The last quarter-final match has arrived, with England taking on Italy in a bid to be the team to face Germany in the semi-finals. England (somehow) managed to win two of their group stage matches, with a draw making up the third, whilst Italy had one convincing win and two draws to their name. However, Italy have been known to make life hard for themselves in the group stages, only to improve exponentially when it comes to the one-on-ones. In the fabulous BBC head to head stats, we have this nugget: "The 22 previous meetings have produced nine wins for Italy, seven for England and six draws."
England vs Italy (Quarter-final)
Published by Christine Blachford on
Evening. Pastor Maldonado fans are lovely, aren't they?
I have real trouble tonight as my dad is English and my mum is Italian. I don't think England will win, but I hope it will be a good game!
More Jurgen, yay!
Surprised the PR system is playing 3 Lions. Thought it would at least be 45 minutes of 7 Nation Army
Footballs going home?
That's the one... which is odd because Germany aren't playing today ;)
Evening all.
The band needs shooting (that's a given), but if they don't play Self Preservation Society, then they are even worse than that.
Looks like the uk has shared the weather with Denmark this weekend ;)
Okay, okay, now they have people at the stadium, surely there is even less of a reason to have two people on the touchline.
Hello.
This weekend we've had strong winds, overnight showers, and a bright sunny day.
Ah so there is someone other than Jake they used
Just collected pizza, garlic bread and profiteroles. Only just realised it is Italian
Aren't profit.s French?
They should have been practising since it became obvious they were playing Italy
I am sick of SNA.
Hello, btw.
My bad - done some research, Italian origin, French word.
Gabby Logan is really sucking up to cashley cole.
Yep
I'd almost thing you were in the 'anyone but England brigade', so prevalent up there. :)
I have a chicken pie, baked (err microwaved) potato, peas and gravy and a nice pint of mild.
I thought they were completely French. I always learn stuff on sidepodcast
Shearer thinks Pirlo could be dangerous. Only known that for a decade or so.
He's always there when I play FIFA!
That's exactly what I thought #croquembouche, but I started doubting myself
Desperately trying to finish Sidepodchores in time for football. Who thought all this sport was a good idea?
I would love to say that we had pizza and a few glasses of Pinot, but that was last night. Burger, chips and beer tonight.
Too late for you to go back to only F1 now i guess
God I love balotelli.
It's been brilliant. And I'm sure you could set up a reward system for Mr C involving doing all the housework and buying a retina device.
I dislike him so, so much.
How can you not love someone who lets of (outdoor) fireworks in his bathroom
Give him a break, he's only 21. How many other hot-heads have we seen turn out to be instrumental (from ENG alone we have Beckham & Rooney)
Yeah, and he's talented, unlike a Mr J Barton.
He tried to take Parker's head off and only got a yellow. And then went up and scored the winner.
I'm not defending some of his more chaotic behaviours, but respect the talent.
England have scored a lot of headers so far. PROPER ENGLISH GOALS.
The guy singing that song looks like Audrey Harrison
Because he's so arrogant? He just makes me laugh so much because he's ridiculous!
It's... mainly the Parker incident.
Shearer seems to have spent the whole tournament saying that wide players don't put in pin-point crosses. They put crosses in and strikers make great runs to get to them. Glad he cleared that up again because of all the players in the game strikers are definitely the ones who don't get credit for what they do. #not
Hansen - England will win in 90 minutes
Optimistic
Sneak peak at some Italian tactics for tonight - these need studying carefully: http://t.co/q3pqL9QI
Shearer is clueless. What a waste of half a million quid a year!
How can they show the hand of God goal again? It was 26 years ago. Get over it
The BBC have fillers in their fillers tonight.
I want to know why the more hair Rooney has the less Shearer has
I'm going for Italy 2-1 AET.
That was the game where England tried to kick lumps out of maradona.
The BBC coverage is ridiculous. So biased, talking about how great each player is, how England are gonna get to the final.
I think 3-1 Italy in 90 minutes
ive missed this anthem since earlier on :)
Buffon singing his heart out
Because shearer had to give up his magic wig so Rooney could get his form back.
Italy 1-0 in 90.
I think it'll be a draw after a long 90 minutes. Heart says England then win, head says Italy.
GSTQ sounds soo slow and boring compared
I vote it's replaced by Metal Music Machine by Lou Reed.
