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Football/Soccer Discussion Thread

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Gabri

m8
3,937
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One thing's for sure, Germany won't have an easy match ahead.

And that Pirlo, I always admired him. Such class in his feet. That man's balls are made of titanium.
 

Ivysaur

Grass dinosaur extraordinaire
21,082
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A Panenka Penalty, glory to Pirlo.

I just hope Germany make it to the final in case we go through, Italy are way too scary for my liking and they actually have a true defensive tactic. Everybody else we play change their tactics completely to defend and end up playing a horrible match just parking the bus and forgetting they are supposed to attack (see: Croatia, France). Doesn't make for an exciting show but it's very difficult to lose if your rivals can barely attack you.
 
149
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Wow, it was like watching Barcelona vs. a second tier French team. England, apart from decent defending with some lucky saves, were absolutely outclassed by a supposedly defensive team. The inclusion of Caroll did nothing, a waste of substitutes. I didn't notice Henderson and Walcott came on until I saw them in the penalty stage. England were lucky to make it to the penalty shootouts; it could have been 2-0 in 90 minutes, easily. It would have been extremely unfair if England actually won.

If Spain plays like they did in their last two games, Portugal will probably beat them (with Ronaldo in form) on the counters. I'd like some other team to win it this year.
 
6,318
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A Panenka Penalty, glory to Pirlo.

I just hope Germany make it to the final in case we go through, Italy are way too scary for my liking and they actually have a true defensive tactic. Everybody else we play change their tactics completely to defend and end up playing a horrible match just parking the bus and forgetting they are supposed to attack (see: Croatia, France). Doesn't make for an exciting show but it's very difficult to lose if your rivals can barely attack you.

I think they're sort of forced into their defensive tactics by the fact that they'll never have possession.

I'm hoping Portugal can get Spain on the counter attack, Portugal in the final would be much more entertaining.
 

Dr.Kotov

& the symptoms.
213
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  • Seen Dec 11, 2012
Bruno Alves: Watch how it's done Nani, watch how—
/Waiting for this thread to erupt.
 
6,318
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Somehow it didn't erupt.

Anyway, a good fight put up by Portugal with a disappointing end and I could've had £20 if they won the tournament, but oh well. Nani probably would've created more than one brilliant chance if the referee wasn't a joke toward decisions involving him in the first half and then Portugal just slowly faded. I hated Alves before, now it's multiplied. Well done to Spain anyway, at least this match was entertaining unlike the rest of them were they get to employ tiki taka, here's hoping Germany or Italy can stifle the tactic too.
 

Ivysaur

Grass dinosaur extraordinaire
21,082
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Why was it entertaining? Because Portugal decided to press our players instead of parking a bus in the back. That meant that they had better chances to steal the ball and get a fast counter (Ronaldo had the final, but he somehow squandered one of the best chances in the first 90- he's only got himself to blame), and that also meant wider gaps in the Portuguese defense, allowing our players to pass the ball with more speed and not get that slow (which is the main reason why we are called boring).

Although that much speed and all didn't really mean a better match- Portugal didn't even have a single shot on target in the entire match, as opposed to four from us, and the free kicks were the most dangerous attempts until the extra time, when Portugal were so worn off that they left a few incredibly clear chances to us.

And, the same way I commended Pirlo for his Panenka Penalty... yes.

gif1.gif


Qué huevos, Sergio, qué huevos.
 
149
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The way I saw it, the game wasn't at all entertaining. I couldn't wait for any team to score just for the game to finish. Spain's chances, excluding Ineista's great miss, weren't dangerous at all; the keeper didn't sweat to save them. Portugal should only blame Ronaldo for their loss; despite providing good passes to Almeida which he squandered, he missed a great chance and didn't step up to take a penalty when it mattered most. He agreed to take fifth, but when Spain scored, he should have step up not Alves.

It all came to pure luck. I didn't feel any team deserved a thing from this game. Spain hasn't been playing like the champions they are presumed to be, and yet are reaching places. Portugal have been pretty good for the last decade, reaching a final and two semis (WC included), without the quality players Spain or Germany have.

Spain should start Pedro more often. He did very well. He orchestrated a few dangerous run-ins. As for Ramos' penalty, I honestly can admit I thought he was going to miss.
 
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Stuart Pearce is getting some criticism for not picking Beckham in the British olympic squad. The way I see it no-one really cares about whether we win or not so we may as well have taken him due to sentiment. At least Giggs is in the squad and I should be able to watch him and the Brazillian megastars at my beloved Riverside for a friendly.
 

Ivysaur

Grass dinosaur extraordinaire
21,082
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And Hypermany go down again. I expected them to make it to the final and then lose, but they didn't even do that. At this rate, they are going to be a good example of underachievers- they have won a fair share of titles, but they have failed in semis and finals more often than they have won.

Yesterday, Italy was incredibly dominant and the Germans couldn't do anything other than for a sitter Pirlo kicked away from inside the goal at the beggining, and for that penalty at the end. During the rest of the match, Italy scored 2 but it could have been 5 easily.

So, in the end, we go back to the inaugural Group C match. To finish what we started three weeks ago.
 
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Everything just fell apart for Germany in this match after being so promising previously, I think Loew just tried too hard to keep his players fresh and rotate them then perfect his selection when he could've kept his first XI the same like every other nation.

Pearce has further incurred the wrath of some people anyway, now no Northern Irish or Scottish players have been selected for the Olympic squad.
 
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It was an excellent display by Spain, I actually enjoyed watching them play for once. I really hope the world cup manages to be more competitive though.

The death of the striker role continues anyway.
 

bobandbill

one more time
16,920
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16
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That was quite a solid performance from Spain. Italy were unlucky, and did play well, but Spain played the best I've seen a team play for a while.
 

Ivysaur

Grass dinosaur extraordinaire
21,082
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17
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And that's what happens when a team tries to play us instead of shoving 9 people in the box to deflect balls and hope for a counter: the match is much more fluid and entertaining... and that team gets squashed, since we play that game better than anybody else. I wanted to play Germany since I knew they'd try to play, but luckily Italy didn't pull of a Chelsea unlike... everybody else in the tournament until now, and we could play for once.

They had two really good chances, but Casillas was superb and our midfielders proved that you don't need a gigantic tower up there to score (although Torres did score as soon as he got in). The match got completely broken when Prandelli admitted to having chosen the wrong strategy and starting XI and started using his subs like water- and Motta was the cherry on top (did he warm up properly?).

Also I need to sleep XD

dscn2894o.jpg
 
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2
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11
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Real Madrid
Portugal
plus Portugal would have been in the final cause they did not get a penalty in the first half which they deserved (in the Euro cup).
 
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Weeaboo Name

Banned
7,540
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13
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RIP to the career of one of my favourite modern day footballers, the New York Red Bulls have signed Tim Cahill for a million quid.
 

TY

Guest
0
Posts
And now the Dutch Eredivisie has started last Friday and there were suprises:

RKC Waalwijk 3-2 PSV... PSV, which had invested a lot as usual lost to RKC, a club who is fighting for place 17-12... PSV was terrible so i dont think they will be 1st this season

FC Twente 4-1 FC Groningen... a other club which wants to be 1st, FC Twente did again good investments in players (Tadic, Castangios) and the result is this victory... Where PSV bought Narsingh, Twente bought Tadic. Difference atm Narsingh 0 goals, 0 assists, Tadic 2 goals, 2 assists...

AZ 2-2 Ajax... other candidates made a draw in this match... Ajax with a real poor defence, after Vertonghen left and AZ without Elm, their enigine of the team... both did well...
 
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