UEFA Euro 2012

It just shows on any given night anyone can beat any given team!

[Kes]

It just shows on any given night anyone can beat any given team!

Though in this case, it DOES help if one team is more preoccupied with their track record with the opposition, than their own current excellence. They "should" have gone out and played exactly the same way they had in all the preceding games.

Germany need to learn how to cope, and get over it, when they go behind.
[...] therefore Germany lost against Italy, more than Italy went out there and beat them, if you get what I'm saying.

True.

[Kes]

HT: Spain 2 - 0 Italy

Not being funny, but at risk of the Italians working some kind of a miracle in the second half, I think a Germany - Spain final would have been a bit less one sided.

I still can't believe the Germans actually let themselves get turned over.

[JLP]

Stunning stuff from Spain. people call their football boring but it is brilliant. Torres top scorer at 16/1. Wish I had known he was that price.

I didn't recognize Italy in this match... unbloodybelievable... how, how? I believe they should have used more of their style in this match, they opened a huge door to Spain, some goals were so easy.... I'm sad... luckily we have good news from the European Athletism championships with lots of gold and silver medals

Fair play to Spain. Mind-numbingly boring for 5 games, but then turned on the style when it mattered. Tiki taka is back.

on the other hand, England should return to its classic style of kicking the ball forward and shooting from further distance when possible. Surprising the opponent, aggressivity, possession....

I only watched the first half because at half-time I knew it was game over. Spain are just in different class at the moment. I'd say they are easily the best international team I have seen during my lifetime. Best of all time is a more diffiuclt discussion because Pele's Brazil teams were awesome according to those who saw them.

[Kes]

A lot of the time, Brazil looked so good, because the flamboyant style was so alien to the way anybody else played, that I think it actually made them look better than they were.

These days, a lot of the trickery they started, is apparent in people like Christiano Ronaldo, and Mario Balotelli, and the passing speed and accuracy has been adopted by teams like Spain.

I really think Germany have the potential to build a side that could take on Spain in the latter stages of a competition and beat them, but I can't say that about many other teams.

Fair play to Spain. Mind-numbingly boring for 5 games, but then turned on the style when it mattered. Tiki taka is back.

Agreed

so we are 5th in the ranking now. Why is England above us? And Uruguay? What did they do for that??

[JLP]

so we are 5th in the ranking now. Why is England above us? And Uruguay? What did they do for that??

Well England qualify automatically for euro 12? Portugal had to go through the play offs. Uraguay won the Copa America last time around.

Yeah, but that was in 2011, Portugal went further in Euro and faced Spain in its eyes.

[JLP]

Yeah, but that was in 2011, Portugal went further in Euro and faced Spain in its eyes.

it isn't just based on one tournament though Lino. It is based on results over a period of time. Bear in mind, you could have gone out of the group if you had lost to the Dutch in the last group game.