Keith Andrews to score anytime...18/1 with Paddy Power which is about 6 points better than any other Bookies
Not sure, I did it from my phone so it might not have worked fully. Spain/Italy gives you little over 2/1 today, with Spain/Croatia not much better at just under 4/1. William hill are offering 7/2 on Iniesta to score anytime and Spain win, which seems pretty decent. I'm going for a treble in the Spain game though - Spain win, over 12 corners and over 6 cards is 18/1. Same bet with the exception of 4-6 instead of over 6 cards is 13/2. A cheeky £20 on the former I think.
I hate Spain. 10 minutes to go and I need 2 corners to win on an 18/1 steak. They then pass backwards whenever near the Ireland goal. I will take great satisfaction when Germany stuff them.
Don't understand Trappatoni's use of Maclean - he's done brilliant to get Ireland to this point on very limited resources - then when a player emerges who's had a great first season, albeit a short one, in The Prem, he doesn't take full advantage of him. Irish fans magnificent in their support and so good to see both sets of fans standing together, chatting and supporting their teams.
I was listening to Radio Marca (Spanish sports radio out of Madrid) on the way home from work, and two hours before kick off, they were describing this as 'just a coupleof hours before our first win in the Eurocopa'. Okay, they were right but I thought it was very arrogant to chalk up the win before a ball was kicked, so like Supercrissy, I'll be cheering on the Germans too! Meanwhile, if anyone is out in north eastern Spain tonight, i'll be in the Alcatraz british pub watching the match.
Crappatoni, Richard Dung, Shay Given-up-and-gone-home, Simon Cox - the lot of 'em, Robbie's Keane for the ground to swallow him up ... Ireland. Utter dross.
Swings and roundabouts SuperC, I spent the whole winter wishing I was in south east London, and I confidently expect to do the same this winter too!
Now that's what I call rain. Scarcely believable that the pitch is ready for play again so soon. Now, about the lovely French passing game...
That's the most excited that I have got for an England performance in absolutley years. Just think how excited I will get when we actually play well. It was like playing a David O'Leary's Aston Villa side tonight so we shouldn't take anything for granted but still. Never a worse sight than Andy Carroll's unravelled hair though.
Start off with a chorus of Imagination's 'Could it be that, It's just a dellusion' and move on to 'they're going home, they're going home, they're going Sweden's going home!' Triumphant night after years of scandinavian torture. We're not even guarenteed to get out of the group yet, but we've done much better than I would have expected, and with some youthfull prospects coming through. Plus there was this lad I feel sure I saw in a Charlton shirt years back, name escapes me for the moment but whenever he had possession, pound signs flashed before my eyes. Exciting times.
The commitment was unbelievable at times last night - OK, at times the standard of football was sub-Conference and with the standard of some of the Sweden tackling, I was surprised they finished with eleven on the field - but it was so exciting. Quality goals from absolutely focused players. The only thing I'd change would be never to see Milner again, Hodgson seems to have sussed Downing in about five minutes, something Capello didn't manage in three years, and it's only a matter of time before he goes too. Short on ideas, short on fitness and looking suspiciously heavy. Maybe a move away from City to somewhere he's going to get a regular 90 minutes wouldn't hurt. Now, enter Rooney...
I was delighted for Andy Carroll, that was a fantastic goal. It was a game that we would have enjoyed a lot more had we not been English, I think, England and Sweden are very evenly matched and it made for great entertainment. Well done Hodgson for bringing on Walcott.
I'm glad somebody else thinks Milner is garbage, up to the point he was taken off he was the only player to have played every minute of all the games that Roy has been in charge! HOW??
I never understood this. International teams don't play each other competitively very often at all, and the "run" would span over two or three generations of teams, if not more. You also beat them fairly easily in a friendly last year. If it was France or Germany I could understand people caring about the statistics, but Sweden isn't a country England holds a rivalry with, and it's a country broadly on the same level as England, so I never understood why everyone was talking about how you never beat Sweden, and scandinavian torture etc. As an example, I think Ireland have a dreadful record against Bulgaria. Probably haven't beaten them competitively since the 1970s. But, if we were drawn in a group with Bulgaria, that wouldn't come into it at all, because they're just another team. Anyway, another enjoyable game. Great goals from Welbeck and Carroll, and a good win.
I don't usually bother with the England matches but thought they thoroughly deserved the win last night. It's refreshing to see less of the swagger, triumphalism and cockiness of the England teams of old. This team seems to be putting in the graft and their heads didn't drop after going 2-1 down and whenever they had possession it was with more or a purpose. Sweden is a beautiful country and worth a visit if you get the chance to go there.
