I'm surprised Alexi Lalas didn't claim that USA was gonna win.

6/6/2012 9:14:07 AM

He did say USA was Top 25 in the world which is very questionable.

6/6/2012 9:41:49 AM

debatable maybe, but not "very questionable"

There's no way we're any lower than 30.

6/6/2012 9:45:04 AM

I don't think there's much difference in the words debatable and very questionable but that's subjective.

You could probably swap around most of the teams in the 20-30 range.

6/6/2012 10:37:54 AM

I guess it was the "very" in there. I'm just saying, I know Lalas is a filthy biased homer but saying we're top 25 isn't ridiculous at all.

6/6/2012 10:41:05 AM

Not ridiculous at all, it's just hard to have a lot of confidence in the national team when it comes to saying they are better than x teams.

Pretty much analogous to NC State football and basketball.

6/6/2012 10:44:19 AM

I mean I kind of see what you're saying but we've had some pretty impressive results recently. They weren't all in major tournaments but in the last 3 years - we beat Spain (who was on a ridiculous winning streak), beat Italy (in Italy), tied England (in a World Cup), stood tall against Brazil in a 3-2 loss (up 2-0 at one point), and tied Argentina.

There have been bad results on the other side against good teams too but we're very capable of playing against good teams and getting results. I'm not sure you can say that for some teams in the 20-40 range, aside from a fluke result here and there.

6/6/2012 10:58:03 AM

Here's the entire group schedule. I forgot how shitty group A was.

June 8
Group A
Poland vs. Greece, Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, 12 p.m. ET
Russia vs. Czech Republic, Stadion Miejski, Wroclaw, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 9
Group B
Netherlands vs. Denmark, Metalist, Kharkiv, 12 p.m. ET
Germany vs. Portugal, New Stadium Lviv, Lviv, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 10
Group C
Spain vs. Italy, PGE Arena, Gdansk, 12 p.m. ET
Republic of Ireland vs. Croatia, Stadion Miejski, Poznan, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 11
Group D
France vs. England, Donbass Arena, Donetsk, 12 p.m. ET
Ukraine vs. Sweden, Olimpiyskyi, Kiev, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 12
Group A
Greece vs. Czech Republic, Stadion Miejski, Wroclaw, 12 p.m. ET
Poland vs. Russia, Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 13
Group B
Denmark vs. Portugal, New Stadium Lviv, Lviv, 12 p.m. ET
Netherlands vs. Germany, Metalist, Kharkiv, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 14
Group C
Italy vs. Croatia, Stadion Miejski, Poznan, 12 p.m. ET
Spain vs. Republic of Ireland, PGE Arena, Gdansk, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 15
Group D
Ukraine vs. France, Donbass Arena, Donetsk, 12 p.m. ET
Sweden vs. England, Olimpiyskyi, Kiev, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 16
Group A
Czech Republic vs. Poland, Stadion Miejski, Wroclaw, 2:45 p.m. ET
Greece vs. Russia, Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 17
Group B
Denmark vs. Germany, New Stadium Lviv, Lviv, 2:45 p.m. ET
Portugal vs. Netherlands, Metalist, Kharkiv, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 18
Group C
Italy vs. Republic of Ireland, Stadion Miejski, Poznan, 2:45 p.m. ET
Croatia vs. Spain, PGE Arena, Gdansk, 2:45 p.m. ET

June 19
Group D
England vs. Ukraine, Donbass Arena, Donetsk, 2:45 p.m. ET
Sweden vs. France, Olimpiyskyi, Kiev, 2:45 p.m. ET

6/6/2012 12:45:27 PM

it will be interesting to see if the best winger in the world can lead his group past germany or holland

6/6/2012 12:58:46 PM

Anyone using any neat calendars?

This one is pretty simple, but gets the job done.

http://www.euro2012calendar.com/

6/6/2012 1:14:19 PM

Wish these start times were later. I'm not going to get to see any of the weekday matches.

6/6/2012 1:15:11 PM

I just put the schedule in google calendar

6/6/2012 1:21:32 PM

FYI Galaxy Cinema will be showing everything from the quarterfinals to the finals in HD in our theater.

Come by and watch.

