Football (real)

[Trevor33]

Ok, so we already know all the 8 pairing in europa league s last 16:

Basel - Salzburg
Porto - Napoli
Sevilla - Betis
Lyon - Victoria Plzeň
Ludogorets- Valencia
Tottenham-Benfica
Juventus- Fiorentina
AZ - Anzhi

Starting to look interesting, a few tough calls there for bookies!

Porto/Napoli should be a good one. Will go for Basel, Napoli, Sevilla, Lyon, Valencia, Benfica, Juve and AZ.

Regarding Swansea/Napoli, Napoli are a better side with much better players but Swansea were always going to put up a good fight and with 20 mins left were looking like they could do it... Napoli just had to many attcaking threats. Spurs were damn lucky.

[betiko]

I d go more or less for the same, only that there are a few where i honestly can t make up my mind:
Basel-salzburg: basel has beaten chelsea in champion s league but salzburg completely destroyed ajax the round before with impressive scores.. Best swiss vs best austrian..
Porto-Napoli; i just see these 2 really even.. Can t make up my mind. Slightly leaning napoli because of benitez and because porto sold a lot of players last summer again, but this club is a hydra... Cut a head 2 more will grow off, porto is always there
Lyon-plzen; plzen just took out the chakhtar. Were they at 100%? Probably in preseason and out of shape. Also there are all these events in ukraine... But Lyon was facing Odessa and had some trouble to make it through and aren t playing the cup seriously enough.. On the paper it s lyon but if i had to bet i d got with the underdog.
Spurs benfica: benfica is favorite, but spurs can make it, no doubt.


Agree with the rest.
For the "derbi", it s just horrible how i both want to see it and don t want to see it at the same time. This is so fucked up.. Last year we were better than them though. We re selling too many players and replacing them by crap. Our guys from the youth team are often pretty good.
Ahh, i miss the 90s till mid 00's... We used to buy lots of big names and even made it to the champion s league.
We are just piss poor now..

[betiko]

Wow what a first half for france vs netherlands! Benzema can play football with the national team? That s big news!
Mangala and Griezmann the new guys were starting and have been doing rather well. It kind of feels like since the second leg of the playoffs for the world cup these guys have realized something.. Don t know if it will last, second half might be horrible lol

[nietzsche]

Wow what a first half for france vs netherlands! Benzema can play football with the national team? That s big news!
Mangala and Griezmann the new guys were starting and have been doing rather well. It kind of feels like since the second leg of the playoffs for the world cup these guys have realized something.. Don t know if it will last, second half might be horrible lol

I was going to tell you the other day after seeing the possible players for France that they had a very strong team. It was a very impressive first half, and I liked the fact that Griezman could play along Benzema.

[betiko]

Wow what a first half for france vs netherlands! Benzema can play football with the national team? That s big news!
Mangala and Griezmann the new guys were starting and have been doing rather well. It kind of feels like since the second leg of the playoffs for the world cup these guys have realized something.. Don t know if it will last, second half might be horrible lol

I was going to tell you the other day after seeing the possible players for France that they had a very strong team. It was a very impressive first half, and I liked the fact that Griezman could play along Benzema.

Best benzema i ve seen with the french team, he was sooo dangerous and creative. Stupid question... Could it be because ribery wasn t on the pitch and he took his responsabilities?

It s funny because on marca they said france couldn t compete with the youth of the dutch team... But in fact I wonder if the french team wasn t younger. Oldest guy was probably valbuena or lloris with 27-28

[Trevor33]

Watched the England game... man they suck. Rooney should be dropped for the world cup, pity Walcot is injured they really need an injection of pace. Lallana should play more, looked right at home when he came on and set up the goal excellently.

In other news Aus 3-0 at halftime lost 3-4 to Ecuador lol

[iAmCaffeine]

Watched the England game... man they suck. Rooney should be dropped for the world cup, pity Walcot is injured they really need an injection of pace. Lallana should play more, looked right at home when he came on and set up the goal excellently.

In other news Aus 3-0 at halftime lost 3-4 to Ecuador lol

Who would you replace Rooney with?

[Trevor33]

Watched the England game... man they suck. Rooney should be dropped for the world cup, pity Walcot is injured they really need an injection of pace. Lallana should play more, looked right at home when he came on and set up the goal excellently.

In other news Aus 3-0 at halftime lost 3-4 to Ecuador lol

Who would you replace Rooney with?

I'd play 4,3,3 with Gerrard, Lallana and Milner in Midfield and Sturridge, Welbeck and Sterling as the 3 forwards. Sturridge playing more in the center like he does for Liverpoo and Welbeck and Sterling swapping sides. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is another option, as is Carrick in midfield.

[nietzsche]

I see one of the weakest England teams as far as I remember.

I see the strongest France since 98.

I see one of the mildest Brazil's ever.

