₦airaland Forum

ZUBY77: Every team is having injuries..the media is just shouting about england

Do you actually reside in England at all?

Cuz If you did,you woulda noticed that the Media has actually been subdue this time round.

Another Bad news!!!

This time it's the Les Blues

Yann M'Villa is almost certainly out of Euro 2012.......Dude was inconsolable on the french bench after being substituted.

Absloutely gutted for the Lad.

Bad News 4 the Three Lions!!!

Tragedy has struck with Regards to the Three Lions

Frank Lampard has been ruled out of the tournament. How they'll cop with the loss of a key player remains to be seen.

They'll definitely miss Lampard's Big Game and Big Tournament experience.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18265377

BlueDiva: The dud is trying to tell us something. . .hmm

Hehehe.... He is sending out a warning.

Beware EL Nino is back!!!

Terrible News For The Three Lions

Champions League Winner Frank Lampsrd is a major doubt for Euro 2012.

afrodoc: very very incredible! he replaced him not with a midfielder but with a centreback!
omigosh all d midfielders n wingers on d fringes of d england setup must feel like crap

A centre back you know. Phil Jones would probably be shifted to the Midfield to occupy Barry's now vacant position while Jagielka would take Jones's position
I think we all now know for certain what Hodgson tactic will be come Euro 2012.
Two banks of 4 and then hit teams on the counter with the frightening pace of Walcott,Chamberlainan,Young et al.

coogar: carrick told hodgson not to bother if hodgson intends to play him from
the bench. in other words, carrick believes he should be the number one
central midfielder in england. but hodgson rates 4 other central midfielders
more than carrick. that's the reason hodgson can't put carrick in the squad.

I don't blame him at all. I woulda done the same tbh if I was in his position.
Absolutely gobsmacked. I dare anyone to find me any team at the Euros whose No1 Central Midfielder is not a guaranteed starter.
Like previous England managers he really was never going to drop one of the two so called "Best Box to Box Midfielders In World Football". When in reality he should.
Tbh it's no one but England's loss


I usually don't agree with Online articles because every Man and his Dog writes one this days but this I definitely do.
Forget Xavi,Pirlo,Shweinsteiger,Modric et al even Greece(the model Hodgson wants to duplicate)had Central midfielders that could keep hold of the ball when they won Euro 2004.

coogar: Overall a side as limited as Norway, who have not qualified for a tournament for 12 years, enjoyed 56% of the possession.

Carrick, more qualified than any other Englishman to provide those qualities, will be on the beach .

Ceasre Prandelli has cut his provisional squad to 25. Two more players would be cut after tomorrow evening's friendly match

Italy's 25-man squad in full

Goalkeepers:

Gianluigi Buffon

Juventus



Morgan De Sanctis

Napoli



Salvatore Sirigu

Paris Saint-Germain



Defenders:


Ignazio Abate

AC Milan



Federico Balzaretti

Palermo



Andrea Barzagli

Juventus



Leonardo Bonucci

Juventus



Giorgio Chiellini

Juventus



Christian Maggio

Napoli



Angelo Ogbonna

Torino



Andrea Ranocchia

Inter



Midfielders:





Daniele De Rossi

Roma



Alessandro Diamanti

Bologna



Emanuele Giaccherini

Juventus



Claudio Marchisio

Juventus



Riccardo Montolivo

Fiorentina



Thiago Motta

Paris Saint-Germain



Antonio Nocerino

AC Milan



Andrea Pirlo

Juventus



Attackers:





Mario Balotelli

Manchester City



Fabio Borini

Roma



Antonio Cassano

AC Milan



Mattia Destro

Siena



Antonio Di Natale

Udinese



Sebastian Giovinco

Parma

Don't think Roy Hodgson rates Michael Carrick at all

Gareth Barry gets Injured and Carrick still can't get a look in. Incredible!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18232535

[size=15pt]EDEN HAZARD HAS ANNOUNCED HE IS SIGNING FOR CHELSEA!!!

IT HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED ON HIS TWITTER PAGE[/size]


http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=eden+hazard+twitter&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CGAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2F%23!%2Fhazardeden10&ei=etrDT7rHD4m48gOzsqz8Cg&usg=AFQjCNEO69xqmGBKEzvxFVM6hYomeXRGaQ

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=edin%20hazard&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CBkQqQIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Farticle-2151146%2FEden-Hazard-join-Chelsea.html&ei=KdrDT_zZC8628QO8r6D8Cg&usg=AFQjCNE45f2n02FjrA1EoqtpPHq-ki4uvw

AjanleKoko: See Italians again oh. Betting scandal again, on the eve of the Euros!

