Soccer Update - 28 June 2012: Catching up on a few games

Okay, since I last wrote about the Euros, there have been a few games - namely the last 2 quarterfinals:

As well as the first semifinal:

You may notice that the last 2 games have both 'ended' 0-0 after full time (that's the standard allotment of 90 minutes + 2 overtime periods of 15 minutes each, total of 120 minutes) and were settled by a penalty shootout. The shootouts were even won 4-2 in both cases! Yes, it's been a bit painful but nevertheless fascinating to watch the symmetry unfold.

Today's game is the second semifinal match:

The winner of this game will face Spain in the final. I have to say that Germany is likely the favorite here, as they've mostly dominated in their games against a strong slate, while Italy has had 2 fewer days to rest and is coming off that slog of a game against England. We'll see, however.

Germany v. Italy kicks off at 2:45PM EST.

Semifinal 1: Portugal v. Spain - Live Now

Euro 2012's first semifinal match, Portugal vs. defending champions Spain, is live right now on ESPN and espn3.com.

Updates and analysis to follow the game.

Soccer Update - 23 June 2012 - Euro 2012 Quarterfinal 3

Economic jokes aside, Germany was the much better team yesterday, and the result reflects that. Greece scoring the first penalty goal of the tournament late in the game did nothing to affect the outcome, and served as more of a consolation prize. The scary thing, the announcers said, was that Germany actually played a fairly subpar game by their standards - they can do even better.

Today's game:

France will need to greatly improve on their performance in their last game, a 2-0 loss to Sweden, if they want to have a chance against defending world and European champions Spain. Spain doesn't have the strongest attackers, and can go a long time without scoring any goals, but they are afforded that luxury by their elite defense, which has allowed just 1 goal in their 3 games in the tournament so far.

Spain v. France kicks off at 2:45pm EST.

Soccer Update 22 June 2012 - Euro 2012 Quarterfinal 2

In the first quarterfinal game of Euro 2012 yesterday between Portugal and the Czech Republic, the Czechs seemed to decide that as long as they did not allow Portugal to score, there was no need to score themselves. This strategy largely worked until Portugal finally broke through late in the game with a header goal from star player Cristiano Ronaldo, which sealed the Czechs' fate. Portugal advances to the semifinals, where they will play the winner of the Spain-France game.

Today's quarterfinal match, courtesy of ESPN:

I love this match because it's so easy to draw political and economic metaphors while simultaneously previewing the game: Greece will attempt to stonewall Germany to get what they want (a win), and will refuse to capitulate in the form of goals. The ultimate Greek hope will be to stall long enough to force a compromise and an alternate solution (overtime/a penalty shootout) which will satisfy Greek fans and citizens.

Soccer Update - 20 June 2012 - Enter the Elimination Stage

First, the last group stage recap, courtesy of Group D and Wikipedia:

France did not need to win or even draw to progress, and they played like it against already-eliminated Sweden, going down 2-0 in a performance that does not bode well for them in their upcoming quarterfinal match with Spain. Meanwhile, England knocked off co-hosts Ukraine to secure their first advancement out of the group stage in a Euro tournament since 1996 (when they were the host country). Neither Poland nor Ukraine made it out of the group stage, matching the performance of 2008 co-hosts Switzerland and Austria, who both failed to qualify in that tournament.

The tournament now enters the Elimination stage, beginning with the quarterfinals. Espn.com displays the upcoming four games better than I can:

As you can see, no soccer today. Quarterfinal action resumes tomorrow at 2:45pm EST, with the Czech Republic taking on Portugal.

Soccer Update - 19 June 2012

Your daily dose of results & standings from the Euro 2012 tournament:

I realized I should probably explain what the columns in this chart mean. From left to right:
 Team - [Games] Played - Wins - Draws - Losses - Goals For - Goals Against - Goal Difference - Points

Ireland finishes with 0 points and the worst goal differential of the tournament by far. After starting the tournament strong, Croatia barely misses the cut. Spain's lone goal came in their game's 88th minute and secures their position as group winner. So far, Spain's campaign to defend their European championship is going well, though they haven't looked invincible by any means.

Today sees the very last games of the Group stage in Group D, with England, France, and co-hosts Ukraine fighting for the 2 remaining quarterfinal slots. (Sweden, the fourth Group D member, has already been eliminated.) The Group D winner will be playing Italy and Group D's runner-up gets to play Spain.

England v. Ukraine and France v. Sweden kick off at 2:45pm EST.
If you actually want to watch these games, they'll be airing on ESPN/ESPN2, as well as espn3.com (or 'Watch ESPN' as the site confusingly brands itself - this is a sports streaming service available to people who get their Internet through certain Service Providers; Comcast and AT&T are among these).

