Euro 2012 !

[pino]

Not a good solution to replace injured Abate on the right side with a left back Balzaretti, but Prandelli has no choice as the natural substitute Maggio is banned from this game.

[donKey jote]

go Italy :D

[pino]

Forza Azzurri !!!

[donKey jote]

Forza Alonso !!!!

[donKey jote]

bejaysus. Pirlo saves :s

[donKey jote]

bejaysus. Buffon :s

[odykas]

Come on Italy!

[race aficionado]

Better game than yesterday's.


Sent from my iPhone

[pino]

Come on !!!! :D

[donKey jote]

a shot from Italy at last !

[donKey jote]

and another! go Italy !!

[donKey jote]

baLLOOOOOOO :D :D

[odykas]

Balogoal!!!!! :D :D :D

[donKey jote]

http://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gifhttp://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gifhttp://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gif

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Brilliant goal.


(England didn't concede over 120 mins against Italy, Germany only lsated 20 mins) Sorry!!! :D

[donKey jote]

go balotikitakanaccioooooo :D

[pino]

Balotacciiiiiio!!!!!

[race aficionado]

Pino?


Sent from my iPhone

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Pinos head just exploded with excitement!

[race aficionado]

Ah, there you are.


Sent from my iPhone

[donKey jote]

bejaysus Gómez :s

[donKey jote]

Pirlo does an Iniesta :D

[donKey jote]

bejaysus Cassano :D

[odykas]

Montolivo :eek: :s

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Pirlo is a fantastic player. He is one of those players that just seem to get better with age.

Big chance for Italy there!!! Germany have gaps in their defence tonight!

[donKey jote]

buf Buffon :s

[odykas]

Buffooooooooon!

[pino]

Santo Buffon :eek:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Magical Balotelli!!!!!

He is finally coming of age!

[odykas]

Balogoal x 2 !!! http://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gifhttp://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gif

[pino]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!!!!!

[donKey jote]

balOOOOOO :D D: :D

[donKey jote]

hahahhaha classic pose too :D

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Germany needs Lescott to defend against Balotelli.

[cali]

balls :p

[donKey jote]

2/2 for Balo against Germany as opposed to 0/12 against England :eek:

[odykas]

I told a German this morning that Balo would score twice... and he laughed :p :

[donKey jote]

best goal of the tournament so far :D

[race aficionado]

Beast pose.


Sent from my iPhone

[donKey jote]

I took a Spanish flag to the tracks this morning and harvested a few remarks... now I need to find an Italian one for tomorrow :D

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Germany look predictable in attack.

[donKey jote]

Beast pose.


Sent from my iPhone

that too :D

suck it Ronaldo ! :p :laugh:

[donKey jote]

if Italy pull this off I'm going to order a big fat pizza for lunch at work tomorrow... for my colleagues :p

[pino]

Too early to start celebrate...Germans never give up until last second !

[odykas]

Germans should go home and eat some pizza :p :

[donKey jote]

the neighbours are all pretty quiet :p

[odykas]

the neighbours are all pretty quiet :p

Mine are not :p :

[donKey jote]

bejaysus Lahm, das war lahm :s

[donKey jote]

ooooooo cassano pass

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Lahm being Arbeloa

[donKey jote]

come on Italy !

bejaysus :s

[donKey jote]

buf bonucci :s

[donKey jote]

Italy doing an England at the moment :s :p

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Italy doing an England at the moment :s :p

The only way to defend! :p

[donKey jote]

I just hope they're as lucky too :p

[odykas]

Italians invented catenaccio ;) :p :

[pino]

England never was 2-0 :p :

[donKey jote]

Balo 2/3 :D

[donKey jote]

buf Buffon :eek: :s

[odykas]

Buffoooooooon!!!

[donKey jote]

Buffon doing an Iker :up: :p

[odykas]

Montolivo out :|

[donKey jote]

come on Italytikitakanaccio

[donKey jote]

Diamanti tries a Xabi :p

[donKey jote]

oooooohHHHH :up:

[pino]

Iker WHO ? :p :

[odykas]

Marchisio :eek:

[odykas]

Di Natale in :hot:

[donKey jote]

I would have liked a Balo hat-trick and him getting sent off for posing again :p

[donKey jote]

Neuer :eek: :crazy:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Neuer doing an England

[donKey jote]

Marchisio you donkey :crazy:
Lucky for Germany he didn't see di Natale :eek:

[pino]

Noooooooo!

