Dominion Strategy Forum
Miscellaneous => General Discussion => Topic started by: drsteelhammer on June 07, 2016, 12:16:57 pm
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So who else is excited for the EURO Championship starting this Friday?
Also, what are the teams to look out for? Besides the usual suspects like Germany, Spain and Italy? Switzerland and Belgium are probably the teams that may cause some upsets, although that has been said for several years now, maybe they'll finally show up. I've heard that La Grande Nation is supposed to be a secret favourite aswell, after getting rid of all their morally dubiuos players.
Besides rooting for my home country and waiting for Wales to beat England, I'm really looking forward to seeing Iceland play after their great qualifier. Speaking of Iceland, shoutout to my Dutch neighbours, I hope you will have an enjoyable Championship aswell from the couch :P
So what are your thoughts? Other teams you'll be lookng forward to seeing?
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I'm not interested in Tennis at all.
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I for one am happy that Scotland got the Independence they wanted- the rest of Britain is going to the Euros, and they're not.
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I am a great soccer (and even greater football) fan and very excited for the world cup. Though coming from Germany I'm supporting Belgium and England this summer since I don't like the German team at all.
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Seeing Russia-Slovakia live ;D ;D
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I recently filled in a bracket at work for the Euros, using a refined statistical model to work out the scores. Since I've already submitted, I'll share the model here: Each team scores =floor(4.5*rand()^2,1) goals.
As a result of this analysis, I'm really excited to see Switzerland win in the final against Russia.
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Sad that they diluted the tournament to 24 participants. I am not hailing the glory days of a EURO 1976 with four participants, but in the 16 teams format every game counted from the get-go. At least they could have left four groups with two teams advancing each, would have been just one more round to play.
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Is anyone here interested in Euro 2016 Twatball (https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1263121.jpg)? Like fantasy football, but you try to pick players who will get sent off, concede penalties, score own goals and so on.
My Twatball team:
Petr Čech Czech Republic (0)
Juanfran Spain (0) Bruno Alves Portugal (0) Ricardo Carvalho Portugal (0) Pepe Portugal (0)
Mesut Özil Germany (0) Dele Alli England (0) Raheem Sterling England (0) Daniele De Rossi Italy (0)
Mario Gomez Germany (0) Antoine Griezmann France (0)
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Is anyone here interested in Euro 2016 Twatball (https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1263121.jpg)? Like fantasy football, but you try to pick players who will get sent off, concede penalties, score own goals and so on.
My Twatball team:
Petr Čech Czech Republic (0)
Juanfran Spain (0) Bruno Alves Portugal (0) Ricardo Carvalho Portugal (0) Pepe Portugal (0)
Mesut Özil Germany (0) Dele Alli England (0) Raheem Sterling England (0) Daniele De Rossi Italy (0)
Mario Gomez Germany (0) Antoine Griezmann France (0)
Unless you get points for moping around, not sure why you have Özil on your team; he isn't particularly likely to attempt a tackle, let alone concede a penalty or get sent off.
As for the actual tournament, I'm interested to see if some of the bigger nations can shake off some of the poor form they've had in the friendlies. That said, France has looked absolutely fantastic every time I've seen them recently. If they can avoid host pressure (still laughing at Brazil two years later), they're my pick. My dark horse pick? Croatia or Poland.
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The Netherlands isn't participating, that's sad. We're among 3 or 4 countries in Europe who didn't make it; among San Marino and Andorra I think.
So who to root for now?
Belgium has a fine squad (although dearly missing Kompany), but always choke in big tournaments.
Germany always has a strong showing in tournaments.
Spain seems a little over the top, I'm not a fan of either Costa or Torres.
France has a good team with Pogba and Griezmann, certainly a candidate.
Surprises might come from Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, all with some of the best squads they've had in years.
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So who to root for now?
Belgium has a fine squad (although dearly missing Kompany), but always choke in big tournaments.
Germany always has a strong showing in tournaments.
Spain seems a little over the top, I'm not a fan of either Costa or Torres.
