Euro 2008 draw.

[Captain Beefheart]

.....

[Jocasta]

Group B

Austria
Croatia
Germany
Poland

Looks like an interesting line up!!
Go Croatia!

[Captain Beefheart]

Germany and Croatia should advanced, but at the end it really depends on form when summer arrives, but I don't see any of them having trouble in that group.

The abnormality of the draw was the top seeds with Austria and Swiss, and Greece as defending champs, that's the only way to explain Group C.

You should have seen Domenech's face after, shooting bricks out of his ass.

[Mo]

Originally Posted by Captain Beefheart

Group C: Holland, France, Romania, ITALY

Thats a eazy group for Romania to make the next round....

Dear GOD has to be the worst group ever...

Btw my tip is spain yes finally...

[Mónica]

Germany will accomplish what England didn't.

[Jocasta]

Wow, really feeling the love here. Thanks.

[Captain Beefheart]

Heh. You could have replied:

"If a team with a central defense composed of Mertesacker/Metzelder wins the Euro it will only serve to highlight the fact footie is DEAD. Not to mention your two most prolific strikers are not even german(Klose, Podolski)!. Wait hold on, add Kuranyi, Gomez too"

[Jocasta]

Why would I say anything about Germany?

[Mónica]

Originally Posted by Captain Beefheart

Not to mention your two most prolific strikers are not even german(Klose, Podolski)!. Wait hold on, add Kuranyi, Gomez too

Jealous?

[Captain Beefheart]

Ramos, Fabregas, Iniesta, Silva, Torres, Villa.

Jealous?

[Mónica]

Hey, you didn't answer my question!!

Ramos, Fabregas, Iniesta, Silva, Torres, Villa.

No doubt, they're fab playaz!
(I would have loved to watch the World Cup game Spain vs. France here in my town last year, but sadly, at that time I was living somewhere else! )

And BTW: Mario Gómez was born in Germany.

[Lowlander.]

Heh. You could have replied:

"If a team with a central defense composed of Mertesacker/Metzelder wins the Euro it will only serve to highlight the fact footie is DEAD. Not to mention your two most prolific strikers are not even german(Klose, Podolski)!. Wait hold on, add Kuranyi, Gomez too"

Hah-hah. Mertesacker and Metzelder are no big stars, but they're solid defenders. Mertesacker is one of the fairest too. He wins most of his duels without using unfair means.

And if we wanted to discuss the ethnic roots of all internationals of every country in the world this would become the longest FH thread ever.

Ramos, Fabregas, Iniesta, Silva, Torres, Villa.

Jealous?

No.

Spain always have soooooooooo much talent, but they never win anything. Every time they get kicked out of a big tournament they say "Next time, folks! Just wait another 2 years!" Yet unfortunately this "next time" never comes...

[Captain Beefheart]

Metzelder has the qualities to be a great CB, but injuries have pretty much denied his proggresion. Moving to Madrid for pretty much nothing really says a lot, besides not being able to start above Cannavaro who's nothing to write home about.

It's difficult to rate Germany as I don't often watch them enuff to analyze them. But on paper I'd say they're an "above average" team that just seem to gel well and function as a unit. Breaking it down to individuals: Frings, Schweinsteiger, Ballack?, Klose, Kuranyi). Compared to the early 70's which bosted quite possibly the most complete team ever, in every position there was a world-class player, and they could even afford not including great players because they couldn't fit in the formation and still win.

Their World Cup performance was better than what most predicted? Yes, I would agree on that. Group stage was a breeze, Klinsmann pushsx the lines forward and played the off-side trap againt Costa Rica, 2 goals. Sweden in the round of 16th was a joke, you could have co-signed the result before the whistle blew and saved yourself and afternoon. You already know my thoughts on the Argentina match so there's no point in discussing that.

