Thosh crayshy dutch!

Good performance. Van Bronckhurst was man of the match for me. Can't wait to play them. Oh, hang on...:mad:

Man, that sounds like it was an amazing match. Have to get hold of a TV.

So, ESPN is covering the Euro... just the live matches (in the a.m. PST), or are they repeating them later in the day?

Quote from: Pierce InverarityMan, that sounds like it was an amazing match. Have to get hold of a TV.

So, ESPN is covering the Euro... just the live matches (in the a.m. PST), or are they repeating them later in the day?

I haven't seen any repeated, so I think it's during the late morning/early afternoon here in the Midwest. I seem to recall a commercial about upcoming matches and that time frame seems correct.

However, since the Cubs did not play yesterday, my Sports Center intake dropped - so I'm not sure about what's upcoming.

Ahhh...here's a link to the tv schedule. I saw a blurb that said they will be broadcasting every game live on at least one of their channels (noting that this includes Deportes, which is the spanish language telecast).

James, yes, I saw that schedule too. Do you think (some of) those channels are part of a bog standard cable package? Or is this rarefied stuff?

Quote from: Pierce InverarityJames, yes, I saw that schedule too. Do you think (some of) those channels are part of a bog standard cable package? Or is this rarefied stuff?

I'll go by what I have as a Comcast subscriber so it's relatively familiar to me.

ESPN, ESPN2, and the HD of both are standard.
ESPN Classic in on the Digital Classic package, which is one step up (and, IMHO, probably a pretty basic setup - 11.99US a month).

So, for example, I have a pretty basic setup and I'll have access to all the games. I should put a few on TiVo...

Thanks, James, I'll forward that to my friend who's just setting up his cable package.

And the ball keeps rolling... Who really struck me as outstanding are the Spaniards. They were always good on paper, but sucked in the actual field. At least in their first game they absolutely acted like a top contender and handled the Russians at whim, what isn't a small deed.
I also believe that the Spanish striker Villa has great cards at becoming the top scorer of the tournament.


After every group had it's match day, I'd stake my money on a final between Spain and the Netherlands if the new tournament mode would allow this paring at all. It's seriously a shame that this final couldn't happen, as I see those two clearly as the strongest two teams yet.


In other news, Switzerland is finally the first team to be ranked out in the tournament. That was just a wacky match that reminded a lot of the water battle of Frankfurt '74, and it's almost hurting how the Swiss allowed a secure 1:0 lead to be turned into a 1:2 loss, especially as they had enough chances to easily increase their lead to a 3:0 or a 4:0.
I know that I said early in this thread that Switzerland is a inside tip, and I still believe that they have great potential, but a team that sucks that much at keeping its lead and at using goal chances just has no business in such a tournament.

1:2

:flop:

I knew they suck. I said as much.

But... why would they prove me right? Out of spite?

Out of tradition - Croatia was already Berti Vogts' final in the coffin (although I think he was underestimated and just had the misluck to coach the team in a time, when the reunification and the World Cup raised the expectations, while at the same time the ingredients where limited to talentless youngsters and badly aged 1990 veterans).

And yes, "suck" is the right word to summarize the game. We Germans couldn't get any meaningful play flow going, the Croatians worsened this problem with a good execution of their famous "only a fouled enemy is a good enemy"-strategy, and the mild Belgian ref who's let many things further enhanced this problem (although the main issue was and is the sucktitude with that Germany acted).
At least, it had something good - now everyone knows for sure that Schweinsteiger has jumped the shark, and hopefully Jogi Löw will re-think if this cocky bastard is worth to be kept in the near future.


The Austria game was... strange. In the first half they were clearly superior, couldn't get the ball in the goal and were penalized with an illegal off-side counter-goal. In the second half, it was exactly reversed, and a last-minute penalty kick saved the day in Vienna and a slim chance to make it past the preliminaries.
If they work on their goal-getter qualities in the next 4 days, the guys in red might be the next shocking surprise to Prussia and its colonies.

The Dutch wonder is perfect now, they've beaten in succession World Champion Italy and vice World Champion France with 4:1! They could now even decide to throw both chancelessly out of the tournament by allowing Romania to win.

I didn't expect this...
Niemand verwacht de Nederlandse bekerwinnaars! Onzere belangrijkste wape is angst en verrassing... Onzere twee belangrijkste wapen zijn verrassing, angst en meedogenloze doelmatigheid...

NOBODY expects the Dutch inquisition.

Turkey comes back from a 0-2 deficit to beat the Czechs 3-2, and the Swiss beat Portugal 2-0.

That Turkey game: Epic Win.

Tomorrow: potential Epic Fail by limping teutonic warmachine.

Then again, they may win 3:0.

That's what makes it all so fascinating.

The Turkish comeback has been Epic with a capital E. A capital mistake by    Petr Čech, a red card for Turkey's goalie Volkan, and generally a great demonstration of fighting spirit.
However, the Czechs seriously helped the Turkish cause. They played so defensively that even Rehhagel had yawned, and the Halfmoonies could walk freely without any pressure around the middle line. Under such circumstances, it's only a question of time to overcome the defense, and fortunately for the half-moon from the south-east time was just plentiful enough.

@Pierce:
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulj0atuhg4w

It will greatly depend on the question if Jogi Löw can get them to take the enemy seriously. If they get back on track, Austria will be without a chance to survive. If they repeat their routine versus Croatia, we'll get a game that makes Cordoba look like the lucky victory it was.

Amazing game. I wonder what the hell the Turkey goalie was thinking? 2 minutes from victory and he fells Koller - who despite being about 9 foot 6, went down like Ronaldo in a light breeze.