They start next month and there's no thread yet? I know some of you are going to be watching.

5/24/2008 4:45:51 PM

Go England!

5/24/2008 4:50:49 PM

I mostly made this thread because I read that Henrik Larsson is playing for Sweden. That's insane. The guy is like 36 years old playing striker in the second most prestigious tournament in the world. He's also one of my favorite players. He plays the game like it should be played.

[Edited on May 24, 2008 at 4:53 PM. Reason : apparently he's 36]

5/24/2008 4:52:54 PM

36 is nothing. Chris Chelios plays 17 minutes a night at 46.

5/24/2008 4:57:29 PM

Julio Franco

5/24/2008 4:57:51 PM

46 in hockey is impressive. But you have to remember that soccer is way different than American sports. Players don't usually play past their early 30's and when they do they're usually not forwards. To have a forward this old playing at this high of a level is almost unheard of. And it's not really like the guy has lost anything, he just wants to spend more time with his family. He could probably still give another 3-4 years worth of good service at the highest level.

5/24/2008 5:09:00 PM

Plenty of forwards play meaningful minutes into their mid-'30s, Alan Shearer and Ryan Giggs springing to mind immediately. The only reason Larsson is still being capped is that Sweden have no one good enough to take the spot he's earned by way of remaining skill plus seniority.

5/24/2008 5:39:39 PM

sweden have the forwards, i would imagine larsson comes off the bench if he plays at all.

5/24/2008 8:03:46 PM

I thought I'd go ahead and post the draws since this thread is kinda quiet.

Group A
Czech Republic
Portugal
Switzerland
Turkey

Group B
Austria
Croatia
Germany
Poland

Group C
France
Italy
Netherlands
Romania

Group D
Greece
Russia
Spain
Sweden

I don't really pay attention to international soccer but I watch the Euros, the World Cups, and the Champions Leagues matches. The one national team I do support is the Dutch but it looks like they have a rough draw with France and Italy in their group. Anyways, I hope Greece doesn't win again, or England *snicker*.

Games start June 7th so post your favorite team and become an Ammy Hooligan when they lose. I, for one, will be busting some mailboxes when Netherlands doesn't make it out of the group.

5/28/2008 1:38:42 PM

Normally I'd pull for the Czechs, but since they stomped us in '06 I just can't.

So I'll say...

HRVATSKA!!

5/28/2008 1:42:15 PM

just read that Andy Gray is going to be doing some commentary on ESPN for this... he's a major step up from what they usually have

5/28/2008 1:45:14 PM

I don't really care who wins. England's not in it. Ireland's not in it. The only country I have any ethnic connection to is Italy and that's kinda like pulling for the Yankees or Patriots. I'll settle for seeing some well-played soccer.

5/28/2008 1:48:10 PM

^^^ I'll be pulling for the Hrvats too, and to a certain degree the Swedes since it has been my home for the last two years.

Two girls from school just received their tickets that they got in the lottery. Im pretty jealous.

5/28/2008 2:27:54 PM

Italy

5/28/2008 2:32:42 PM

uhh... vive les bleus?

5/28/2008 2:46:13 PM

While I don't see us getting through the group stage, I love that Turkey is there. This will hopefully be a coming out party for our next generation just like 96 was for the previous group who peaked in the '02 World Cup (which was just as much a function of poor reffing, and luck as soccer, but still, we were 3rd)

5/28/2008 3:12:31 PM

Oranje to win it all.

5/28/2008 6:22:54 PM

i dont like portugal, but i have a feeling they will win

5/28/2008 6:37:29 PM

5/28/2008 9:12:41 PM

Portugal will not win. they cannot out-hustle the Hrvats or Germans, and cannot outrun the Italians

5/28/2008 10:21:41 PM

outrun the italians? the average age of that team is prob over 30

[Edited on May 28, 2008 at 10:23 PM. Reason : f]

5/28/2008 10:23:11 PM

is there anywhere (like a magazine) i can get a good glossy euro 2008 draw/bracket?

5/28/2008 10:30:01 PM

I don't really see Portugal winning. They have Ronaldo, which is definitely something to worry about, and an old Figo, but not a whole lot else I don't think. Not enough to win the whole thing anyway.

