The Princess & the Chancellor

One of my favorite things about this tournament and about the upcoming final in particular are the famous & special guests of the teams in the stands.
Yes we got to see Figo and Zizou and other various ex-players and coaches in the stands during different games but my favorites are 2 women: the Spanish Princess and the German Chancellor.
These two are very passionate about their teams and crack me up every time the camera shows them. It's definitely not just a boys game or a guy thing when you see how much it means to them.
During the Spain v Russia semifinal, the Princess' fist pump after the first goal and the exuberant hug with her husband, the Crown Prince, were shows of pure football joy.
Then you have the German Chancellor who has been texting the players before & after the games, seen cheering in the stands and if unable to make a game, she makes her cabinet members or aides update her via text. Now that's dedication. Maybe even too much in Schweinsteiger's opinion: she reprimanded the player personally when he got himself a red card telling him he 'shouldn't do the same stupid things again.' He stated "When Frau Chancellor says you have to do something you have to do it."
So who will be celebrating come Sunday - the Princess or the Chancellor? While I do hope it's the Princess, it would be entertaining to see Frau Chancellor jumping up & down in football joy too.
Right now, these 2 women are my football heroes.

Spain v Russia

Wooooo! Come on Spain, make my Thursday a happy one. Even if you are wearing your 'unlucky' yellow jerseys. Apparently this is where I get my dislike of the color and I never knew. Huh. Football teaches us all so much.

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I've been too caught up in the game to type but now that it's 2-0 I can breathe again.
It's a shame Torres was taken off again... oh well. He can rest up for the final now.
What the hell happened to Russia? This is not the team I remember from the last couple of games. What a shame.

As I was typing the Spanish boys made it 3-0. WOO HOO!

Germany v Spain, eh? Spain are going to win this thing!

Germany v Turkey

Wooooooooooooooooooooo! Football time!
Anthems have been sung & we have kickoff.

(edit)
It's already 1-1 and it's only 25 minutes or so into the first half. Great game so far, lame move from Lehmann for that Turkey goal (big surprise) and nice goal from Schweinsteiger to tie it up.
But dude! What the hell is that facial hair on that Turkish player... was it Hamit Altintop? Or Ayhan Akman? I'll have to figure this out. Stay tuned...

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Ah it was Ayhan. He just bumped heads with Rolfes and now they are both bleeding. Yuck. But not as yuck as that facial hair.

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Second half and the Germans just don't have any oomph, pizazz, verve... you get the point. And where oh where is Ballack? Not in this game...

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AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! The telly is down - all over the world apparently. And Germany scored a second but I don't get to see it, and you don't get to see it.... this SUCKSSSSSSSSSSS.

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GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH. Turkey just scored and we didn't get to see it.

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The telly comes back in time for me to see the third German goal and it was niiiice. Very nice.
And then we lose pictures again but now it's all over. A horrible way to end such an exciting match - with the live feed coming & going.
But what a game! Germany onto the final and Turkey out.

Thoughts before the semis

Thank god football is back tomorrow. I was seriously jonesing for some footy. I'll probably be a mess in July.

So, the Euros, not bad, eh?
This is the most entertaining tournament I can remember watching in a long long time. I've seen every minute of every game and have loved every bit of it and might just cry along with the winners/losers on Sunday.

The disappointments:
*Big name strikers: Luca Toni, Titi, Torres, Gomez... sure there are a couple of goals there but none of them are ending up with the golden boot, are they?
*The oldies: Sweden, Italy, France all suffered because of old tired legs.
*The Milan midfield
*Most of the French team. Really, were any of them any good?
*Greece

The pleasant surprises:
*Arshavin
*The whole Russian team
*The Dutch in the group stages
*Villa's hattrick
*Gigi's penalty save

The 'Um, Wow' moments:
*Nuno Gomes's' 'singing' skills
*Luca Toni's 'moustache'
*Torres's dye job
*Low's sending off
*The opening ceremony - best. ceremony. ever.

My ace predictions

Remember when I said Portugal, Turkey, Netherlands & Italy were going to the semifinals?
Ha! Told you not to listen to me!

So, here is my next lame attempt....
Germany v Turkey = Germany
Russia v Spain = Russia

I hope/wish/want the Spanish to get it together and beat Russia... but that game against Italy took a lot out of them & the defense has been shaky & Russia have great momentum.

The Comedown

I am not just talking about Italy's exit. I'm talking about 16 days of football and then... NOTHING.
Why am I here? Why did I even get out of bed this morning? There is no point.

I know I am a spoiled pathetic brat.








Does anyone have some youtube footage of the Spanish boys running laps or something?

Spain v Italy

Sorry but I couldn't tear myself away from biting my nails/staring at the telly long enough to blog yet.
It's second half and it's still 0-0. Neither team are playing very well. Italy just had a chance but Casillas saves the day.

There is quite a lot of hair gel on the pitch, isn't there?

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Seriously, Toni is NOT going to score in this tournament is he?

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At this rate, whomever goes on will get resoundingly beaten by the Russians in the semifinal. Nice 'prize' for the winner.
And I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet: Luca Toni's moustache??!!?? NOOOOOOOO.

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Wow. Torres out. Really? When it looks like we are heading to extra time? I know the top scorer from La Liga is coming on to replace him but... it's a risky move.

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Onto extra time. Big. Surprise.

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OK Del Piero. Time to prove me wrong.

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Bloody freaking penalties. Of course it ends like this. I hate penalties when Italy is involved. HAAATE.

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I couldn't even watch. Spain beat Italy on penalties. For the game that just happened, a deserved outcome. Italy have been poor this tournament and need to go home and sit in the corner and think about what they have done.
Spain need to play a whole lot better than that against Russia if they want to get to the final.