Dude is innocent......He'll clear his name.

AjanleKoko: Oranje. Huntelaar and RVP look in sparkling form. That's why I am backing them as a strong outside bet, to upset the Germany-Spain applecart

Llorente, I wouldn't start with. Largely untested at these levels. I'd still start Torres in a 4-2-3-1, but I can almost guarantee frustration.

After the dutch, the spanish are next best so I don't see any cause for alarm. Besides as I type Mathijsen is a doubt after suffering a hamstring strain and If he fails to make it their defence becomes weakened.

True dat Llorente is untested. I guess it's a straight choice between in form but untested Llorente and out form but Tested Torres.

AjanleKoko: Haba, BD. In a tournament like this, you need experience. Plus, no Villa, who is by far the best striker Spain has produced since Raul, maybe even better.

Better IMHO!!!.... At the very least for La Furia Roja

AjanleKoko: ^^
The forward line is rather uninspiring. I see Pedro getting quite some game time. Torres is likely to lead the line in all the group games, until maybe Del Bosque loses patience.

Tbh I think you are being bit too harsh.
Which of the other Major contenders have forward lines that is inspiring?....Is It Germany?? France Italy?? England??

Bloody Hell here I was thinking Llorente was a dead cert with regards to who was going to lead the line.

afrodoc: a tournament with 4 or 5 very good sides.italy,france,portugal,netherlands and (to a lesser extent) spain.

Not only were they good teams but they also played to their potential too. Nowadays teams are great on paper but not on the pitch.
However most importantly each of these countries Star Player had very good Tournaments too. How many times have we had the chanc to say that since Euro 2000?

BlueDiva: I wasn't impressed with that dying min penalty against Australia.
I felt it was undeserved.

I also felt Zidane was unfortunate to have been sent off.
I think if Zidane had played throughout we wouldn't have won.

Anyway don't mind me.
I was elated when we won sha. Luck or not.

Watch that game again you'll see we were the better team vs Australia(created more chances) plus remember we also had to play over an hour with Ten men.
Yh possibly if Zizou was on the field. Our chances greatly increase after he got sent off.

You could not have been more elated than I was...
Watched the Finals in an Italian bar/pub and trust me it was pure madness.....

afrodoc: a tournament with 4 or 5 very good sides.italy,france,portugal,netherlands and (to a lesser extent) spain.

Not only were they good teams but they also played to their potential too. Nowadays teams are great on paper but not on the pitch.
However most importantly each of these countries Star Player had very good Tournaments too. How many times have we had the chanc to say that since Euro 2000?

BlueDiva: I wasn't impressed with that dying min penalty against Australia.
I felt it was undeserved.

I also felt Zidane was unfortunate to have been sent off.
I think if Zidane had played throughout we wouldn't have won.

Anyway don't mind me.
I was elated when we won sha. Luck or not.

Watch that game again you'll see we were the better team vs Australia(created more chances) plus remember we also had to play over an hour with Ten men.
Yh possibly if Zizou was on the field. Our chances greatly increase after he got sent off.

You could not have been more elated than I was...
Watched the Finals in an Italian bar/pub and trust me it was pure madness.....

afrodoc: i remember then in Uni we started calling those italian defenders SPIRITS! dt team was so good defensively cos dt was probably the only time that d italians had Cannavaro,Nesta and Maldini all fit n on form together.plus albertini n di biagio cleaning up in front of them

Forget On form it was the only time we had all three of them Fit.
Gigi Buffon should have been in goal too if not for Injury. Plus Fiore in front of Albertini and Totti's best Tournament.

BlueDiva: The Italian defence those days was legendary.
Italy isn't what it used to be anymore.

Looking forward to their performance at this Euros.

@Chic2pimp,
Is the squad list out?

The Italian defence most especially isn't what it used to be.
From the 1960's-1990's we churned out roll after roll of World class defenders alone. It has all but dryed up now. Sad really.

As for as I now it has not yet been finalised. Although the 32 Man provisional squad has been chosen.
Btw in Defence watch out for a dude called Andrea Barzagli(would prob partner Chiellini). He has been different a class in Serie A this season

BlueDiva: I agree, Cannavaro was a beast, Matarazzi was a monster.
Still, even after the win, i just had this feeling that we were lucky.

Yh the Matrix was Great in the Tourney too thanks to the calming Influence of Canna
Apart from possibly the finals were France were the better team, I don't think we were that lucky.

nateevs: Seriously? Whenever you find the game, please endeavour watch it.
We were all over them like a rash from the blast of the whistle.
It was non stop attack till the end.

