Josh Gehres @JoshGehres Wow what a boring final..Wish Germany would have been there you damn right white bench warming 2 star receiver with flowing chestnut locks
Josh Gehres People forget how nasty that Brazil squad was. They won the Copa America x2 and the World Cup. Ronnie wasn't even in his prime yet and he was killing it. Rivaldo,Ronaldo,Cafu,Roberto Carlos and Juninho. Just filthy. damnnit man Brazil needs to step it up :(
Neymar, Oscar, Lucas Moura, Ganso, Casemiro, Danilo, etc is their next great generation, and I'm sure there's some other teenage freaks coming up.
Hulk, Silva, Luiz should be all in their primes. Then if Pato doesn't get hurt, not sure where Robinho stands for this cycle, should be a sub at best.
08 Spain > 10/12. Senna and Marchena/Puyol were a wall and had 2 great strikers. Best version of Xavi with a great Iniesta and GOAT super sub Cesc. Spain were also significantly less gay back then.
Congrats to the Spanish fans. Great side who just played awesome. Agree with Shockers post from a page back. Proud to see italy in the final when most felt they may not even get out the group.
The defending on the first two goals was pretty awful, upon revisiting them. It's funny because both of them really came down to speed and the Italian defenders being too slow to react, and unable to catch up first to Fabregas, and then to Jordi Alba. Chielini was just taken to the woodshed on Fabregas' run, and he should have been able to do more since he started in decent enough position. (This also lends credence to the suggestion that Chielini wasn't actually fit enough to be starting.) I noted Balzaretti did quite well as the replacement later, particularly when joining the attack having had at least one memorably vicious looking cross. Later Alba blew past three blue shirts with nobody bothering to try to keep up with him. The passes were sublime, obviously - the story of Spains' dominance - but Italy should have been able to do more about the runs that ultimately allowed the game to be won in the first 45.
Looks like the real is no longer on the rise. BRNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
that's soccer. a greater pressure on speed and reaction time and thus shorter life span than any other sport.
Spain were attacking for once though. It actually made them more vulnerable defensively as they were as sloppy in possession as they've been all tourney but it was fun to watch. Wasn't their typical 10 minutes of probing to get a half chance. Italy didn't defend well but it's awfully hard to stop those midgets when they are coming at you like that. Honestly seems like Spain heard what Wenger said about them and wanted to shut him up.
Why would Spain pay attention to what a guy says about them who hasn't won anything in several years?
FootballFacts101® @FootballFact101 FERNANDO TORRES has scored in FOUR Euro Championship finals,at THREE DIFFERENT levels,U-16 in 2001,U-19 in 02 & Senior team in 2008 and 2012 goat
dutch television's farewell to the euros big ups on the rvp - huntelaar / gomez - klose comparison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArIzL73z_Pg
So the only team that has been able to beat Spain in a knockout rd game is the US nice Next up the Confed cup. Should be good. Brazil (hosts) Spain (world) Italy (europe) Uruguay (south america) Japan (asia) Mexico (north america) Tahiti (oceania) TBD (africa)
Pretty cool. Iker compelled the ref to stop the match early to not make Bankz cry more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KW4e-CGkE8
damn UEFA, you creepy Spoiler Sorry, Mario Balotelli Didn’t Really Make This German Fan Cry: How TV Lied To You During Euro 2012 Barry Petchesky View Profile Email Facebook Twitter AIM Google Plus RSS In the 36th minute of the Euro 2012 semifinal, Mario Balotelli scored his second goal, a screamer to the top right corner. Balotelli ripped off his jersey and flexed, and the telecast cut to a woman in the stands, a German flag painted on her cheek, a single tear leaking from her eye. "It's too early for tears," intoned ESPN's Adrian Healey, calling the action. And it was. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung talked to the tearful woman: Her name was Andrea, she came from Dusseldorf, and she was surprised when she started getting texts from friends asking why she'd started crying with nearly an hour of play remaining. She hadn't, Andrea told them. Instead, she said, she had been overcome with emotion during the playing of the national anthems, before the match kicked off. A camera recorded her then, and the footage was inserted into live TV later on, at the moment it would have the most impact. The emotional power of sport, on cue. Don't blame Healey or ESPN. They didn't know, nor did ARD, the German network airing the match, nor did ZDF or SVT, or any of the other hundreds of channels that had won the regional broadcasting rights around the world. They merely aired the streaming live signal from UEFA—which on multiple occasions goosed the live footage by adding prerecorded shots, with zero acknowledgement. On June 13, during of Germany's group stage match against the Netherlands, cameras found German manager Joachim Löw sneaking up behind a ballboy and poking the ball from his grip. A humanizing moment in the middle of a tense game. Except it happened during warm-ups, well before the match, and was dropped in to make it appear live. Two networks, claiming they were caught off guard by UEFA's practices, have spoken out against it. "Of course any form of censorship or manipulation is not acceptable for us." said ARD's Euro 2012 chief editor Joerg Schoenenborn." That's why we clearly told UEFA that the German public expects coverage to be live when it says it's live. Live is live and has to stay live.'' "We have complained to UEFA that the impression was aroused that these were live pictures,'' ZDF editor-in-chief Peter Frey said. "That does not correspond to our journalistic standards.''I would be shocked if they were as shocked as they sound. TV's been fudging the distinction between documentary and stagecraft for a long time. Your favorite news and sports shows always make sure to tape footage of their reporter nodding thoughtfully, and insert it under an interview subject's voice. This makes it look like correspondent are listening closely, when they might be doodling or picking their noses. It's subtle, and it's unnoticeable, and the Hollywood editing of seemingly unbroken scenes is surprisingly common. If you can't trust Killer Shark Live to actually be live, what can you trust? Surely not the Olympics. We're less than three weeks away from the most expensive and slickest Games ever broadcast, and in the wake of the BBC's CGI blockbuster promos, count on NBC making every effort to give you the most cinematic experience possible. While you're still figuring out whether a given event is live or tape-delayed, they'll be blurring the line even further. http://deadspin.com/5923264/sorry-m...n-fan-cry-how-tv-lied-to-you-during-euro-2012