I saw last night that Mexico could lose to Camerun in the WC.

[Trevor33]

I see one of the weakest England teams as far as I remember.

I see the strongest France since 98.

I see one of the mildest Brazil's ever.

I saw last night that Mexico could lose to Camerun in the WC.

The 92/94 England team was worse than this... well maybe the players were slightly better then but their coach now is one of the best. Go and look to the last time England lost a competitive game, you'll be surprised.

As far as Brazil goes, different doesn't mean worse... they won't be playing with the flair of other Brazil sides but they can win the WC.

[betiko]

I see one of the weakest England teams as far as I remember.

I see the strongest France since 98.

I see one of the mildest Brazil's ever.

I saw last night that Mexico could lose to Camerun in the WC.

France in 2000 winning the eurocup was stronger than the 1998 one. And france finalist of the 2006 world cup was stronger than this one too no doubt. We re just comming back from very far. And let s face it. Netherlands is shit. Belgium today is a million times better. I actually think that spain and chile are the ones qualifying in that group, eliminating netherlands.
So yeah... France is playing really well since the last 2 games, but it doesn t mean much. Given the young age of most of the players we have now ... This looks more like a preparation for the eurocup 2016 held in france that we will try to win. In brazil, we will try to go to quarter finals to do the job. Semi finalist would be way above expectations, there are too many teams better than us.

[nietzsche]

I see one of the weakest England teams as far as I remember.

I see the strongest France since 98.

I see one of the mildest Brazil's ever.

I saw last night that Mexico could lose to Camerun in the WC.

France in 2000 winning the eurocup was stronger than the 1998 one. And france finalist of the 2006 world cup was stronger than this one too no doubt. We re just comming back from very far. And let s face it. Netherlands is shit. Belgium today is a million times better. I actually think that spain and chile are the ones qualifying in that group, eliminating netherlands.
So yeah... France is playing really well since the last 2 games, but it doesn t mean much. Given the young age of most of the players we have now ... This looks more like a preparation for the eurocup 2016 held in france that we will try to win. In brazil, we will try to go to quarter finals to do the job. Semi finalist would be way above expectations, there are too many teams better than us.

we are talking of the same team, 98 and 2000. 2006 was all it was because of Zidane.

This team looks very promising, yeah, as you say, perhaps they are starting but they have a lot of good players..

France has two strikers that to me are cracks, Benzema and Griezman, the problem with Benzema sometimes is that he doesn't adapt to the game he's currently playing, but I think that if Deschamps is smart enough, he can build the attack for him. Whenever he gets a chance to shoot, it's danger of goal.

[betiko]

I see one of the weakest England teams as far as I remember.

I see the strongest France since 98.

I see one of the mildest Brazil's ever.

I saw last night that Mexico could lose to Camerun in the WC.

France in 2000 winning the eurocup was stronger than the 1998 one. And france finalist of the 2006 world cup was stronger than this one too no doubt. We re just comming back from very far. And let s face it. Netherlands is shit. Belgium today is a million times better. I actually think that spain and chile are the ones qualifying in that group, eliminating netherlands.
So yeah... France is playing really well since the last 2 games, but it doesn t mean much. Given the young age of most of the players we have now ... This looks more like a preparation for the eurocup 2016 held in france that we will try to win. In brazil, we will try to go to quarter finals to do the job. Semi finalist would be way above expectations, there are too many teams better than us.

we are talking of the same team, 98 and 2000. 2006 was all it was because of Zidane.

This team looks very promising, yeah, as you say, perhaps they are starting but they have a lot of good players..

France has two strikers that to me are cracks, Benzema and Griezman, the problem with Benzema sometimes is that he doesn't adapt to the game he's currently playing, but I think that if Deschamps is smart enough, he can build the attack for him. Whenever he gets a chance to shoot, it's danger of goal.

Nope. 2000 had trezeguet and henry that were not two young players aged 18 playing their first games with the national team, they had won lots of credit. All the team was more confident and experienced. For me 2000 was the best french team ever. And the win in the final against Italy... Most epic football joy ever!
I think that for europeans the value of an eurocup and the world cup is more or less the same given that the eurocup is actually a more difficult competition. More level in group stage, and 1/8th of final isn t really with true contenders in a wc. In a eurocup 1/4 finals anyone can win.

And 2006 we had Ribery sparkling playing his first games for the national team. It was the old guard that brought us there with very few new guys that could meet the previous generation s standards.
Griezmann is just a possible sub for the wc, he isn t one of our stars.

[iAmCaffeine]

Watched the England game... man they suck. Rooney should be dropped for the world cup, pity Walcot is injured they really need an injection of pace. Lallana should play more, looked right at home when he came on and set up the goal excellently.

In other news Aus 3-0 at halftime lost 3-4 to Ecuador lol

Who would you replace Rooney with?

