European Championship 2012, Poland-Ukraine June 8-July 1

[jj jumpman 23]

Originally Posted by CoupeIt88

This One Hurts man, really hurts.
We played with our hearts and gave it our all but still, Damn....

Portugal Para Sempre

100% agree.  This hurts more than our 0-1 loss in the World Cup to Spain.

At least it doesn't hurt as much as our 0-1 loss to Greece back in the 04' finals

[h1]Força Portugal !
[/h1]

 

[Trey Bantz]

Originally Posted by ScottHallWithAPick

So everyone is counting out Italy? I don't know @$*@ about soccer

but I've caught 3 Italy games and they have looked pretty good. Germany is just that much a powerhouse?

No one ever gives Italy enough credit. Look for the upset, Germany does a good job of beating up on scrubs then crumbling when it matters most.

 

[gridebounca11]

Couldnt watch the game, will catch it on replay later tonight.

I see 9 YCs.. was that Portugal playing overly aggresive or some flops on Spain's part?

It seems that Spain was very apprehensive in their sets, and didnt really settle in till late.

i saw Penalties though and man..Portugal looked so confused. Alves and Nani's exchange summed it up. I wish we could have seen Ronaldo get one in at least.

My boy was telling me how the stadium was going nuts every time Ronaldo had the rock. The man is really a superstar. No doubt about it. All eyes are on him whenever he touches the rock.

But can yall imagine if Messi wasnt so loyal to Argentina? I'm sure he has Spanish citizenship. Messi in EURO tournaments...goddamn the electricity would fry my !+! up.

Spain v. Germany. Let's do this. Viva La Roja !

 

[mastamind89]

Originally Posted by GRideBounca11

Couldnt watch the game, will catch it on replay later tonight.

I see 9 YCs.. was that Portugal playing overly aggresive or some flops on Spain's part?

It seems that Spain was very apprehensive in their sets, and didnt really settle in till late.

i saw Penalties though and man..Portugal looked so confused. Alves and Nani's exchange summed it up. I wish we could have seen Ronaldo get one in at least.

My boy was telling me how the stadium was going nuts every time Ronaldo had the rock. The man is really a superstar. No doubt about it. All eyes are on him whenever he touches the rock.

But can yall imagine if Messi wasnt so loyal to Argentina? I'm sure he has Spanish citizenship. Messi in EURO tournaments...goddamn the electricity would fry my !+! up.

Spain v. Germany. Let's do this. Viva La Roja !

Messi was offered to play for one of the Spanish U teams. 
But it he was playing for Spain right now 

 

They wouldn't be playing that 4-6-0 but Torres would still be on the bench

 

[sstutter]

Originally Posted by AlmostNotReady

Spain has all those technically gifted players.
But all they do is pass back and forth. 

No free kicks.. No dribbles.. No crosses.. No shots.

And its not like they are that good defensively.

Yet they are in the final. Smh.

You expect Iniesta (5'7"), Silva (5'7"), Xavi (5'7"), and Fabregas (5'10") to have the height and strength to make headers off crosses?

Spain's never been a team to play in the air, and they know it's not their strength. You admitted that they're technically gifted but failed to realize that passing back and forth requires the most technical superiority. If any other team could pass like Spain and dominate possession, believe me; they would.

Not that good defensively? Are we talking about the same back line? They just broke the record today for the longest stretch without conceding a goal in Euro history. Their defense is what allows them to do what they did today: play lazy ball for 60 minutes and maintain enough energy to attack at the end when the other team is tired and most vulnerable.

I understand that you might not like their style, but to call them not good defensively is just wrong. It's no coincidence that they're one win away from being the first soccer team to ever win three international tournaments in a row.

 

[sstutter]

Originally Posted by Mastamind89

Messi was offered to play for one of the Spanish U teams. 
But it he was playing for Spain right now 

 

They wouldn't be playing that 4-6-0 but Torres would still be on the bench

I respect him all the more for sticking it out with his home country instead of going the LeBron route. If he leads Argentina to a WC win in 2014 (a very, very big if), IMO he would be in the same league as Maradona/Pele/etc.

 

[abovelegit1]

Originally Posted by HAM CITY

Originally Posted by Keepie Uppie

can't blame Ronaldo at all...can't even blame the coach...
probably no one had the nerves to take a penalty...that pressure is way too much...

Ronaldo may be the most likeliest player to score from a penalty but there's no certainty that he will...shootouts are 50/50,i'm just saying...

Nah dead that. The only excuse is there was unwavering confidence that everybody leading up to, and including Bruno Alves was going to make their penalty.

You can't talk about pressure, of course there's pressure but these guys are professionals and the best of the best. Ronaldo is the second best player in the world and an all time great. He simply has to attempt a penalty in that situation.