France has a good team with Pogba and Griezmann, certainly a candidate.
Surprises might come from Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, all with some of the best squads they've had in years.
I am not getting it. Are you suggesting to root for the team which has best chances to win?
That being said, I think you left out England. I think no team from the British Isles will do better.
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The Netherlands isn't participating, that's sad. We're among 3 or 4 countries in Europe who didn't make it; among San Marino and Andorra I think.
Afaik, (and I don't follow football all that much) Greece and Finland didn't make it either, which sounds a bit better than being just among San Marino and Andorra. ;)
I'll be patriotically rooting for Italy, as usual. Norway didn't make it (also as usual), and I'd root for Sweden if we weren't competing for second place in the same group. ;D
(of course, getting 1st and 2nd would be great, but that doesn't account for Belgium)
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So who to root for now?
Belgium has a fine squad (although dearly missing Kompany), but always choke in big tournaments.
Germany always has a strong showing in tournaments.
Spain seems a little over the top, I'm not a fan of either Costa or Torres.
France has a good team with Pogba and Griezmann, certainly a candidate.
Surprises might come from Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, all with some of the best squads they've had in years.
I am not getting it. Are you suggesting to root for the team which has best chances to win?
That being said, I think you left out England. I think no team from the British Isles will do better.
England is a bit of a dark horse, they have a nice squad, but also suffered some Euro and WC dramas in the past.
I think I will root for Belgium, with this generation it's basically now or never for them.
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Is anyone here interested in Euro 2016 Twatball (https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1263121.jpg)? Like fantasy football, but you try to pick players who will get sent off, concede penalties, score own goals and so on.
My Twatball team:
Petr Čech Czech Republic (0)
Juanfran Spain (0) Bruno Alves Portugal (0) Ricardo Carvalho Portugal (0) Pepe Portugal (0)
Mesut Özil Germany (0) Dele Alli England (0) Raheem Sterling England (0) Daniele De Rossi Italy (0)
Mario Gomez Germany (0) Antoine Griezmann France (0)
Unless you get points for moping around, not sure why you have Özil on your team; he isn't particularly likely to attempt a tackle, let alone concede a penalty or get sent off.
He sometimes gets booked, and he frequently gets substituted.
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Croatia has been thoroughly disappointing during the last world cup, I don't know if they've improved since. It would be fun to see them play well again. Their group looks like one of the two toughest ones, next to the group with Belgium and Italy.
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Well, they have Modric, Rakitic, Mandzukic and trusty Srna. Pretty good squad.
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Indeed, they have one of the top midfields in the tournament, and a striker capable of taking chances.
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A good half for Romania. France has been the better side, and I get the feeling the are really close to breaking through, but Romania would love a draw here
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Oh man. That second goal from France.
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The love for Belgium is nice, but we'll never get anywhere with the current coach.
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My mother and her partner were visiting Versailles yesterday. They and about 20 other cars were broken into, everything going stolen. Yay for police being at the the soccer matches and not anywhere else.
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Go Wales, Albania, Belgium, Ireland and Iceland :D
Also, the Netherlands not being there, really does make the tournament a bit more boring, but on the good side: no chauvinism this summer, and no horrible supermarket commercials with "juichpakken" (lit. cheering suits).
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My mother and her partner were visiting Versailles yesterday. They and about 20 other cars were broken into, everything going stolen. Yay for police being at the the soccer matches and not anywhere else.
That sucks. I hope they didn't lose anything of value. :(
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Bales makes it through, I would have liked to see a tie after seeing the second half.
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Nice freekicks today!
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That was quite a surprise!
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Whoa, what a tense match. I really didn't like all the tactical faults on our (Italian) side, though. You do what you need to do (others will disagree), but needing that many is a testament to how much Belgium dominated most of the second half.
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Just watched Belgium-Italy with a lot of Belgians at a sports bar. The greatest applause was when Lukaku got substituted off the field. Not much of a party to be had :(
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In German TV they are shitting their pants on how we are prone to meet our nemesis as early as the quarter finals.