This is precisely why we react so badly to England doing well. You get all this nonsense and that is before they have done anything.
The last world cup was the clincher for me. No first choice keeper, no obvious central defence pairing, the Gerrard -Lampard conundrum in midfield, no idea who would play up front with Rooney and the captain's armband flying round like pass the parcel at a terrorists' reunion and still the English press were hyping up their chances of winnig the World Cup
Billy Connolly always said it should be replaced by the theme from the Archers
Do we have a link to the FBFB for this one?
I think Christine's fingers need a rest.
Flags for cards.
Always loved that routine
Sorry ;) Couldn't resist
Link is always the same though
http://factbytefactbox.com/live
homepage image done. bloomin sidepodcast gets in the way of... sidepodcast.
hey all.
I could do the final, if the final is on at a sensible time. You can all revel in my cluelessness.
sh...
Ohhh close
Wowsers, that goalpost is quite handy as it turns out.
I believe it is this time next Sunday.
What a shame that didn't go in.
Next Sunday at the same time
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/european-championship/fixtures
i need to find somewhere close to Goodwood to watch
Fortunately for you Ukraine haven't made it through so all the difficult names are out. ;)
I was hoping for Papadopolousousouses.
WOAH..
Now England nearly score
great play
Buffon's still got it.
Best I've seen 'em do so far!
I like this game already. Really could go either way.
Not the ideal final ball - got stuck under the feet of Welbeck
I'll give it some thought :)
Daaaaah!
Current win %s: ENG 34, ITA 35, Draw 31.
It has to be said, we are stringing some passes together, and having a little possesson.
That was an incredible hit by Di Rossi. Outside of the left foot
Who was that totally missing the ball?
This game seems very stretched compared to the rest. They were all a lot more compressed. England particularly seem to be defending very deep even when the ball is just outside the Italian box
Seems several English F1 journos are watching the game... at Ferrari
With BBC coverage
Ooh, brave!
I don't know who reads zonalmarking, but a common theme seems to be that England games basically throw tactics out of the water.
That could be tasty after a few beers.
Sounds about right.
For England tonight, they have to be careful, all roads could lead to home.
Who needs little mints?
:)
A joke in the true Sidepodcast tradition.
Awesome idea.
My parents in law flew to the canary islands last night and we were trying to convince them to go to a bar to watch the Spanish game.
And the bloody band pipes up...
amazing cross
Was that Rooney's hair missing that?
I remember watching an England-Germany game in an Italian pub, with about 50 more Germans than English... glad it ended in a draw.
impressive defending there.
These players in white seem really good, were they just pretending in the other games?
I'm really looking forward to hear what songs the marching band come out with tonight. Hoping for my personal favourite, and a rarity of theirs, 'that song from the great escape'
i like the italian typeface
It's actually another team. Don't let them fool you.
confident keeping like it
And now the other rare gem... Vindaloo!
How did Glen Johnson not win that?
I will never understand how he is an international player
Because Kyle Walker broke his toe and Micah Richards seemingly isn't liked by the FA?
I would love to hear some variation: Dambusters maybe
well it was a shot
So much fouling. Terry sticking his elbow in the jumper's back. Italian running straight into Hart.
Teams must spend hours rehearsing all these fouls so they do the right foul at the right time
Combo breaker!!!
Goalkeeper to goalkeeper kick about.
Getting us ready for the tennis
Uh oh, the Mexican wave is going around. It hasn't even been that bad of a game.
It's been good so far!
Should have lobbed the keeper after one bounce
very very dangerous.
JT again justifies his selection
Albeit he does well at scrambling back
Wow, you're miles ahead of me!
johnson tripped over a daisy
It was Glen Johnson earlier and he just fell over again. Sack him.
He's just breakdancing
Glen J needs come into the pits - no tread left on those.
Or at least swap him for Sam Michael
I can't help but keep thinking of adam and joe's footy footy footy song
I'VE GOT THE SKILLS, ...
In the spirit of Mitchell and Webb, that's a bad miss.
"He never needs much room to get out of a tight spot". Err, if he needed more room, it wouldn't be tight.
Jeez, Joe Hart is loud!
You've got to be. Make sure they hear you.
Phew
Sounds like an Indycar spotter telling his driver wher the other driver is
nice idea. wasted.