Spot on. Talent aside, he's an attacker wearing the armband. How such a titanic error came to pass I have no idea, but if he pulled a John Terry in '08 and wanted the glory of the last pen, he should rightly be vilified. If it was solely indeed Bento's call without any player input, I suspect Ronaldo's reaction at the end would have been one of anger, not incredulity. 
Lost about a year of my life watching that frustrating game, but La Roja carries on. Thank goodness. 
Espana is the most talented team in the tournament, but I don't really know what Vicente is doing as the selection has been highly questionable. He's using exactly half of the Barca style. All passing; no movement, which has made the attack look toothless at times. With Alonso and Busquets in the midfield behind an absolutely dead-on-his-feet Xavi, everything is static. Xavi/Xabi can't even be as influential as they would be because no one is making penetrative runs for them to pick out. That said, we still have enough to beat whomever in the final and complete the treble. The Saint has been saintly, Ramos has been immense, and Jordi Alba is a star. He'll look great in blaugrana next season. Hopefully Pedro starts over Silva w/ Cesc as a false 9 in the final, but I doubt it. 

Portugal looked the livelier side at times, but Espana went through on merit of the whole game. Second best side in Iberia had two additional days of rest too. Toma!

 

[charles schwag]

Germany will beat Spain in the final. This Spain side is beatable.
Germany needs to avenge the last euro and the world cup.


Why doesn't Spain ever play Argentina or Brazil or Uruguay....I seriously want to see Spain in a major tournament against Uruguay, Brazil or Argentina.

 

[Coupé It]

Originally Posted by JJ Jumpman 23

Originally Posted by CoupeIt88

This One Hurts man, really hurts.
We played with our hearts and gave it our all but still, Damn....

Portugal Para Sempre

100% agree.  This hurts more than our 0-1 loss in the World Cup to Spain.

At least it doesn't hurt as much as our 0-1 loss to Greece back in the 04' finals

[h1]Força Portugal !
[/h1]

2004 Finals. SMH. That was worse but this is close enough. It would have been great to beat the best team in the world

 

[big j 33]

Originally Posted by ScottHallWithAPick

So everyone is counting out Italy? I don't know @$*@ about soccer

but I've caught 3 Italy games and they have looked pretty good. Germany is just that much a powerhouse?

I'm still sticking with Italy.. unfortunately I'll be on the road all day and miss the game.

 

[Trey Bantz]

Originally Posted by sStutter

Originally Posted by Mastamind89

Messi was offered to play for one of the Spanish U teams. 
But it he was playing for Spain right now 

 

They wouldn't be playing that 4-6-0 but Torres would still be on the bench

I respect him all the more for sticking it out with his home country instead of going the LeBron route. If he leads Argentina to a WC win in 2014 (a very, very big if), IMO he would be in the same league as Maradona/Pele/etc.

LeBron route? He was offered to play with Spain in 2004. Either you guys have short memories or you just plain don't know your history but prior to these last four years Spain was a 2nd tier national side trying to break into the upper echelon, whereas Argentina had always been an established power in the international soccer scene. Messi made the logical choice playing for his country, and he will get his World Cup.

 

[mrswagtastic]

wonder what ronaldo was saying at the end when they had the camera on him. don't get why he wasn't the first one to kick...anything confirmed as to why he didn't get up for a kick?

 

[ham city]

Originally Posted by trey ohh five

Originally Posted by sStutter

Originally Posted by Mastamind89

Messi was offered to play for one of the Spanish U teams. 
But it he was playing for Spain right now 

 

They wouldn't be playing that 4-6-0 but Torres would still be on the bench

I respect him all the more for sticking it out with his home country instead of going the LeBron route. If he leads Argentina to a WC win in 2014 (a very, very big if), IMO he would be in the same league as Maradona/Pele/etc.

LeBron route? He was offered to play with Spain in 2004. Either you guys have short memories or you just plain don't know your history but prior to these last four years Spain was a 2nd tier national side trying to break into the upper echelon, whereas Argentina had always been an established power in the international soccer scene. Messi made the logical choice playing for his country, and he will get his World Cup.

Basically. I'd be legitimately surprised if the notion of seriously playing for Spain ever even crossed his mind.

 

[almostnotready]

Originally Posted by HAM CITY

Originally Posted by AlmostNotReady

Spain has all those technically gifted players.
But all they do is pass back and forth. 

No free kicks.. No dribbles.. No crosses.. No shots.

And its not like they are that good defensively..

Yet they are in the final. Smh.

1 goal in 5 matches. Haven't been scored on in over 500 minutes. I don't know if it's that wise to criticize them defensively. They deserve to be in the final more than any team not named Germany.

I'll say this though, the GOAT international side ever talk has looked suspect for quite a while now.

