Group C Euro 2012 General Discussion

[paul_oshea]

welcome back weldondhino.whatever happened that 3-0 massacre you predicted for us.

id love if you opened a bookies id be yer best customer!

[Charlie Darwin]

Final squad announced. McShane in, Foley out.

1 Given
2 St Ledger
3 Ward
4 O'Shea
5 Dunne
6 Whelan
7 McGeady
8 Andrews
9 Doyle
10 Keane
11 Duff
12 Kelly
13 McShane
14 Walters
15 Gibson
16 Westwood
17 Hunt
18 O'Dea
19 Long
20 Cox
21 Green
22 McClean
23 Forde

[paul_oshea]

i posted this already on the other thread CD.

[Charlie Darwin]

Don't you dare steal my thunder, Paul O'Shea.

[paul_oshea]

How dare you I was first. You can see by the fact your post to this thread was up top of the list, therefore my post was before yours :P

Interesting "Ironically, Foley trained at the Stadio Comunale Alberto Benedetti in Borgo A Buggiano last night, while McShane did not after suffering a bruised heel during Saturday's 1-0 friendly victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in Dublin'"

If this is true sounds to me like a football call rather than a fitness one. Not fair on Foley in fairness, unless he hurt himself in training last night.

[Charlie Darwin]

Yep, confirmed by Trap it's a footballing decision. Awful for Foley - shades of Gary Waddock.

Trap: "Kevin has been recovering well, I have made the difficult decision after completing fitness tests on O’Shea and McShane."

I assume the decision is because of the ongoing fitness concerns over O'Shea, Dunne, O'Dea and St Ledger, meaning extra centre half cover is needed.

[John83]

Final squad announced...
18 Green
...
21 Green
...

I know he covers a lot of ground, but still?

[Murfinator]

Should we read into the squad numbers 1-11 being the expected starting side as a confirmation? I don't massively disagree with it but I'd like to think he's keeping an open mind about Long over Doyle or alternatives to Ward.

[nigel-harps1954]

Should we read into the squad numbers 1-11 being the expected starting side as a confirmation? I don't massively disagree with it but I'd like to think he's keeping an open mind about Long over Doyle or alternatives to Ward.

Exactly my thoughts, seems to be his starting XI numbered as so.

[French Toasht]

Croatia and Lyons Dejan Lovren, dropped from the 23 with an Achilles injury. Thats good news as he is a regular at centre back and further weakens an already questionable defence.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/stor...ame-squad.html

[gastric]

Love this article from an Australian rag. Hopefully, the PM makes them withdraw!

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/so...-1226373190838

[Kingdom]

all these scandals (Italy), injuries (Spain) and historical mental weakness (Croatia) are giving me palpitations...

So tell me Kevin, you're a male right? oh Lord....any penalty points? yeah, 2! Oh sweet Lamb of Devine....Fully Comp? Yippeee!
Nononsense.ie?

[Zizou]

Strange.
When the draw was made I thought, we're screwed. We won't get a goal never mind a point...
Then a few months passed and I thought, we may take a point off the Croats. I mean they're not as good as they were.
Then I started thinking, well neither are the Italians right????
Now we're a week away, I'm thinking we'll draw with the Croats, rattle Spain but lose and beat the Italians for sure!
Am I getting carried away here on pure blinkered optimism, or can we actually get out of this group????
Strange..

[jbyrne]

Strange.
When the draw was made I thought, we're screwed. We won't get a goal never mind a point...
Then a few months passed and I thought, we may take a point off the Croats. I mean they're not as good as they were.
Then I started thinking, well neither are the Italians right????
Now we're a week away, I'm thinking we'll draw with the Croats, rattle Spain but lose and beat the Italians for sure!
Am I getting carried away here on pure blinkered optimism, or can we actually get out of this group????
Strange..

we have a chance of getting out of the group but when have we last beaten anyone ranked higher than us in a competitive match? All 3 of our group opponents are top 10 ranked.

my hope is that we are still in contention in the Italy match and by some freak three draws does it for us!

[Zizou]

we have a chance of getting out of the group but when have we last beaten anyone ranked higher than us in a competitive match? All 3 of our group opponents are top 10 ranked.

my hope is that we are still in contention in the Italy match and by some freak three draws does it for us!

The Fifa World Rankings are the biggest load of poop ever. I pay them no attention. Looking through the final squads, Italy and Croatia look like the weakest squads they have ever taken to a major tournament. I know we're not exactly choc full of world class talent, but both these teams are beatable. I'm sure of it now. It's not just the excitement. I think we'll do it. And then in the quarters, Engerland....

[SkStu]

So tell me Kevin, you're a male right? oh Lord....any penalty points? yeah, 2! Oh sweet Lamb of Devine....Fully Comp? Yippeee!
Nononsense.ie?

i dont know what this means...

[SkStu]

The Fifa World Rankings are the biggest load of poop ever. I pay them no attention. Looking through the final squads, Italy and Croatia look like the weakest squads they have ever taken to a major tournament. I know we're not exactly choc full of world class talent, but both these teams are beatable. I'm sure of it now. It's not just the excitement. I think we'll do it. And then in the quarters, Engerland....

Agree - that Croatian team is overrated plus they have the capacity to bottle it, big time as i keep ribbing my father in law about . The Italians are under a cloud of controversy, have a pretty weak squad by their standards and we have a good record against em but in a big fight they usually pull out their big cojones and do the job. Its going to be tough. But we have a chance.

[DannyInvincible]

Love this article from an Australian rag. Hopefully, the PM makes them withdraw!

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/so...-1226373190838

"I'm not making a proposal and even less so a governmental one but it is something that sometimes I wish for as someone who has loved football for many years," he said during a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk yesterday.

"Maybe it would benefit the development of our citizens to have a total suspension of this game for two or three years.

"It's particularly sad when a world, such as sport, that should express high values is guilty of the most reprehensible ones such as treachery, illegality and deceit."

Is he blaming the game of football itself then rather than the personalities involved? Maybe he wishes Italian politics were suspended too...

In seriousness though, it's a preposterous notion, but not a proposal, as he points out.

[geysir]

i dont know what this means...

I think (like yourself) he's poking fun at bouts of hysteria over a bit of loose straw to clutch at.

[EastTerracer]

Spain are playing South Korea this evening. 1-0 up in the first half through Torres.

Spain lineup as below:
G 23 Pepe Reina
D 15 Sergio Ramos
D 2 Raúl Albiol
D 3 Nacho Monreal
D 17 Álvaro Arbeloa
M 14 Xabi Alonso
M 10 Beñat
M 20 Santi Cazorla
M 21 David Silva
F 9 Fernando Torres
F 13 Juan Mata