Euro 2012 open thread

Unfortunately, I didn’t come up with this one originally (Ben Stanley did) but expect a new series of Nordic Noir this June

The Kicking. DCI Platini investigates the slaughter of eleven Danish men at three different places in the Ukraine.

Expecting? Well. Hoping for Spain.

Greece

Second both of aretino’s predictions, although the 46 year anniversary of 1966 so who knows, with Ireland being there or thereabouts. Just to clarify, I’ve called every competition since 98 correctly, with the exception of Greece, so this isn’t so much a prediction as a dead cert.

germany, spain and holland are favorites. but russia and denmark have potential to surprise.
i don’t think a spaniar will bee golden boot; they score few goals per game. mario gomez of germany or van persie could win it

Germany vs Greece in the final.

Nil all after extra time.

Merkel pulls rank from the VIP box and substitutes herself on just before it goes to penalties.

Tsipras, caught on the hop, delegates responsibility to the heroic grassroots of the Greek national team. The KKE send an immediate telegram of support for this brave pro-people decision which gives power to the popular strata at this moment of crisis.

Greece win on penalties. No more to be said.

Germany, but hopefully a Russian or English shocker.

Thank you piglet.

England will score exactly one goal in a 1-1 draw against the Ukraine and will not make it out of the group.

For streaming, try here.

Yeah, it’s ESPN3. Crap. The trouble is that I only pay Time Warner for Internet access, not for any TV channels, and that doesn’t qualify you to stream ESPN3.

Weird. I remember streaming WC 2010 matches and I didn’t even own a TV. (Unless I’m amazingly confused.)

Germany, as long as they stop playing bloody Gomez and stick with Klose, Podolski as occasional impact substitution. Neither Holland nor Spain seem as imposing as they did at the WC – and surely referees will be just waiting for Holland to start kicking opponents again, and stamp down hard on them.

Apparently England are being predicted to make it out of their group, beat Ireland and then meet Germany. Which could be very funny indeed, but on the whole, as a Germany supporter in the depths of Somerset, I’d prefer it not to happen like that.

I get all the games in high def here in the AZ backwoods on my cable system’s DVR. I’m humbly grateful, as I still remember the awful satellite broadcasts of the Eighties, and running home from work at lunch (in CA) during the 94 World Cup to switch tapes for the afternoon match, then staying up till an ungodly hour to watch both.

Injuries, scandals, too many Bavarians still in shock, Ukrainian skinheads, an all-new French team that was pretty good when I last saw it (too long ago), Eastern European teams likewise. I really haven’t a clue, but I’m gonna love it anyway.

Nadal over Ferrer in straights, Djokovic over Federer in a back-and-forth five-setter.

Wait, what are we talking about?

LeftAtTheCross suggests a Germany vs Greece final…

Didn’t that happen once before?

After the winning Greek goal:- “The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside.”

I predict Germany over The Netherlannds in the final. I suspect either England or France will collaps in the first round.

Moderator(s): feel free to remove this post if it might derail the football discussion, but I ask only because I’m confused.

What power does an aging, mistake-prone, increasingly slow center back like Terry do to inspire such loyalty in the England national team system? I just don’t get it. I won’t rehearse the litany of his proven and suspected misdemeanors, but I don’t understand what he brings to the side that even at the hight of his talent that would allow him so many excuses and second chances. Oh, and I ask in peace, and promise not to challenge any responders.

@31 Doh! ‘here’

as a Germany supporter in the depths of Somerset

This sounds unpleasant?

@Frank Ashe #37: actually that’s three out of three, as Klose is also of Polish parentage. That’s not so new or unusual – a couple of key players in the team from the late 20s into the 30s were the sons of Polish immigrants into the Gelsenkirchen area, for example. What’s been striking more recently has been the advent of players with Turkish and (in the case of Sami Khedira) Tunisian ancestry, not least because the sons of Turkish Gastaerbeitern used to aspire to play for Turkey even when qualified to play for Germany.

@ js. #38: it has to remain a very private thing; I don’t think my neighbours would really understand. It was bad enough when I proposed adding a European flag to the display in the main square for the jubilee celebrations…

Southern nations insist that Germans and Dutch should score more own goals in order to even things up?

Can’t see the point of keeping Terry – the Germans made him look like a wheelybin full of bricks last time out…

I will be distracted by watching these Ukrainian protesters: http://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/ukrainian-girls-show-us-how-to-protest/

Rio Ferdinand’s constant use of a personal retinue of media management professionals meets the standard pre-tournament dead zone where massive-anticipation-of-football meets no-football-yet. Result: hugely inflated nonstory. He got dropped because he’s knackered.
If there’s any more to it, how’s this: I’ve seen a total of two extended bits of telly with Ferdinand over the years, both of them suggesting a repellent personality. The first involved him taking the soul deejay Trevor Nelson VIP clothes shopping at the northern branch of Harvey Nichols. Fawning from Nelson, self-regard from Ferdinand, the whole thing nauseating. The second was a Sky show where he pranked other footballers with elaborate windups (the one I saw involved conning Wayne Rooney into telling a tearful child that its puppy had died). Ferdinand’s involvement seemed to involve high-pitched giggling at the monitor feeds coming from the hidden cameras, then swanning in with a massive smirk when the prank was revealed. It made you realise that until that point you hadn’t appreciated the charm and warmth of Jeremy Beedle.
Yes, footballers in general can be stupid, vain and petulant. But Ferdinand combines all those traits, and not in a good way. Has he been left out because having him around has proved in the past to be bad for squad morale? It wouldn’t surprise me.