That is a misleading stat.
I rely on my eyes to assess a defense.

Hugo Almeida was getting good looks against Spain..

But he couldnt even put the ball on target.. Smh 

Did you see how many fouls Spains defense committed?

CR7 had like 4 free kicks in good areas.

Spains defense continually found themselves in bad spots.

All CR7 needed was a quality cross/shot and that stat would be erased.

But I guess since Portugal didnt score.. That means Spain had a good game defensively?

I beg to differ.

 

[Beans]

Ronnie didn't choose the line-up, port manager said it was his own decision. I will also remind ppl that drogba (chelsea's best pk taker) took the fifth spot in the cl shoot out, and no one questioned it..   and stats are terribly misleading, spain have been shakey defensively this whole tourney IMO, Ramos and Pique do not play well together centrally .

 

[xtapolapacetl]

Spain seems much less invincible than before. Their only truly dominant performance this tournament was against Ireland, probably the worst team in the entire tournament.

It's as if there's a connection between Spain's decline and Barcelona's, like coaches have figured out how to play against that system better.

 

[abovelegit1]

Originally Posted by MrSwagtastic

wonder what ronaldo was saying at the end when they had the camera on him. don't get why he wasn't the first one to kick...anything confirmed as to why he didn't get up for a kick?

Think he was saying "injustica." I wonder if he'll be saying the same thing when Leo is handed his fourth Balon d'Or. 
Everything is relative, and relatively Spain's defense has been as good as just about any other team. The passing hasn't been as sharp leading to giveaways and chances to counter, but that's more due to lack of proper movement from midfield and attack. Considering they're using the CB partnership for the first time, they've done the job quite well. 

^

People seem to expecting perfection every game from the two sides. With Villa, one of the world's very best strikers unable to play, Spain is in a third consecutive final, and Barca were a Chelsea miracle escape away from a likely cup double. Decline? LOL. 

 

[jking0821]

Honestly when it was all said and done Spain "deserved" to win imo.  Penalty shoot outs can be tragic but Portugal vs Germany final i think Germany would win and i think Spain stands a better chance (yes assuming Germany will beat Italy already)

The Ronaldo non-PK i think is not a story.  Having your best player with potentially all the pressure on his shoulders at the 5 spot is what you want honestly.  Now why Bruno Alves even was allowed to shoot baffles me.

Raul Meireles  deserves more credit.  He was playing great defense in the midfield on iniesta.  They take him off and iniesta starts to ramp it up.

Jordi Alba - what a game.  Dude made an overlapping run around pedro around 110 min and didn't get the ball but a full 50-60 yard sprint that late....what an athlete what conditioning.

I seriously feel like Andres Iniesta is the heartbeat of the Spanish side.  He controls the entire team.  I don't know what Xavi was doing yesterday or Xabi Alonso (other then fouling Ronaldo half the game).  I love wanting Iniesta work.  Dude is always running in gaps going at people trying to create.  His touch is impeccable.  You could tell him and Pedro were on the same page too Barca connection.

 

[illionaire]

Rooney's swag was on 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 in L.A. last night.

 

[alleniversonfan01]

Originally Posted by MrSwagtastic

wonder what ronaldo was saying at the end when they had the camera on him. don't get why he wasn't the first one to kick...anything confirmed as to why he didn't get up for a kick?

If you read his lips he was saying "I should have took the shot"

I think he should have took 4 just because they needed to make that one to have a chance. But I dont see a problem with him waiting for 5 had it got there. Alves was going to have to take one of those shots (Dont know why he was chosen in the first place). I would have much rather had Ronaldo taking the final PK with a chance to win it or extend it than Alves.

 

[Gex the Damaja]

Alves should have went first, if at all, but the 5th spot was Ronaldo agreed upon by him and the manager. He wanted the glory and it didn't happen.

 

[engoi]

To be honest I think this is a little bit a stranger discussion.Bruno Alves was obviously not the ideal player for a penalty
BUT
from my impression Portugal was during the 90 minutes the better team and simply failed to score.Just like Bayern versus Chelsea.
If they had used just one of their chances there wouldn't be a discussion about penalties.
Btw Jordi Alba and Iniesta must have a lung like a horse.

 

[shogun]

I don't follow soccer that much but like watching the big tournaments when they are on.  Spain is definitely stacked with quality players but they lack a superstar striker.  It's like a basketball team that is well balanced and gets scoring from everyone but don't have the go-to-guy to step up when needed.  Looks like they're really missing David Villa.  It would've been nice to see him in this tournament.

 

[macbk]

HYPED.

 

[jewseejay]

i said from the start Spain would struggle to convert chances w/o Villa...

sticking to it and saying they lose... but i said that before Portugal too :/

excited for the game today, hopefully it produces more goals