Euro 2008 Semi Finals Thread

[Elevz]

Russia got fucking murdered. That was a sonning on the same level the Dutch pulled them off in group stages. And it was a semi-final.

Russia beats Holland 3-1. Spain beats Russia 3-0. That's not a good look for the Dutch

(Then again, Holland beat Italy 3-0 while Spain drew against them. This tournament's been kinda random.)

[Kill]

Russia got fucking murdered. That was a sonning on the same level the Dutch pulled them off in group stages. And it was a semi-final.

Russia beats Holland 3-1. Spain beats Russia 3-0. That's not a good look for the Dutch

(Then again, Holland beat Italy 3-0 while Spain drew against them. This tournament's been kinda random.)

I do think Spain > Holland, but obviously Holland > Turkey, shit is always kind of random. Still:

Italy in the first game and Italy in the quarter final game is two different teams. First game, they tried to get involved in offense and the Dutch attackers used that to completely rip apart the Italian defense. After that shock, Italy got very cautious and, realizing what things are like without Cannavaro and with a generally weakened team and a wack ass manager, they resorted to good old defensive football. When the quarter final match came, they didn't have Pirlo and Gattuso, the former being their most creative player, the latter being extremely important in defensive midfield. They knew Spain was the better team, so they resorted to playing merciless cattenaccio. Holland might have won a game against that squadra 1-0, but neeever 3-0.

Then of course, today's Russians were nowhere near Saturday's Russians, but Spain had a lot to do with that. Their approach was a lot better than the Dutch team's, since they prevented their opponent from getting creative in the first place. It's easily overlooked after those 3 goals, but their defensive strategy was as great as the offensive one. They were a lot more aggressive than the Dutch in midfield, and the way they kept their cool throughout the whole game was astounding. Russia's best opportunity was when it was already 3-0 and game over anyways.

Spain is the one team I feel comfortable saying is actually better than Holland at the moment, with no if's and but's.

[Elevz]

I totally agree - Spain deserves full credit for not allowing the Russians to pick up their play. And yes, the difference between the Italian team in the first match versus their quarter final game is too obvious. Still, I'm confident that the Dutch would have had a great chance to beat Italy again, had they come face to face again. That's all speculation though.

I wouldn't go so far as to call Spain necessarily better than the Dutch team in this tournament though. Spain is the better organized team, thus also being the more stable and consistent team. They deserve their place in the finals. The Dutch relied on individual talent and momentary inspiration too much. One minute it's there and they'll do anything you thought impossible, but the next moment it's gone. I'll say they have the better players, but they can't build a team that's really consistent. That'll never happen to any Dutch team either - it's just not part of the mentality. There's no telling how a Spain - Netherlands confrontation would have ended, but it surely would have been exciting til the end. If the pieces of the puzzle connect like they did in the first two games of the Dutch (especially the first, against Italy), I have no doubt Spain wouldn't have been able to stop them. Otherwise, and that would have been very likely, Spain wouldn't have been a bad choice for your money.

[smegma]

Hans van Breukelen is confident that the Boulahrouz situation fucked the Dutch team up. If he says that that is the case, then I believe it.

[Elevz]

^^ Well, that's exactly what I was afraid of, but nobody around me would cosign me. Stop watching Studio Sportzomer though, it's shallow. Makes your brain comatose.

[JMan]

was a great game last night.. Spain's movement off the ball is incredible at times, really pleased that they made it into the finals.. Im just glad ive got money on Spain to lift the euro, times are looking good to me 

[Kill]

I totally agree - Spain deserves full credit for not allowing the Russians to pick up their play. And yes, the difference between the Italian team in the first match versus their quarter final game is too obvious. Still, I'm confident that the Dutch would have had a great chance to beat Italy again, had they come face to face again. That's all speculation though.

I wouldn't go so far as to call Spain necessarily better than the Dutch team in this tournament though. Spain is the better organized team, thus also being the more stable and consistent team. They deserve their place in the finals. The Dutch relied on individual talent and momentary inspiration too much. One minute it's there and they'll do anything you thought impossible, but the next moment it's gone. I'll say they have the better players, but they can't build a team that's really consistent. That'll never happen to any Dutch team either - it's just not part of the mentality. There's no telling how a Spain - Netherlands confrontation would have ended, but it surely would have been exciting til the end. If the pieces of the puzzle connect like they did in the first two games of the Dutch (especially the first, against Italy), I have no doubt Spain wouldn't have been able to stop them. Otherwise, and that would have been very likely, Spain wouldn't have been a bad choice for your money.

I agree mostly, but I come to a slightly different conclusion. Of course, there's no telling how a Spain - Holland game would have ended. Your criticism of the Dutch team is absolutely correct, and I guess that's why they never win a tournament. It used to be kind of similar with Spain on past occasions. They never lacked quality players, but what Aragonés deserves a lot of credit for is having built a team and injected a winner mentality into it. The Spanish sellección is no more a fragile bunch of football artists, it's a great team composed of hugely talented individuals, and that's what I guess the Dutch haven't been able to come up with after all, due to reasons I couldn't name better than you just did.

I don't think I can agree that the Dutch got the better players. In that respect, I would say Holland and Spain are more or less equal and without a doubt Europe's top 2 at the moment. But as for Spain, they can keep Fabregas on the bench and replace Villa with him. They can take off someone like Torres and bring on Güiza, the no. 1 scorer of the Primera División. They got Xavi and Iniesta who make up one of the best creative-midfield duos in recent memory and basically saved Barcelona's ass when there was anything left to be saved in this season. They got Casillas, one of the best goal keepers at the moment. They got Senna who does so much work it's not even funny. Marchena and Puyol have done a pretty good job defending, trying to get past Puyol is one pain in the ass. If Ramos plays like he did yesterday, he's an amazing player. Silva is worth mentioning as well....

This is an incredible line-up, and I dare say that in terms of individual talent, it's on a par with the Dutch. Hence I'm saying Spain > Holland, because Spain proved to be working as a team much better.

[Furor Teutonicus]

blub.blub.blub I like it that everybody makes Spain stronger than they are. And on Sunday their players have wet paints again
If our team didn't consist of cripples who've never seen a football in their life, we could even win.

[Elano]

silva is fuckin amazing

[7even]

If our team didn't consist of cripples who've never seen a football in their life, we could even win.

-1

your lack of pride is disgusting mayne

[Furor Teutonicus]

If our team didn't consist of cripples who've never seen a football in their life, we could even win.

-1

your lack of pride is disgusting mayne

sorry that I'm not proud of Klose, Metzelder, Jansen and co
But as long as they fight, I'm okay with that

[Elano]

Fabregas is really good.

and what about Xavi

have you ever watched a barcelona match ? 

[smegma]

Fabregas is really good.

and what about Xavi

have you ever watched a barcelona match ? 

Only CL matches, but yesterday he was great

[wcsoldier]

The Spain strongest point  is the capacity of their "defensive" miedfields to keep the ball a very long time without losing it ... opponent midfield can't fuck with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas ... basically Spain dominates the game in term of the possession of the ball and just search for the right opportunity to score .. the opponent teams doesn't have the ball very often so they better be VERY efficient and don't miss their rare  opportunities to score ... if not , they don't stand a chance