European Championships

[bangkokrick]

I watched this last week on the BBC and it followed with an interview with representatives from the Ukranian and Polish Embassy's (I think they were Ambassador's). They were extremely angry over the one sided view of the documentary and pointed out that this was not the norm. They both even "guaranteed"the safety of the fans. Time will tell but let's hope they are right.

Yet they still feel the need to organise 'England fans only' areas. The question you have to ask yourselves is whether there would need to be a "Polish fans only" area for example, if the tournament was held in England. that would cause outrage.

There is no doubt that documentary is one sided but it still contains quite enough evidence to be very condeming.

Could be dangerous to have specific areas for the visiting fans. This way the possible trouble makers know exactly where everyone is.

[oldgit]

Moving on to the footballing side of the championship,it will be interesting to see the tactics of some of the teams.The Republic of Ireland,with a very shrewd coach,will be difficult to break down.Denmark,in the 'Group of Death",will also be a hard nut to crack.Morten Olsen is a master tactician.I don't see many teams getting rolled over in the Group stages,although Italy could be the exception against Spain.

France,Spain and Germany,with their array of talent,will be on the front foot in all of their games,trying to find a way to break down resolute defences.The danger for them is getting hit on the counter attack.As Chelsea showed in the Champions League,you can still win if you have a well organised defence.Poland,for instance, have an ideal counter attacking forward in Lewandowski.If there is to be a shock elimination from the group stages,I think it could be Netherlands.

[JacknDanny]

The more I hear about this guy the more I dislike him.

The thing that I do not understand about the white power groups is that they seem to hold Adolf Hitler in high esteem, which is strange when both of their Countries suffered very badly during the WW2.

oh sepp's proper vile. probably votes far right himself.

they're countries that have massive poverty and a lot of desperate, poor people - perfect breeding grounds for far right thinking and policy. poland had a black striker several years ago whose name escapes me and he was about their best player - but he got booed by his own fans when he played. it's sad and horrible but socially they're just backwards. really hope it doesn't rear its head at the euros. but then perhaps it's a better thing that it does and gets acknowledged as a problem rather than policing the hell out of it and brushing it under the carpet.

His name is Emmanuel Olisadebe.

Scored for Poland against Ukraine in 2002 World Cup

Wonder who was booing and who was cheering!

http://www.efremlukatsky.com/images/material-gallery/1194/282-0.jpg

[rijit]

Moving on to the footballing side of the championship,it will be interesting to see the tactics of some of the teams.The Republic of Ireland,with a very shrewd coach,will be difficult to break down.Denmark,in the 'Group of Death",will also be a hard nut to crack.Morten Olsen is a master tactician.I don't see many teams getting rolled over in the Group stages,although Italy could be the exception against Spain.

France,Spain and Germany,with their array of talent,will be on the front foot in all of their games,trying to find a way to break down resolute defences.The danger for them is getting hit on the counter attack.As Chelsea showed in the Champions League,you can still win if you have a well organised defence.Poland,for instance, have an ideal counter attacking forward in Lewandowski.If there is to be a shock elimination from the group stages,I think it could be Netherlands.

Yep, 4 sure it's going to be a close thing,though, But If any team is capable of doing a Chelsea against Spain, couldn't it be Italy? But TBH If it wasn't the euro cup final I wouldn't have enjoyed watching such a one sided game. lets just hope teams don't 'neutralise' themselves with defensive tactical nous and turn the championship turn's into a bore, and remember Greece's win 4 me not only terrible 2 watch but IMO terrible for football as a whole. But hey thats football or not as the case may be!!!!

[MrRed]

Fifa world rankings - top 20

1. Spain 2. Uruguay 3. Germany 4. Netherlands 5. Brazil 6. England 7. Argentina 8. Croatia 9. Denmark 10. Portugal 11. Chile 12. Italy 13. Russia 14. France 15. Greece 16. Ivory Coast 17. Sweden 18. Republic of Ireland 19. Mexico 20. Colombia

18714. Scotland

Edited June 7, 2012 by MrRed

[carmine]

Fifa world rankings - top 20

1. Spain 2. Uruguay 3. Germany 4. Netherlands 5. Brazil 6. England 7. Argentina 8. Croatia 9. Denmark 10. Portugal 11. Chile 12. Italy 13. Russia 14. France 15. Greece 16. Ivory Coast 17. Sweden 18. Republic of Ireland 19. Mexico 20. Colombia

18714. Scotland

Have Scotland gone up in the rankings?