Backheel there for MrC
The Indycar radios are so crisp and wonderful. F1 is lagging behind in something.
Chris Addison @mrchrisaddison: Interested to see that one of the match sponsors is the fourth gen lubricant KY IV.
+1, though Mario's was ill-advised.
Easy to have good radio on an oval when distances are shorter and there is perfect line of site everywhere. Also cars are always cruising in top gear so minimal mechanical noise and no tyre noise from hard cornering
I'm behind bars on twitter right now #blamepastor
He's shunted you off into #TwitterJail?
Fair point. But it's also much quicker to play than F1- F1's normally a lap behind or so.
F1 teams only allowed radio to be played if there was a delay
Typical F1 paranoia.
His supporters T-boned me there!
There are so many codes, does there need to be a delay any more?
When will the Italian fans start chanting "Bring on Tony Christmas"
If I was running a team I would never have agreed to it. Why would I want to give away tactical info Now we have access and they either use codes or foreign languages
As in seriously?
He has supporters?
Nah I'm just being silly. I've had a few silly tweets from them tonight. A bit of foul language and one called me a 'Stupid Face' :)
Well, there's his girlfriend, his parents, Hugo Chavez...
Yes, and they're rather rude!
what a miss!
How did he miss that?
Balotelli has been awful this Euros. How does he keep getting starts?
andrea pirlo has been a great player for years. i cant believe milan ever let him go.
He is only 21 and gaining experience fast. Worth persevering with
If he was soo in the right, why did he get a penalty? ... (But we know all this ...)
They have Di Natale on the bench... Di Natale!
Rank from Rooney
because he is a stupid face
How are Italy not ahead?
TONY CHRISTMAS.
Bring on Defoe...
:)
is super mario going to implode?
And Rooney was horrific there. Get Carroll on.
They must think Balotelli is the future
ENG have somewhat taken their eye off the ball at the moment
Glen Johnson commits foul. So not totally useless
Why is Rooney playing left back?
He's had more shots on target than Rooney.
If he is covering anyone, it should be Glen J atm
Should be playing left back in the changing rooms!
Hehehehe.
:D
no added time. we need the break. enjoying it though.
Mght be the first half i've seen without extra time.
You must be the only person in the world who has not heard that a million times
So, Big Roy, are you going to do the right thing and take tired Mr Rooney off?
me neither. always worth commenting.
I am very surprised it is stil 0:0
If they lose he'll get the blame for doing that, so probably.not!
Me too.
It is probably the first football 'joke' kids learn. And it is used constantly from an early age
is jake allowed time off from pitchside because they moved the studio to the stadium?
Oh no, they brought someone else in.
It's his job to make decisions, not to worry about the press, but you're probably right.
oh!
Gabby Logan
I've just realised, where did Jurgen go? I don't want Lee Dixon, I want Jurgen...
Gabby Logan is doing it instead, makes me wonder why she couldn't have done it all along.
He left - probs to GER TV midway through buildup
Great play from Glen Johnson
He has had a really good game
What are these clowns watching
Matches too far apart, so need 2 pitchside reporters.
They should not have dropped Jurgen
She has done some games already
The same kool aid the rest of the English football press drinks!
Maybe they ditched Jurgen because he said something negative
moves jake into football and lee into f1.
was only highlights anyhow, may as well mic it up. today was more important coverage.
I like Lee as a presenter. All we need is to lose EJ and Ben Edwards and the BBC can return to glory.
Get Rooney to mark Pirlo?
So take your best striker and give him defensive responsibility. So as soon as they lose the ball he has to switch from finding space to finding and shutting down Pirlo?
Utter lunacy.
Play 4-5-1 and detail someone just to mark Pirlo
Have Lee lead it, drop EJ. I like Ben but he needs to stop grrr-ing.
Isn't this sopposed to be the point in the break that they go and talk about the England team?
:)
Did you hear him today when Lewis crashed? Squealed like a Belieber.
Jurgen has moved to pitchside
UNLEASH THE JERGEN.
i wish jurgen would just run on and do his celebration
Sorry, Jürgen.
Marco Andretti looking for a Ferrari drive? Just looking at his last tweet. That would be a big story and it would make Massa look better
Someone please shut Gabby Logan up!
That's the worst I've heard from him in ages, if ever. Disappointing. Still, for most of the year he's been the best the Beeb have had for years.
