awesome battle of contrasting styles. i'm so glad the better and more entertaining team won. i agree that guiza sucks, he should not be allowed to see the pitch again in this tourney. i also concur that senna must remain in the lineup. his physicality is something that spain is in short supply of an will need if the want to win it all. GO SPAIN!!!
Thank G-d Italy is out. I absolutely can't stand to watch them destroy good offensive football. That was a terrible game to watch. Now, Spain and Russia, that should be a totally different story. That should be a goal fest.
Don't know if this has been posted in this thread... but apparently an Italian will be ref'ing the Euros final. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=550588&cc=4716 Doesn't sound too good if Spain is to be in the finals. This guy sounds very patriotic.
Some thoughts, now that I've calmed down a bit: Senna was MASSIVE. He destroyed every Italian attack through the central midfield, he rarely misplaced a pass, and his wicked shot in the 2nd half nearly trickled in. Silva had a great game too, narrowly missing a couple of times and being denied a sure free kick when he got stepped on. Casillas had one of the saves of the tournament when he stopped Camoranesi's shot, and his performance in the shootout was exemplary. On the Italian side, Chiellini and Panucci were great in central defense. Toni was completely ineffective, and I'm surprised that Cassano was taken off, as he was Italy's most creative player. Camoranesi did well in limited time, too. As for the next match, Senna's injury worries me, because he will be instrumental in shutting down Arshavin. Then again, Xabi Alonso isn't a bad backup plan
So if the Turks and Russians win we will have a Euro Final between two countries that are not in Europe
If Daniel Güiza plays, Spain has issues. He was f***ing terrible against Italy. Hey Guiza...there are other players on the field. Give up the damn ball to those who can actually do something other than take a weak 25 yard shot.
Both Russia and Turkey have a part which is in Europe and the other part of the country is not. In general they are seen as European countries.
Considering that both countries ruled over a good chunk of Europe at one time or another, I would say they've earned it.
russia spain should be entertaining. russia is not the same team that spain faced in their opening match. arshavin completely changes the entire dynamic of the team. his speed and ball control along the wings will give the spanish defenders fits. i'm predicting russia wins this one 2-1
I figured that, But it has been said before, so I figured i would respond, you never know who actually means it.
It was a tought loss. But i'm handling it pretty well. All the previous losses in big tournaments were more painfull. 1992 Semi finals Denmark. Penalty kicks (when we destroyed the Germans in the group phase) 1994 quater finals Brazil. we got back from a 2-0 depecite, but Brance scored a unbelievable free kick just before the end of the game. 1996 Quater finals France. Penatly kicks 1998 Semi finals Brazil. Penalty Kicks 2000 Semi Finals Italia. Penlty Kicks 2004 Semi Finals Portugal. 2006 Second Round Portugal. (the well known 4 red card game). All those losses were more devastating for me. This time we really got destroyed by the Russians. Hiddink out coached Van Basten, they played better, with more passion. We didn't deserve to win it all. I have confidence in the future, this is a young team, we will built on this tournament and come back stronger next year. As a fan of the Rockets, Feyenoord and Holland. I'm getting used to demoralizing losses
I actually was in Dallas watching Holland - Brazil. Unbelievable match. 1998 was really painful for me. Played such amazing football. 2000 same. also played better against Italy in the semis. 2004- never had the feeling we could win it. We also got killed in that game against Portugal I feel, I never thought we were in it. Davids said it was the only time he felt the team were played away in his time with Holland. 2006- painful but again didn't have much confidence in the team. Also Portugal just had better individual players. 2008- I don't know this one really hurts for me. Playing such AMAZING matches against Italy and France and then that? Just really hard to take in after 3 great wins in the group phase. Also I still think we had better materials than Russia so it's a great shame, although they did play really well and Hiddink was the better coach. Arshavin of course is an amazing player.
I'm 100% sure we have more quality than russia. We underestimated them (still thinking about the 4-1 victory in a friendly we had on them earlier this year). I do not know why this match doesn't hurt as much as other losses. Ofcourse it was a bad loss, but not a heartbreaker as all the penalty losses we have had. Those were terrible. Maybe i'm alos getting better in dealing with these type of losses. I think the fact that it is Hiddinks team makes it less painful for me.
Well, I've been on vacation catching the games, mostly the Holland ones and it was a dissappointment considering how beautiful the played the group stages but Russia was the better team that day and executed Hiddinks game plan to perfection. If this were a 7 game series, the cream would rise to the top and Holland would win 4 out of 7 but that's the beauty of International soccer tournaments. I wore my van persie jersey in San Francisco after after the loss and was approach by many Dutch supporters who were dissapointed as well but realize the team is young and has a bright future. My heart's split with Brazil but since they've won so much it's Holland in 2010! I am thrilled the b****y Italians are out, and happy conservative/non-attacking soccer didn't get rewarded this time around like it was in '04 and '06. Italian fans are the most whiny and biggest bandwagoners on the planet. My pick to win it all in still in the tourney (Spain) so I am rooting for them because they are similar to the Dutch in that they play beautiful soccer but always have terrible luck.
