Mahi Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Germany did it and proved to be the best team so far ,4-2what a beautiful,strong team,even if it was against a weak team like Greece.infact Group A was the weakest of all groups.Though Germans start with new faces,as Shurrle and Reus,with absence of Gomez and Podolski,this didn't affect so much.so intersting game really.most of Greece defeat is because of their so bad goalkeeper.they had good defence but Germans were so strong,organised,didn't stop striking even after scoring 4 goals.Khedira and ozil proved to be two of the best players in their team.Now Germany is waiting for Italy or England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael* Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Greece's point blank refusal to cross the halfway line made for an extraordinarily dull first half. Luckily for the neutral, Germany's incisive one-touch football ran riot after the break. Undoubtedly, the Germans are the team to beat at the tournament thus far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael* Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Also, lovely stuff from Martin Keown during Portugal-Czech Republic... "He's got such a great leap. It's like an NFL basketball player." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lkjh Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Ah, too bad I wasn't able to watch Germany-Greece. It sounds like an interesting match though. Seems like Germany is very likely to play in the final once again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superRDF Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 After Greece equalized, even after Khedira made it 2-1, the match should have been much closer. The Greek goalkeeper was a flop, he not only went behind the striker but his own man as well to try and punch the ball away?? what was he thinking and Ninis peeling off to allow Lahm to get off his shot with no pressure was another head-scratcher. In the end though i guess Germany did what we all expected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Keown and Mark Bright are so awful that I end up almost longing for the surly one liners of Lawro. Then within a few minutes of reacquainting myself with Lawro and Guy Mowbray's "cagey" banter I begin to contemplate the slow release of death. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Jonathan Pearce has been particularly awful this tournament, his delivery is incredibly grating, I honestly preferred his charmless shouty Channel 5 days, now he sounds like he's studying the line readings of William Shatner in a bid for gravitas. Go back and watch the 1966 World Cup final and listen to Kenneth Wolstenholme and his ability to space out the commentary in a humble yet elegant manner and weep for what we as a people have become. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael* Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 ^Maybe I've finally managed to perfect the art of switching off when they talk, maybe it's because the obligatory media drum-banging for the 'mighty' England has been relatively absent this year - to be honest I'm not quite sure what it is, but so far I've found the usual suspects and their trademark drones marginally more bearable than at previous tournaments. All except for Lawro that is - God, the bloke's miserable. Very few games this summer have been genuinely without merit, yet the uninitiated might think he was being forced at gunpoint to watch a 0-0er between Rochdale and Morecambe on a wet evening in January. Does he even like football? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 ^Maybe I've finally managed to perfect the art of switching off when they talk, maybe it's because the obligatory media drum-banging for the 'mighty' England has been relatively absent this year - to be honest I'm not quite sure what it is, but so far I've found the usual suspects and their trademark drones marginally more bearable than at previous tournaments. All except for Lawro that is - God, the bloke's miserable. Very few games this summer have been genuinely without merit, yet the uninitiated might think he was being forced at gunpoint to watch a 0-0er between Rochdale and Morecambe on a wet evening in January. Does he even like football?I think 2010 represented the nadir in terms of the pundits, particularly the BBC ones who's sense of comfort seemed unbearably smug. Someone seems to have had a quiet word. Meanwhile I've found the ITV "gang" a lot more tolerable in the last couple of years. Roy Keane's utter contempt for 98% of humanity is a nice change of pace and a nice counterbalance to Roberto Martinez's Tony Robbins audiobook style positivity. Obviously Strachan's awful but I assume that's the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael* Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 ^Ah, good old Roy. It's impossible not to enjoy his grumpy, scowling presence on ITV. His trademark pent-up rage seems to be reaching borderline dangerous levels at the moment, presumably because resisting the urge to kick the studio coffee table over and grab Patrick Vieira round the neck is using up most of his self-control. I loved his brutal honesty about the Irish campaign, as well as his smackdown of Jamie Carragher over whether or not Ronaldo should be considered an all-time great. Honorable mentions too for messrs Klinsmann, Seedorf, Dixon and Martinez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael* Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 A piece of drama usually only reserved for their BZ topics now, as a mild spat breaks out between Irina Shayk and Bar Refaeli over Ronaldo's hair. Shock horror etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superRDF Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I'm happy with our commentary over here having to listen to Alexi Lalas on the pre-game show