Okay, so who are you supporting in Euro 2008?

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:50 pm

I think hardly any of us had a team that got there, so who's going to be your surrogate for the summer's action?

martyboy70 · Post by **martyboy70** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:06 pm

My dad is Spanish so this ones a no-brainer for me.
They used to be my second team when Scotland actually made it to WC and Euro finals but as we no longer do that they have had my full support for the last few tourneys.
Spain unfortunately are a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in puff pastry.
If you looked at the squads and qualifying results they have gone into major tournaments with they should be strolling through group stages and contesting finals yet they always spectacularly underachieve on the big stage.
On paper they have an excellent(possibly one of the best in the competition) squad again this year but football isnt played on paper its played on grass. TM & C Alan Hansen
They go through qualifying looking like world beaters and perform like panel-beaters in tourneys so Im expecting another collapse and them going out with a whimper yet again.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:18 pm

I think I'm going to support Austria... just because I feel a bit sorry for them. It looks a lot like they're going to get slaughtered - they're not outsiders in the same way a middle-weight Greece were last time (thing a lot of people forget is that up to that point Greece were seen as mild underperformers - while no-one expected them to win the thing, they weren't seen as whipping boys),

Partly because openly declaring support for the Czech Republic in the World Cup went not so good as well. I'm trying to trick God, you see...

Looking at it, in theory it should be very open - Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Croatia are all very possible winners; the Czechs, Holland, Russia, Poland and Romania could all have real momentum if they come through their groups; I wouldn't bet against Greece; the Swiss could do well with home support; I'd say there's only really the Swedish (no x-factor, and no gameplan that will befuddle everyone), Turkey (young stars need a bit more experience) and Austria really haven't got much of a shout for winning the thing.

Blitzwing · Post by **Blitzwing** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:12 pm

I'm going for Italy because I like cheering for the bad guys.

Also, my girlfriend is part Italian.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:29 am

I'm invoking ancestry, so am backing the Dutch. In theory it's really not that different from supporting England - on paper, more than capable, but you know it's never going to happen. At least it's a team I can back for a valid personal reason and have no chance of being labelled a glory-hound for.

Though Henrik Larsson's glorious re-return means I'll also have half an eye on Sweden.

AndyTurnbull · Post by **AndyTurnbull** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:16 am

Croatia for me. I've always kept an eye out for them in competitions so I'll do so again this year.

Andy

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:58 am

If I have to go with one, it's Germany, as always.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:08 pm

Aren't half the German squad Polish anyway?

Silly Cow · Post by **Silly Cow** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:38 pm

Have to go with the neighbouring country Sweden. It's funny, when playing against them they are the lowest of the low but when they are playing at a top level in a sport we Finns don't really excel in, I have no qualms about supporting Sweden.

Then again, I don't hate Sweden as much as the next guy so it might just be me. But yeah, Sweden!! Since my usual favourite England isn't in, I've been hard-pressed to find other favourites. Might go with Germany.

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:33 pm

Nominally Spain, for the Liverpool connection. Realistically I'm just looking forward to some good games of football without the crapness of watching England perform slightly worse then hoped for again, grinding out some results with uninspiring play and then losing it in the knockout stages.

When I say looking forward to, I mean of course desperately hoping...

AndyTurnbull · Post by **AndyTurnbull** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:03 pm

Just once it would be nice to see Switzerland involved in a game that isn't like watching paint dry.

They were denied two penalty claims (one a stick on, the other less so) for handball both involving Ujfalusi who managed a few cheeky handballs in Fiorentina's semi-final against gers in the UEFA cup.

Also, the BBC needs to get some new pundits in. Lineker is such a smarmy oik it's unreal.

Andy

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:27 pm

On the other hand, isn't it nice having no Ian Wrighty Wright-Wright onboard?

But yeh, dull game... first half hour was pretty promising, but as soon as Frei limped off (poor bastard, to be fair), the Swiss didn't really seem to know what to do, and Czech Republic are really missing Rosicky.

Now, I wonder how many minutes ITV are going to be able to go for without mentioning that Colin Kazim-Richards used to play in the lower English league... The longest stint so far is "not long"...

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:42 pm

Christ, come back Lineker. Who the Hell are these freaks ITV have rounded up? Andy Townsend's the best of them, simply because he can talk without having to stop and look at the autocue...

AndyTurnbull · Post by **AndyTurnbull** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:49 pm

ITV punditry has never recovered from Ally McCoist going back into football!

Andy

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:35 pm

townsend isn't too bad, but i really hate david pleat and his amazing inability to pronounce any name more stretching than smith. BosingWa you tool.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 12:26 pm

AndyTurnbull wrote:They were denied two penalty claims (one a stick on, the other less so) for handball both involving Ujfalusi who managed a few cheeky handballs in Fiorentina's semi-final against gers in the UEFA cup.

I loved the post-match analysis of that. "Normally if the referee doesn't give the first, he'll give the second to please everybody."

Er? Excuse me? Isn't the referee meant to, like, enforce the rules rather than trying to please people? And there I was thinking that he didn't give the second because he hadn't given the first... being that if the first one wasn't, then the latter "less so" certainly wasn't. Mad.

Mercifully we'll be denied Shearer's usually line of "well, Johnny Foreigner would have gotten away with it, so it's alright for our lads to do".

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 12:54 pm

Yeh, instead we'll probably get "our lot could have beaten both these teams"

The BBC should get off its' high-horse and bung Collymore on the box. I don't care what he's done, he's not Alan Shearer...

And David Pleat... he just doesn't seem that good at talking, does he? I always get the feeling he's been interrupted from something else, like when you were a kid watching something on the telly while your dad was reading his paper, and you get that sort of "Wasn't really paying attention, but he's eight and I'm pretty sure I can bluff this out..." vibe off him.

StoneCold Skywarp · Post by **StoneCold Skywarp** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 2:25 pm

Spain because, well, they're about due to win something ffs.

And I've always had a soft spot for the Czech Republic, possibly this year's Greece?

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 5:58 pm

Mmmm, I quite fancy them... of the sides we've seen so far they're the best, anyway (Turkey made Portugal look good). They look like they can get results, and they got through the first game with a result.

Austria were actually rather good, weren't they? Better than the Swiss for my money. A bit lucky The Pog wasn't sent off, but then a bit unlucky they had him in the side being so mindless anyway. Croatia were super-unimpressive - that's how bad England are... Modric was a big disappointment, and Pletikosa looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

EDIT: And while I was watching that, it seems like Lewis Hamilton's retired due to him being a twat from the sounds of things. A good day...

AndyTurnbull · Post by **AndyTurnbull** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 8:40 pm

germany kick things off with a win. I thought Poland might have made a better go of it but with Zurawski missing that chance in the first half they seemed to lose their way.

Germany are my pick to win the thing this year.

Andy

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Okay, so who are you supporting in Euro 2008?

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Okay, so who are you supporting in Euro 2008?