Euro Cup 2012 - ヴエエエエエエエエエ Oh wait...

[Helepolis]

Well the finals are probably going to be boring as well and Spain will probably win if they do as they did in WC2010: Everybody dive to fool the referee.

[Dead Princess Sakana]

Well, Spain took that one without much trouble, though I'd say it was a good game and they deserved that one.  :toot:
Italy had its chances, they couldn't make something out of them, that's bad luck.
Though, the last half hour when they had to play with 10 players was just straight-out humiliation. Almost hurt to watch.

[DX7.EP]

Watched the finals, and yep it was a fairly boring match, predictable too. Time to watch more Latin American games for better insanity.

[Helepolis]

Something was wrong with Italy for sure. Was expecting more than a 4-0 win for Spain.

Though, the last half hour when they had to play with 10 players was just straight-out humiliation. Almost hurt to watch.

Found this a bit lame as well. You're leading with 2 to 0 and Italy is suffering from bad luck (2 injured players). While it is football and finals and bla bla bla, still there is something called being good sport. Italy already gave up when they were left with 10.

Furthermore it was a pretty boring match. Guess World Cup 2014 it is. For now, we'll go back to sleep.

* Helepolis blows vuvuzela in Kilga's ear ヴエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエエ

[redlakitu]

I like defensive football because it can be really spectacular when properly executed, but sometimes it just feels wrong. For example, both Greece in 2004 and Chelsea in this year's Champions League were the underdogs, so defense was the logical choice for them (plus it's always nice when someone wins against the odds). Spain, however, is a team with incredible potential, skills, possibly their most talented generation ever, and long traditions of offensive, brave style of playing. So what do they do? They play some of the most excruciatingly boring football ever, like they wanted to deliberately infuriate their supporters, for almost all of the tournament, and in the end *they still win*. On the other hand, there's Italy who dropped their usual catenaccio in favor of offense and all they got in return was an unlucky 0:4 thrashing. What kind of a message is this?

[fondue]

^ Almost fully agree

[Gpop]

Thing is, Spain is all about possession, and that's exactly how the Spanish and almost most of latin America plays. It's not about, "oh hey we got it COUNTER ATTAAAACK fuck we lost it our defense is open" kind of play. They go for pure skills, control, and possession. It's what makes it beautiful in their own way. You can't beat their ball skills in Europe. It's almost unmatched (to all of Europe).

The problem with Italy was that, in the first game they played, they all played defensively, and that's how they managed to hold them off in a 1-1 draw in the group stages. This time though, they wanted to go for offense like they did against Germany, and lost because Spain's defense is a bit better than they thought (come on...Spain had Puyol, and that guy is literally like a lion). So Spain did the usual, possession and control. all the way to Italy's own weaker defense. It's really smart what they do.

They have their own saying about their game plan, "You can not score if you don't have the ball".

btw, the reason Italy just died in the end is because they were exhausted by then. They got too tired chasing after the ball that they just couldn't even run that much anymore. Spain's fitness is crazy, to be fit AND still be able to maintain control. It's just how they are.

One of the few problems Spain will have is if they play against a South American team, like Argentina, who ALSO plays the same style (before Maradona came in :V).

[BT]

I don't think Italy were necessarily unfit. I mean, try stopping Spain from holding onto the ball with 10 players. That's just about twice as hard as stopping them with 11 players.

By the way, you sure you watched the game? Puyol wasn't anywhere near playing. :V

[Gpop]

I don't think Italy were necessarily unfit. I mean, try stopping Spain from holding onto the ball with 10 players. That's just about twice as hard as stopping them with 11 players.

It's still hard to chase after a ball that's always moving and never staying with one player all the time. Going down to 10 men is also part of the reason though.

By the way, you sure you watched the game? Puyol wasn't anywhere near playing. :V

I know, but the defense is still strong, but if Puyol was in it good luck.

I forgot to mention that Cassilles is still amazing as a keeper. Though this final was interesting since it had 2 of the greatest keepers in the world so far.

[Dead Princess Sakana]

Yeah, Spain's speed was just crazy. Best example was that crazy sprint for the second goal. You'd think the guy couldn't go any faster, and he proves you wrong :V
Italy managed to keep up rather well during the first half (ball possession there was 50-50, the stats said), but everytime they made their way over to spain's goal there was already a wall waiting. They never got any situations where they could break the defense in a way to get a clear shot, so even if they got up close, they couldn't score.
Meanwhile Spain just played passes that other teams would consider impossible and created tons of openings they could abuse to score.

[Helepolis]

Spain's play style turns every player into a potential scorer. I think 3 of the goals (excluding the super speed one) were done by sudden fast and tight pass through the defence with perfect timing to walk out. Bit what Portugal has been doing as well in their attacks. Italy relies on few top shots like any other standard team. I saw Balotelli being perma defended by at least 2-3 Spain players so he couldn't do his body builder pose any more. And the other dude was a frikken moron (forgot his name) who shot at the keeper, failed then retried instead of passing the ball to his neighbour (who was wide open).

[Conqueror]

Spain's play style turns every player into a potential scorer.

Spain as the new standard bearers of Total Football then?  :V

[Helepolis]

Spain as the new standard bearers of Total Football then?  :V

Not really. It is just a style like Barca's. Pass around, make enemy run around endlessly then matter of timing for the attack. Euro cup this year was quite disappointing. Mainly because no team really prevailed or shined by demolishing the other team. It was all "Do your thing".