[odykas]

Marchisio :eek:

Again? :erm:

[donKey jote]

now Diamanti does a Marchisio :s

[donKey jote]

come on Italy !!!

[donKey jote]

Kroos does a Ronaldo :p

[donKey jote]

di Natale got his dancing shoes on instead of his footie boots :s

[donKey jote]

tarararaaa

[pino]

Noooooooooooook

[donKey jote]

di Natale does a big fat donkeyyyy :s

[odykas]

Di Natale is the new donkey :s

[donKey jote]

bejaysus this time the offside whistle blows :s

[donKey jote]

Germany having a bit of the luck of the english :p

[donKey jote]

Kroos does a Kroos again :D

[donKey jote]

tikitakanaccio :D

[donKey jote]

Hummels does a Marchisio :p

[odykas]

Hummels the newest donkey :p :

[donKey jote]

tralalalaaaaa tralalalaaaa tralalalaaaa :D

[donKey jote]

balls :s

[odykas]

Silly ref :mad:

[donKey jote]

2 minutes to go ...

[donKey jote]

1:30...

[donKey jote]

Neuer :up: :p

[odykas]

1 min

[donKey jote]

:wave: http://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gif :wave: http://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gif :wave:

[donKey jote]

Italy deserve the cup already :up:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Well done Italy!

Italy 8 - 0 Germany in tournament head to heads/

[pino]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeees well done Azzurri :bounce:

[ioan]

Well done Italy! :up:
They did play real football, not what Spain showed us yesterday.

[donKey jote]

see you Sunday pino :D

:up: :D

[odykas]

YES http://www.smileys.me.uk/smileys/Banana/bblue.gif http://www.smileys.me.uk/smileys/Banana/bblue.gif http://www.smileys.me.uk/smileys/Banana/bblue.gif

[pino]

Pity we had to suffer the last 5 min agter dominating the match big time

[race aficionado]

Bravo Italia!
Bravo Pino!!

And yes, see you Sunday.
:)


Sent from my iPhone

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I hope Italy beat Spain

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Logic surely proves now that England are better than Germany???







:uhoh:
:p

[jens]

Mediterranean countries have been winning major tournaments since 2004. This trend carries on. Congrats to Italy! What a pity for Germany, who despite a lot of promise has remained a "nearly team" for the whole last decade. Like in 2010, they scored 4 goals in quarterfinals, but faced real trouble in the semis. Not enough consistency to win the title...

[pino]

Jens mate, Germany were lucky...we could have won 5-0 ;)

[ioan]

Mediterranean countries have been winning major tournaments since 2004. This trend carries on.

It's a bit difficult to make a trend out of 5 tournaments in history of football.

[jens]

It's a bit difficult to make a trend out of 5 tournaments in history of football.

Well, I'm certainly not talking about the whole history, but about recent trend. :) Five tournaments is already quite an amount though. I'd say it is a period, classifies as a decade.

[Josti]

Jens mate, Germany were lucky...we could have won 5-0 ;)

Germany had a strong start, but they were quite clueless after the first goal.

But I'm happy for Italy, I love their passion, and I hope they'll beat Spain in the final.

[gadjo_dilo]

Italians invented catenaccio ;) :p :

Really? I thought Don Helenio Herrera was argentinian....

[gadjo_dilo]

Spain vs Italy.
No fun anymore. We've already seen this on this Euro.....

[Malbec]

Decided to miss the match last night thinking it was a foregone conclusion Germany would win in a dull game. Bugger.

Still, puts England's performance against Italy into perspective.... or maybe not.

[Big Ben]

Decided to miss the match last night thinking it was a foregone conclusion Germany would win in a dull game. Bugger.

Still, puts England's performance against Italy into perspective.... or maybe not.

Never underestimate Italy. They win even when they don't play well :p :.. and they played pretty well at this tournament...

[pino]

Spain vs Italy.
No fun anymore. We've already seen this on this Euro.....

