toonarmy

i think there's more goals in this one, not over yet

slow start to this game. i'm afraid germany might bore this game to death.

how have russia not scored at least 4? just dominated the swedish defense like it isn't even there.

It wasn't? well, sweden weren't really going after russia's goal yet, it was just sort of hanging around midfield and then russia exploded out from there. not like sweden had just taken a corner kick and russia ran off with the rebound or anything.

this tournament has had some of the best counter-attack goals i've ever seen. this one wasn't a pure counter, but it felt like one.

not to be too melodramatic, but i remember thinking before nihat's first goal when kazim kazim was screwing up everywhere that it was incredible how much you could see just how desperately nihat really wanted it, and then he went and did what he did

spectacular game. competition has really picked up, been quiet enjoyable after the first couple of days

hahaha

never mind, keeper is an idiot

what the fuck was that for? he never even touched anyone

i'm in disbelief. turks did it again. jesus fucking christ

what happens if holland wins 3-0, and italy and france tie 0-0 (all possible)? 3 way tie at the bottom, tied on GD, Goals scored and goals allowed, and all 3 tied each other. hope that happens, just to see pure insanity.

lot of interesting scenarios for this group now. if italy and france tie, and holland beats romania. the three bottom all finish on 3 points, all having tied each other. and then all hell breaks loose based on goal difference and such. should be fun.

how the hell did robben score from that angle? seen multiple replays and still don't understand it. unbelievable

he might have been onside

how have there been no goals so far? unbelievable. seemingly hundreds of great chances.

pretty good first twenty minutes, both teams really going at it. italys created lots of good chances, but romania has made buffon make two great saves

can't see how you can say that like. I think any of spain, holand, portugal and germany will win it. spain or germany at a push. if russia wern't almost certain to play holland in the quatre's then spain in the semi's i'd have given them a chance of making the final as well. agreed. pretty much has to be one of those 4. i don't want to read too much into results from one game, but who else is really capable? italy is so old, and they are in dire straits already, but you can't count them out yet. france looks awful and old also. greece? the czechs who were outplayed by the swiss? croatia, who didn't deserve a win against austria? turkey is a mess. romania could pull a greece '04, but they will have a hard time getting out of the group. no one else really left.

one interesting thing is that we havent even seen spain's midfield at their best. they've obviously dominated, but they haven't really created the goals with crosses or creative moves (outside of the second goal set up by iniesta's juking). most of the chances and goals have been created purely by the strikers outrunning the defense. haven't seen too many crosses or the midfielders passing into the box or anything like that, which players like cesc are clearly capable of. adds another element going forward.

what a counter

torres was good before the move, but hes on a different level now. you can see the confidence in him. having proven himself as probably the best true striker in england, he has to be thinking that if he he can do it there at the premier league pace and with that level of physicalness, he can certainly handle someone like the russians or anyone else. that's why i think there's some truth to the general consensus that this year will be different for spain due to the premier league players-they won't be flustered by a team with higher pace or more physical nature.

great first 30 minutes. great pace by torres for that goal, russia hit the bar, some good football overall. russia playing a bit better than i expected, but villa and torres are just eating up russia's back line with their pace.

boring first half

been a much better game than i expected. decent atmosphere, some breathtaking football from Man U, and now its tied. started off cagey for 23 minutes, but great final 24 minutes. Man U probably should have put this game already, but hey, at least this sets up an interesting enough second half to keep me watching.

god i hate the chelsea players surrounding the referee