EURO 2012 Poland/Ukraine [OPEN SPOILERS]

[AK84]

Gotta feel it for Italy. They were outplayed true but they the worst luck of any team in a major final.

[Sr Siete]

What an interesting match! A bit of the old "I'm actually left-handed" trope in here, almost like Spain had been saving their energies the whole tournament for the eventual final.

[Lochdale]

Perhaps the greatest international team of all time. What a display.

[Lamar Mundane]

This isn't the right thread for this, but I'm not going to start a new one just for this.

David Beckham, who was very upset at being left off England's Olympic team after all the work he did to help them get the bid, took out his frustrations on the pitch last night. First was a trademark curling free kick that went in that left the opposing keeper flat-footed.

A better kick, though, came in stoppage time when an opponent was writhing around in fake pain trying to run the clock out. From 30 yards away, Beckham took a drop kick that managed to hit the player on the ground and deflect into the ref's face. I guess the Olympics thing and Katie and Tom breaking up were too much.

Scroll down on that page to see the second video. Oh, and also notice how quickly the severely injured player jumps up and sprints toward Beckham after getting hit.

[ladyfoxfyre]

Now the question is, when the trophy gets to Madrid, is Sergio Ramos allowed to hold it?

[PaulParkhead]

Originally Posted by ladyfoxfyre

Now the question is, when the trophy gets to Madrid, is Sergio Ramos allowed to hold it?

I suspect, on this one, the Spanish will throw him under the bus.

[ladyfoxfyre]

As a Barca fan, I can really only support Ramos when he's playing for La Roja. But here's hoping the trophy remains inside the bus.

[chizzuk]

Originally Posted by EinsteinsHund

What a win! Spain's first half was perfection.

As a German supporter, I was heavily disappointed after losing to Italy, but now I'm kind of glad that we didn't have to face this great team.

Congrats to Spain, we'll see you in 2014 in Brazil.

This was my feeling as well. Die Mannschaft would have gotten their butts kicked by this Spanish squad. Amazing performance, well-deserved trophy.

Of course, then I came across a bunch of photos of teammates trying to comfort Mesut Ozil and got depressed again. 2014 can't come soon enough.

[Novelty Bobble]

Originally Posted by chizzuk

This was my feeling as well. Die Mannschaft would have gotten their butts kicked by this Spanish squad. Amazing performance, well-deserved trophy.

Of course, then I came across a bunch of photos of teammates trying to comfort Mesut Ozil and got depressed again. 2014 can't come soon enough.

2014 promises much. Looking at the ages of the Spain and Germany squads you'd have to imagine that the Germans will be continuing to improve whilst the Spanish may plateau or even drop off slightly. So I'd still be putting those two as favourites for the World Cup regardless of Italy's performance here.

I for one won't be complaining if we get to see more of the same quality of football as last night.

England? back to school I'm afraid. We've put off the major changes required for a good 30 years and it'll be at least a decade before we can get back to "competent" and that is assuming the FA decide to do anything about it.

[Dead Cat]

You could say that having a player get injured after making all three subs is unlucky, but you could also say it was bad management. I get the feeling some managers like to throw on all 3 subs at once because it is the most dramatic thing they can do to influence the game, and if it works it is about their only chance of getting more headlines than the players. When it doesn't work, though, it looks silly and when it backfires like it did last night, you have to question it.

On the other hand, the game was lost unless something dramatic happened and I don't suppose many Italians care whether they lost 2-0 or 4-0, so maybe it's harsh to criticise the move.

[Ximenean]

Originally Posted by Dead Cat

You could say that having a player get injured after making all three subs is unlucky, but you could also say it was bad management. I get the feeling some managers like to throw on all 3 subs at once because it is the most dramatic thing they can do to influence the game, and if it works it is about their only chance of getting more headlines than the players. When it doesn't work, though, it looks silly and when it backfires like it did last night, you have to question it.

Well, he actually brought the three subs on separately. One in the first half due to injury, one at half time, and one during the second half (Motta, the player who did his hamstring after five minutes).

[Quercus]

Originally Posted by AK84

Gotta feel it for Italy. They were outplayed true but they the worst luck of any team in a major final.

Certainly Italy didn't get a lot of luck in the final, but I guess they used it all up in the semi-final.

[polar bear]

Originally Posted by Ximenean

Well, he actually brought the three subs on separately. One in the first half due to injury, one at half time, and one during the second half (Motta, the player who did his hamstring after five minutes).

Yes, but it is kind of a risk to put a player in that has been struggling with injuries throughout the tournament. In this case I would definitely call it taking a bigger risk than seemed prudent (I know 20/20 hindsight).

After Italy going down to 10, it was over. I actually thought Spain were taking it easy and wouldn't run the score up too much; the subs didn't seem to be on the same page though. Spain did play their best game of the tournament (by far) though and deserved the win.

[Dead Cat]

Originally Posted by Ximenean

Well, he actually brought the three subs on separately. One in the first half due to injury, one at half time, and one during the second half (Motta, the player who did his hamstring after five minutes).

Ah - a touch of the Thomas Henry Huxleys, then ("the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact")! My apologies to Signor Prandelli, in the unlikely event he is reading this. My general point stands, but he was not guilty of it.