Euro 2012

That was the best goal of the tournament so far.

absolutely!

and i think that was the best game i’ve seen thus far

Well, prepare yourselves for an exciting day. Group A is going to be a dogfight to the finish. I look for Greece to pull a shocker and beat Russia. And I like Poland, riding a wave of hometown passion, to beat the Czech Republic. Those are your two group winners.

shame to see Ibrah go out, he is such an exciting player to watch when he is on his game

Shev double is my fav moment of the tournament so far

Greece pulled it out. Do they have any magic left for the quarterfinals? Poland made too many mistakes. They deserved to lose. Czech Republic advances. But I don’t expect them to make any noise in the quarters.

The group of death will be slightly less interesting tomorrow. Germany is through regardless. Who gets that second spot? Smart money is on Portugal, because the Dutch are slumping.

shame to see Ibrah go out, he is such an exciting player to watch when he is on his game

agree. he still seems pretty underrated… am i wrong?

Germany and Portugal are through. I expect them both to win in the quarters.

Group C tomorrow is intriguing. First of all, Ireland doesn’t have the talent to beat Italy. So that’s three points for the Azzuri, giving them five total. Absolutely can’t wait to see that Croatia/Spain match. I can easily see them draw and throwing the whole group into chaos. Not sure who’s coming out here.

The Dutch were exciting for the first 20 minutes or so. But then C. Ronaldo tied it up and Portugal dominated for pretty much the rest of the game. Netherlands just looked lost out there.

Ha, come on Portugal, we can do it! Should have won world cup in 66- but never mind Eusebio or the golden generation, could this finally be the one? Has Ronaldo’s time arrived?

Re Jerry’s initial predictions, Croatia in trouble for racism v Balotelli. Ukraine and Poland have already blotted their copybooks. Heroic effort from Greece. Can they keep going against the odds? Germany will be clear favourites. Down with wicked witch Merkel! There will be no love lost, no, a real grudge match…Rivers of blood..

Russia flattered to deceive again. Holland were a disgrace in world cup final and now a surprising failure, the commentator was critical of their attitude. I loved their total football in the 70s, what a shame they lost in 74, but they have still gone down in legend- how you play, not just the result that matters.

England: they could go all the way, unless public expectation and hysterical flag-waving start to get to them, or can still be ko’d. I’ve unusually mixed feelings- adopting an anti Rupert Murdoch approach. The Sun had a go at Hodgson in their usual sick turnip head way and misread the public mood, as he’d not even started, and now the lower expectations, as well as not having the gutter press on their backs, should help England.

I’m surprised by Greece’s qualification, but not by the Czechs’. They might even beat Portugal, but it seems unlikely. I generally like Portugal, but cannot stand Ronaldo and Pepe.

Spain will beat Croatia comfortably, methinks, and Italy should go in second place. In group D, Ukraine might give the English a run for their money.

France, however, I expect will win the whole thing after they beat Germany in the semis and Spain in the final.

I hope Denmark and Sweden will do better in the next World Cup.

France is a dark horse candidate, that’s for sure. They haven’t lost in a long time. I’d love to see them go all the way. It would be a great set-up for Brasil ’14.

Haha @ Kenji. I love Hodgson, Redknapp was the Sun readers choice

@ J. yep, he often struggles to show his brilliance in the major games, so pundits who don’t follow him throughout the season, think him overrated

Probably Portugal will meet Spain in the semi-finals but then Spain will win the tournament. I’m portuguese and let’s be honest.

Spain for a repeat? Nah. I doubt it. There will be a new European champion.

They’re in an incredible shape, i don’t see many of them capable to beat them. Maybe Germany.

Germany can beat them for sure. Let’s see them get past Croatia tonight before we crown them again.

They can, but i don’t know who i would bet on in a Germany x Spain game.
Yeah, today is almost for sure, from now on comes the doubts.

Wow. Croatia sure got robbed tonight. Both Spanish players were clearly offsides. They gave away that goal. Tough deal. Anyway, Spain and Italy progress.

Final piece of the quarterfinal puzzle tomorrow. Group D. I like France against Sweden because they’re hot. Sweden doesn’t have anything to play for anyway except for pride. So it’s essentially a play-in game for Ukraine/England. Should be exciting but I expect England to just barely pull through.

Hate to see the French lose, but making it to the quarters is a nice consolation prize. Though now is not the time to start a losing streak. Spain is up next. Anyway, I’m thinking maybe that Ibrahimovic goal was the best of the tournament so far. We’ll see.

England got the win against Ukraine to take the group. Italy is up next. You never know what you’re going to get from them (both teams), so watch out.

