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

:haw:

Vogts: :killingme:

We made it through. Sometimes it's better to be lucky then to be good, but round of 8 is round of 8.
Next stop: An overmotivated and eager Portuguese team, with stars who actually had the chance to rest during the last preliminary game. Sounds to me like the final German game in the tournament.

We're not the only ones for who it was better to be lucky then to be good. Has anyone seen Italy - France? If you get an injured Franck Ribery, a red card and a penalty kick at the same time on the same enemy, it's like the christmas, eastern and the World Cup in an all-in-one package. At least the French tried to struggle against it, but at the very least from minute 25 on it was hopeless. Domeneche's strange and early substitution decisions didn't help much either.

We also have the Russians emerging from the preliminaries for the first time since... a very long gone day, when Communism was yet popular and drunkards couldn't get elected into charge.


Now the preliminaries are over, and the round of 8 starts...

• Thursday: Portugal vs Germany
• Friday: Croatia vs Turkey
• Saturday: Netherlands vs Russia
• Monday: Spain vs Italy

My picks: Portugal, Turkey, Netherlands, Spain.

Final match:

Netherlands 2 : Portugal 1

Audacious guess, huh?

Unless the Russkis make it. Which would be fine. I love Arshavin, and I haven't even seen him play yet.

I agree on Portugal and Netherlands.

However, I doubt that Turkey can keep up the performance from the Czech coup de main, while Croatia played constantly strong. Therefore, I see them as slightly superior.

With Italy, it will greatly depend on the question if the Italian defense can keep Villa under control. If there's a defense in the tournament that could be able to stop this guy, it's the Italian or none.
It's also a natural law that a.) Spain is obliged to suck in tournaments (what they haven't fulfilled yet) and b.) Italy always is lucky enough to win even if it is completely undeserved (now that is already _fulfilled_ enough to fill three tournaments with the last match day in group C alone).

Holy shit.

What was THAT?

I dunno anymore what happened, Pierce, I'm yet drunk from yesterday and have forgotten everything.

All I know is that we now only have to face either Turkey or Croatia, and with such contenders, it should be clear that we have to march to the final and maybe further :haw:
This final should the real roadblock to us Germans. The Dutch with their best team for a long time, the Spaniards who oppose nature by actually performing well in a tournament, pissed-off Italy, even the euphoric Russians... No matter at which team I look, the second route of the KO mode will definitively not deliver any push-overs to the final. We're damn lucky with both group A and B now that Portugal has left the building.

It's been a great tournament so far. For those who are interested in such things, here are my predictions...

1st off - Germany beating the Portugese. Done deal there. Attack has beaten defence in the competition so far and the Portugese defence hadn't been exposed, until now.

Croatia v Turkey - This is a difficult one. Both teams are on a high and both play as teams. Both are good going forward and both have decent defences - not great, but serviceable. I think this will be tight, maybe even going close to the distance. Spot kicks? Maybe. I would like both to advance, but as only 1 can, i tentatively plump for Turkey.

Holland v Russia - The dutch have been the best going forward and Russia have a dodgy defence. They are on a high, so will provide a decent match. I can see another high scoring match. The Russians will score, but the dutch will score more. Holland to go through.

Spain v Italy - Attack has beaten defence so far. Here is where it stops. Italy for the win.

Semis

Germany v Turkey - The German defence is lumbering and this game will be a big deal back home in Germany. But lumbering is also stronger. This is a 50/50 for me, but Germany by a hair.

Holland v Italy - I predict a great game. I predict penalties. I predict the predictable. Italy to win.

Final

Italy v Germany - The lucky and the brave have got here. As most finals, it will be tight and not as good as what preceeded it. Italy will squeek it.

Let's see how wrong that turns out to be!

I don't WANT to see Italy in the finals. Enough already. They're not better than France. Holland or Russia OTOH, playing Germany...

Quote from: One Horse Town;217796The German defence is lumbering

That's the difference to the glorious past.
Back then when we had players as Uli "The Axe" Borowka and Jürgen "Ninja Foul Play" Kohler who've put the jack into the lumber, with enough might to make even Croatians cry

[ot]Test post to see if my post appears if I post another one - will be deleted afterwards.[/ot]

Uli Borowka, unforgotten.

Also, Manni Kalz, who besides the Sense could do the Bananenflanke.

Wikipedia informs us that

QuoteIn total he played in 581 Bundesliga games for Hamburger SV, to this day remaining the second greatest total of an individual in Bundesliga history.

However:

QuoteAmong his many achievements, Kaltz also holds the unenviable record of scoring the most own goals in the Bundesliga, 6.

1 own goal in 100 games... hmmmm...

Hey, at least you got there!

I'm just glad Croatia (and Russia, to a lesser degree) are showing everyone what good teams they are - makes the shame of loosing out a bit more bearable.

It could still turn worse for England. You could miss 2010 because of Croatia and White Russia, what would add insult to injury.
Especially if Scotland passes the qualifying at the same time (what's quite possible in their group, with Norway as the other major contender apart from Holland).