6/6/2012 5:07:31 PM

hopefully much McManaman/Lalas banter to come

6/7/2012 8:45:54 AM

Ah yes, my regularly scheduled two year reminder of why being in the working world really sucks, as witnessed in 2006, 2008 and 2010. Guess I get to watch games on Saturdays and Sundays.

6/7/2012 9:26:27 AM

Quote :

"Productivity in June at work will be significantly impacted"

i might be out for lunch a lot and leave early a lot during euros

[Edited on June 7, 2012 at 9:44 AM. Reason : oh wait most games are on espn3 and i think i can access espn3 at work....hurray!]

6/7/2012 9:30:10 AM

Quote :

"WARSAW, June 7 (Reuters) - Poland's prime minister, seeking on the eve of Euro 2012 to fend off charges that the co-hosts are struggling with stadium racism, dined at the home of the country's first black parliamentarian"

Problem solved, lads.

6/7/2012 11:16:14 AM

^hahaha

this would have been my entry, had I been able to submit one with espn

http://i.imgur.com/lunwE.png

6/8/2012 11:31:53 AM

those, my friend, are some ballsy predictions.

6/8/2012 11:33:22 AM

Is anyone else's HD feed down? I get regular ESPN fine but no HD feed.

6/8/2012 11:48:10 AM

SICK!

6/8/2012 12:18:33 PM

nice

6/8/2012 12:22:33 PM

Quote :

"Poland's prime minister,... dined at the home of the country's first black parliamentarian""

In Soviet Poland, dinner to coming who's guess..

6/8/2012 12:30:55 PM

Mad Greeks are mad.

6/8/2012 12:45:15 PM

The fix is in.

Ref wants to make sure Greece is screwed.

6/8/2012 12:49:28 PM

He just wants to sadden Lalas.

I approve.

6/8/2012 12:50:41 PM

bad officiating better headline than racism?

6/8/2012 12:54:14 PM

I like Jason Bourne in studio. Personality plus!

6/8/2012 12:56:24 PM

16 Red Cards in 19 La Liga matches?

How do you get a record like that and get to ref an international tourney?

6/8/2012 1:05:09 PM

Uh oh

6/8/2012 1:09:38 PM

Game On

6/8/2012 1:09:44 PM

Poland choking HARD

6/8/2012 1:27:46 PM

how do you let that happen when you are a man up? Wow...

6/8/2012 1:28:24 PM

Arsenlol

6/8/2012 1:28:58 PM

good save

6/8/2012 1:29:58 PM

wow...nice save off the bench...color me impressed

haha coach reaction...lolworthy

[Edited on June 8, 2012 at 1:30 PM. Reason : ...]

6/8/2012 1:30:02 PM

Quote :

"SAVED BY TYTON! INCREDIBLE!"

6/8/2012 1:30:26 PM

Quote :

"haha coach reaction...lolworthy"

6/8/2012 1:30:58 PM

wasn't expecting much from this game, but this is fun to watch...even the crappy play is kind of humorous...

6/8/2012 1:34:36 PM

oh my gooooodddddd

6/8/2012 1:34:57 PM

^
lol, your feed must be behind

6/8/2012 1:35:29 PM

any of you bums got a link to a good game-tracker, for those of us who have to be at work?

6/8/2012 1:47:42 PM

yeah a minimized espn3

6/8/2012 1:50:03 PM

i can't access that from work, ya bum

6/8/2012 1:58:19 PM

[Edited on June 8, 2012 at 2:16 PM. Reason : wow Ballack really adds a lot to the studio. Great insight]

6/8/2012 2:05:49 PM

Quote :

"Stat attack: Referee Carlos Velasco Carballo showed 178 yellow cards and 16 red cards in 29 La Liga games last season. An average of 6 yellows a game. He has brandished four yellows and two reds in this Euro 2012 opener."

6/8/2012 2:33:36 PM

so every game he refs is like the holland/portugal wc '06 game

6/8/2012 2:49:07 PM

Czechs have some USA defense going on

6/8/2012 3:11:24 PM

really like this russia team, most of them are teammates professionally, and they're playing like it

6/8/2012 3:12:50 PM

They do look very, very organized.

6/8/2012 3:15:26 PM