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Post by squirrel on Jun 6, 2024 7:56:22 GMT -6
Kicks off a week from tomorrow with hosts Germany facing Scotland. Scotland has a great (and positive) promo - unusual for the Scots, who have historically had rather pessimistic self-promotion going into big tournaments, most famously perhaps Del Amitri's "Don't Come Home Too Soon" for the 1998 World Cup.
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Post by panthergrad2011 on Jun 6, 2024 19:41:30 GMT -6
Recent poll done by German public broadcaster ARD found that 27% of Germans have no interest in the upcoming tournament, 43% are very interested, and 28% are less interested. Organizers of the tournament were hoping to get enthusiasm from their population similar to what they experienced for the World Cup in 2006, which became known as "the summer fairy tale" in that country.
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Post by squirrel on Jun 7, 2024 10:58:12 GMT -6
Recent poll done by German public broadcaster ARD found that 27% of Germans have no interest in the upcoming tournament, 43% are very interested, and 28% are less interested. Organizers of the tournament were hoping to get enthusiasm from their population similar to what they experienced for the World Cup in 2006, which became known as "the summer fairy tale" in that country. Interesting - it looks like in the same poll, 42% are concerned about security during the event. I guess it shows when you are used to winning World Cups, it's hard to get excited for the Euro. I know before Germany was good, there wasn't a whole lot of interest for them in Euro 2000 then, either. Even after winning in 1990, but there again there has been a decade of nothing. |
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Post by panthergrad2011 on Jun 7, 2024 19:43:20 GMT -6
Unless I'm mistaken, wasn't the 2006 World Cup during the time when Germany was one of the top teams in the world (or at least on their way up)?
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Post by squirrel on Jun 10, 2024 7:51:05 GMT -6
Well, if you look at the World Cup in 2006 as a shift toward the younger generation and names like Klose (just entering his prime), Mertesacker, and Podolski away from names like Ballack (who remained captain) and Frank Baumann, it was the beginning of an upward trajectory. However, they had their lowest-ever FIFA rating in March 2006. But the older generation did finish runner-up in 2002 and then perhaps on the home field advantage managed a third-place finish.
I think the real movement was in the direction of Euro 2008 - another runner-up finish.
Like a lot of international programs - they struggled moving from one generation of stars to another in the early-to-mid 2000s.
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Post by squirrel on Jun 10, 2024 8:18:59 GMT -6
Also, I missed that Andreas Brehme passed unexpectedly in February. Brehme took and scored Germany's first PK in the semifinal shootout against England in 1990.
Gary Oldman's narration of the penalty shootout in the documentary of England's 1990 run, One Night in Turin (with Nessun Dorma starting after "stalemate"):
"Five kicks each. One on one. Five kicks to score, or save. And if it was still a stalemate, then someone had to take a sixth. There was Lineker; there was Beardsley; there was Platt. There was Brehme; Matthäus; Riedle, too. Two more kicks; Two more kicks to save, or score. [Germany converts 4th, while Stuart Pearce's attempt is stopped w/o narration.] It's a team game, but at the end of weeks of passing, running, playing--the dreams, the hopes fall cruelly on just one pair of shoulders."
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Post by SFP on Jun 12, 2024 14:21:13 GMT -6
I'm picking France to win. England is my second choice, Spain my third. Spain is a bit young but they have the talent and watch out for the WC. I'd love to see a team like Scotland or Czech Republic win because their fans are great.
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Post by panthergrad2011 on Jun 13, 2024 19:57:38 GMT -6
Tournament starts tomorrow. Fox has rights to both the Euros and Copa America. Most of the matches will air on FOX or FS1. 5 of the group stage matches will air exclusively on FuboTV. Those matches will be:
-Hungary/Switzerland (June 15)
-Romania/Ukraine (June 17)
-Turkey/Georgia (June 18)
-Slovakia/Ukraine (June 21)
-Georgia/Czech Republic (June 22)
There will be 4 commentator teams used by FOX exclusively for the Euros. Those pairings will be:
-Ian Darke/Landon Donovan
-Derek Rae/Robert Green
-Jacqui Oatley/Warren Barton
-Darren Fletcher/Owen Hargreaves
Green is a regular part of the Champions League coverage on CBS, including this year's final. Oatley is a voice most Premier League fans should be familiar with. Fletcher and Hargreaves are working their first broadcasts in the U.S. but have experience calling Premier League and Champions League matches for TNT Sports in the UK.