So with England 6th and france only 14th presumably we will be expected to give them a hiding right?

[MrRed]

Fifa world rankings - top 20

1. Spain 2. Uruguay 3. Germany 4. Netherlands 5. Brazil 6. England 7. Argentina 8. Croatia 9. Denmark 10. Portugal 11. Chile 12. Italy 13. Russia 14. France 15. Greece 16. Ivory Coast 17. Sweden 18. Republic of Ireland 19. Mexico 20. Colombia

18714. Scotland

Have Scotland gone up in the rankings?

So with England 6th and france only 14th presumably we will be expected to give them a hiding right?

My thoughts entirely ;-)

Edited June 7, 2012 by MrRed

[SantiSuk]

I watched this last week on the BBC and it followed with an interview with representatives from the Ukranian and Polish Embassy's (I think they were Ambassador's). They were extremely angry over the one sided view of the documentary and pointed out that this was not the norm. They both even "guaranteed"the safety of the fans. Time will tell but let's hope they are right.

The fans are not doing the Nazi salute, they are just pointing at the opposing fans to get their attention. lol

I saw some apparently football-loving Ukraine-living English expat on TV last night. He said that the Beebs surmise (and that is all it was) about the meaning of the Hitler-esque type salute was off beam. He reckoned it was just an arm gesture in support of the accompanying chant "go forward". Makes sense and I did wonder why the Beeb had not nailed down on the true meaning (shame on them), but we will probably never know what the truth is.

Still, I enjoyed watching Plattini squirm when some journo told him 'I'm surprised that you say you have not even seen the documentary'. Funny how a senior job in football administration immediately converts an apparently worthy and sane individual into a gob$hite.

[MrRed]

It seems the Dutch squad have already been the victims of monkey chanting in there training session yesterday and are going to speak with UEFA,

I can see a major problem happening in one or two games here that will tar this tournament,unfortunately UEFA have made there bed by giving the two countries the Championships without thoughts on the racist undertones at the beginning.

Quite a sobering environment for the players to be in especially visiting places such as Auschwitz and the Schindler museum.

I can see a lot of countries players having deep rooted thoughts about what happened in the holocaust and any racial abuse could be the last straw for this tournament i am afraid.

I hope i am proved wrong about this because i just want to see some great games and great performances by the best in Europe!

[LucidLucifer]

I hope i am proved wrong about this because i just want to see some great games and great performances by the best in Europe!

.....and hopefully England too

[MrRed]

That would be a bonus!!

[bangkokrick]

It seems the Dutch squad have already been the victims of monkey chanting in there training session yesterday and are going to speak with UEFA,

I can see a major problem happening in one or two games here that will tar this tournament,unfortunately UEFA have made there bed by giving the two countries the Championships without thoughts on the racist undertones at the beginning.

Quite a sobering environment for the players to be in especially visiting places such as Auschwitz and the Schindler museum.

I can see a lot of countries players having deep rooted thoughts about what happened in the holocaust and any racial abuse could be the last straw for this tournament i am afraid.

I hope i am proved wrong about this because i just want to see some great games and great performances by the best in Europe!

I just read the same and it's shameful. This is a very bad start to a tournament that has not even begun. Lets hope that they can sort this out, so we get to see some good football matches.

[SantiSuk]

I hope we don't get any tactical abandonments. Down 2-0. Ref those guys over there called me white trash ..... Cancel the game or we're walking. Yep - there's a small chance this thing turns into a farce.

Might be good for the game in the long run if that happens - reassessment of the World Cup venues perhaps. You guys must have seen the way some of the towel-heads respond to their immigrant help in your overnight stopovers in the desert - bleeding atrocious. and the Russians are reportedly cut from the same block as Ukraine when it comes to racial issues.