But like always, never let a Dutch team reach pens.

It's on youtube I'll watch it again.
Infact there are several from that Tourney I need to watch again. Probably the best Tournament in 20-25 years.

BlueDiva: What do you expect playing 10 men against a good Dutch side.

Not just Good, Great.
They were the best Team in that Tournament If I am being Honest.

BlueDiva: The Azzuri's had 10 men on the field na.

Exactly!!!...And it's not like we were playing Greece or England. This was the Netherland's best team since Euro88.

nateevs: It was forced on the them.
Marc Overmars was in no joking mood. He rounded the Italian RB twice and he had to go.

I cannot remember off the tp of my head who was sent off ?

Luca Zambrotta!!!

nateevs: With the way Italy were played off the park in the Semi's they could have gone 4 down easily.
That game, till date, is one of the most one sided football games I have ever seen.
Kluivert, Cocu, Bergkamp running riots on the Azzuris like no tomorrow.

Tbh there wasn't that much of a gulf til we had a man sent off around the half hour mark I think and from then on it was backs to the wall.
The kind of situations we thrive on. Resolute defending. Great stuff to applauded considering the attacking talent the oranje had at their disposal.
I bet if it was the other way round we woulda won that match in Regulation time.

afrodoc: one of the best defensive performances of the era! the dutch threw EVERYTHING at d Italians.dont forget d missed penalties in regulation time and extra time.de boer,kluivert e.t.c byd way dt was d last dutch side to play in d classical ajax/netherlands fashion

Thank You. Could not have said it any better.
Only Italians and the germans coulda taken that amount of pounding and still come out tops.

BlueDiva: Well, even though Italy won the 2006 WC i really didn't feel they deserved it.
Honestly, the Italian team of recent times haven't really impressed me.

I think we did you know
There was no stand out team in that tournament tbh but the Azzuris were solid.
Had the Best Goalkeeper, Best Defence(an achievement considering Nesta got injured after the third match),One of the best Midfields and an average strike force.
Yh the 2008 and most especially 2010 were a shambles. Prandelli has really impressed me so far though.

BlueDiva: Italy deserved that Euro 2000, i was so impressed with that team.

Definitely!!!
Sandro,Canna and Maldini in Defence, Fiore on fire and Totti's best tournament in an Azzuri shirt. Definitely did.

AZZURIS........

BlueDiva: I have a soft spot for Italy.
They always disappoint me though.

In the Euros perharps should really be doing better but not in the world cup though.

Should really have won Euro 2000 plus Arrigo Saachi's stubborness cost us any hope we had of winning Euro 96

medjai: So, Pedro makes Spain's squad for the Euros.

Just as I predicted in my earlier post.

A peach of a goal from A.Young

Shooooooo Dayo Your boyz took one helluva beating!!!....... I know the Bayern players where missing but still should have had enough in the reserves to beat switzerland.

The back 4 was abysmal plus they got no protection from the Midfield whatsoever. Need to sort out your defence before the tournament starts.

MikelCris!!!

Just watching the Live T.V pictures it seems the Barca fans are gathered outside an Hotel(not sure if it's the Team's hotel) in huge numbers celebrating their Copa Victory.

medjai: True. He's one the few that can genuinely provide width in that Spain team but he has had a horrible season. I don't see him making the team. VdB has even hinted at that.

Great performance tonight though.

Unbelievable if that's indeed true. His performance tonight must surely have concinced VDB to take him along. He's had a stop and start season no doubt with niggling injuries here and there but I know who I'd rather have to bring on as an Impact sub.

But hey who am I to doubt a coach that has won 2 European Cups and the World Cup.

His performance was OUSTANDING tonight. My Man Of The Match.

Hehehehe The Ever Modest and Great Xavi wanted Puyol beside him to lift the trophy similar to the Terry- Lampard Issue but Unlike Terry he declined.

As a Rival could not be more happier to see the back of Pep but as a Football fan it's a very sad day indeed. Massive boost to the spanish side cum Euro 2012(like they needed one anyways) every KEY memeber of their squad has won a TITLE of some sort this season

Congrats Barca!!!....Well deserved Victory.

Funny how all the players that left Arsenal are winning titles left,right and centre whilst Arsenal's long suffering continues.

Anyways this match just proved me right in that Pedro MUST go to the Euros. A fit and on form Pedro is spain's best Right Winger bar none.

There goes any chance Bilbao ever had of staging a fight back.

Score there and it would have been game on.