Always have faith in Italy dear gadjo ;)

[odykas]

A knockout match is always different that groups stage match ;)

[gadjo_dilo]

Always have faith in Italy dear gadjo ;)

Ok. Let's have faith as Italy is not like " La perfide Albion ". :laugh:

[pino]

Pedro Proanca (Portugal) will be in charge of the final...Spanish fans have already started to complain :p :

[wedge]

Well done to the Azzuri.

Catanaccio, anyone? Tifosii?

Huge credit to Cesare Prandelli for showing the Italians that its possible to play football in another way other than to be methodical. With Fiorentina in the 2000s he lit up Serie A playing 4-3-3 and now he has done it for Italy and has shown the world that the Italians can play attractive football.

Forza Italia!

However, I think the praise for Balotelli has been premature. Look at Ronaldo against Spain, it is the same with Mario. Which Mario will turn up on Sunday?

[pino]

Come on let's start some prediction...

:D

[jens]

Come on let's start some prediction...

:D

Italy wins 1:0. :p :

[donKey jote]

Spain takes it 1-0 ....


after the penalty shootout :p

[race aficionado]

It's going to be a heart breaker.

My son's favorite team Germany bit the dust so he is now rooting for Italy.
His cousins in Switzerland are going to take him to an Italian restaurant to watch the game.
All the pasta on their tummies is going to get sour. :disturb:
Sorry Pino!!! :D

Vamos España!!!!

But most of all, I will root for a great game.

3-1. Spain.

:)


Sent from my iPhone

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I have bet a whole £1 with my friend that Italy wins :D

[pino]

I have bet a whole £1 with my friend that Italy wins :D

The huge ammount of £1...on Italy ? are you crazy ? :eek: :p :

Good Luck ;)

[janneppi]

I read on the news that the tv feed has had at least couple of extras added, both examples were from Germany's matches, first one was when Löw, knocked a ball away from the ball kid, that was really before the match. Other one was after Italy scored the second goal they showed some German girl with tears in her eyes, that shot was really taken suring national anthem.

I know it's not really a big deal but if I watch a live game, I'd really like it to be live and not have Jens Weissflog's second jump from Insbruck in 1987 added into the live feed.

And i hope Italy looses. :p

[pino]

Italy's line-up 4-3-1-2

Buffon

Abate Bonucci Barzagli Chiellini

De Rossi Pirlo Marchisio

Montolivo

Cassano Balotelli

Forza Azzurri ! :D

[donKey jote]

Forza and Azurri? They're playing with 13 ? :p

[donKey jote]

And i hope Italy looses. :p

Me too, but only so I can fly a big Spanish flag around the tracks on Monday and annoy all my colleagues :D

As a bonus, my ex-boss will be there on Monday too. Our last event together before he moved to Frankfurt was in Austria for the Euro 2008... I was the only one celebrating (and loudly :D ). He was convinced also Germany would get even in the World Cup. And now for the Euro 2012...

Otherwise, I wouldn't be too bothered for Spain to lose against Italy if Italy plays like they did against Germany (as opposed to when they clobbered Luis Enrique back in '94 :p ) and Spain play like they did against Portugal. :)

[donKey jote]

http://www.mdzol.com/files/image/56/56846/48590620da179.jpg

[pino]

Good Night donkey...see you tomorrow night :hmph: ;)

[donKey jote]

Good Night donkey...see you tomorrow night :hmph: ;)

OK, pizza at your place? :s ailor: :andrea:
http://i48.tinypic.com/b49kxg.jpg

[pino]

You are welcome donkey, what time ? ;)

Now about Spain line up : Jugaremos con tres delanteros - Del Bosque :eek:

Source: marca.com :p :

[odykas]

My prediction is that this match will be similar to 2006 final and Italy will clinch it 1-0.
Di Natale will score around 119' (a la Del Piero).

:p :

[odykas]

Me too, but only so I can fly a big Spanish flag around the tracks on Monday and annoy all my colleagues :D



I guess you will get the same effect if you fly an Italian flag instead :D

[pino]

Anyone in here who believes Del Bosque will play with 3 strikers ?