Let's go back to the 'sensible' countries (where people try to blow you up, rather than call you names )

Edited June 8, 2012 by SantiSuk

[bangkokrick]

Concerning the idiot involved this comes as no surprise.

UEFA president

Michel Platini has confirmed referees have been instructed to call a halt to matches at this summer's tournament if a player is racially taunted.

Yet the Frenchman also warned any player who left the field unilaterally in protest over abuse from the stands would be yellow carded.

So a player that is racially abused and leaves the field will be yellow carded. Unbelievable!!!

[MB1]

Is there no CCTV inside the grounds?

Don't tell the English fans if there aint....

Aint many English fans going smokie due to death threats and lack of decent accomodation, some of those who are going are going to be sleeping in campsites erected for the tournament.

It seems also that no UK government representatives are going due to them not being happy with what's happening with Ukranian politics.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

[salty]

As this thread is called European Championships I am assuming one can use it to offer opinions on other games. In the opener a dreadful decision by the referee to issue 2 yellow cards to the Greek player. You could make a case for the 2nd one but the first one was ridiculous. Poland looked well in control at HT a goal up and an extra man. Greece played much better in the 2nd half helped by some very poor judgement by Szczesny. He was badly at fault for the equaliser and did not cover himself in glory when he conceded the penalty. In fairness his defence let him down by stupidly trying to play offside. The replacement goalie saved his blushes. Very dodgy offside decision later saved Poland from losing.

Russia look as if they will stroll the group. Dzagoev looked very dangerous and packs a powerful shot. Admittedly they were helped by dreadful defending by the Czechs. Second place does not look as clearcut.

[SantiSuk]

As this thread is called European Championships I am assuming one can use it to offer opinions on other games. In the opener a dreadful decision by the referee to issue 2 yellow cards to the Greek player. You could make a case for the 2nd one but the first one was ridiculous. Poland looked well in control at HT a goal up and an extra man. Greece played much better in the 2nd half helped by some very poor judgement by Szczesny. He was badly at fault for the equaliser and did not cover himself in glory when he conceded the penalty. In fairness his defence let him down by stupidly trying to play offside. The replacement goalie saved his blushes. Very dodgy offside decision later saved Poland from losing.

Russia look as if they will stroll the group. Dzagoev looked very dangerous and packs a powerful shot. Admittedly they were helped by dreadful defending by the Czechs. Second place does not look as clearcut.

Feel sorry for our (Arsenal) Rosicky, captaining a team of numpties with huge holes in its defence. Likely to be the worst of the tournament if last night's showing was indicative. Feel pleased for our (still) Arshavin, captaining a team with real drive and possibly the tournament surprise; his season is on the up after being booed onto the field at the Emirates, when substituting Oxlade Chamberlain.

[oldgit]

As this thread is called European Championships I am assuming one can use it to offer opinions on other games. In the opener a dreadful decision by the referee to issue 2 yellow cards to the Greek player. You could make a case for the 2nd one but the first one was ridiculous. Poland looked well in control at HT a goal up and an extra man. Greece played much better in the 2nd half helped by some very poor judgement by Szczesny. He was badly at fault for the equaliser and did not cover himself in glory when he conceded the penalty. In fairness his defence let him down by stupidly trying to play offside. The replacement goalie saved his blushes. Very dodgy offside decision later saved Poland from losing.

Russia look as if they will stroll the group. Dzagoev looked very dangerous and packs a powerful shot. Admittedly they were helped by dreadful defending by the Czechs. Second place does not look as clearcut.

I wasn't that impressed with Poland and Greece after watching the match.They both seemed slow and laborious in their build up.What made it an entertaining match was that both teams fancied their chances of winning the game.I didn't see the Russia - Czech Republic game but I've always liked Pavlyuchenko and,the fact he was underused by Redknapp means he will be a lot hungrier and fresher than most.This tournament has a habit of bringing out the best in this type of player i.e Milan Baros when he was a Liverpool.

