Euro 2008 — Running Thread

True, except for the Marty the Michelin Man.

 

Just got back from a weekend away, and watched a good portion of the games I recorded. Just some incredible stuff.

No offense to any Italian fans, but god am I glad they went out. They tried to win another one of their boring games and finally lost it.

 

I take offense to that. Just kidding. In reality, the Italians played a very cynical brand of soccer today. Toni really was awful this tournament and I really question why Donadoni would wait so long to insert Del Piero. Del Piero is a playmaker whereas Toni is a player who relies on good service from his mids. Considering that the Italians were playing as conservatively as they ever have, which is saying a lot, Toni was the wrong guy to have up top towards the end of the match.

He is not a player who can create. That's why maestros like Baggio and Del Piero have been so effective working within the constraints of the catenaccio system. They can make things happen.

Overall, it was an underwhelming performance by the Azzurri. I just don't see Donadoni leading this team to the World Cup. They need someone who will make Italy play with more imagination.

 

I think Turkey is going to have their hands full with Germany. Nihat apparently flew home after being injured today, and Arda and Tuncay are going to miss out because of suspension.

 

With Nihat and Tuncay apparently unavailable, what do we see from Turkey. I hope it doesn't bear any resemblence to another team we saw today which lost its pivotal midfielder to suspension.

 

Unfortunately, I think that'll be the plan. If I was running the Turkish side, I'd play for PKs from the opening whistle.

 

Yeah, unfortunately, I've got to agree. Anytime you have to rely on Colin Kazim-Richards to be your goalscorer, you've got some issues.

Emre Asik, one of their defenders, will also be out. I'm not sure they'll be able to cope with the German attack.
I guess I'd rather see a 4-0 German shellacking than a 0-0 game that goes to PK's.

 

I think the Germans are good enough in all facets going forward, both breaking down a team, counter-attacking (not that there may be much of that), and set-pieces that the Turks will probably have to score at least once to stay in the game.

 

Probably right GB. I think Germany will score at least once, likely on a set piece. But I fear it'll be late in the match, which means we'll have 70 minutes of ugly football to suffer through before seeing a goal.

Is the Spain-Russia match on Wednesday as well? All the ESPN ads are promoing Germany-Turkey and not mentioning the other semi.

 

I'm definitely expecting the Spain-Russia match to be the better of the two.

 

Apparently UEFA is mulling over Turkey's potential squad crisis:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=549978&cc=5901

 

Spain-Russia is Thursday afternoon.