Btw, to the people on this thread dismissing England, I think we’ve got a good chance this year. If you think that’s just the usual moronic optimism, you’re missing the important fact that the lads are really up for it. Really, really up for it.

Can we stop to discuss briefly how Portugal got completely screwed in the Group assignments?

Funny thing is when I read the title I thought it was an open thread about the currency.

Neville and GW,

re: the Gomezes, Özils, Kloses, Podolskis, Khediras usw. usf. of the Germany team, I think these days the explanation is pretty simple. National sentiment, in most cases, has little to do with it. Players able to qualify for more than one nation will play for the strongest nation they can get selected for.

Hargreaves was eligible for Canada, Wales and England. England were willing to give him a shot, so he played for England. A similarly situated player unable to get the call-up from England would have gone with Canada or Wales, happy for the cap even if slightly less likely to win any important competition. The Turkish national side is full of Almancılar who’d have played alongside Özil if they’d been given the chance. I imagine that, as a technical matter, Zidane could have qualified for Algeria; but for a player of his calibre sentimental attachment to the ancestral homeland would have had to be very powerful indeed to make him forgo playing for France.

My indirect, two-degrees-of-separation brush with greatness: my elder son played for a half-decent local side here through D-Jugend (at which point he came to realise that he was not Brazilian after all). One of his teammates, born here but of Turkish descent, was acquired by our city’s Bundesliga club as a pre-teen and, later, by Bayern Munich. He now plays in their reserves and, barring injury or screw-up, will likely turn out for their first 11 in the next season or so. He has played for Germany at youth level but thus far has not had to make a binding decision. My not exactly daring prediction: if selected, he’ll play for Germany and be delighted about it; if not, Turkey will select him, and he’ll be delighted about it and play for them. (He is that good that I do not think he will escape being selected by the one or the other.)

Oh yes, my prediction. Germany will win, unless they are persuaded by the pessimism of the German sporting press that they cannot. Recall the last World Cup: Despite having effortlessly vivisected England and Argentina on live international television, Germany were told by the press that they hadn’t a hope against Spain; so Germany duly played against Spain cowering as though in fear of their lives. It was clear within minutes of kick-off that Spain would prevail. You will not beat Germany through condition or technique or discipline, but you can beat them through psychology.

Mrs T, I think you’re right about the psychology of that semi against Spain.
I watched the Germany v England match at a village jumbo screen on a blistering hot day just outside Duesseldorf. By the end of it my shit-eating grin was wearing thin. No complaints at all. Back in England, not even the usual suspects were complaining, not even with the gift of a disallowed goal to complain about. England got creamed by a vastly superior team. But maybe it’s worth looking at how good Germany were. It wasn’t just the standard German advantage of being very organised and very fit. They were quick, inventive, visionary, punished every mistake. And maybe because they were excellent in a rather unGermanic way there was room for self-doubt to creep in and undermine them.

I only know from the latter stages of the Champions League what the German players look like coming into the Euros. Gomez was a joke in the final. Schweinsteiger missed a crucial penalty. If Ozil did much for Madrid, I missed it.
The German team was something special two years ago. I’m doubtful that’s the sort of thing that can be repeated.
Don’t get me wrong, if you drew Germany in the sweepstake you’d be happy.
Just like if you drew England you’d kick the cat.

I predict Terry and whoever it was that was made captain this time around will come to blows when little Theo inevitably gets targetted with monkey chants. Terry spots an opportunity and rounds up all the off-white players on the feld and attempts to march them off the pitch in protest. Terry, Cole, Johnson, AOC, Walcott and Defoe all get booked before the game eventually restarts minus the England captain who gets a red card for lamping Terry. Suspensions for Hodgson to play Kelly in the final group game and he is found to be the new Cafu and the new Beckenbauer all at once, proving the Ferdinand thing was indeed all for ‘football reasons’.

More realistically, distance and a smidgen of fear lead to a far less embarassing performance than usual by the England ‘fans’ and low expectations allow a dignified early retreat by the team. The tournament looks wide open to me, so I’ll plump for Germany from Italy in the final.

I so hate living in a state (California) and nation that frowns upon betting. It isn’t worth driving out to Vegas for the opportunity.

Many US ISPs bundle ESPN3 access (though not the other ESPN channels) in with your regular access. I don’t have any TV service, and was pleasantly surprised last week to learn I had an easy, legal way to watch the games.