is another story though <_< hopefully we get a tying goal soon. LETS MAKE THIS INTERESTING PEOPLE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superRDF Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 well my prayer went unanswered poor game from France. their decision making in the final third was terrible, especially Benzema. not sure why they wouldn't start Nasri either. happy for Alonso though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael* Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 This looked to be the first quarter-final between two teams of reasonably comparable ability, so I was hoping for a cracker. So much for that idea - France completely directionless, Spain barely even tested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael* Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 I'm happy with our commentary over here having to listen to Alexi Lalas on the pre-game show is another story though <_< I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that you're getting decent coverage - it's difficult to imagine the tournament attracting a great deal of interest in the States. Even more so since tonight's game failed to live up to expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Terrible game tonight, as soon as I saw the inexplicable French line-up I knew they'd had it. Spain were functional, bordering on the tedious; France were simply despicable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 ^Ah, good old Roy. It's impossible not to enjoy his grumpy, scowling presence on ITV. His trademark pent-up rage seems to be reaching borderline dangerous levels at the moment, presumably because resisting the urge to kick the studio coffee table over and grab Patrick Vieira round the neck is using up most of his self-control. I loved his brutal honesty about the Irish campaign, as well as his smackdown of Jamie Carragher over whether or not Ronaldo should be considered an all-time great. Honorable mentions too for messrs Klinsmann, Seedorf, Dixon and Martinez.What was the Carra-Keano showdown like? I assume Our Jamie regards Ronaldo as a preening, poncey carthorse who has one trick and thus Shankly would have sold him to Stockport to teach him a 'lesson'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I'm happy with our commentary over here having to listen to Alexi Lalas on the pre-game show is another story though <_< I remember having to endure the charmless Alexi during the 2006 World Cup. Every European team was deemed "overrated" faster than you can say boo to a goose while poor ol' Ghana were deemed such nobodys that he wouldn't even entertain the idea that the USA might not beat them. Obviously Ghana then won. Anyway, maybe he was more open minded when they met again in 2010? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael* Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 What was the Carra-Keano showdown like? I assume Our Jamie regards Ronaldo as a preening, poncey carthorse who has one trick and thus Shankly would have sold him to Stockport to teach him a 'lesson'. Not far off actually. Before one of Portugal's group games, Carragher had dared to suggest that Ronaldo wasn't really all that and had yet to do major damage in a big tournament or Champions League final. Roy, looking rather irritated, then sat on the fence as usual, firing back with what I can only describe as a barrage of stats - sixty-odd goals last season, medals coming out of his ears at club level and so on. It was a pretty spiky exchange and quite honestly, I was a bit surprised to see Carragher back on TV afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Not far off actually. Before one of Portugal's group games, Carragher had dared to suggest that Ronaldo wasn't really all that and had yet to do major damage in a big tournament or Champions League final. Roy, looking rather irritated, then sat on the fence as usual, firing back with what I can only describe as a barrage of stats - sixty-odd goals last season, medals coming out of his ears at club level and so on. It was a pretty spiky exchange and quite honestly, I was a bit surprised to see Carragher back on TV afterwards. A few weeks ago I was reading on a Villa fansite some bloke saying that he hoped we'd never sign, get this, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, because he's a bit of a so and so and really he's not as good as everybody says. He was completely serious, too. Truly barking mad stuff, I at least imagine that particular brand of lunacy stems from the "if you haven't played in the Premier League, you have an incomplete career" school of dumb thought, but as for Carragher, what excuse does he have? Was he himself not an active footballer in the years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009? Was it all just a horrible dream, Jamie? Was it actually Liverpool who won three titles in a row and was it actually Robbie Fowler who scored the opening goal of the 2008 Champions League final? Tell me about Michael Owen's 60 goal season at Real Madrid. Tell me about Cristiano Ronaldo's utterly pants performance for England against the USA at the last World Cup. You can't do it, can you, Jamie, CAN YOU?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superRDF Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that you're getting decent coverage - it's difficult to imagine the tournament attracting a great deal of interest in the States. Even more so since tonight's game failed to live up to expectations. Yup, ESPN picks it up on their main channel. They've got Michael Ballack on for the Euros who is the only sensible analyst but hey, you can't have good commentary and good analyst. Not sure what any of the viewer ratings are like though. Ghana...2010..i seem to have blocked that game from my memory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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