This is sure in for exciting semi-finals!
But my money’s on Ze Germanz… I don’t think anyone left can stand up to them, even though God Hiddink could be the man to do so!
On the face of it Germany should win
However I have a feeling that maybe this is another Euro of the unfancied.
Much like Greece in 2004
Nah, Real is like those movie stars who get paid to wear the jewelry, complements and dresses others pay for. It’s not about how much cash they have, but about how much credit. Even at the times when they were short on cashflow, they could obtain loans much more easily than other teams - after all, it doesn’t take a financial genius to see that they are a huge brand and can be a total money machine.
My brother is here visiting for a week, he went to watch the Spain-Italy to a sports bar (I don’t have a telly; well, there is one in the flat, but what I don’t have is an antenna cable). When I was about ready to tuck myself in, I checked how long was left and as it was very little, “watched” the live comments on a newspaper’s webpage.
I’m still kind of stunned. And of course, my brother keeps saying “we” as if he’d been on the field 
Of course! It´s always we when “we” win and they when “they” loose
Goes for all “my” teams (national and league)
Vaya, Nava, ahora no es el momento de sacarnos los colores, por favor. El Madrid, que no se quien nos dice “Real” coloquialmente hablando en España, es mucho mas que un maniquí por mucho que le pese al quien le pese. Y eso que yo le tengo simpatía a vuestros rojillos…de verdad. :mad:
<Well, Nava, I don’t think now is the time to show our colors, please. It’s Madrid, for I don’t know anyone who, colloquially speaking, calls us “Real” in Spain. And we are, for good or for bad, a lot more than a mannequin, no matter how tough that is for anyone to digest. And I’m saying as someone who has a fond spot for your rojillos >
Your brother is right. Believe or not – and I’m sure you do, being on scene as you are – I really think this winning this match (and I don’t allow myself to dream of anything else ATM) has done a lot of good as far as healing old wounds and bringing us closer together as a nation. BTW, all throughout the match I had brief talks with my nephew and a couple of friends who are in Madrid, to the point where I help up the phone so they could hear us shouting at the SR only Spanish restaurant we were watching from and they did the same with their phones out the window in Madrid – talk about “stunned” :eek: Just think of the fact that it was, ultimately, a kid from Mostoles along with another one from Arenys del Mar, that brought all/most of Spain this joy…as the all-time record-setting TV ratings during the PK stage show. Hollywood couldn’t have scripted this one.
Best regards, from a compatriot of yours…juntos, podemos. 
~Javier
Connection timed-out on me, thus I missed the edit window.
Just wanted to add that none of the above was written in anger. Quite the contrary really as I think it’s been a national Party and I am quite in that mood myself beyond all the real life problems that I have to deal with. What I want is for us to come together as much as possible.
And what better time than right now? After all, look at what Ping-pong did to the relations to two giants such as the US and China. Surely we can agree that fútbol is a just a tiny bit more important than that for our collective psyche, no? 
Just how unlucky were Turkey?
Outplayed the Germans for most of the match only to slip up in the last minute
Well, as is being discussed elsewhere on message boards, “outplayed” is of little relevance, really. And the Germans had a pretty blatant foul against Lahm disallowed that probably would have been a spot kick early in the second half, so Turkey could easily have been down 2 - 1 much earlier in the game. The second half was pretty even. It was the first half that had a much more active Turkish team.
Sadly, they are gone, now; they were the most entertaining side in the tournament, by far!
Maybe the coolest and luckiest team. But the most entertaining has to go to Russia with than constant running always on the offense tactic.
(imho)
Not in the two matches against us they weren’t. Not even close. 7-1 combined says as much.
As for today’s match in particular, just reading the body language of the players on each side, you could almost see the quiet confidence in our players eyes. Although some would argue that the first half was close, I thought it was all too obvious that Hiddink had learned his lesson from our first encounter and told his players to be extra-careful when going forward – for surely he’ll be the first to admit that his side no Italy when it comes to defending. As did Luis, who I thought was brilliant with his tactical maneuvers. Losing Villa obviously hurt, but hardly as much as many may think, for the adjustment he made is actually the way he likes for the team to play: 4-1-4-1. Which is how we played most matches prior to this tourney. Thus with Cesc coming in – though it was either Xavi or Iniesta he was subbing for – Villa’s injury simply made us go back to our original scheme. There was no fear there. The players are rather comfortable with the scheme and we also had our Pichichi (La Liga’s top scorer on the bench if need be). Too bad Fernado’s yet to play at the level he does with 'pool with the NT, because if he had, safe to say we’d had the lead before the half. But still, it was just a matter of time. Score one and open them up…the rest would follow. Beyond that, being the only Group winner and undefeated team left, I think it’s safe to say we got there on merit.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Other than hoping we have the full squad ready for Sunday, I am now starting to honestly believe that yes, we can go all the way. Which is only a reflection of what all of our young players have been saying all along. As Cesc put in in one interview after the Italy PK lotto (now that was a match that had me crawling outta my skin for the duration and more) “we’re here to win, this is just one more step towards that goal.”
And this from a 21 year old kid that hadn’t taken an official PK since the age of 15.
Heck, these kids aren’t fighting “ghosts” and “curses,” they are born winners as their Under-17 to U-21 numerous titles and records show. They leave that to all of us old timers…
Good show. And better yet, more to come.
Having said that, I think Russia will grow into quite the formidable squad, especially if they manage to keep Gus.
But not just yet.
Yup - apart from the matches against you guys. True.
But with Spain-Italy being the most boring game of the tournament (once again, imho) and with you guys scoring that late goal against Sweden… I just can’t bring myself to go for Spain. Even though (like you say), the team actually is brilliant with all those young players!
And if you win on Sunday, you might actually be on for a double in two years! This with most of the other big teams going through a generation shift, which will take a few years.
But Ze German Machine has started rolling… and do not underestimate them
Curses! Foiled again! I didn’t mean to post to this thread…though I’d clicked on the other one.
Could a mad Mod move this post to the “Ongoing Euro '08 matches”? Or in lieu of that, could someone, please, report my above post to call their attention to it? I’d hate to play the spoiler again. :smack: :smack: :smack:
Oh never. I don’t think there’s a single player that does, much less Aragones. If anything that could have been a problem today.
They’ll be ready. Of that I’m sure. But if you’ll pardon my saying so, unless they have some hidden reserve, I certainly don’t see them as anything like the old and true “German machines” of which I believe it was Keegan who said: “football is a game played by eleven players a side that Germany always win” or words to that effect.
Not a warning by any means but if they come out against us as they did against Turkey…won’t be a long final.
Since we’ve started this conversation here (and untill it gets moved)… I’m seeing a tight midfield match which will be decided on either spot kicks or (as everyone likes to say) an extraordinary exceptional thingy by someone… most likely a spaniard
And I always thought it was Lineker who said that about the Germanz;)
Spots kicks? :eek: Sure as heck hope not. Don’t think my old ticker could handle another Italy-like affair. So I’ll just go with your second prediction if that’s OK by you
PS-Linaker, huh? Thanks. Obviously, it’s not just my heart that’s old. 
But just yesterday, a dutch buddy said it was some dutch commentator who laid claim to fame on that quote
And hey… not that old 
And fine by me. As long as it looks good, I won’t be too dissatisfied
Thanks. We have ourselves a deal.
It’s a relief to know I’m not alone in misfiring neurons. Don’t know why Keegan came to mind though 