The 5 FUBO exclusive matches mentioned above will not be called by any of these announce teams and will use the world feed commentators for those matches.
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Post by panthergrad2011 on Jun 14, 2024 19:52:01 GMT -6
Quite a good start from the hosts today.
Was listening to Ian Darke mention today that Spain has a young player named Lamine Yamal. He is only 16 (would turn 17 the day before the Euro final) and has come up through Barcelona's youth academies. He made his debut for Barcelona's senior team during the 2022-2023 season and got more extensive playing time this past season for Barca. Once he makes his first appearance in this tournament, he will become the youngest player to ever appear at the Euros.
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Post by SFP on Jun 15, 2024 12:46:31 GMT -6
Quite a good start from the hosts today. Was listening to Ian Darke mention today that Spain has a young player named Lamine Yamal. He is only 16 (would turn 17 the day before the Euro final) and has come up through Barcelona's youth academies. He made his debut for Barcelona's senior team during the 2022-2023 season and got more extensive playing time this past season for Barca. Once he makes his first appearance in this tournament, he will become the youngest player to ever appear at the Euros. He did not look out of place today. Spain has to be one of the favorites heading to the WC and the next. How do they get such young players to play at a high level? |
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Post by squirrel on Jun 17, 2024 10:16:31 GMT -6
Romania blasts Ukraine 3:0 in a 46 over 22 upset (by FIFA ranking) and Slovakia stuns Belgium by finding the net in the early moments to force the Red Devils to respond over the remaining 84 minutes. Slovakia is ranked 48 in the world, Belgium 3.
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Post by squirrel on Jun 17, 2024 11:59:02 GMT -6
Slovakia holds on 1:0 for the biggest upset in Euro history (by FIFA ranking), a 48 over 3. Lukaku found the net twice for Belgium, but both were called off for offsides.
After 1 day, Group E is upside down with, with 46th ranked Romania in first and 48th ranked Slovakia 2nd, both with 3 points to open the tournament.
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Post by SFP on Jun 17, 2024 17:31:11 GMT -6
France beats a tough Austria 1-0 but may lose the best player in the world Kylian Mbappe for a bit with a broken nose. France is a really good team and Austria played them tight.
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Post by panthergrad2011 on Jun 17, 2024 19:51:39 GMT -6
Slovakia holds on 1:0 for the biggest upset in Euro history (by FIFA ranking), a 48 over 3. Lukaku found the net twice for Belgium, but both were called off for offsides. After 1 day, Group E is upside down with, with 46th ranked Romania in first and 48th ranked Slovakia 2nd, both with 3 points to open the tournament. The 2nd disallowed Lukaku goal was on a handball, not offside. |
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Post by panthergrad2011 on Jun 17, 2024 19:53:24 GMT -6
France beats a tough Austria 1-0 but may lose the best player in the world Kylian Mbappe for a bit with a broken nose. France is a really good team and Austria played them tight. Mbappe is questionable for Friday against the Dutch. |
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Post by SFP on Jun 17, 2024 19:55:45 GMT -6
France beats a tough Austria 1-0 but may lose the best player in the world Kylian Mbappe for a bit with a broken nose. France is a really good team and Austria played them tight. Mbappe is questionable for Friday against the Dutch. The good news is he doesn't need an operation on his nose. |
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Post by squirrel on Jun 19, 2024 12:16:05 GMT -6
Kind of a crazy stat - one surprising, one not: France and Switzerland are the only European teams to reach the Round of 16 in each of the 5 most recent major tournaments.
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Post by panthergrad2011 on Jun 19, 2024 13:32:25 GMT -6
The Croatia-Albania match earlier today was a really fun watch in the 2nd half.
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Post by squirrel on Jun 19, 2024 14:40:59 GMT -6
Yes it was, and Scotland-Switzerland has been pretty great too. Scotland has arguably had the better of it.
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Post by panthergrad2011 on Jun 19, 2024 19:31:03 GMT -6
The Scotland-Switzerland draw results in the hosts being the first to qualify through to the knockouts in this tournament.
Speaking of that Scotland-Switzerland match, the goal by Shaqiri was really great. Easily one of the best goals of the tournament thus far.
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