What's wrong with Gabby Logan?
We seem to be making some good chances from crosses, maybe Carroll at 60 mins if the score stays 0-0?
Ohh, Once Upon a Time in the West music.
Would Marco alongside Fernando be like Michael alongside Ayrton?
the man with a harmonica :)
Ruined by some twerp "remixing" it.
I don't think Marco is close to being as good as Michael was
She can't talk about anything other than how wonderful England are.
"Juergen, your thoughts on the game, particularly with England in ind?"
I'd play Charles Bronson up front over Rooney.
Both are equally lifeless!
That's her job. Her father is Welsh football international and her husband is Scottish rugby international so she is not exactly a little Englander
Bronson has the killer touch though
Now Lee Dixon refers to the other team as "them".
Surprising!
they get so excited about mario. yeesh.
Her father is Terry Yorath who played for Leeds and she is married to Kenny Logan
Hansen backing us to win. I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not.
Wow!
She used to be a gymnast
He is not
At the Olympics
One of those weird ribbons ones.
Hansen is always sarcastic, but I think he means it.
Rhythmic gymnastics?
Terrible ball in from Milner
My wife used to do that. Went to Iceland and brazil apparently.
Wait until assist machine Downing comes on.
That's the end. Those people are far too bendy. I like the other type.
that's the ONE.
Which is the other type?
Beam and bars and stuff.
Is it called artistic?
She had to give up before she was 20 with sciatica or something
oh my
Miss!
fluffed it
And that's a bad miss. *drinks some gin*
How did he miss that?
:) and another :) for some gin
Thats one for Danny Baker's next DVD.
Did he make any substitutions? I wasn't listening.
The next one will be a goal!
jonathan ross @wossy: If England win I will cut my hair like Balotelli. Come on chaps. You can do it.
Milner attempted to rugby tackle Mario there.
JT again
WOW
eeeek
How an earth have Italy not scored?
Blimey.
And that's (two) bad miss(es). *more gin*
I went to the toilet expecting that to cause a goal. Came back ten seconds too early
we should be down 3-0
Hart's doing a great job.
Will be captain for the next one
England can't catch a player offside. Really poor.
Really Milner?
How have Italy not scored yet!
For a long time after that too
Could already be doing the job tbh
He's got the voice for it.
for godsake
>
De Rossi has one long sleeve and one short.
The MJ of football shirts
Please tell me that isn't true.
Would he lose points for that?
It's very true.
This is more like the England I was expecting,
Yes!!
Maybe the long sleeve is to keep an injury warm
The Balotelli-emoticon: Ô
Stunning.
hehehehe
:D
Pace and height - that's plans B + C at the same time.
There must be other emoticons people can think of
how come bbc have the remaining matches?
ITV do have the final as well
ahhh
They got them in the picks over ITV. I think thats the reason why ITV had more England group matches.
Wellbeck and Milner off
Walcott and Carroll on
Do itv still show all the England home games?
jeeez what a ball from pirlo.
England have been reduced to aiming aimless balls up towards Carroll.
Hooooooooof.
Carroll's bicycle kick was slightly less convincing that Balotelli's
I think Mr Hodgson might have swore.
Should add that was a tribute to Big Ron Atkinson's punditry
That guy got off balance while trying to pull JT. Doesn't he know that it's JT that does the pulling?!
I've heard JT's good at pulling...
England are definitely grinding a result here.
Mark lawrenson needs to be replaced with moss from the it crowd.
"Yaaaay... the balls over there... that man has it now... that's an interesting development"
Evening.
I know it's still early but is anyone else thinking penalties?
we can't go to extra time. stuff to do!
Pelanties is definitely an option
As in #BlamePastor should've got a bigger one?
Already had a few...oh the football
Cramp after 70 minutes. That's unusual
Why is Henderson stretching? He's not coming on surely?
Hopefully he's just getting a bit stiff sitting on the bench doing nothing.
#wasteofpossession
well done terry
England are all sitting way too deeply. When they get the ball there is no outlet
I think that there are 22 players playing for Italy, just that 11 of them seem to be wearing white.
I'm not sure Ashley Young knows what side he's on!
Goal by England would be nice here!
Let's make this headable please!
Evening stranger
rooney is too short
Hey! I had a garage sale this morning so missed the live chat for the race. :(
Cassano off
Diamanti on
Nevermind, it was only Valencia.