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That was quite a surprise!
Not so much, Belgium and tournaments don't go that well together.
Italy and tournaments on the other hand...
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That was quite a surprise!
Not so much, Belgium and tournaments don't go that well together.
Italy and tournaments on the other hand...
I don't know much about football, and I've seen remarks such as this around, and well they conform to empirical evidence. Any idea about why?
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It has something to do with the quality of the domestic league. There is not much time to shape a national team wrt tactics, and with a strong domestic league you can choose a tactic most common at home. Netherlands are (at least up to 2010) a bit of an exception which I link to most players playing abroad still remember the Dutch school through their time at youth academies.
That being said, I am surprised at the performance of Croatia, who should face a similar problem as Belgium with a bunch of very talented players scattered around national leagues.
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That was quite a surprise!
Not so much, Belgium and tournaments don't go that well together.
Italy and tournaments on the other hand...
I wrote that after the 1-1 from Russia against England. The tie came definitely surprising.
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Russia/USSR have quite a record in EM tournaments, but as of recently I wouldn't say they have a happy relation with tournaments. EURO 2008 was last time they did realy well.
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Well, they had a great generation which is pretty much gone: Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko, Zhirkov, etc.
Most players play in the domestic league, which isn't of the same quality as Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga.
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Russia/USSR have quite a record in EM tournaments, but as of recently I wouldn't say they have a happy relation with tournaments. EURO 2008 was last time they did realy well.
Yup. Russia, as opposed to the USSR, competed in a major tournament for the first time in 1994... and have had group stage exits in 1994, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2012 and 2014. 2008's the only time they've broken that run.
(The rest of the ex-Soviet teams have had even less success. This is only Ukraine's third appearance in a major tournament, and of the rest of the sides, only Latvia have made it to a Euros, and none of them have made it to a World Cup.)
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Russia is seriously hamstrung by missing Dzagoev and Denisov to injury. Dzagoev is particular can actually take a pass out from his defenders and move up the field with it, instead of relying on Ignashevich and Berezutsky playing long diagonals out. I seriously doubt they're going anywhere in this tournament.
Italy though, that's exactly what I expected. Good luck scoring on Juventus, not many club sides figured it out either.
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Is Russia exporting a new breed of football hooligan? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36515283
Thoughts? Especially on the potential ban for Russia if another serious altercation occurs. Will UEFA actually follow through with their threats of something happens? How will this affect the 2018 world cup? I mean, could what happens with Russia possibly affect that? I mean, definitely might make a few people think twice before traveling to Russia for the 2018 world cup
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I just hope that the Russian hooligans calm down, it would be a shame if the team got eliminiated like that.
Also, Austria losing to Hungary?? Also a sweet goal by Stieber. I don't know if anybody expected that, now group F gets really, really interesting. Rooting for Iceland now..
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I am very ashamed of my country (which is Russia). I'm not a football fan, but anyway it would be too stupid to be eliminated because of some russian dumb fans
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Whoop whoop, go Iceland 8)
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I am very ashamed of my country (which is Russia). I'm not a football fan, but anyway it would be too stupid to be eliminated because of some russian dumb fans
I have felt the same about Italian hooligans before. >:(
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Is Russia exporting a new breed of football hooligan? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36515283
Hooligans sans alcohol, and Russians to boot? Now they are leaving the level playing field!
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I just hope that the Russian hooligans calm down, it would be a shame if the team got eliminiated like that.
Also, Austria losing to Hungary?? Also a sweet goal by Stieber. I don't know if anybody expected that, now group F gets really, really interesting. Rooting for Iceland now..
Group F is wide open!
Ronaldo is such a baby, crying about Iceland's defense game, boohoo!
At the Euros, only results matter, ask Greece.
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Just saw Slovakia-Russia in Lille. Entertaining game, no issues at all in the stadium other than a Russian fan lighting a flare. The Slovakian fans are apparently not prone to hooliganism, but still provided great atmosphere. ;D
Entertaining game, the Slovakians played well. Can't say I'm too sad to see the Russians in trouble results-wise, considering some of their fans.
