Euro 2008 — Running Thread

Over. Done, Deutschland uber alles. Football_Bat going barmy.

 

Damn, damn, damn.

That was frustrating as fuck.

Love the result ... but my stomach doesn't know how to feel, not having been able to see it. Booo, lightning!

 

Fair point. Though the Italy-Spain game remains the notable exception (and most of the Turkey-Romania game, but the ending more than made up for it.)

All told, though, the kind of soccer that makes non-soccer fans (like me) stand up and notice.

 

This tournament has been tremendous. I couldn't care less who wins, so I've just been able to enjoy the drama and the great games.

 

This is one of the most memorable tournaments ever.

Give Turkey all kinds of credit, but I had a feeling ze Germans would find a way.

 

Turkey should be applauded for some serious grit. Perhaps a fraction of the Germans' talent, but enough determination to fill up any two continents.

Now to hope Spain beats Russia. With all due respect to the latter, Germany-Spain shouldn't lack for firepower and choice of tactics.

 

Russia could offer the better final. They are big, fast and not afraid to shoot. They took apart the Dutch while the Spanish and the Italians played kick-ball around the pitch.

 

Agree that Russia could be underrated. Agree that Russia isn't afraid.

Disagree that they possess more offensive skill than Spain ... and Casillas isn't too bad in goal. And you know a lot of sides play kickball again the Bunker Kings (er, Italy).

 

True enough, Spain won the earlier matchup 4-1. I just never trust the Spaniards in these situations (they tried like hell to lose to Italy). The Russians seem to have gotten better since their opening game loss.

Their victory over the Netherlands wasn't nothing short of a clinic.

 

Those three German goals were -- in the words of Little Birdscribe -- "sexy."

Nice game... what we saw of it at this South African restaurant near work. Gotta hand it to the Turks, they were relentless.

 

There was a bad thunderstorm in Vienna, where the feed for the game was distributed. That's why ESPN, and most other international stations, lost the game. It was so frustrating because it was a great game and a great finish. I thought Turkey would pull it out after tying the game. But those Germans stole the show at the end.
Hope Spain vs. Russia is at least half as exciting as this game was.