Ohh wait, it was a great race!
Yeah I still followed it.
Great corner
Any Di Natale yet?
Nocerino on
De Rossi off
Last Lap
I mean last ten minutes
"do doo dooo Self Preservation Society"
first yellow
Slow down and minimal DRS use then.
Great dive by Terry
terry pulle dto the ground
He was being pulled back and dived forward
Even Adrian Newey can't make the laws of physics work in reverse
These English announcers don't sound like they are buying that.
ahhh
They have twice made a big deal of wrestling in the box like they had never seen it before. It has happened at every game in the last 20 years
Wait, why does England just want to hold on?
They don't
Because we're awful?
It was just something that the announcers on the vipbox stream said. "They want to hold on here and then hold on for 30 minutes more.."
Nobody wants to make a mistake now
The last thing England want is to hold on for penalties
gah
* winces*
Good plan England. Let Pirlo have the ball and just stand 15 yards off him
sh..... phew
Oh sheesh..
Making no mistakes doesn't mean doing nothing
Looks like we are going to extra time
First game that will end 0-0 after 90.
I can't believe I got a football score prediction right.
Not the goal-less tournament some were thinking about.
Actually that's a white lie, I said a draw but didn't give numbers.
Me too, after seeing you in the too much racing game lately ;)
The Italians running the clock down somewhat
Can't believe I threw away 2nd place by forgetting to pick.
At least you didn't pick a guy who wasnt racing!
Oh wow that was almost...
I. Almost. Exploded.
roooney if anyone should've got that
OH Man!!
That could have been...
had that gone in..
Old football saying
If only the ball had gone in the net it would have been a goal
balls
0:0 it is
EXTRA-TIME MULTIBALL!
:):)
I vote for this!
Extra time. Is it golden goal or normal?
ive had a think and my prediction is that one of these teams will definitely win this match.
I think normal but I don't know
Normal
No-one is explaining the golden goal rule so looks like it is normal
Mr Hart still shouting.
Is Brian blessed his coach?
At least it isn't silver goal.
That didn't really last long before it died out
Because it was stupidly over-complicated?
Probably
England vs Italy: Possession 35%-65%, shots 9-27, score Oooh - Errrr
They should just shoot from the circle!
oh damn have we swapped again?
And again in another 15 minutes
Odd the commentators don't mention Lescott wrestling Balotelli
Henderson?
I give up, well done Italy, good game.
Odd time to bring on someone with no experience
Why not the Ox, who is actually better.
Never touched him
Meh. All around.
My feelings exactly :S
Great defending by Italy
ferrari people can't pack up their motorhome until this wraps up
They shut down space so well
Nice try.
If that was Rob Green, he'd've muffed it.
Walcott much more like his usual self tonight
Injured?
Useless.
Quiet?
Injured, useless and quiet sums it up nicely
Nearly
I am massively behind again.
Cross from a West Ham Reject. Is that what the just said?
Everyone who has played for West Ham in recent years is ultimately a reject (except for Parker...)
mis-hit cross from a westham reject
Lawro: "it's been a long night" - What about those who have to listen to your 'insight'?
England are no good at parking the bus against the Italians - somehow it always ends up hanging over the edge of a cliff.
Why did Andy Carroll turn back when there was a break on??
Oh Walcott!
Close!
http://instantrimshot.com/classic/?sound=rimshot
See, useless.
I'll take that :)
This is an odd game. The better team aren't winning but the worse team look more like scoring!
I just saw that on twitter
Good spotting! :)
Diamanti should spend more time practicing crosses and less getting pictures on his arms
boot to the face
Ow!
Andy Carroll barging into players in the air. That is so dangerous they banned it in rugby.
Body check by Young
Where can he go - Lawro
In the direction of the ball
In the direction his bodyweight was taking him
Or falling over and blocking the player's run
Andy Carroll fouling again
England are fouling prolifically. GOOD OLD DAYS.
3 points.
RRRRRRRubbish.
heh
:D
He was completely under that.
Italy are going to score in the next three minutes
#boldpreditcioning
Pointless fact that I'm sure is right, England have always went to a penalty shootout when playing in a Euro knockout round.
loo break?
No chance
Only if my dad is watching!