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At the Euros, only results matter, ask Greece.
Though I have much more vivid memories of the NED - CZR group qualifier than of the final. The debuts of Rooney, Robben, Zlatan and C. Ronaldo (back then never without initial) left a more lasting impression than Kharisteas.
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Got to witness the first 0-0 outside in pouring rain, only with a T-shirt and with my fellow German fans neither chanting nor otherwise having a good time :-\
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Got to witness the first 0-0 outside in pouring rain, only with a T-shirt and with my fellow German fans neither chanting nor otherwise having a good time :-\
I watched the game from my own couch, I didn't have a good time. The game was tense, but not very high quality, lots of mistakes from both sides. Couple of good chances for Milik, but his foot-eye coordination was severely off.
Germany is really missing a good striker; Götze is a decent player, but more of a no. 10 than no. 9. Gomez just doesn't reach the same level as during Euro 2012, although he has been performing quite well at Besiktas. Besides missing a good striker, Germany has really weak left and right backs, they do miss Lahm it seems.
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What a game. Portugal had like a billion possibilities and they couldn't score a goal.
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I'm a huge soccer fan. I hope Poland wins (since I'm from there) but I doubt it, especially with Lewandowski's recent form. I think France will win.
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So, the group phase is almost over, who would have guessed that my joke about the Welsh beating England almost became true? Surpassing them is even more suprising :)
Also I'm happy that Croatia won, now we get to see Spain vs Italy this weekend already! Overall, no top team has been living up to their expectations in my opinion, I wouldn't be too surprised to see some upsets in the Top 16 and Quarterfinals. My totally unbiased guess who's winning the cup would still be Germany, they'd need to start scoring very soon, though.
Rooting for Iceland today again :)
But most importantly, as one of the four best third placed teams, Will Grigg is still on fire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOpGCGtCVsE) for the Northern Irish!
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The last sixteen draw:
Switzerland v Poland
Croatia v Portugal
Wales v Northern Ireland
Hungary v Belgium
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Germany v Slovakia
Italy v Spain
France v Republic of Ireland
England v Iceland
I... have no idea what's going to happen there. I'd guess the winner will probably come from the bottom half of the draw, but it's anyone's guess who.
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I'm guessing the Slovaks aren't impressed by their draw to the final.
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Croatia actually has a decent shot with this draw.
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I just want to see Portugal lose in the first knockout round. I really don't like the whole expanding the tournament and having some third place teams advance. When you don't make it in the top 2 for your group, you should be out.
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I can only think of disadvantages for this format. Too many teams who have advanced after round 2. Teams not knowing whether they have advanced at the end of their last match, which means that e.g. the Turkish fans couldn't give their team a proper farewell. The inefficiency to eliminate 8 teams in 36 matches and then eliminate another 15 teams in 15 matches.
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It happened!!!
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Brexit 2 - 0 Remain
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Brexit 2 - 0 Bremain
FTFY
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England were straight trash.
Anyway, now that I've got a larger sample size, I'm going with the winner of Germany/italy to beat Belgium in the final. France doesn't quite look like its got itself figured out to get past Germany or Italy in a semi, while Portugal can count itself very, very lucky to still be around. Poland is in with a shout on that side of the bracket was well. As much as I'd enjoy Wales or Iceland doing more damage, I really can't see it happening.
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As much as I'd enjoy Wales or Iceland doing more damage, I really can't see it happening.
It's unlikely, but you never know - Wales did play Belgium in the qualifiers, and the results were one draw and one Wales win, so they may be able to draw inspiration from that.
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Let's all wait for the final Wales-Iceland!
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Let's all wait for the final Wales-Iceland!
Yes!
I do think Wales have a great chance against Portugal. I think Iceland will find it a little more difficult to get to the final
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I'm pretty sad that Poland lost to Portugal, I enjoyed their play a lot more than Portugals. Also, Portugal did not win a single game after 90minutes yet... Wales better beat them or I'm sad.
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This was tense.