I’d say those two match-ups are the best. But I’m very curious about Germany/Greece.

Torres will have to find his form if Spain have any chance. Still think Germany are clear favorites. Fucking England and fucking Wayne Rooney. I love that bald Sasquatch. Italy would be shit without Pirlo- what an amazing player.

I did expect England to make the 1/4 finals at least, partly due to the change in media expectations and the Murdoch gutter press, otherwise Jerry’s predictions all seemed sound. Germany may be favourites, are on form and look to have the easiest of the 1/4 finals. I hope Greece beat them, and Portugal, Italy also win. There’s no reason Spain can’t win for the 3rd major tournament in a row but England shouldn’t be too relieved they’re playing Italy instead. They were lucky with the Ukraine goal disallowed- after all the fuss over Lampard’s disallowed goal v Germany in the world cup. And let’s not forget the 66 world cup final decision. But what the hell is wrong with so many officials and obvious blunders these days?

All-time greatest European players:

Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Puskas, Zidane, Platini, Eusebio, Van Basten, Meazza, Charlton, Muller, Yashin, Maldini, Baresi, C.Ronaldo, Matthaus, Charles, Best, Gullit, Laudrup, Moore, Rivera, Henry, Facchetti, Bergkamp, Dalglish, Edwards, Figo, Hagi, Baggio, Kopa, Bican, Krol, Nordahl, Matthews, Sindelar, Giggs, Kocsis, Schmeichel, Fontaine, Rummenigge, Finney, Scirea, Kubala, Banks, Cannavaro, Ibrahimovic….

other suggestions please for 50

>>other suggestions please for 50<<

Franco Baresi (Italy)
Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
George Best (N. Ireland)
Jozsef Bozsik (Hungary)
Tarcisio Burgnich (Italy)
John Charles (Wales)
Bobby Charlton (England)
Mario Coluna (Portugal)
Johan Cruyff (Holland)
Zoltan Czibor (Hungary)

Kenny Dalglish (Scotland)
Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain)
Eusebio (Portugal)
Giacinto Facchetti (Italy)
Luis Figo (Portugal)
Francisco Gento (Spain)
Ruud Gullit (Holland)
Arie Haan (Holland)
Thierry Henry (France)
Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary)

Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Ladislao Kubala (Czechoslovakia)
Sandor Kocsis (Hungary)
Raymond Kopa (France)
Rudi Krol (Holland)
Michael Laudrup (Denmark)
Nils Liedholm (Sweden)
Sepp Maier (Germany)
Paolo Maldini (Italy)
Lothar Matthaus (Germany)

Sandro Mazzola (Italy)
Valentino Mazzola (Italy)
Giuseppe Meazza (Italy)
Gerd Muller (Germany)
Johan Neeskens (Holland)
Gunter Netzer (Germany)
Michel Platini (France)
Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
Frank Rijkaard (Holland)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Peter Schmeichel (Denmark)
Gaetano Scirea (Italy)
Mattias Sindelar (Austria)
Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
Luis Suarez (Spain)
Marco Van Basten (Holland)
Velibor Vasovic (Yugoslavia)
Xavi (Spain)
Lev Yashin (USSR)
Zinedine Zidane (France)

Impressive! I was only expecting a few names, to top up my list to 50. I was wondering whether to count Di Stefano. I don’t rate Sepp Maier as highly as some not already mentioned. Sandro Mazzola, Suarez, Xavi, Iniesta and Gento were among the borderline possibles. I’m surprised you left out Hagi. He had temperament problems but he was a genius. And surely Bergkamp was greater than Haan? Good to see Gunter Netzer mentioned- he’s often overlooked nowadays, was the star of Euro 72, i remember he was too good for England, West Germany in green at Wembley. That was the best German team in my lifetime (the 74 team was lucky with home advantage).

was starting to think it was gonna be another one of those days for christiano, but he did it! czech republic really could have used a healthy rosicky in the tournament… i thought they did a good job though

Ah ha, onward Portugal- for revenge v France or Spain. My hopes are high. A fair wind behind for the great voyagers. Could this be the time at last? I won’t make a prediction, but my antennae are twitching with anticipation.

that was one ugly game

Portugal should have won by more- this Czech team lacked the flair of many predecessors

I agree. Portugal was swarming. Clearly they had more athleticism. They should have scored at least 2 more goals. They’re a streaky team with a lot of talent and now they’re a solid threat to win it all. Germany/Greece should be a great show tomorrow. But the way Germany is playing, I don’t know if Greece has the horses to keep up with them.