5/28/2008 10:36:02 PM

SWEDEN all the way

and Larsson is the man

5/28/2008 11:40:01 PM

figo retired from international football...they have great players that you just havent heard of yet...

ronaldo, deco, nani, quaresma, carvalho, simao, miguel veloso, and bosingwa are players that i know are good for portugal.

[Edited on May 29, 2008 at 12:10 AM. Reason : some might say ferreira on chelski is good too, i dont think so]

5/29/2008 12:09:31 AM

I think this is Portugal's seventeenth "Golden" Generation. They're like the Mets of European football.

[Edited on May 29, 2008 at 12:51 AM. Reason : ]

5/29/2008 12:50:21 AM

Oh shit. I didn't realize all those players played for Portugal. I knew Deco was, just didn't think of him. Didn't know Nani was Portugeuse. Forgot about Carvalho. Heard of Bosingwa but thought he was Nigerian or something. Don't know anything about Quaresma, Simao or Veloso. I still don't think they have what it takes to beat an Italy or a France though unless Ronaldo really puts on a show.

5/29/2008 1:50:22 AM

for being the size of like delaware, they really produce some quality. they should have won euro 2004, but yea they seem to always have a golden generation

5/29/2008 5:52:49 AM

Germany has a ridiculously easy first group.

I guess I'm still just a Ballack fanboy, but he looked pretty impressive (even though he didn't score) against Man U.

5/29/2008 8:19:00 AM

5/29/2008 8:28:53 AM

lol



oh wait...

[Edited on May 29, 2008 at 8:33 AM. Reason : f]

5/29/2008 8:32:39 AM

I shall be in europe for Euro 08! leaving next friday.

5/29/2008 10:45:53 AM

My sister was in England when France won in the Semis in the World Cup two years ago. She said that some French guy came out and started rubbing a French flag all over these English peoples' cars. I LOLed. Then she was on a train to Italy when Italy actually won and she said that the guys running the train actually stopped for a couple hours and started drinking to celebrate. Haha. I would have loved to be there for that.

5/29/2008 1:42:42 PM

I know Spain rarely does as well as they should, but they should be a lock for the quarters and....I think they'll win. *hides*

[Edited on May 30, 2008 at 4:45 AM. Reason : *]

5/30/2008 4:45:05 AM

haha, yikes. spain is the poster boy for failed expectations

5/30/2008 4:57:40 AM

yeah, spain will not win it. not taking Raul will be a mistake. honestly, i could see Russia and Greece getting out of that group. Germany is my choice.

5/30/2008 9:59:11 AM

a wall chart for anyone who'd like to print it out and put it up...

http://www.worldcupblog.org/images/euro2008-chart.pdf

[Edited on June 3, 2008 at 10:17 PM. Reason : link]

6/3/2008 10:16:44 PM

Let's play predictions:

Group A - 1. Portugal, 2. Czech Rep
Group B - 1. Germany, 2. Poland, fuck a Croat
Group C - 1. Italy, 2. Romania, group of death, I'll take Romania for the upset pick
Group D - 1. Spain, 2. Russia

Portugal over Poland
Germany over Czech Rep
Italy over Russia
Romania over Spain

Germany over Portugal
Italy over Romania

Italy over Germany

[Edited on June 3, 2008 at 10:24 PM. Reason : ]

6/3/2008 10:24:32 PM

no way Italy wins it.... no Cannavaro balling his ass off like he did in the WC = no championship

6/3/2008 10:39:33 PM

italy was already too old, losing their old former world player of the year is a huge blow

6/3/2008 11:53:18 PM

Here's mine

Group A - 1. Portugal, 2. Turkey
Group B - 1. Germany, 2. Poland
Group C - 1. France, 2. Italy
Group D - 1. Spain, 2. Greece

Portugal over Poland
Germany over Turkey
France over Greece
Spain over Italy

Germany over Portugal
Spain over France

Spain over Germany

6/4/2008 12:12:44 AM

Ill take a go at it

Group A - 1. Portugal, 2. Czech Rep
Group B - 1. Germany, 2. Croatia
Group C - 1. France, 2. Netherlands, really tough group
Group D - 1. Spain, 2. Greece

Portugal over Croatia
Germany over Czech Rep
France over Greece
Spain over Netherlands

Portugal over Germany
Spain over France

Spain over Portugal

6/4/2008 12:17:07 AM

awsome, the one really cool thing is how this can potentially dominate alot of nights on ESPN sportscenter since there is nothing else on

6/4/2008 12:17:09 AM

aight, ill throw in my guess and see how close i get.