[odykas]

Iniesta + Silva + Cesc = 3 :p :

[donKey jote]

I guess you will get the same effect if you fly an Italian flag instead :D

Last Thursday perhaps, but not tomorrow ! :bandit:

[janneppi]

Last Thursday perhaps, but not tomorrow ! :bandit:

Last Friday we had to contact some colleagues in Germany and were a bit annoeyd at them so we toyed with the idea of starting with buongiorno tutti! and a picture of Ballotelli, but we came to the conclusion we'd like to get some results rather than insults. :D

[donKey jote]

I spent the whole of Friday whistling the Italian anthem and asking who ordered the big pizzas :D
Best bit was when a Pirelli truck (a very rare sight at our proving grounds ;) ) arrived with a delivery :laugh:

[pino]

Phew I am so excited that I have lost my appetite :s

[odykas]

Pasta rules! :D

Forza azzurri :hot:

[pino]

I have just made some spinach cannelloni so I will try that ;)

[donKey jote]

I'm on a diet :s

[pino]

Forza Azzurri !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[donKey jote]

I have just made some spinach cannelloni so I will try that ;)
spanish cannelloni ? :eek: :up:

dohhh spinach ! :dozey:

[odykas]

I'm on a diet :s

Fed up with paella? :p :

[donKey jote]

Fed up with paella? :p :

no, kalamari romana :p

[donKey jote]

Balo doing a CR7 :p

[odykas]

Kick Off. It's gonna be a long night!

[odykas]

no, kalamari romana :p

Sounds good! :p :

[janneppi]

Have fun tonight pino, hope it end's up in tears. :p
(odds are it'll happen either way) ;)

[donKey jote]

Balo does a donkey

[donKey jote]

Ramos does a donkey back :p

[donKey jote]

where's the striker ? :o

[donKey jote]

xaviiiiiii :eek:

[donKey jote]

silllVVAVAVAAAAAAA :D

[odykas]

Not a good start for Italy :blackeye:

[race aficionado]

Ramos Vs Balotelli.

That in and of itself is a cool battle right there.


Sent from my iPhone

[donKey jote]

buf iker

[donKey jote]

Spain losing too many balls :s

[donKey jote]

buf iker !

[odykas]

Come on Italy!

[donKey jote]

balo does a ronaldo :p hew:

[pino]

Spain looks more fresh ...

[donKey jote]

http://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gifhttp://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gif

[donKey jote]

"qué huevos tiene Jordi Alba" :D

[pino]

Great goal by Spain

[donKey jote]

Italy doing a Germany?

[donKey jote]

ramos pwns balo :eek:

[pino]

Not the same Italy who played Germany :(

[donKey jote]

or the same Spain: 2/2 :crazy:

[donKey jote]

di Natale on

[donKey jote]

cesc playing fifa PS3 :crazy:

[donKey jote]

penalty!!!! :mad:

[donKey jote]

balo donkey !!! :mad:

[donKey jote]

was that handball or what? :crazy:

[donKey jote]

San Iker :D

[donKey jote]

buf cesc :eek:

[race aficionado]

Fact is that Spain is doing the job and is wonderfully proving why It's writing football history by proving its the best.


Sent from my iPhone

[donKey jote]

pure tiki-taka, no naccio :D

[donKey jote]

pedrito in :D

[donKey jote]

Motta injured ? :uhoh:

[odykas]

Motta out.

Nothing works for Italy :(

[race aficionado]

How many Barca players in the pitch? (including Jordi Alba)?


Sent from my iPhone

[donKey jote]

about half Barca - half Real I think

[donKey jote]

pedritoo...

[pino]

Game Over and congrats to Spain :up:

[donKey jote]

awww cesc off for torres

[donKey jote]

Game Over and congrats to Spain :up:

not over til billy's mum sings. Sorry about Motta :(

[pino]

Night everyone :)

[donKey jote]

Sorry pino. Italy win revelation of the Euro though :up:

[donKey jote]

torres http://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gifhttp://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gifhttp://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gif

[donKey jote]

right, I'm off to pick my son up from the public viewing at the Bar Celona :D

[donKey jote]

http://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gifhttp://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gifhttp://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gifhttp://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gif

[donKey jote]

tiki taka !!!!

[donKey jote]

Villa and Puyol SMSing like mad :laugh:

[jens]

The most one-sided final I can remember. Italy had a good tournament, but by the time of the final they were completely empty.

