Euro 2012

[Phatscotty]

Is it possible Greece could play Spain in the final?

[Phatscotty]

It's a football thread!

I wish we could make polls that have a cut off date, so people can only vote before a ball is kicked.

we do. In the poll menu you can enter the number of days you want to poll to run.

[nagerous]

Is it possible Greece could play Spain in the final?

Battle of the bail outs?

[Phatscotty]

Is it possible Greece could play Spain in the final?

Battle of the bail outs?

I've never watched a soccer game in my life, but I would watch this one. I wanna see the crowd too

[Sniper08]

ah well any hope of advancing is gone now , best we can do is third which is unlikely as we will probably lose to spain and italy.

[nietzsche]

[nietzsche]

hmmm....



x2

[ManBungalow]

SWEDEN TO BEAT ENGLAND AND FRANCE

[Pedronicus]

IKEA sales in London and Paris fall off a cliff...

[thegreekdog]

Question: I want to purchase a Greek jersey. Whose should I purchase?

[GreecePwns]

If you want a star player for this tournament, Samaras.

If you want a national hero from the 2004 one, Gekas or Charisteas.

If you want Greecepwns, Papadopoulos (Papadopouli?).

[thegreekdog]

If you want a star player for this tournament, Samaras.

If you want a national hero from the 2004 one, Gekas or Charisteas.

If you want Greecepwns, Papadopoulos (Papadopouli?).

There are two Papadapouli on the team...

I'm definitely buying a jersey. I think I'll go with Charisteas. I want to make sure everyone knows it's Greece, so maybe I'll go with Papadapolous.

[Aradhus]

If you want a star player for this tournament, Samaras.

If you want a national hero from the 2004 one, Gekas or Charisteas.

If you want Greecepwns, Papadopoulos (Papadopouli?).

There are two Papadapouli on the team...

I'm definitely buying a jersey. I think I'll go with Charisteas. I want to make sure everyone knows it's Greece, so maybe I'll go with Papadapolous.

I really don't know many of the greece players, I don't think many of them play in the big 3 European Leagues. I know Samaras fairly well as he plays for Celtic(a Scottish team). He's a pretty good player(for the Scottish league, though his scoring record isn't anything to shout home about, in the national arena I'd rate his as average, but I'd rate greece as average so that's maybe not syaing much), but I've no idea how he rates against the other greek players.

[thegreekdog]

I read an exchange between two ESPN writers that had little to do with soccer, except that the one guy noted that big countries like the United States don't have good soccer teams (for example), while smaller countries like the Netherlands do. Why is that (he posited). He thought it was because smaller countries take care of and hone their players.

[nietzsche]

Question: I want to purchase a Greek jersey. Whose should I purchase?

None. They are probably given away.

[GreecePwns]

I read an exchange between two ESPN writers that had little to do with soccer, except that the one guy noted that big countries like the United States don't have good soccer teams (for example), while smaller countries like the Netherlands do. Why is that (he posited). He thought it was because smaller countries take care of and hone their players.

Well its less about population and more about # of players and what the national federation does with those players. Netherlands' (and Argentina's and Brazil's and countless others') big clubs have some of the best youth development in the world, and sell their best players abroad. Those players end up on big teams and get more top quality training, which is why they have such a talented national team but their clubs aren't the best in the world.

In America's case, its because the youth development practices that the rest of the world uses have only recently been widely used here. And the whole four other sports to compete with for athletic talent. Our sports emphasize athletic prowess over physical talent more than soccer does, which is why we excel in positions which require more athletic traits (keeper, winger, etc).

[Aradhus]

I read an exchange between two ESPN writers that had little to do with soccer, except that the one guy noted that big countries like the United States don't have good soccer teams (for example), while smaller countries like the Netherlands do. Why is that (he posited). He thought it was because smaller countries take care of and hone their players.

Well lots of small countries have shit leagues and teams. There are lots(way too many for me to list) of factors that come in to play. I know Holland has a really great setup, one of the most respected, when it comes to young kids. They have acadamies set up and they bring them in at a young age and hone their skills. I'm sure money comes into play. Maybe government funding to improve facilities for kids and provide coaches. When Scottish pundits talk about the state of Scottish football that's all they every talk about. The kids aren't getting the support, the funding, the access to facilities and trainers, etc, and unless that changes the quality of players produced in Scotland will never improve. Back in the day Scotland produced a lot of great talent, but that was before countries spent money on introduing infrastructure to help produce kids with talent, something Scotland didn't do, and now we pay the price for it. We never qualify for the big tournaments. On the rare occasions that scottish teams do well in European competitions the teams are filled with foreigners.

[thegreekdog]

I read an exchange between two ESPN writers that had little to do with soccer, except that the one guy noted that big countries like the United States don't have good soccer teams (for example), while smaller countries like the Netherlands do. Why is that (he posited). He thought it was because smaller countries take care of and hone their players.

Well lots of small countries have shit leagues and teams. There are lots(way too many for me to list) of factors that come in to play. I know Holland has a really great setup, one of the most respected, when it comes to young kids. They have acadamies set up and they bring them in at a young age and hone their skills. I'm sure money comes into play. Maybe government funding to improve facilities for kids and provide coaches. When Scottish pundits talk about the state of Scottish football that's all they every talk about. The kids aren't getting the support, the funding, the access to facilities and trainers, etc, and unless that changes the quality of players produced in Scotland will never improve. Back in the day Scotland produced a lot of great talent, but that was before countries spent money on introduing infrastructure to help produce kids with talent, something Scotland didn't do, and now we pay the price for it. We never qualify for the big tournaments. On the rare occasions that scottish teams do well in European competitions the teams are filled with foreigners.

The guys at ESPN were talking about soccer at first, and then they switched to American football, with two ideas being bandied about:

Idea #1: There are plenty of awesome (American) football players that don't get a shot or are incarcerated, etc. (which makes sense to me).
Idea #2: If the dangers of concussions in (American) football begins to trickle down to non-professional, pre-collegiate football (high school, pop warner, etc.) will there be (American) football players left in 50 years?

I do agree though: money and time spent are what makes great players (in my opinion).

It was an interesting discussion. Anyway, sorry for the derail.

[nagerous]

ah well any hope of advancing is gone now , best we can do is third which is unlikely as we will probably lose to spain and italy.

A little pessimistic?

[Pedronicus]

Japan v Mexico is the first game tonight, but I'm really looking forward to the later KO when Brazil & Nigeria play...

[Pedronicus]

The Euro's are actually better than the World Cup for the quality of the football.

Even the worst teams that qualified through second best in groups can play better football than some of the teams that manage to get into the world cup.

[nietzsche]

Who keeps voting for Ireland?

[Gypsys Kiss]

2 and a half minutes.........Greece losing


Who does Baros play for these days?

5 minutes.....Greece losing by a bit more

[thegreekdog]

2-0? Goddammit.

[Gypsys Kiss]

2-0? Goddammit.

You sure you want to buy a Greek shirt?