I'd play 4,3,3 with Gerrard, Lallana and Milner in Midfield and Sturridge, Welbeck and Sterling as the 3 forwards. Sturridge playing more in the center like he does for Liverpoo and Welbeck and Sterling swapping sides. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is another option, as is Carrick in midfield.

I'd drop Gerrard for Wilshere. He has never performed for England like he does for Liverpool, and that's because England don't rely on him like Liverpool do. I'd also have Sterling on the bench with Ox starting.

[JBlombier]

Wow what a first half for france vs netherlands! Benzema can play football with the national team? That s big news!
Mangala and Griezmann the new guys were starting and have been doing rather well. It kind of feels like since the second leg of the playoffs for the world cup these guys have realized something.. Don t know if it will last, second half might be horrible lol

Nah, you guys played well. It has to be said our coach is still letting outsiders from all over the place have some time play to prove themselves. Some really did good, some others didn't. There will be a different team when it's WC time.

France - The Netherlands had two brilliant goals, though! Too bad they weren't for us.

[Trevor33]

I see one of the weakest England teams as far as I remember.

I see the strongest France since 98.

I see one of the mildest Brazil's ever.

I saw last night that Mexico could lose to Camerun in the WC.

France in 2000 winning the eurocup was stronger than the 1998 one. And france finalist of the 2006 world cup was stronger than this one too no doubt. We re just comming back from very far. And let s face it. Netherlands is shit. Belgium today is a million times better. I actually think that spain and chile are the ones qualifying in that group, eliminating netherlands.
So yeah... France is playing really well since the last 2 games, but it doesn t mean much. Given the young age of most of the players we have now ... This looks more like a preparation for the eurocup 2016 held in france that we will try to win. In brazil, we will try to go to quarter finals to do the job. Semi finalist would be way above expectations, there are too many teams better than us.

we are talking of the same team, 98 and 2000. 2006 was all it was because of Zidane.

This team looks very promising, yeah, as you say, perhaps they are starting but they have a lot of good players..

France has two strikers that to me are cracks, Benzema and Griezman, the problem with Benzema sometimes is that he doesn't adapt to the game he's currently playing, but I think that if Deschamps is smart enough, he can build the attack for him. Whenever he gets a chance to shoot, it's danger of goal.

Nope. 2000 had trezeguet and henry that were not two young players aged 18 playing their first games with the national team, they had won lots of credit. All the team was more confident and experienced. For me 2000 was the best french team ever. And the win in the final against Italy... Most epic football joy ever!
I think that for europeans the value of an eurocup and the world cup is more or less the same given that the eurocup is actually a more difficult competition. More level in group stage, and 1/8th of final isn t really with true contenders in a wc. In a eurocup 1/4 finals anyone can win.

And 2006 we had Ribery sparkling playing his first games for the national team. It was the old guard that brought us there with very few new guys that could meet the previous generation s standards.
Griezmann is just a possible sub for the wc, he isn t one of our stars.

I was playing a game if Risk while watching that 2000 Euro final

Fecken golden goal rule, good thing that was scraped. I can remember few commentators but I remember when Trezeguet scored the winner... TTTRREEEEZZZEEGGAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
Bastards, at least Italy got their revenge in 2006

Agree 2000 was a better team than in 98 and 2006 though, even if a lot of the players were the same.

Plus after 2014 I think we can stop the argument that the Euros are harder than the WC with it being expended to 24 teams.

[Trevor33]

Watched the England game... man they suck. Rooney should be dropped for the world cup, pity Walcot is injured they really need an injection of pace. Lallana should play more, looked right at home when he came on and set up the goal excellently.

In other news Aus 3-0 at halftime lost 3-4 to Ecuador lol

Who would you replace Rooney with?

I'd play 4,3,3 with Gerrard, Lallana and Milner in Midfield and Sturridge, Welbeck and Sterling as the 3 forwards. Sturridge playing more in the center like he does for Liverpoo and Welbeck and Sterling swapping sides. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is another option, as is Carrick in midfield.

I'd drop Gerrard for Wilshere. He has never performed for England like he does for Liverpool, and that's because England don't rely on him like Liverpool do. I'd also have Sterling on the bench with Ox starting.

Nah, he is the spine of the England team, plus now he is playing in the same position for England than for Liverpoo, before he was always involved in a system that didn't suit him.

The basic problem will always be that England players don't have the technical skills of the players on the continent or S. America and look better for their clubs around better players than they do for the England team.

[betiko]

Wow what a first half for france vs netherlands! Benzema can play football with the national team? That s big news!
Mangala and Griezmann the new guys were starting and have been doing rather well. It kind of feels like since the second leg of the playoffs for the world cup these guys have realized something.. Don t know if it will last, second half might be horrible lol

Nah, you guys played well. It has to be said our coach is still letting outsiders from all over the place have some time play to prove themselves. Some really did good, some others didn't. There will be a different team when it's WC time.

