...randomness surrounding Guided by Voices, Robert Pollard, and other great indie rock bands; a quasi objective look at "my" sporting teams; the random horror film; plus other crap as we see fit...all with a Pittsburgh based feel.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

EURO Quarters - The Cleansing


Out with the shit teams.  Portugal ousted the Czechs. Germany got rid of Greece.  Those two clubs had nothing to offer in terms of attractive football, and the Semifinals will be rewarded for it.

France had some potential, but they resorted to wanker status yesterday with some internal issues.  How fragile are these dudes' psyches when they go undefeated in 20 straight games, lose 1 relatively meaningless game to Sweden, and implode internally?!

 
Portugal v. Spain has definite cracker potential in the 1 Semi.  And Germany will get the winner of Italy / England today.  Both England and Italy have been known to dumb down games before, but in terms of matchups, this game today should provide the most intrigue of all the Quarterfinal fixtures.

Can't believe I'm about to say this:

Mario Balotelli needs to be in the starting XI for my Azzurri.  Even with only 1 goal, he's been very effective.  And I think Di Natale would be better served coming on late as a sub (Di Natale and Cassano have 1 goal each as well).  Heard some talk about Prandelli moving back to that funky 3-5-2 formation, but with Chiellini ruled out...I don't see that happening.  I imagine we'll see Bonucci take over his role in central-defence along with Barzagli.  The only other change from last game could be Balotelli for Di Natale.

Speaking of the clinically insane, thanks to TB for the following hilarious fwd...

The Madness of Mario: Top 10 bonkers Balotelli moments

 More fun at Balotelli's expense:


Finally happy birthday to the great Lionel Messi, who turns 25 today:

 

Football Jokes ‏@FootballFunnys:

Cristiano Ronaldo: "God sent me to earth to show people how to play football."
Lionel Messi: "I never sent anyone." ‪#Messi25

2 comments:

TB said...

This tourney hit the semis yet? Waiting for more fine analysis.

gbvh said...

O.K. I've stopped hitting refresh in anticipation of the promised Toronto FC post-mortem from 2011.

Now hitting refresh awaiting the 2013 preview.

You know, new era an dat.

First fixture in 25 hours.