They really weren’t, though. Between the penalty-that-wasn’t and a couple of other chances, it could very well have ended up 3-0 Greece.
I’m going for a Holland victory but it won’t be enough because Denmark will grab a point against the already qualified Germans.
Germany and Denmark through, Portugal and Holland out.
Ronaldo to underperforming on the world stage.
Very nice goal for the Netherlands! Very beautiful and well executed as well.
Hup Holland Hup! (and hope that Denmark and Germany don’t agree to tie :P)
Aaand, Ronaldo equalized for Portugal, also with a beautiful goal. Back to square zero.
I have to say that both NL and Portugal are playing rather offensively, although, as of the Portuguese goal, Portugal has been pressing more.
In other news, Denmark-Germany is 1-1 at the moment.
What else could they do? As someone who was there in Poland we certainly had a good time and behaved very well. When we were hammed by Spain we started to sing to get a little pride back somehow. It doesn’t mean we are clueless to what was on display just that we tried to make the best of it.
FWIW, I am Spanish and I found very emotive -and even beautiful!- to see all the Irish fans singing during the last minutes of the game. Your team lost, but you showed an enormous amount of grace about it.
tips hat
Thank you. I’ve been a fan of the Irish national team is since 1989. I’ve travelled all over the world watching them (from America) and the camaraderie amongst the traveling fans is top class and makes the trips that much better.
Spain are an incredible team and I do hope they win the Euros.
Portugal vs. Holland – Portugal scores again! With 15 minutes left, Portugal 2 - Holland 1.
The Dutch are as good as out of the competition. Oh well! C’est la vie…
And it’s over! Portugal 2, NL 1.
The Netherlands has lost all of its games, and are out of the Euro 2012. Germany won against Denmark (2-1). Germany and Portugal go onwards to the quarterfinals.
A surprising and disappointing result for the Netherlands. I don’t remember them giving such a lackluster performance in any soccer tournament where they have taken part (at least, none that I have actually followed).
Congratulations to Germany and Portugal, and let’s see what happens tomorrow with Spain! (And Italy, and Croatia… But, well, I am Spanish 
)
“Show me a good loser, and I will show you a loser”.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no real problem with the fans singing in the stadium, of course its better that than booing the team, or sitting in silence and misery.
What sticks in the throat are the many people here in Dublin holding the singing up as some sort of triumph, and the newspaper headlines proclaiming us as “the greatest fans in the world”. To me its indicative of the Irish mentality, where its good enough just to compete and we should be happy just to get a pat on the head from the international community. Well screw that, personally I couldn’t give a rats arse about winning the popularity contest or having the best fans, I want to win the bloody football.
Its just an aspect of our culture that frustrates me.
Delaney commenting on the fans was a disgrace but then he is a cancer on Irish football.
It was more an act of defiance, an effort to garner some modicum of self respect. We knew Ireland were limited and we were found out. None of the fans I know (who have been following Ireland for a generation) want anything other than a win but the harsh analysis can come later, sometimes you just have to sing.
As good as Spain looked against Ireland, I can’t help but think there isn’t a truly great team in this competition. Spain couldn’t get a win against a pretty poor Italy side, and Germany won all three of its matches but didn’t win any of them convincingly.
Absolutely. As much as the media loves to big up some sides and show others as Cinderella stories, no team is actually steamrolling the opposition. Russia did one impressive game and went out the next, for instance.
Can easily imagine any of the teams left winning it.
True, Spain can be brilliant but they have their off-days too. If that coincides with any of the knock-out games then it is Au Revoir Muchachos. And tonight pretty much is a knock-out game. Croatia can’t sit back for a draw, Spain can’t play it too safe and Italy need to win. Another fascinating evening I’m sure.
I am still sticking with my original picks of Spain and German as eventual winners though.
I’m calling it now, one of them in the final but not the two.
Although it would be cool if the final were Germany vs. Spain again… Germany trying to achieve their “revenge” for the defeat of 2008, Spain trying to keep their title… Would make for a really interesting game, that’s for sure! 
And now, <warning mode ON>completely off-topic…<warning mode OFF>
…Wouldn’t it be cool if referees in Euro 2012 had to perform like the gentleman in this video? 
(I understand that this is, indeed, a real Brazilian referee, whose “act” is inspired by/an homage of Jorge José Emiliano dos Santos, another real Brazilian referee who died in 1995 and whose behaviour in the field was just like that. There is only one video on youtube that I could find with the real dos Santos officiating, and it is a news item about a beach soccer game in Rio de Janeiro – dos Santos only appears a couple of times for a few seconds, but it is unmistakably him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weNhPuRSZEM )
Aaaand, sorry for the hijack Now, back to your scheduled programming! ^.^
Do you think this is the new normal for international football (at least in Europe)? It seems that the club teams are such a priority that there is very little training in the national sides. I also wonder just how “up for it” individual players are - the level of play is certainly a few notches below the Champions League, or even EPL.
I think it’s been like that for ages, albeit my view is maybe skewed by watching the shite that England generally serve up as football. The world cup, say, is about the stage, the event, rather than any particularly high standard of football. The hypothetical match-up between a top club side and a national side would produce a one-sided hammering for obvious reasons.
Spain’s emergence as a really good team over the past 5 years argues the other way I guess - as you can point to their excellence as a good advert for international football. They have nowhere near the impact of the iconic 70s Brazil or Dutch teams, for example, but it’s a different game now and I doubt any international side could set the agenda like that these days.
Did anyone in the UK just see what appeared to be an advert for Wayne Rooney?
I’m not sure how serious it’s meant to be…
Hmph. I am finding the Spain vs. Croatia game to be very lackluster. This is not my Spain! Somebody has changed it! ("¡Esta no es mi España, que me la han cambiado!")
Oh well, we’ll see how it ends. But so far it is a boring 0-0 (Italy is winning 1-0 against Ireland). If the results hold to the end, Italy and Spain go through. But I am not happy even in this case. I prefer my team to play well, even if they lose, than to sort of muddle through the game, even if they end up going on.
Good grief… They should be able to do more than what they have shown so far!
Grmbl. I am having flashbacks to the Spain of earlier international competitions: lots of good hopes in the beginning, but choking in the important games.