France - The Netherlands had two brilliant goals, though! Too bad they weren't for us.

you Durch played good and intensively the first half hour and then you went down completely... And yeah, many unknown new players for me, all young guys tested by van gaal I guess...Would you agree that the dutch team has declined significantly since the 2010 WC? you guys had an amazing team, you still have most of these players in attack but I don't know... the defense is pretty horrible..

[betiko]

I was playing a game if Risk while watching that 2000 Euro final

Fecken golden goal rule, good thing that was scraped. I can remember few commentators but I remember when Trezeguet scored the winner... TTTRREEEEZZZEEGGAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
Bastards, at least Italy got their revenge in 2006

Agree 2000 was a better team than in 98 and 2006 though, even if a lot of the players were the same.

Plus after 2014 I think we can stop the argument that the Euros are harder than the WC with it being expended to 24 teams.

I was at the university with many friends. My roommate back then, who is half french half italian and who grew up in England supports first the three lions, then la azzura then les bleus. So he was bugging us all after (was it del piero or delvecchio??) Italy's goal. I had a few friends that left on the 85th, and I was like "I swear we are going to score, this is not over, where are you going guys!!" then the whole Italian bench starts celebrating... Henry asks them for respect, shows his watch and asks them to sit with his hand... 93rd, there goes Wilthord and GOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!! OVERTIMEEEEEE!!!!!!!
And a few minutes within the overtime Trezeguet and GOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!! golden goal!!! Italians can go back home we can stop playing!!!!!
My roomate was hating us all and we all went to the Champs Elysees to celebrate.
Don't forget that we kicked italy out of the 98 world cup in quarter finals in penalty shootouts. And in 2006we could've played 5 times that final we would've lost it just once. We played so much better.... but Buffon was just so absolutely incredible during the second half and the overtime... he should've won the ballon d'or, not Cannavaro.

And yeah you are probably right. with 24 teams (forgot about that) the level of the eurocup won't be the same as before. the 16 team format was awesome... It's still played every 4 years, unlike what they do in other continents where it's every 2 years and it cheapens their continental cup. I like the eurocup just as much as the world cup to be honest. When the eurocup arrives, it's been 2 years since you haven't had a true international competition, so you are just as much into it.

[nietzsche]

Etoo is Old



Nice way to put an end to the whole situation lol.

[Trevor33]

http://metro.co.uk/2014/03/10/zlatan-ib ... a-4513883/

[betiko]

lol yeah heard about that tweet.

I was wondering... do you guys have any example of a football superstar forward being at his best aged 32?
Drogba? even if Drogba is/was huge, I don't think he's ever been at the level of zlatan. who else? Van nistelrooy was pretty good until a very late age...

hardto say! how many more years can zlatan perform like this? 2 more years? probably.. not like his skills are about speed, and this guy is sooooo motivated... let's see how his motivation goes, cause his body is just fine now.

[Trevor33]

More players should do that. I'm sure most have an ego maybe not as big but getting there.

Hm, not sure... Bergkamp was pretty awesome @32, Zola maybe but he was never really a top sticker anyway. What age was Forlan at the last world cup?

Top of the lot as the be Raul though, him and Giggs were top class 30+

Klose also for sheer goal scoring ability. Maybe Del Piero as well.

[sempaispellcheck]

http://metro.co.uk/2014/03/10/zlatan-ibrahimovic-hosts-hilarious-twitter-qa-4513883/

Fantastic. He really is something else.

Every time I watch him play, I wonder why Pep didn't keep him at Barca.
So glad my version of PES came out before he left - Henry on the left, Messi on the right, Ibra down the middle.

sempai

[betiko]

More players should do that. I'm sure most have an ego maybe not as big but getting there.

Hm, not sure... Bergkamp was pretty awesome @32, Zola maybe but he was never really a top sticker anyway. What age was Forlan at the last world cup?

Top of the lot as the be Raul though, him and Giggs were top class 30+

Klose also for sheer goal scoring ability. Maybe Del Piero as well.

forlan is just 2 years older, he was just 30 during the last world cup (ibra will be 33 this summer).
I think he's the best player ever in ligue 1; I mean lots of great players played here, but none at the peak of their career like ibra right now.
Every game he does something awesome... you saw his assist to lavezzi last week end?



and when he was in barcelona; first off, he doesn't play like eto'o at all; guardiola wasn't the one who asked for this profile as he doesn't correspond to his game style, it was the president who wanted to do something huge to counter crstiano ronaldo going to the real madrid that same summer.
he didn't do that bad, 17 goals in liga, but there was a lot of pressure and criticizm with him. No one is allowed to criticize zlatan. so zlatan left.