I was hoping Denmark would get something, but that was nonetheless a great warmup for what in my opinion is the fiercest international rivalry in Western Europe.
Netherlands: Stekelenburg, Van Der Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen, Willems, Nigel De Jong, Van Bommel, Robben, Sneijder, Afellay, van Persie. Subs: Vorm, Bouma, Kuyt, Huntelaar, Vlaar, Schaars, Strootman, Luuk De Jong, Narsingh, Boulahrouz, Van der Vaart, Krul. Germany: Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Muller, Ozil, Podolski, Gomez. Subs: Wiese, Gundogan, Schmelzer, Howedes, Schurrle, Klose, Bender, Mertesacker, Kroos, Gotze, Reus, Zieler.
I hate to admit it, Germany are looking their usual efficient selves with some top class finishing too.
Turkey are in the east. Point taken though. While I don't know a lot about football matches between those two, I assume it's every bit as fierce.
Gutted. Having drawn Holland in the sweepstake, i thought i was onto a winner..talk about feeling let down! Bum!
Just finished watching the match and i have to say, it doesn't look like Germany are superb, but they're efficient enough to win the tournament. Imagine what they'll be like at the world cup when they're finished 'rebuilding'..scary stuff!
They can still go through, and the things that need to happen aren't that unrealistic. If Germany and Holland win, three teams are tied on three points. If either of those teams wins by two goals, Holland go through.
Germany can also still go out ! Any wins of any dimensions for Denmark and Portugal in the last matches would now lead to that result - I think Denmark will be the hardest match for them. Having said that, Germany winning any competition normally depends on their bogey team Italy being knocked out by someone else - for some reason the Germans can't play against high possession teams like Italy and Spain. Another aspect of the root and branch changes in German football over the last 10 years or so is the emergence of a multi cultural national team, Meset Ozul, Sammy Khadira, Boateng, Mario Gomez also Miroslaw Klose and Lucas Podolski. Germany has a large advantage in as much as nearly all of it's immigration comes from other football playing countries. In the past Germany did not benefit from this - for example 8 of the Croatia squad at the 1996 european championships had been born in Germany. Now, at last, Germany is becomming more tolerable in it's naturalization laws - which, for a country which does not have a good reputation in the integration of it's immigrant populations can only be a step forward. Maybe the next step after football will be people of ethnic backgrounds working in the German police force, or as judges, politicians etc. it would be nice to think so !
A very satisfying game and result this evening. Spain did not need to be at their best to win, but very poor opponents gave them no problems at all. The commentator seemed to dwell more on how well some of the fans were singing rather than how one-sided the game was. How some of these fringe nations qualify, I am at a loss to explain.
Just finished watching Spain v Ireland..and i think everyone is being a little harsh on Ireland. Yes, they were poor in comparison, but their passion and commitment..and that of their fans, is extraordinary...feeling for them right now, tbh.
Ireland's fans were fantastic given the circumstances. It's easy to be that passionate about a good team.
I'm sorry but I think it's just as easy to be passionate about a team which realistically doesn't stand a chance of winning. Witness the many Minnows versus Giants FA Cup games (and I include Watford games where we were the minnows), where the minnows fans are far more passionate and vocal. It's actually sometimes difficult to be passionate about a team which is expected to win easily against poor opposition. I lose count of the number of times at away games in our 2 Premiership seasons where we have taunted the home fans for a lousy atmosphere. Remember the "Shall we help you sing a song" song or the "We're out of your League" T-shirts anyone? Great for morale, for a good day out and for a feeling that somehow we were superior in at least one department to the home side. Sadly though, in the vast majority of cases, passionate fans do not win matches. Players do.........
It's easy to be passionate about a plucky underdog which falls to a creditable one or two goal defeat against world class opposition. Somewhat more difficult when your team gets battered, and you're lucky that the opposition haven't scored ten.