Congrats to Spain. :up: Impressive that they can win even without using real attackers. Shows the depth of the team. It is the era of Spain - three major titles in a row, a record.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Spain finally turn up for the final!

Will they ever be stopped? The next World Cup will be the most difficult for them to win. I can't see past Brazil or Argentina for that one.

[Malbec]

The most one-sided final I can remember. Italy had a good tournament, but by the time of the final they were completely empty.

Congrats to Spain. :up: Impressive that they can win even without using real attackers. Shows the depth of the team. It is the era of Spain - three major titles in a row, a record.

Spain were unbelievable but I couldn't help feeling sorry for the Italians, a team I find it hard to like. Two less days to recover from their previous match and an injury taking them down to 10 men, both things completely out of their control.

Still, amazing performance from Spain and I hope it does something to cheer the mood over there.

[odykas]

Not the game I expected to see :s

Spain played a great match after a long time.
On the other hand nothing worked for Italy.

Anyway, congrats to Spain for 3rd title in a row. That's a great achievement.
Have a great day donks :beer:

[Storm]

The most one-sided final I can remember. Italy had a good tournament, but by the time of the final they were completely empty.


And to think that actually Spain played 120 mins + penalties in the semis while Italy cantered to a win in 90 mins.
Don't bet against them improving their amazing record to mind boggling levels in Brasil (last cup for xavi, puyol perhaps even villa/torres)

[odykas]

^ Greece and Italy will go to Brazil to kick some butt :ninja: :p :

[Brown, Jon Brow]

And to think that actually Spain played 120 mins + penalties in the semis while Italy cantered to a win in 90 mins.


Italy did have less days rest between both the quarter finals, the semi-final and final though. I thought that Italy always looked cabable of scoring a goal until Motta got injured. Di Natale had two glorious chances just after half-time but going down to 10 men was the real killer blow.

One of the most astonishing facts for me was that in the first half, despite being 2-0 down, Italy had more possession and more passes than Spain.

I think it was a good championship. We saw lots of good attacking play, some big shocks and some good refeering (only 3 red cards), and the two best teams made it to the final.

Biggest shock? Netherlands and Russia failing to progress from the groups.

Best game? I enjoyed the England 3 - 2 Sweden. Yes I'm biased towards England. but this game turned into a premier league game, end to end and could have ended up 6-6.

Best goal? Mario Balotelli making it 2-0 against Germany, he timed his run to perfection and blasted it home with real power.

Best player? Up to the final it was Pirlo, but Spain had him under total control. The thing that makes Spain such a great team is that no individual shines out. If I had to choose I'd go for Jordi Alba.

[wedge]

Spain finally turn up for the final!

Amazing that they cruised to the final without even playing in 4th gear, let alone 5th!


Will they ever be stopped? The next World Cup will be the most difficult for them to win. I can't see past Brazil or Argentina for that one.

Brazil are going through a transitional period. People go on about flair but they've been anything but under Dunga. One dimensional midfield with counter attacks down the flanks with the holding midfielders sitting deep. Now with Mano Menezes as Coach they aspire to Spain. The Olympics will be an indicator for what could be in store for 2014.

Argentina - they don't have the players to support Messi and their defence is weak.

Uruguay are arguably the strongest side in South America. They reached the semi finals in the last World Cup and are current holders of the Copa America - equivalant to the Euro's.

[janneppi]

The first half of final was pretty entertaining, Italy was in the game and could have scored a goal, to be honest the way Spanish midfield lost balls to them in their side of the pitch Italy should have scored a goal o two. I missed the beginning of second half because I was watching the mens mtb downhill race(which was good) and wondered why Italy was getting stomped so badly until I saw they had one player missing.

It's a shame Italy couldn't match Spain in the second half. The numbers were a bit ugly, even if the result was great. ;)

[edv]

http://i.imgur.com/e2wVK.jpg

[Big Ben]

So now Del Bosque has a Champions League, an European Cup and a World Cup in his CV.

He failed to win the Süper Lig though

[odykas]

Euro is over.
Now back to Barca, ManU and Juventus :( :p :

[donKey jote]

I brought my big donkey flag back from work today. Now it can go back in the wardrobe for another 2 years :D

[odykas]

Greedy donkeys :p :