Euro 2012 Qualifiers

[Keystone Phil]

Estonia leads Slovenia 1-0. The battle for second place in Group C stays interesting. 

[Keystone Phil]

Well, it looks like I was wrong about The Netherlands-San Marino match. It won't end 7-0; it's 8-0 in the 80th minute.

[Keystone Phil]

Wales leading two nil... which is... unusual these days.

And against Montenegro! Wow.

[Keystone Phil]

9-0 now.

And Faroe Islands almost scores, hitting the crossbar. Crazy.

[Keystone Phil]

And so what could have been a 5-0 win for Italy ends 1-0. One win away from qualification.

[Keystone Phil]

And so what could have been a 5-0 win for Italy ends 1-0. One win away from qualification.

As always.

Wales just handed the ticket to Poland/Ukraine to England.

So true but I can't help but think that if Serie A wasn't striking, they would have nailed a few more of those opportunities. Cassano proved once again that he is easily one of the most overrated players. He could have had another goal late in the game but just stopped running in the box. Disgusting. I really don't like him.

Some fairytales seem to have come to an end today: Montenegro (though they still could advance during the playoff round), Northern Ireland, Belgium and Belarus.

[Keystone Phil]

Phil, on your previous post about Sweden, I'm not worried about Hungary. As long as we beat Finland and San Marino (teams that we beat by 5-0 and 6-0 respectively in the last games) we're automatically ahead of Hungary regardless of how the rest goes (if they win all their other games and we lose the last game against Holland we would, given that, be tied on points and be ahead based on better head-to-head record).

Yeah, I didn't realize you guys beat them by two goals in the first game. You still have to beat Finland in Helsinki though. I imagine that won't be another 5-0 rout. That being said, Hungary still have to play them again, too, but they'll have the benefit of home field advantage in the last game.

[Keystone Phil]

Spain, The Netherlands and Italy should join Germany, Poland and Ukraine as qualified teams today. Spain will surely steam roll Liechtenstein while The Netherlands shouldn't have much of a problem with Finland. Italy will have the toughest task but I think we'll get the job done at home. We'll have even more of a psychological edge since we're playing in Florence (where Prandelli reigned as coach of Fiorentina). Unfortunately, I think our clean sheet run will finally come to an end but we'll still come away with maximum points in a 2-1 win.

Fun fact that I just noticed: Group E (The Netherlands' group) is the only group in the tournament in which no team has recorded a draw in 2012 qualifying.

[Keystone Phil]

Slovakia has one more game left, but they still have to go to Russia

Slovakia's remaining game against Russia is in Slovakia.

Going to Moscow and walking away with a draw is decent for the visiting team. However, there are problems ahead. The way I look at it, I think all three top teams will end with 21 points. I think that is going to hurt Ireland when it comes to the head-to-head record.

[Keystone Phil]

The Dutch are just ten minutes away from qualifying. They're only up 1-0 though so let's see if Finland can at least equalize (despite being down a man).

[Keystone Phil]

Almost a goal by my boy Rossi within the first thirty seconds!

[Keystone Phil]

2-0 to the Dutch. Game over. They have officially qualified.

[Keystone Phil]

Faroe Islands managed a goal against Serbia in Belgrade!

2-0 to the Dutch. Game over. They have officially qualified.

Not exactly. Were they to lose their remaining two games and Sweden to win their last three, they could finish second.

Interesting. Other sources made it seem like they could qualify as group winners today.

[Keystone Phil]

Armenia has totally demolished Slovakia; good news for Russia and Ireland.

Whoa. Huge news.

Italy vs. Slovenia and France vs. Romania still 0-0 ?

Interesting.

We just had the ball cleared on Slovenia's goal line twice a few minutes ago. We missed way too many opportunities this entire game.

[Keystone Phil]

Game now ended 0-0

A glimmer of hope for Belgium!

[Keystone Phil]

Pazzini scores five minutes from the end of regulation! Grazie a Dio!

