has been decreased as well

ireland with the highest average age, it could be the last euro's for some of the squad but every cloud & all that, at just 26 paul mcshane could manage another 3 major international tournaments

Team | Youngest player | Oldest player | Average age
Germany | M. Gotze (20) | M. Klose (33) | 24.52
Poland | R. Wolski (19) | M. Wasilewski (31) | 25.13
England | Ox-Chamberlain (18) | R. Green (32) | 26.04
Denmark | J. Okore (19) | D. Rommedahl (33) | 26.57
France | Y. M'Vila (21) | A. Reveillere (32) | 26.65
Spain | J. Alba (23) | Xavi (32) | 26.78
Portugal | N. Oliveira (20) | R. Costa (31) | 27.08
Croatia | D. Vida(23) | J. Simunic (34) | 27.09
Netherlands | J. Willems (18) | M. van Bommel (35) | 27.13
Greece | K. Fortounis (19) | K. Chalkias (38) | 27.17
Czech Republic | V. Darida (21) | J. Drobny (32) | 27.26
Ukraine | M. Koval (19) | O. Horyainov (36) | 27.30
Italy | M. Balotelli (21) | M. De Sanctis (35) | 27.91
Sweden | M. Olsson (24) | A. Svensson (35) | 28.30
Russia | A. Dzagoev (21) | R. Sharonov (35) | 28.34
Republic of Ireland | J. McClean (23) | S. Given (36) | 28.35

Dolph Starbeam

Renn wrote: »

In other words, he doesn't bother to watch Serie A and is basing his opinion of star players from ten years ago.

Not really. While Italy can't be written off they are missing that star quality that they have had in years gone.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

briany wrote: »

You could get the fans of some countries who played in the WC bringing them. If you were Spanish (and a bit drunk), the drone of the vevuzela may have a pleasant enough sound to it. I think we will see some fans blowing on them in the stadiums but in no kind of number that would make it perceptible to the viewing audience though I'd say it would be an annoyance to people in close proximity

The person who starts blowing a vuvuzela in my vicinity will be the immediate recipient of a no-forewarned beatdown.

darkman2

deccurley wrote: »

The person who starts blowing a vuvuzela in my vicinity will be the immediate recipient of a no-forewarned beatdown.

i.e your own television.

Optimalprimerib

transylman wrote: »

Davidth88 wrote: »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/european-championships-2012/9298777/Euro-2012-Mario-Balotelli-says-he-will-walk-off-the-pitch-if-he-is-racially-abused-in-Poland-and-Ukraine.html

Good idea trying to give an ultimatum to a crowd, large crowds of course being known for their rationality and reasoning skills.

So what he is saying is if he is playing a blinder against us, all we need to do is call him racist things and he will leave the pitch? Although he may be as useful for us on the pitch as off it.

Mr. Presentable

Mark! wrote: »

Not really. While Italy can't be written off they are missing that star quality that they have had in years gone.

Cassano, Balotelli, Giovinco, Pirlo. If the coach can settle on a formation these will star in the semi if not final. I suspect after the tournament a whole new generation of converts will be lauding the Italian "star quality"

HazDanz

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

Cassano, Balotelli, Giovinco, Pirlo. If the coach can settle on a formation these will star in the semi if not final. I suspect after the tournament a whole new generation of converts will be lauding the Italian "star quality"

Giorgio Chiellini given the chance will impress too

Beefy78

kitakyushu wrote: »

Agreed. Although 24 pretty much guarantees Ireland a place every time (as we are generally a 16-24 range team even at the worst of times) it will weaken the competition overall and make too many nothing games.

It's the nothing games which bothers me. Personally I'm in favour of as many teams qualifying as feasible but the games once you get there need to mean something. Allowing half of the third place teams out means that there'll be an awful lot of dead matches and an awful lot of teams knowing that they can keep things tight and go through with draws, as there were in World Cups prior to that tournament increasing to 32 teams

kitakyushu

Beefy78 wrote: »

It's the nothing games which bothers me. Personally I'm in favour of as many teams qualifying as feasible but the games once you get there need to mean something. Allowing half of the third place teams out means that there'll be an awful lot of dead matches and an awful lot of teams knowing that they can keep things tight and go through with draws, as there were in World Cups prior to that tournament increasing to 32 teams

It didn't happen in 90 or 94 but in mexico 86 there was instances of teams qualifying for the last 16 with 2 draws and a defeat. Might as well not even have a group phase if that's what's getting through.

Beefy78

kitakyushu wrote: »

It didn't happen in 90 or 94 but in mexico 86 there was instances of teams qualifying for the last 16 with 2 draws and a defeat. Might as well not even have a group phase if that's what's getting through.

Absolutely. And although it didn't happen in the tournaments you mention, they didn't tend to provide too many exciting group matches. Remember the snoozefest that was Ireland, England, Netherlands and Egypt? One win in the group.

I know it's a completely different sport but its the Group stages of the Cricket World Cup which kills that tournament for the same reasons.

The Floyd p

Gary Cahill Ruled out with double fracture of Jaw, Martin Kelly drafted in as his replacement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18311737

Really don't know why Richards wasn't brought.

kitakyushu

The Floyd p wrote: »

Gary Cahill Ruled out with double fracture of Jaw, Martin Kelly drafted in as his replacement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18311737

Tough luck for Cahill. I'm guessing if he ever runs into Mertens again the pitch the Belgian will be finishing the game with a nice collection of stud marks for his troubles. Such a pathetic thing to do yesterday by him and so needless.

Cardinal Richelieu

Dutch supermarket add

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNyW_Q61T-A

tolosenc

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

Dutch supermarket add

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNyW_Q61T-A

Eh, what?

recylingbin

Something to get you in the mood...

A_Sober_Paddy

Just watched the panorama episode on the Euro's...

Scary countries, that I'm now even more shocked got the competition, Russia will be the same and Brazil will be trouble but for different reasons. The awarding of these competitions to these countries just shows how corrupt FIFA/UEFA.

Cardinal Richelieu

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Just watched the panorama episode on the Euro's...

Scary countries, that I'm now even more shocked got the competition, Russia will be the same and Brazil will be trouble but for different reasons. The awarding of these competitions to these countries just shows how corrupt FIFA/UEFA.

Yes the only possible country able to host the Euros and World Cup for the Next 100 years is England! Sure the food in those countries is foreign even. :rolleyes:

I doubt the English have won many fans with programmes like Panorama and also that the team while playing in a Ukraine based group is based in Poland. Good way to get the locals on you back before starting the boozed fueled antics they usually start.

P.S Brazil has held the competition in the past with no problems.

The Radiator

North Korea 2022

kitakyushu

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

Dutch supermarket add

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNyW_Q61T-A

I think the joke of the little orange bird turning up in an unexpected place wore off after about the 400th instance.

kitakyushu

The Radiator wrote: »

North Korea 2022

They'd have to do something about their roads first.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=north+korea&hl=en&ll=39.647997,126.518555&spn=7.264513,14.996338&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=58.858685,119.970703&t=m&hnear=North+Korea&z=7

Cardinal Richelieu

kitakyushu wrote: »

I think the joke of the little orange bird turning up in an unexpected place wore off after about the 400th instance.

My dutch friend sent that to me, the advert is playing nearly every commercial break in the Netherlands, driving her up the wall. She said that even after hammering Norm Iron the general mood is that this Dutch team is not good enough to get far in the Euros.