Now Italy. And here's where I had Germany favored despite Italy's hierarchy(traditionally of course). Not only had Germany never lost in that stadium, but the azzurri where really "lucky" to have gotten to that point. One thing is for sure, I won't have to re-watch the game to know Gattuso should go down as the most genius player in the world with no natural talent in relation to the sport he plays. He basically managed to destroy any cohesion Germany could create from midfield, and apart from Buffon's "miracle save" there wasn't any threat by the germans. Of course everyone will remember the rossoneri players pulling them through(Pirlo's subtle delay to abilitate(sp) Grosso for the first goal, and then Gilardino of all players on a counter strike feeding Del Piero for the last stroke)

My reasoning for Germany being favorites isn't so much quality but that they're playing in their backyard and number two it's an easy group and they shouldn't face any problem beating Portugal. Their only incognita right now is at keeper(yeah I know right?). Kahn is pretty much retired, Lehmann has been injured and is playing second feedle to a scrub like Almunia. Hillenbrand is getting sum starts at Valencia, but that's probably not the best situation you want your keeper to be at. There's also that guy from Bayern, their #2 who's apparently their future keeper? No?).

And really besides their central line I couldn't stand the thought of an scarf wearing emo coach raising the trophy in Vienna. This is FOOTBALL not a Milan catwalk! Pffffff Mourinho wannabe.

Spain it's too difficult for me to discuss and it would take millenia for me to breakdown why we always seem to underachieve. Right now I want to be optimistic that we have a fresh nucleus of players(all around my age) and that most of them won't be cursed by the mistakes of the past.

HOPE!:

[Lowlander.]

It's difficult to rate Germany as I don't often watch them enuff to analyze them. But on paper I'd say they're an "above average" team that just seem to gel well and function as a unit. Breaking it down to individuals: Frings, Schweinsteiger, Ballack?, Klose, Kuranyi). Compared to the early 70's which bosted quite possibly the most complete team ever, in every position there was a world-class player, and they could even afford not including great players because they couldn't fit in the formation and still win.

Sure, I agree with you when you say Germany's current team can't compare to the one of the early 70s. We have no Overath, no Netzer, no Beckenbauer and no Müller these days.

But I think the football we played in 2006 and 2007 is better than the rather boring performances at WC 2002 (the final against Brazil being the only positive exception there). The improvement is mainly due to Joachim Löw, our current coach (who did most of the work under Klinsmann already, Klinsmann wasn't much more than an organizer). He's been able to convince his players that only a stylish game with quick, short passes can lead to success. We will never be Brazilians, but the German internationals have internalized Löw's philosophy pretty well.

And new, young talents will appear on the scene, such as Bayern midfielder Toni Kroos.

Now Italy. And here's where I had Germany favored despite Italy's hierarchy(traditionally of course). Not only had Germany never lost in that stadium, but the azzurri where really "lucky" to have gotten to that point. One thing is for sure, I won't have to re-watch the game to know Gattuso should go down as the most genius player in the world with no natural talent in relation to the sport he plays. He basically managed to destroy any cohesion Germany could create from midfield, and apart from Buffon's "miracle save" there wasn't any threat by the germans. Of course everyone will remember the rossoneri players pulling them through(Pirlo's subtle delay to abilitate(sp) Grosso for the first goal, and then Gilardino of all players on a counter strike feeding Del Piero for the last stroke)

I think Italy won deservedly because they had more chances by far. And it's true, indefatigable fighters like Gattuso don't get enough praise in the mass media.

Spain it's too difficult for me to discuss and it would take millenia for me to breakdown why we always seem to underachieve. Right now I want to be optimistic that we have a fresh nucleus of players(all around my age) and that most of them won't be cursed by the mistakes of the past.

I wouldn't mind seeing Spain winning a big title, I quite like them because of their technique, I just don't expect it to happen.

[Captain Beefheart]

We have no Overath, no Netzer, no Beckenbauer and no Müller these days.