[Keystone Phil]

Italy officially qualifies for Euro 2012 as group winners!

[Keystone Phil]

Scotland remains ahead of Lithuania by 1:0

...and if they win, they'll have a glimmer of hope for qualifying, too.

[Keystone Phil]

The more important question will be if the Poles and Ukrainians will get their stadiums ready by next year. I have seen and read reports that they are way behind schedule in construction.

Is this still an issue? I remember reading about it earlier in the year but figured they had their act together by now. Just goes to show you that FIFA and UEFA are idiots for risking a smoothly run tournament for "making history."

Euro 2012 was supposed to go to Italy anyway but Poland-Ukraine won in an upset. I actually wouldn't mind seeing it go to Croatia-Hungary (the third place bid).

[Keystone Phil]

Well, having studied the table I think best runner-up is realistically between Denmark and Greece, with Sweden as an outsider.

It could also be Croatia, if they lose to Greece and finish second in their group.

Greece has won all but one game (which ended in a draw) at home so I think their remaining home game against Croatia should go their way. Croatia will win its last game but as long as Greece don't lose in Georgia, Greece will win the group.

I think it's going to be between Sweden and Croatia for the best runner-up spot. You guys should beat Finland but I'm guessing that even with The Netherlands' taking their foot off the pedal a bit, they'll still get a draw against the Swedes in the final game. That would put Sweden and Croatia equal with 22 points from their respective groups.

[Keystone Phil]

(16 once you deduct those against the worse team).

Oh, right.

I'm not saying that Croatia can't get their act together; they certainly can. And Greece's tying with Latvia definitely wasn't impressive (it was almost a loss). I still like Greece's chances at home.

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Yeah, they have a history of doing that.

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I, again, forgot about the subtraction of points against the worst team in one's group. I was actually expecting them to draw with Portugal at home and beat Cyprus so that should make them the best runner up but we'll see what happens. Crazy things can happen. Cyprus did tie Portugal in the opening game (a stunning 4-4 result) in Portugal and only lost by a goal against Norway in their next game. Sometimes, when these teams have the chance to spoil things for their opponents, they kick it into overdrive.

[Keystone Phil]

Italy are rubbish. This ain't the 90's anymore. The Italians are all old and sh**t and slow.

This is a very young team but thanks for playing.

 

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Proof? You might be thinking of the Germans who just did.

 

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Several times, in fact. I enjoy it.

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Wouldn't matter to me. Milan isn't my Italian team anyway.

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C+

Showed some half decent attempts but still easily detectable. Suggested methods for better trolling: getting my Serie A team preference correct; don't get basic facts wrong (i.e., saying that the Italians have an old team. It isn't 2010 anymore).

[Keystone Phil]

Not everyone who disagrees with you is trolling.

I suggest you stop being such a massive fanny.

Well, I mean, there were some glaring errors for a "fan" of the game. 

[Keystone Phil]

I'm sorry, I'm not having being lectured on football by a colonial commoner.

I've played the game for most of my life, don't follow anything regarding the American version of the game and do follow real Football/Soccer (oops. I know you dislike calling it that...). I'm not a "colonial" follower of the game by any stretch of the imagination.

But if we want to have a debate about this aspect of the game, let's take it to one of the other threads. Let's save this for Euro 2012 talk.

[Keystone Phil]

If you look at the German line-up against Austria the majority was younger than 25 (8/11). In Italy's last game only 2 were (and none below 23). The vast majority in Italy is still close to 30 which makes the team pretty old, albeit not by Italian standards.

Close to 30, sure, but we only have two starters that are actually at or older than 30 (I don't even want to count Buffon in that since he's in goal and age isn't much of a factor for him/keepers last much longer in this game).

To nit pick, there definitely was a player (though not a starter) that was under 23 in our last game: Balotelli. He didn't come in until the very end though.

I think the average age on the team is somewhere in the mid 20s and that's not old by Italian standards. This squad is likely younger, on average, than the 2006 team and that's good enough for me.