Good defensive header by Carroll
bugger
oh
Linemen YEY
That linesman ruined my predictioning
phew
Holy crap, Steven!
I would rather Italy scored now rather than losing on penalties.
It was obvious something like that was going to happen. Italy have so much pressure and are camped in the England box
I'd rather winning.
It'll be properly sad if we go out on penalties because it's down to the goalkeeper and he's our best player by a million miles.
He truly is the Hart of the English resistance.
I was always told it wasn't down to the goalkeeper. Maybe that's where I went wrong.
As in resisting the goals that Italy would presume to score?
I just can't believe Italy have not scored. I wouldn't be at all surprised if England nick this in the last minute
rooney cocked that right up
a la Belgium 1990?
Odd that Gerrard gad cramp after 70 minutes and has played 50 minutes since without a single re-occurrence
Penalties it is
oh chuff
I can't believe it came to this.
*whimpers*
Oh wow.. it is penalties after all! How have Italy not won?
Who will take the England penalties?
Thought so. This can't be good
I can almost see the headlines tomorrow
Oh bugger.
So, penalty takers, Cole, Hart, Rooney, Gerrard.... ?
They will have the Keeper take one? That'd be cool. A bit of psychological warfare.
Ohhhh, I hate penalties so much but Mr C won't let me leave.
Took one in the U21s final I think.
i coulda just started watching here #speedsporting
This would actually be a good time for England to go out of the tournament. The press would give them credit for their performance in holding out Italy
Chelsea won one recently ...
This is the equivalent of Canada 2011
I always argued that they should do the penalties first
i like that
Less pressure, no good
Webber has cake #[points
why?
It's Mitch Evans's 18th birthday and Red Bull made cake
bonus cake
Any thing been said about the Buffon ear tape?
So is Red Bull what caterpillars drink?
https://twitter.com/AndersFinn/status/217003145916710914
sneaky radio?
Psychy.
Banter-Banter
Yes / No !! (del as aprt)
THey need the good, the bad, and the ugly music playing there.
Good penalty.
They usually take ages to start penalties. Pretty quick now
Oh god.
.....
love it
Italy's keeper looks like dracula.
!!!
He's old enough.
Oops
HaHa (sorry)
The camera angle is very unhelpful.
I knew he'd miss. He looked scared coming up to the ball.
Awfful miss.
so does rooney
Nice
credit
Everyone is going low to the keeper's right
I had him nailed down on missing there.
Well done son.
Me too
Would have been cooler if he still had the beard.
Oh Beautiful.
So cool from Pirlo
That looked easy
Floated it in. Wonderful.
Antonin Panenka was the first to do that in a big tournament
knew it
rushed it
Oh dear
Sublime to the ridiculous
boo
Oh no.
head down charge
Way too hard
Cmon Hart.
They are playing it cool
It's more important where you put the ball, harder is theoretically better most of the time.
Tell you what, our guys is good in open play but he can't do penalties can he..
Ryan's right -bottom left corner!
True, less accuracy though
That was poor from Cole
terrible shot from cole
Inevitable
Ashley cole. One of England's greats according to the BBC.
Ah penalty shootout defeat. We meet again.
well done italy. they deserved that and more
Can't judge a player on a penalty miss.
So many successful penalties went low to the keeper's right. Quite incredible
icing on the cake.
Go Germany...or Turkey..or Spain..or whoever they are..
Bugger. I'd hoped they could pull that off! Well done Italy, the better team.
Totally agreed.
Nevermind - at least we finished in the final 5.
Whatever, germany will crush Italy.
Like Rocky III: "I will break you"
:)
Germany & Italy doing battle in Poland - sound ominous.
best to lose 0:0 here than 7:0 to germany
When are the Semis?
At least it'll be closer than Germany against England. Italy were good, but were very poor in front of goal. Will cost them. Should drop Balotelli for Di Natale.
Joe doesn't look too bothered so that's good.
I still find it odd Italy didn't score in 120 minutes
Ouch!
Not his fault :)
Exactly
Agreed.
I've seen Spurs have more chances and still get beat. It's an exceptional talent to be able to do that.
He has come to a big tournament and Established himself as his country's top keeper, improved his reputation and added a bit to his value
Overall, we've had a good tourn., and can now focus on the next one by clearing some of the dead-wood and old players and bringing on the new generation.
Scott Carson would have saved all five.......
agreed.
