The Football (Soccer) Topic

[darknessfood]

For me Holland/Netherlands, whatever you wanna call it. But we are in the poule with France and Italy . We SO get kicked out in the first round!

[Muszka]

It's normal that you are with Holland.... but I detest France, so I hope your guys can take them out

[darknessfood]

Well, after posting i thougth: the French people weren't really amazing last WC, they started off really weak, and they were in luck that they weren't in a really good poule. So if that happens again, we can take them out. We got a pretty good team. Still i fear Italy though, but this week a training match against them...

[Muszka]

If you beat the French you should not fear since 2 teams qualify you know

[darknessfood]

Well, Italy is the worst, i think we can have Romania and France !

[Muszka]

Well I live in Romania, but I never liked the yellows, but I do like the inventors of Pizza, and for some strange reason I like the Orange-team too.

[darknessfood]

Orange is happy ! Well pizza is okay as well. But we got a change of getting in the second round !

[Jolly Joker]

Germany will be strong at the EM.
I condider Romania the decisive team of the I/F/NL group. You can easilly imagine remis in all of those games which means that the games againat Romania will decide. Personally I think that Romania can play a great tourney- think about Greece the last time. Something like a 2:2 against France with a 0:0 or 1:1 between Holland and Italy on day 1 may make Romania's day already.

[PhoenixReborn]

I go either with England or

__

I like the way Spain move the ball. They scored a goal against Ukraine in the cup in 06 that was just fantastic.

Generally I like the French players.

I agree with JJ, Germany seem likely to crush everyone.

[Kalah]

Two "scandals" in Norwegian football today:

The first was a penalty awarded, when it should not have been. The striker took a dive and managed to fool one of our two best referees, Rune Hauge. He admitted upon seeing the TV replays after the match that he had been wrong, but the losing coach asked the question of whether Hauge was perhaps "over the hill" and should be considered for relegation. I have to admit he has a point; this particular situation was a big blunder. The diving striker wasn't even touched by the defender - not even close. Hauge must have gotten the angle all wrong. And that's only the starter... you see, he had a big mistake like that a couple of weeks ago as well, and when less experienced refs have done things like that, they have been suspended from the highest division. I don't think the NFF will suspend Hauge, though, as he's a FIFA-referee and considered one of the two best Norwegian refs.

The second situation was another faulty penalty, awarded by the other one of the "two best". In a tight situation, a defender managed to tackle the ball to a corner kick, but the ref thought it was the striker just in front who touched the ball, and that the defender took the player, not the ball. Didn't matter in the end, though, as the penalty was missed.

[PhoenixReborn]

I wish the managers and players would just get on with it instead of whinging about the reffing after every single game.

Ronaldo to Real?

Looks like Spurs have picked up Dos Santos which is excellent if true. Maybe he can give them what Lennon couldn't.

[Kalah]

Spurs have been linked with more than fifty players the last month, so I take any rumours I hear with a ton of salt. Until I see an announcement on the official website, I won't get excited.

Still, one juicy piece of rumour I like is Fabricio Coloccini, one of the best defenders in the world. Alledgedly, his agent is in London now, talking to Man. City and Spurs about a possible transfer. This guy is just the kind of superstar I've always wanted Spurs to sign for their defence.

[PhoenixReborn]

Does an announcement on Barcelona's web site count?

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/ ... 04518.html

[Kalah]

Yes, and there's one on the Spurs site too

European Championship starts tomorrow!

Germany is my fave. They have a complete team; solid defenders, super midfielders and some of the best attackers in the world. The Czech Republic's biggest stars aren't playing, so they have a young and unknown team. That's what they had in -96 as well...

[Veldrynus]

Go Holland! Go Oranges! Don't f**** disappoint me again!

[Kalah]

Holland have a strong team, no doubt about that, now that van Nistelrooy is back in action. The big name of the tournament I foresee will be Huntelaar. He's going to be the Karel Poborsky of this year's EC.

[darknessfood]

Nah Kalah, i don't think so. I live here, and i can say that he wasn't THAT great here this season, heck, he only saved Ajax when he came by around half the season (dunno, i think like 2 seasons ago). After that, he wasn't that great like he was when he came.I don't like him in the frontline, he's just a player who awaits when the ball is shot at him, then with a LITTLE change he makes a goal.But hey, that was in the dutch soccer season. I really hope you are right !

[Kalah]

Huntelaar, van Nistelrooy, Hesselink, Robben, Kuyt, van Persie, van der Vaart... this is probably the best attacking line in the championship. I'm worried about their defence, though. The Dutch simply don't have as complete a squad as... say, the Germans.

[darknessfood]

Yeah, germans just digg theirselves in. Yeah, we got a great attacking line. Personaly i would go for van Persie on the left, because he is a really fast and creative, thus dangurous player, in the middle i would put Kuyt, he is not just a great spits, he is also a great overall pleyer. He diffents when in need, and he's just always there. On the right, i go for Robben, same reason as van Persie!

[Kalah]

All of the teams have a good first XI lineup... the key to winning a championship, in which you have some 2-3 matches a week, is having a good squad so that you can cover for tired/injured/suspended players - as well as vary your tactics. With a squad of just 23 players, you theoretically have only 2 players on each slot, so it's good to have players who can play in several positions. Holland have that covered offensively, but God help them if they get a defender injured...