Soccer Update - 18 June 2012

The Group B Standings and results from yesterday's games:

Despite entering the tournament at #4 in the world, Holland exits the tournament without a win or a single point. Given that Holland was the runner-up in the 2010 World Cup, could this be a phenomenon akin to the 'Super Bowl Loser's Curse' (in which the loser of the Super Bowl seems to underperform in the next season) ?

Denmark gets the 'good try' award - they likely would have advanced if not for the difficulty of this group.

Portugal finally got some production from their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo (who scored both of their goals against Holland), and not-coincidentally secured their place in the quarterfinals at the same time. As the Group B runner-up, Portugal will play the Czech Republic, the Group A winners, in the quarterfinals.

Germany is the only team in the tournament to sweep the Group Stage, going 3-0. This sets them up to play Greece in the quarterfinals, a match-up I find hilarious for sport and political reasons.


Today we have the last games in Group C. The standings in that group so far:

Already-eliminated Ireland is likely the worst team in the tournament. This is good for Italy, who in order to advance need to beat Ireland and hope the Spain-Croatia game does not end in a draw (which would advance both of those teams at Italy's expense).

Spain v. Croatia and Italy v. Ireland kick off at 2:45pm EST.

Soccer Update - 17 June 2012

The Group A results and standings from yesterday's games, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The Czech and Greek results combined eliminated Russia, a surprise given Russia's strong start to the tournament (4 - 1 over the Czechs in their first game). Co-hosts Poland were also eliminated, and with Ukraine needing a win against England on Tuesday to advance, this looks like the second consecutive Euro competition in which the hosts are eliminated in the group stage. The combined efforts of the 2008 hosts, Switzerland and Austria, managed only a single win and a draw; Poland and Ukraine have so far managed a single win and two draws, so technically an improvement.

Soccer tournaments frequently feature a group with the highest aggregate level of high-powered teams, and this group is often referred to as the 'Group of Death.' Euro 2012's group of death is Group B, and today features the final games in this group. The Group B standings so far:

Notably, Germany is the only team to start 2-0 in the tournament. Any result today against Denmark except a bad loss puts them through to the Quarterfinals. Denmark and Portugal need to win or tie today to advance (though if they both draw, Portugal will advance over Denmark due to the head-to-head win). The Netherlands (#4 in the world) find themselves in the shocking position of being 0-2 and needing a very specific scenario to unfold: They need Germany to beat Denmark, and then the Dutch must beat Portugal by a score of 2 - 0 or better. (Arcane rules and scenarios like this are one of the reasons I find soccer tournaments fascinating.)

Germany v. Denmark and Netherlands v. Portugal kick off at 2:45pm EST.

Sometimes I Watch Soccer: Euro 2012 Group Stage, Final Games

First, a quick post-mortem on Aussie Rules Football: turns out there really isn't a way to watch the games without resorting to dodgy online streams which show the game live at...3 AM EST. Not willing to drastically change my sleep cycle, I sadly gave up.

But now, confession time: I have been known to watch soccer from time to time. As the American football offseason waxes on,  I get more and more desperate for a surrogate sport to watch, as I don't really care for baseball, basketball, hockey, etc. so, during the summers of recent years, I have succumbed to watching, and enjoying, international-level tournament soccer. This year, it's the Euro 2012 tournament:

The Euros are pretty much like the World Cup, except that non-European teams are shunned like peasants. What's that, Uruguay? You're #2 in the world and want to give it a go? Sorry, this is the Euros. The narrative in this tournament seems to be whether defending European and World champions Spain (ranked #1 in the world) will retain their title, or whether it will be usurped by contenders like Germany (#3) or...a much less likely candidate.

Right now we're two games into Group Stage play - four groups of four teams each, top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals - with the third and final set of games kicking off today. So far two teams have been eliminated (Ireland and Sweden, both 0-2), with no teams quite managing to secure a guarantee of qualification, so all 14 remaining eligible teams have work left to do over the next four days.

As for why I suddenly find soccer not-boring at this time of the year, I can only offer two answers: firstly, I find it fun and easy to get into the 'narrative' of certain sports, enhancing my enjoyment, and secondly, desperation.

Group Stage play continues today at 2:45pm EST, with Russia v. Greece and Poland v. Czech Republic in Group A.

For the world rankings I referenced, consult: the FIFA world ranking table.

The ESPN page on Euro 2012.

Euro 2012 on Wikipedia.