Group A: 1. Portugal 2. Czech Republic
Group B: 1. Germany 2. Croatia
Group C: 1. Italy 2. Netherlands(ill regret this pick)
Group D: 1. Spain 2. Russia

Portugal over Croatia
Czech Republic over Germany(if Cech is injured this pick is ruined)
Italy over Russia
Spain over Netherlands

Portugal over Czech Republic
Spain over Italy

Portugal over Spain in a rivalry final(if ronaldo is hurt at all in this tourney, portugal doesnt make it this far)

6/4/2008 1:38:36 AM

I don't think it's going to dominate sportscenter, but they will at least air every game

6/4/2008 1:51:24 AM

Group A: 1.Portugal 2.Turkey
Group B: 1.Germany 2.Croatia
Group C: 1.France 2.Italy
Group D: 1.Spain 2.Sweden

Portugal over Croatia
Germany over Turkey
France over Sweden
Italy over Spain

Germany over Portugal
France over Italy

France over Germany

(England over France)

6/4/2008 4:58:16 AM

Group A: 1. Portugal 2. Czech Rep.
Group B: 1. Germany 2. Croatia
Group C: 1. Italy 2. Netherlands
Group D: 1. Spain 2. Greece

Portugal over Croatia
Germany over Czech Rep
Greece over Italy
Spain over Netherlands

Portugal over Germany
Spain over Greece

Spain over Portugal

6/4/2008 9:27:40 AM

So I really feel like I want to be interested in soccer. I've really enjoyed watching the past two World Cups, and I covered a lot of soccer for Technician when I was at State. I really liked that a lot too.

In short, I've really enjoyed the soccer I manage to watch, but I didn't have cable for two years, so it was hard to watch much. I had to use that TVU player to watch the World Cup two years ago.

I've got my DVR set for the USA/Spain match tonight, and I'm definitely planning on watching this over the next few weeks.

Any helpful info? I know very little about soccer; well I know some about the actual sport, not a lot, but not very much at all about teams/players that are good.

What should I be looking for in this?

I'm definitely a soccer n00b, but I'm sincerely interested, and I've enjoyed what little I have seen.

6/4/2008 9:56:46 AM

The thing that sucks for people that haven't been around the sport much that are looking to get into it... and one of the major reasons why I think it hasn't exactly blown up in the US is that it's very hard to find good coverage of it.

Since most of the fans are know-it-alls like myself, if you try to learn the sport by reading message boards and/or fan blogs, you'll get a million different hardcore opinions because every fan thinks they know it all. If you try to use normal media outlets (ESPN, etc.) you won't find any useful information other than "Beckham curves the ball" and "Ronaldo is good." If you're looking for good opinion pieces through those media outlets, you'll just find generic pre-made opinion editorials on shit like "USA/MLS needs Latin flair." If you get your soccer information through European (probably British) media and you're a new fan, you probably won't get half the stuff they say because they don't take time to explain anything. And if you're using those outlets for American coverage, you might as well just give it up because all they do is shit all over everything USA.

I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is exactly. I guess you just have to try hard to find good soccer blogs and whatnot. If you're interested in US particularly (they do cover other stuff as well, but its mostly US and MLS) Steven Goff's blog for the Washington Post is pretty good (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/), Ives Galarcep has a decent blog (http://www.soccerbyives.net/), and if you're looking for just an educated fan's point of view about EPL and US Soccer, I recommend That's On Point (http://thatsonpoint.blogspot.com/)

6/4/2008 10:11:45 AM

bump

6/4/2008 10:59:06 AM