[oldgit]

As this thread is called European Championships I am assuming one can use it to offer opinions on other games. In the opener a dreadful decision by the referee to issue 2 yellow cards to the Greek player. You could make a case for the 2nd one but the first one was ridiculous. Poland looked well in control at HT a goal up and an extra man. Greece played much better in the 2nd half helped by some very poor judgement by Szczesny. He was badly at fault for the equaliser and did not cover himself in glory when he conceded the penalty. In fairness his defence let him down by stupidly trying to play offside. The replacement goalie saved his blushes. Very dodgy offside decision later saved Poland from losing.

Russia look as if they will stroll the group. Dzagoev looked very dangerous and packs a powerful shot. Admittedly they were helped by dreadful defending by the Czechs. Second place does not look as clearcut.

Feel sorry for our (Arsenal) Rosicky, captaining a team of numpties with huge holes in its defence. Likely to be the worst of the tournament if last night's showing was indicative. Feel pleased for our (still) Arshavin, captaining a team with real drive and possibly the tournament surprise; his season is on the up after being booed onto the field at the Emirates, when substituting Oxlade Chamberlain.

Why was he booed,Santi? I can't remember the reason.

[SantiSuk]

As this thread is called European Championships I am assuming one can use it to offer opinions on other games. In the opener a dreadful decision by the referee to issue 2 yellow cards to the Greek player. You could make a case for the 2nd one but the first one was ridiculous. Poland looked well in control at HT a goal up and an extra man. Greece played much better in the 2nd half helped by some very poor judgement by Szczesny. He was badly at fault for the equaliser and did not cover himself in glory when he conceded the penalty. In fairness his defence let him down by stupidly trying to play offside. The replacement goalie saved his blushes. Very dodgy offside decision later saved Poland from losing.

Russia look as if they will stroll the group. Dzagoev looked very dangerous and packs a powerful shot. Admittedly they were helped by dreadful defending by the Czechs. Second place does not look as clearcut.

Feel sorry for our (Arsenal) Rosicky, captaining a team of numpties with huge holes in its defence. Likely to be the worst of the tournament if last night's showing was indicative. Feel pleased for our (still) Arshavin, captaining a team with real drive and possibly the tournament surprise; his season is on the up after being booed onto the field at the Emirates, when substituting Oxlade Chamberlain.

Why was he booed,Santi? I can't remember the reason.

Mostly it was because they didnt want Oxlade taken off, but it was also because the fans had by now decided Arshavin was a lazy git who hadn't pulled his weight for a year and they were running out of patience with Wenger's repeated forlorn attempts to bring him back to life. [Wenger is very loyal to players who he thinks have shown good skills and still have it in them - witness Chamakh; I don't criticise him in this regard - too many players get shipped out early in disgust and at a big loss, only to play well for the next team].

Arshavin looked shell-shocked at the fan's response and I may be wrong but I think that was his last appearance. In any event he was quickly thereafter shipped off to Zenit St Petersburg on loan. It was a different Arshavin last night as Russian captain - commanding, committed and tricky on the ball. Maybe now we will get our money back on him!

[StevieH]

As this thread is called European Championships I am assuming one can use it to offer opinions on other games. In the opener a dreadful decision by the referee to issue 2 yellow cards to the Greek player. You could make a case for the 2nd one but the first one was ridiculous. Poland looked well in control at HT a goal up and an extra man. Greece played much better in the 2nd half helped by some very poor judgement by Szczesny. He was badly at fault for the equaliser and did not cover himself in glory when he conceded the penalty. In fairness his defence let him down by stupidly trying to play offside. The replacement goalie saved his blushes. Very dodgy offside decision later saved Poland from losing.

Russia look as if they will stroll the group. Dzagoev looked very dangerous and packs a powerful shot. Admittedly they were helped by dreadful defending by the Czechs. Second place does not look as clearcut.

agreed, referee was way, way off with the greek lad red card. don't think either incident was even a yellow card really. very poor officiating.

[bangkokrick]

Euro 2012 stewards attacked inside stadium

Fears over violence at Euro 2012 were borne out when stewards inside Wroclaw's Stadion Miejski were attacked by fans inside the ground.

Just what we don't need. It was a very good game too.

