Your Euro 2008 Update
ESPN, Soccer June 10th. 2008, 2:40pm
Wild day thus far at Euro 2008: Spain soundly defeated Russia, 4-1 on the strength of David Villa’s awesome hat trick, and capped with a diving header in the rain by Fabregas in the 90th minute. Spain’s defense was leaky as usual, but the offense raged. Next up is Sweden vs. Greece. Everyone’s still buzzing from Monday’s rousing Netherlands 3, Italy 0 result that put the Azzurri in a difficult position to advance. Italy will need to defeat Romania and France to advance.
Greece vs. Sweden is your afternoon affair, and we’ll be updating things in the comments section as they unfold. [ESPN studio team grades: Andy Gray - A, Julie Foudy - A, Rece Davis - A. This is as formidable a studio team as the network has, right up with the Gameday Crew for College Basketball and Football.]
62 Responses to “Your Euro 2008 Update”
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June 10th, 2008 at 2:43 PM
Agree with everything…except on Julie Foudy. She’s been average to awful.
And glad to know ESPN got Rece Davis in there. The last 2 hosts have stunk up the place.
But not as bad as the Italians stunk it up yesterday. Donadoni might get left behind!
June 10th, 2008 at 2:48 PM
OK I know nothing about futbol. Does this tourney place who gets into the World Cup or something? Or is this just some sort of World Cup? Basically, why should I be watching this tourney?
June 10th, 2008 at 2:50 PM
It’s like the World Cup, except only with national teams from Europe.
As for Foudy – I think she’s made plenty of sensible arguments. She’s not pushy or brash, and she doesn’t seem to back down or get flustered. A lot of males – myself included – probably struggle to grasp a woman opining on the men’s game, but its probably just something that will come with time.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Does Barry Bonds play soccer now? I swear I just saw Pedro Gomez when I was home at lunch.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Italy looked old againts the Netherlands and if they dont advance from the group stages they should fire Donadoni right away and gear up for the world cup. I wouldnt count them out just yet, but i have huge doubts about who is gonna be scoring goals for them.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:53 PM
Maggs, the tournament being called Euro 2008 wasn’t descriptive enough to you as to what teams would be in it?
June 10th, 2008 at 2:53 PM
Magglio…no, this is the European tournament. It’s like the World Cup, only that it’s between the European nations exclusively. Outside of the WC, it’s the best tournament on the planet. Winning it is just as much an accomplishment (some might say more).
As to why watch it? Well, Italy (the defending World Champs) just got spanked 3 – 0 by the Dutch. You got teams like Germany facing off against Poland and players like Cristiano Ronaldo, David Villa, and many of the great players you see in England, Italy and Spain playing here.
All the passion of the World Cup with far more local implications.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:54 PM
Blargh I guess my smart ass comment doesn’t relate to what you’re saying, my bad.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:54 PM
@cbh: why the hell is Russia in it then? Russia isn’t in Europe.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:55 PM
TBL, I don’t have a problem with her opinions. It’s that she’s given me almost no opinions or analysis that gets to me. She’s telling me what I just saw.
Madden gets away with that because he’s old and full of turducken. No one else gets a pass.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:56 PM
@benji: Russia and Turkey were allowed into UEFA. It’s not new. Israel is also in UEFA. Australia is playing in the Asian Federation.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:57 PM
Not watching but I’m glad to hear that that whiney little geek Eric Wynalda is not analyzing the game. Oh, and Landon Donovan is a pussy too… Imagine if our good athletes played soccer! Iverson would be the best striker in the world…
June 10th, 2008 at 2:58 PM
Agree with Fredo about Foudy. during halftime of the Netherlands-Italy match she was so flustered by Tommy Smith, who is off-the-wall, that she ended up sounding like an ESPN commenter sometimes.
I like Foudy usually, but her work yesterday was sub-par
June 10th, 2008 at 2:58 PM
Wynalda got fired I believe.
And what BFFredo said.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:58 PM
@bff: i know that. i was just pointing out that just cuz it’s called Euro 2008, doesn’t mean it’s strictly european nations.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Fear the Oranje, motherfuckers.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Oh no, I get that. And you are right.
