The Soccer Thread (Version 8)

Well, that's not good.

Russian soccer official praises fans for fighting

 

Just got back from the Bordeaux fan zone, where all was amicable beer drinking and ticket scalping between Austrian and Hungarian fans. I go to their game tomorrow evening, so that was good to see.
PS: Russia should be kicked out of all international sports competition and organizations. Won't be, but should be.

 

You picked a good one, MG. Especially if you were sitting in the Hungarian section!

 

Iceland ties it. Pretty crazy less than 400k in that country.

 

The (George) Best is yet to come.
It will be legend -- wait for it -- dree.
Anyone else excited for England/Wales on Thursday? Have those two ever met in major competition?

 

Define "major competition." They met in Euro 2012 group qualifying. But before this year, the only international tournament appearance ever by Wales was in the 1958 World Cup.

Wales is England's second-most-often played opponent (behind Scotland) and England leads 66-21-14. Of course, the majority of those meetings were in the British Home Championship, which was discontinued in 1984.

 

Report from the game. I was indeed seated in the end zone next to the organized Hungary fans. They were loud, very loud, but far more pleasant and less rowdy than say, a section of Eagles fans. Boy can they drink beer. Travel to and from the stadium on public transit and entrance and exit of the stadium were far better organized and hassle free than at any Boston major sports venue.
Today we went to the beach. Arcachon, a town about 35 miles away. It was full of Hungarian fans still celebrating and Irish fans getting lethal sunburns and hangovers in preparation for their game in Bordeaux Saturday night

 

Makes sense that Austria and Hungary would get along. They were the same country until WWI.

 

France played last night. We went into the center of Bordeaux for dinner, not too far from the big Fanzone, and there was a very large increase in security. Very large. After dinner we walked to a bar/cafe on the river to watch the second half, sitting at a table outdoors. With about 10 minutes to play and the score 0-0, I turned around in my seat and there was a soldier with a machine gun one foot behind me. There were about 10 cops and soldiers around us. After a second or so of surprise and anxiety, I realized they were not looking for danger, but staring at the big screen watching the game. When France scored at the end, they vanished, and I was no longer the most well-guarded man in the country.

 

Did you write a story about Celtics-Rangers for the Herald about 16 years ago? What was your motivation (besides a trip to Scotland)? Why did the paper agree?

Forgot to add, I liked it, obviously. I still remember reading it.

 

Wasn't me. It was my dear friend the late George Kimball, who often did European stories (Open championship most notably) by double dipping for the Herald and the Irish Times.

 

Intriguing day at the Euros today. Wales took a 1-0 lead over England at HT, but English suddenly woke up and saved their asses by scoring twice in 2H, including GW in stoppage time. Then Northern Ireland rolled over Ukraine 2-0, before Germany and Poland played it safe in a 0-0 draw. After a week's worth of games, I haven't seen a team yet that looks like a clear-cut favorite. Although I admit I didn't see Italy's opener, so there is that.