Oooooorrrr, bring back Beckham.
Player-manager?
Fine in theory but Terry is the heart of the defence and Gerrard the heart of the midfield. Don't see any young replacements
And his squeaky voice.
cheers for all the comments. enjoyed that.
He will be in the Olympic team
Thanks again!
Even being in the right country would be a start.
Weds & Thurs
Something for anyone needing a distraction: http://t.co/BNFLWCqn
Hey we like having him here!
You can have him back but we need him for this stuff.
I watched my first live MLS (US football) game earlier with Beckham playing. The standard of football is abysmal. I switched it off after 20 minutes because it was so amateurish
Should have seen it 10 years ago.
I see your MLS and raise you the Sky F1 coverage?
:)
I think the MLS as of late has done a good job building a soccer/football culture over here.
Glad the Canadians have a few teams in the league too.
I am not talking about the coverage though. The commentators were using terms I have never heard in my life but I expected that.
wtf is an outside back? I thought that was an old-fashioned toilet
That's the woodshed you take the other teams behind. :p
I assume that's L- or R-back, sounds like they are almost straying into NFL terminology
I'm guessing they were trying to use terms that relate to our football to make it more understandable for those that don't follow the sport as much.
A-league! Far worse! One star teams in FIFA!
What is the A League?
I've seen A-League defending. I could play in that league.
Australia?
Didn't Francis Jeffers have a decent career in the A League?
Crap..speaking of MLS. Portland is up on Seattle 2-0 right now.
Dan Brunell will be most pleased
It is a full back. It is part of American culture that they don't take anything into the country without Americanising it. That is why so many Americans struggle to relate to the rest of the world because everything they see is filtered.
When we first got the NFL we had two years of remedial commentary to explain the basics then we took the standard American commentary.
Different culture
I'd argue against that. I would say we are Europeanising our Soccer...
Australia.
Sooooo, what will the papers say tomorrow?
Maybe using the European lingo will help.
Before the Galaxy game they showed a clip of Seattle. One of their players was very slightly fouled and lost the plot and chopped down the guy who did it and got sent off.
I think we do to an extent.
Self Elimination Society
The usual BS.
I'm only going off that snippet ^^, otheriwse I'm running on empty - so I bow to you.
@FootballFunnys: John Terry should console both Ashley's after that penalty shootout. After all, he's good with his team-mate's misses.
It must be very slight Europeanising. There was a professional league with top players in the 70s yet still your commentators are using a language that makes no sense to someone who has been watched thousands of games.
Compare that to our NFL having full US commentary after two years. Same with baseball or ice hockey or basketball.
America's culture it to do its own thing rather than import from outside. Same with TV shows. America buys shows and makes their own version. UK buys and shows the original American shows
I could also be wrong though. I don't watch the games so much. Just here and there. But the MLS has come a long way from where it was 5-10 years ago. The teams have now started to form partnerships with European clubs. We've started naming teams more along the lines of European clubs. The fans have started taking cues from the Europeans...
Interesting that Alan Hansen is now saying England are average, earlier in the competition when the English pundits were knocking England down saying they couldn't do it, he was the one saying they could.
Not win it, but go far
At least now we are listing the home team first instead of the other way like we do in all other sports.
Some acapella version of Linkin Park - In The End (if anyone wanted this one)
great choice of song
Never heard this version. Good one.
Typical sad montage after England get knocked out. Pretty impressively quick turnaround!
This tournament has proved to me that football pundits are a big waste of money.
Didn't even notice the did that. Mind you I am not sure i knew where the game was. I know it was at the Home Depot Stadium wherever that is
LA
OK. I guess that is why there were so many Beckham fans there
Oh. I have Dodgers at the Angels
That song again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU1JraEVsgc&feature=youtu.be
Well it's been fun. Thanks all.
Thanks all - as a support group, we made it.
Ta
:)
See you for the semis then. Cheers.
PS - if you are called Natalie West, don't call your Twitter account @NatWest .. especially when the bank's systems crash
:D
Just as well as Eng went out ;) The country couldn't cope with supporting them and Andy at the same time. #sportoverload
UEFA stats: Passes completed: #ita 815 from 1003 - 81pc, #eng 320 from 522 - 61pc. Milner worst player in possession- 13 from 27.
My apologies to Glen Johnson. Turns out Milner is even worse