And Wynalda got fired after he got up on a podium and blasted Rome’s ass with an EPIC take…that DID-NOT–SUCK!
June 10th, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Because most of the population of Russia lies West of the URAL mountains, which are sometimes considered the physical divider between Asia and Europe
June 10th, 2008 at 3:02 PM
/threadjack
TBL admits PED usage..the world moans
?end threadjack
June 10th, 2008 at 3:03 PM
is it wrong to root for italy just because im italian even though i could give two shits less about soccer?
June 10th, 2008 at 3:03 PM
Dude, mad Fredo’s up in this B. Thanks for the explainations and the smart ass comments. All are useful in their own special way.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:04 PM
Rack ‘im!
June 10th, 2008 at 3:07 PM
… root for italy just because im italian even though i could give two shits less about soccer?
That’s what soccer is all about! Feel it!
June 10th, 2008 at 3:10 PM
@spence096: Italy? Really? I had you pegged for rooting for the Dutch.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:11 PM
Tell me more about Wynalda’s Rome take. I know Rome used to ask him questions about who brought oranges at halftime of games and stuff..
And yes…mad ‘Fredos in the house
June 10th, 2008 at 3:11 PM
Wynalda just did the USA vs Argentina game Sunday night.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:15 PM
jibbles…na, those clog wearing tulip fuckers can go screw themselves. plus, that guy who talked shit to Zidane looks like my cousin, so i gotta stay in the family.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:16 PM
Sportsgal, it wasn’t John Harkes?
June 10th, 2008 at 3:16 PM
spence…I thought your love of Amsterdam would supersede all that.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:19 PM
Either way…C’mon people… If our best athletes played soccer… Iverson and Ricky Williams up front. Randy Moss and T.O. at outside half. Chris Paul or someone in the middle. Urlacher at center defense. We’d smoke these fools…
June 10th, 2008 at 3:20 PM
Harkes called the USA vs Argentina game. He just sounds and looks eerily like Wynalda
June 10th, 2008 at 3:26 PM
jibbles…they’re in danger of losing me forever if they really do go thru with the re-criminalization of chronic before i get to visit there. right now, we’re just seperated.
walfredo…imgain tayshaun prince or shawn marion at goalie. no chance anyone would get shit by either of them.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:26 PM
cbh, you may be right. I thought it was Wynalda, but it definitely could have been John Harkes.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:28 PM
Do you know how much coordination and stamina it takes to be good at soccer? You’d be better off fielding a team with some hockey players then basketball or football.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:29 PM
THAN, not THEN.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:32 PM
sportsgal…right, because NBA players have almost no coordination or stamina. ill give you football, but reggie bush or devin hester would be tough.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:32 PM
SportsGal… Yes i do. It’s the only sport I’m reasonable good at because I don’t have to play against black dudes. Plus, have you seen Iverson play before?! Guy has more energy than Steve Yzerman at a Kiddy Porn convention!
Spence – Yes!! Side note: Hakeem was supposedly a great soccer goalie…
June 10th, 2008 at 3:33 PM
Also, the players would have to be skilled. Soccer’s a sport where you can’t get by just on ath-eh-leticism.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:34 PM
yea, i can imagine Hakeem was a beast in goal.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:37 PM
Jack.. Are NBA and NFL players not skilled? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Yao would suck at soccer. As would Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. But there are plenty of guys (mentioned above) who, if they comitted themselves, would absolutely school Landon Donovan or Eric Wynalda.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:38 PM
oh, and the NBA and NFL TOTALLY are. you should probably tell D-Miles, Troy Williamson, Matt Jones, Kwame Brown, and all the other ‘great athlete busts’ in both leagues.
that’s just a way of marginalizing soccer because nobody gives a shit about it. it’s ok to admit that if the US put their best athletes in soccer programs from the beginning, we would dominate all sorts of Euro and South American ass.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:40 PM
I want the last 50 minutes of my life back…that was a horrid display of soccer by Greece and Sweden…and before the game, the studio crew did the best impression of ATH I’ve ever seen when discussing the offside goal yesterday.