[SantiSuk]

As this thread is called European Championships I am assuming one can use it to offer opinions on other games. In the opener a dreadful decision by the referee to issue 2 yellow cards to the Greek player. You could make a case for the 2nd one but the first one was ridiculous. Poland looked well in control at HT a goal up and an extra man. Greece played much better in the 2nd half helped by some very poor judgement by Szczesny. He was badly at fault for the equaliser and did not cover himself in glory when he conceded the penalty. In fairness his defence let him down by stupidly trying to play offside. The replacement goalie saved his blushes. Very dodgy offside decision later saved Poland from losing.

Russia look as if they will stroll the group. Dzagoev looked very dangerous and packs a powerful shot. Admittedly they were helped by dreadful defending by the Czechs. Second place does not look as clearcut.

agreed, referee was way, way off with the greek lad red card. don't think either incident was even a yellow card really. very poor officiating.

And what was Howard Webb thinking in officiating the Russia v Czech game? Looked like he was either trying to be everyone's friend (no cards in a bruising encounter where I counted one stone-cold penalty and at least 4 yellows) or was he trying to show to the world that we English have a rough tough game that weedy continentals would struggle to survive in?

[StevieH]

As this thread is called European Championships I am assuming one can use it to offer opinions on other games. In the opener a dreadful decision by the referee to issue 2 yellow cards to the Greek player. You could make a case for the 2nd one but the first one was ridiculous. Poland looked well in control at HT a goal up and an extra man. Greece played much better in the 2nd half helped by some very poor judgement by Szczesny. He was badly at fault for the equaliser and did not cover himself in glory when he conceded the penalty. In fairness his defence let him down by stupidly trying to play offside. The replacement goalie saved his blushes. Very dodgy offside decision later saved Poland from losing.

Russia look as if they will stroll the group. Dzagoev looked very dangerous and packs a powerful shot. Admittedly they were helped by dreadful defending by the Czechs. Second place does not look as clearcut.

agreed, referee was way, way off with the greek lad red card. don't think either incident was even a yellow card really. very poor officiating.

And what was Howard Webb thinking in officiating the Russia v Czech game? Looked like he was either trying to be everyone's friend (no cards in a bruising encounter where I counted one stone-cold penalty and at least 4 yellows) or was he trying to show to the world that we English have a rough tough game that weedy continentals would struggle to survive in?

do you mean the one where the russian defender landed on the ball? don't think that was a peno myself, correct call.

webb gets all confused when he doesn't have alex ferguson there in the dugout telling him what decisions to make.

[mrbojangles]

webb gets all confused when he doesn't have alex ferguson there in the dugout telling him what decisions to make.

[bangkokrick]

Predictions for tonight's games?

[mommysboy]

Wow, finally here we go then, bring on the lambs. I've been figuring it out then and yeah I think we (England) are gunna win the final 5 or maybe 6-0, against ther Germans or possibly the Gibraltans. Can't wait! May not post on this thread for a while, generally like to avoid the enemy, but good luck to the Scots!, hope they do well too!

[SantiSuk]

do you mean the one where the russian defender landed on the ball? don't think that was a peno myself, correct call.

webb gets all confused when he doesn't have alex ferguson there in the dugout telling him what decisions to make.

re Fergie comment

No, I meant when Arshavin is barged in the back and knocked over when on the ball well within the area and in a position where he is about to strike. If you see it you'll agree I'm sure. Webb must have been unsighted. In the end non-controversial, since Russia kicked ass.

[Abrak]

The Euros is a very well constructed competition with 16 teams and 4 Groups of 4. The qualifiers are just about meaningful enough to be worth watching (except of course for teams like Scotland.) And the Groups of 4 with 2 qualifiers means that all the matches in the competition itself are also important.

And so they are going to change it and have 24 teams next time around. Presumably this is another act of stupidity by Platini. The qualifiers will be fairly meaningless as will the Group matches I imagine.

[SantiSuk]

Spot on Abrak. Like kids in a sweetyshop these football admin guys. Let's have some more please.

Will defo degrade the value of this event as "the finals". If they keep picking duff countries as hosts they will struggle even more to accomodate teams and fans. Pure power play on Platini's part, the pillock.