Ahhh don't front. For me the best Germany has produced:



He defines the best qualities a player should have: grit, gut, determination, poise, attitude, BALLS! Most people would stereotype german football as rigid, defensive and boring, tactical. True in a sense, historically they've never had the beauty and embellishments of say Holland. Back in the day in the old West much of the great German teams came from the Schalke, Dortmund. These areas are typically working class. Subsequently, for a footballer in order to justify his wages and win over the support of the fans who were working themselves hard to the bone he would have to be a typical German "workhorse". Therefore, players that flaunted abundant tricks were actually looked down upon. The era of the mid 60s to mid 70s saw Germany play it's best football IMO. Mid 80's/early 90's(and 96): Schumacher, Magath, Muller, Schuster

The game today is different, countries have different philosophies about how to approach the game. Take Brasil's "joga bonito" stigma. People expect them to always play fanzy but they've haven't played like that since 82(Zico, Falcao, Socrates and cia). Brasil since then have won by being effective and stable.(94 and 2002)

I'm not holding my breath nor walking through the valley of the shadow of death but I think we've been long overdue. It's time for the dice to roll our way, either it will happen in 08 or South Africa.

[Captain Beefheart]

If there was a cup for Friendly games we would have 10 by now. In the last year victories against: Argentina, England, France, Italy.

Only two months left till Euro 08.

[R@H]

What the hell, i have been so busy watching the premier league and seeing england lose against croatia, that i didnt realise what a F**Ked up group we are in!!...France and italy!! bloody hell...cant say much because we have a whole new team this year with all young players so now i can pray that van persie can do some magic like he did for arsenal....AHH EURO is so annoying i have to support an arsenal player now! imagine if spain was in there as well aargh

[Captain Beefheart]

Baby blue uniforms for Holland, i'm digging them.

They'll will surely need all the help they can get to get out of that group alive, but in a way it's the team I relate most to Spain. A young core of players in the 22-25 year range, a very "bland" midfield that likes to keep possesion and play the ball around in non-threatening areas because they're afraid their defense will let them down as the dutch backline did on all of Austria's goals with a little cooperation from the keepr(if Heitinga and Matthijssen are starters you're in trouble). They also don't really have much muscle, ball winners, and probably couldn't battle it out with Italy and France when it comes to midfield strength. Sneijder seems to play more freely than he does in Madrid, Van der Vaart is also given lots of freedom and Van Persie apparently plays more of a winger/fale extremo than a secondary striker with Robben on the opposite wing. Their builup evovles mostly through quick 1-2 passing and off to the races down the flanks. The chances created stem from bold and frantic play often the resulting in your wingers being faster and more technically proficient than the defenders they face.

As a spaniard I pray you finish second in that group and we win ours so we can meet in the quarters.

[R@H]

this is my punishment, because i was laughing when England lost to Croatia..i was laughing even though my favorite players play for England.. I was also laughing because Portugal lost.. Aaaah holland is gonna go down...no way we can be 2nd in that group..

So my hopes are up for today that chelsea may win against middlesborough and not get kicked down in the premier league.

[Captain Beefheart]

I get the portuguese beef, but you're on the wrong, if anything it was Holland who didn't come to play and from the first 20 minutes it was clear all you wanted was to hack Cristiano(not a patron saint of sportsmanship himself) but yeah when you have butchers like Van Bommel and Maniche on the filed that's what you get...

That was quite possibly the most comical WC game I've seen, just when you thought the ref had lost his cool he red cards Deco for delaying the game(WTF?). That image of Deco and Van Bronckhourst sitting side to side on the sidelines. Priceless.

Portugal doesn't really have that much of a history(apart from Eusebio) but they've delivered better results than Holland in the last few years(semi's Euro 2000, Finals Euro 2004, semis in the last World Cup).

But don't cry your heart out just yet, there aren't really any favorites, most of the usual suspects have struggled in qualifying(Italy, France, Portugal), Germany would be my darkhoruse since they're playing in their backyard basically.