Spain, although not exactly struggling, are certainly off the boil tonight. Croatia have had the best chances and Spain really, really need to be careful.
Italy top the group at the moment which means if England get runner up spot in group D (if!) then we would play them. I’d have taken that at the start of the competition.
Yes, I saw it. They were making him out to some form of serial killer, very weird.
Ah! that was always the danger. Croatia knew they needed to push and the inevitable has happened.
Spain lead 1-0
Well – Spain scores. Spain 1, Croatia 0, with less than 3 minutes left on the clock.
Nonetheless, I am not very happy with the way Spain has been playing today.
E.T.A.: Italy 2, Ireland 0.
Did Buffon slip a tenner in the ref’s pocket near the end of the Italy/Ireland match?
And it’s over – Final result: Spain 1, Croatia 0. Spain ends first of its group and will meet with the runner-up of group D (I think that, most likely, it will be France).
Oh and why do the BBC people keep calling Ireland “The Republic”?
Ireland is often called The Republic Of Ireland, to distinguish from Northern Ireland, which also happens to have a football team.
Yeah but if you say “Ireland” everyone knows what you’re talking about, especially since Northern Ireland isn’t even in the Euros. Surely if they were trying to avoid ambiguity, saying “The Republic” is worse, considering that it could, in theory, apply to the French Republic, the Republic of Poland, the Czech Republic, the Hellenic Republic, the Republic of Croatia, the Italian Republic or the Federal Republic of Germany. I get that in practice there is no ambiguity, but there would be no ambiguity in saying “Ireland” either, which is what everyone else calls the country anyway (unless they say Eire, I suppose).
Well here’s what wiki has to say on the matter:
“Between 1924 and 1936, the team competed as the Irish Free State and from then until 1950, it was referred to by the FAI as Éire or Ireland. In 1953, FIFA decreed that for competitive matches in tournaments that both Irish teams may enter, the FAI team would be officially called the Republic of Ireland while the IFA team was to be named Northern Ireland.”
So unlike in your other examples, the official name of the football team is “Republic of Ireland”.
Another issue here, of course, is that in football (“soccer”) there is more than one team from the United Kingdom competing at the international level which is rather unique.
Imagine the United States entering the next World Cup with separate teams for Texas, Montana and New York.
If there was only one UK football (“soccer”) team, there would be no need to differentiate between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
British commentators do use the term “Ireland” too, probably a lot more often than “the Republic”. It’s just an alternative term, I wouldn’t read anything into it. It’s probably habit due to the fact that, as others have said, it is sometimes helpful to distinguish between RoI and NI.
The Republic of Ireland isn’t part of the UK. I’m not sure what your point is here.
All I’m saying is it sounds weird. Maybe it makes people in Northern Ireland happier.
I’m not sure if it’s quite the same but territories of the US, such as Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands do compete independently in various tournaments or events.
But Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom and a team from Northern Ireland takes part in international competitions (at least in football, not in water polo or chess).
By the way, the movement to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland is called Republicanism. That’s more than just changing the form of government. So basically, the term “Republic”, when used somewhere in the British Isles, has become synonymous with the Republic of Ireland.
Synonymous as long as it is already clear from context that you are talking about Ireland. For example, a British news report wouldn’t just start off with something like “There was referendum in the Republic today” (although a local news report in Northern Ireland might). Ireland, or Dublin or whatever, would be mentioned first, and after that the phrase “the Republic” might be used.
Kind of, but Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands are, as far as I know, not integral parts of the United States. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the other hand, together form the United Kingdom.
Speaking of soccer, there are the Faroe Islands which are part of Denmark, but also have their own national team (which isn’t doing too bad at all, considering how small the territory is).
While it’s quite common to use “the Republic” as shorthand in an Irish context, it is a bit odd. What’s even odder is using the abbreviation “REP” on the scoreboard in the corner of the screen, rather than the more obvious “IRE”.
Back to last night’s games, and I wonder exactly why the Spanish goal wasn’t ruled out for offside. I found a handy animated GIF here. When Fabregas first passes the ball to Iniesta (first freeze frame), Iniesta is onside but Navas (who went on to score) is clearly in an offside position). Fair enough he is not “active” at this point, but surely this is one passage of play and he is gaining an advantage by being in an offside position when the ball is played through?
By the time Iniesta passes the ball to Navas (second freeze frame), Navas is not offside because he is behind the ball, but I wonder why the linesman didn’t flag him for his earlier offside position as soon as he became an active participant in the move?
Also: I wonder if we’ll get through the whole group stage without a single 0-0 draw? Only two games to go… ENG-UKR is the more likely to scupper it I think!
Is this “passage of play” notion actually part of the rules? I hear people talk about it, but I’m not sure. It is offside if the ball rebounds to you off a post or an opponent, but that didn’t happen here.
[edit] Wikipedia defines “gaining advantage” thus:
Gaining an advantage by being in an offside position:
Playing the ball after the ball has rebounded off the goal, the goalkeeper, or any opponent
It’s weird, it makes me think of Star Wars every time I hear it.