Oh, and if America’s best athletes played soccer from preschool on, the USA would be in the elite teams worldwide, no question. But they don’t, instead concentrating on basketball, so we’ll always be a second tier nation.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:40 PM
spence, I never said athletes from the NBA or NFL were uncoordinated. I’m saying their skill sets wouldn’t translate to the soccer field. Just because a guy can dribble and catch a ball with his hands doesn’t mean he’d be able to trap, juggle, and pass a ball with his feet.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:42 PM
sportsgal…im inclined to give you that point, but i still think, given the exposure European and South American athletes have, Americans would be the dominant force in soccer. of course, there’s no way to prove this.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Who needs to prove anything. Nick P isn’t here to drop stats. Iverson was a star football and basketball player. Randy Moss a star basketball and football player. Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, T.O….. The list goes on…. Many elite athletes can excel at more than one sport. Soccer is NO exception to that rule. Iverson would school Christiano Ronaldo on the soccer field, then bang his hooker girlfriend for sport.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Never once said they aren’t. I was just saying that you couldn’t plop Allen Iverson or Ricky Williams on a soccer field, say “go to town on these Euros,” and watch the gold medals and World Cups come flowing in.
And come on: you have to admit that there are some basketball players out there who couldn’t shoot or dribble if their lives depended on it. “Tall” + “can jump” gets you 3/4 of the way, right out of the gates.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:55 PM
I’ve played soccer my entire life, but I still think that if Iverson played his whole life, he would be better than David Beckham or anyone on the English National Team for that matter.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:58 PM
That’s very possibly true. And we have no way of ever knowing.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Yeah I know Jack… before I got all defensive I was just trying to see if anyone could help me fill out the “What if?” roster? It’s just sad that I’ve had to watch guys like Cobi Jones, Tony Meola, Landon Donovan (that little pussy who always disappears in real games but scores hat-tricks in friendlies), and Eric Wynalda represent my country in the only world-wide sports competition that really matters…
June 10th, 2008 at 4:02 PM
Oh and one more thing about Landon… The guy left the English premier league because he was home-sick?!?! That’s like Dirk leaving the NBA to play pro ball in Germany because it’s closer to home. Ridiculous!!
June 10th, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Donovan left the German league…and it was more due to them never giving him playing time.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:09 PM
Tallguy…details details…
June 10th, 2008 at 4:10 PM
SWEDEN on the board in the 66th minute with a rocket upper 90
1-0 over Greece
June 10th, 2008 at 4:10 PM
give and go
“unbelievable strike”
No. 10 with a rising rocket
Ibrambovich?
came off a thrown in
really nice goal
June 10th, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Good thing Ibrahimovich is on my Euro 2008 fantasy team.
/nerd
June 10th, 2008 at 4:14 PM
“It works in soccer too” – Peter Crouch
June 10th, 2008 at 4:15 PM
2-0 sweden
71st minute
they just peppered the goal with 4 shots and one guy stuck in a rebound
and the Greeks are done
June 10th, 2008 at 4:16 PM
that’s kind of a weak goal
“an unlikely score”
No. 4 for Sweden, a blonde fellow
it’s really an ugly goal
“a greek tragedy, really”
man, these announcers are awesome
June 10th, 2008 at 4:29 PM
It is impossible to assess how good American stars in other sports are because they are based fundamentally on hand eye coordination.
Wynalda is good people. Anybody who takes a shot at Jim Rome is ok in my book.
About time Ibrahimovic broke his scoring drought for the national side.
Fetch – Crouch, paradoxically, is actually a far more skillful player on the ground than he is an aerial threat.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:36 PM
Ty- I know, I just cheer for England in Euro competitions (lot of good it does me this year) so I was semi- voicing frustration.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:51 PM
I will say, IMO the EPL and La Liga have the best commentators of any sport in the world. They show no favoritism and don’t hesitate to call shit the way it is. There is NO better guy than Ray Hudson. He has a way of making you excited to watch the game even if you don’t care who’s playing or exactly know what’s going on. The man is truely a genius.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:19 PM
if you dont know who zlatan is TBL you should DEFINITELY not be commenting on the analysis of the studio team. tommy is infuriating annoying but he does know his game
foudy however is an idiot, she criticized villa and torres for not playing together like this against the usa, the one problem being villa didnt fucking play that game