I really don’t have any idea who will win, especially as both teams lost their first game. Share your thoughts.
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by Randinho| 59 Comments
This post is in: Sports
I really don’t have any idea who will win, especially as both teams lost their first game. Share your thoughts.
Comments are closed.
raven
So they sing the British national anthem huh?
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: What one did you expect?
Gin & Tonic
Слава Україні !
Gin & Tonic
I guess FYWP doesn’t like posts exclusively in Cyrillic.
Слава Україні !
Humboldtblue
@raven: They’re part of the UK, the proud fucking Orange Order fucks.
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: One didn’t know, Wales had their own.
SRW1
Weird thing: UEFA demanding that stadia for these kinds of tournaments be all-seaters and then lots of people standing during the game. You can’t usually see it that clearly, but with the gaps in the audience today it’s quite obvious.
Also, too: The fans who create the atmosphere usually are the people standing.
LesBonnesFemmes
Most Eastern European and old Soviet Republic National Anthems are grim stolid affairs. But, Ukraine’s is really quite beautiful.
Humboldtblue
@SRW1:
There is yet another renewed push for the Premiere League to allow clubs to dedicate sections for standing room only. Not only are those fans, as you point out are they the most passionate, but they also tend to be younger and it would allow clubs to offer lower priced tickets, something that became a front page issue last season spurred by the walkout of Liverpool fans over proposed ticket price hikes.
One thing I have always admired about England supporters is the use of the Cross of St. George flag with the name of their city of football club emblazoned across the front.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
An awful lot of the Ukrainian approach seems to be, “Kick the ball a long way and hope the right guy gets to it,” which happens about 1 time in 5. This game (by which I mean this game, not soccer in general) needs an icing rule.
Gin & Tonic
@LesBonnesFemmes: The text of it encompasses much of Ukraine’s history. The opening line is, loosely, “Ukraine has not perished, not its glory, not its freedom.” It dates from the second half of the 19th Century, when the country was nowhere near independence. Under the Soviet Union it was considered a subversive, nationalistic song and was replaced by a USSR-approved hymn, but then was restored in 1992 after Ukraine regained its independence. Reportedly the melody is based on a Serbian song.
Helmut Monotreme
Things just got worse in the UK: An MP has died after she was shot and stabbed during an attack in her constituency, police have said
Humboldtblue
@Helmut Monotreme: I read that story earlier on BBC but they had no info on the attacker, just reactions from witnesses and other MPs. Was this another lone wolf Muslim attack?
Calouste
@Humboldtblue: “Lone wolf” right-winger apparently, reported to be shouting “Britain First”. It might swing the vote on the Brexit referendum.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Humboldtblue: Not Muslim. Sounds more UKIP.
Yutsano
@Helmut Monotreme: @Humboldtblue: This is getting enough attention to almost warrant its own thread. I’d like to get more info from some of my British friends but unfortunately thanks to T-Mobile I don’t have any connection right now.
Humboldtblue
@Gin & Tonic: That’s fascinating, here are some other details including the original lyricist who was also a poet and ethnographer.
Humboldtblue
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Just as bad.
I noticed the first wire reports on memorandum were all being linked by the right wing fuckbags like the Loonie Times, now those dipshits are going to have to pivot to something else because it wasn’t another “I told you so” Muslim attack.
Punchy
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:The Ukraine is weak. It’s feeble. I think it’s time to put the hurt in the Ukraine.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Northern Irish score. I assume that if this holds, it’s an upset?
Tony J
Norks a Lordy, they’ve only gone ahead! Must be the weather, very reminiscent of a Northern Irish summer.
Ukraine are fighting back, but that just opens the door for NI to hit them on the break, which is how they set up to play.
Runt
Ukraine actually impressed me in their first match, but this is weak sauce. It’s not like Northern Ireland is playing fantastic football.
Gin & Tonic
@Humboldtblue: That Serbian refrain translates as “[my] heart beats and [my] blood spills for our freedom.” The Ukrainian refrain is “[I] will lay down my soul and my body for our freedom.” So indeed quite similar.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Apparently, bodychecking is now legal in soccer.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Hail delay!
Runt
Hail to thee, blithe spirit…
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
This game became a lot more entertaining once someone scored.
Tony J
@Humboldtblue:
As we speak the usual suspects in the right-wing press are scouring Twitter, Facebook, online newspaper comments, anything, anywhere trying to scrounge up a quote they can use to spin tomorrow’s headlines away from “Racist scumbag murders pro-Europe Labour MP” into “Loony Left sparks outrage by politicizing tragic death of White Lady.”
It’s who they are.
Amir Khalid
[email protected]raven:
I’ve always felt England should have its own anthem, not God Save the Queen, for sporting events where a player or team is representing England rather than Britain. As Wales and Scotland do, and Norn Iron should too..
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
What the hell merited a card on the Irishman?
Humboldtblue
@Tony J: Ukraine have some serious internal issues, their two best players Stepnenko and Shevchenko both on a personal level but also between the Shaktar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev players that’s also related to the ongoing internal national strife.
Tony J
Hold on, NI have players called Dallas and Washington playing for them? I did not know that.
Amir Khalid
BBC liveblog notes this is the first tournament goal Northern Ireland have scored in 30 years.
Tony J
@Humboldtblue:
I can see how that might be, but their performance against Germany was a lot more impressive than this showing. NI are pretty much bossing this game ever since they scored.
Humboldtblue
@Amir Khalid: I think the English should go with the Grenadiers march
Tony J
@Amir Khalid:
Billy Connelly famously suggested that the theme tune to perennial radio soap “The Archers” (can’t link it, sorry) should replace the National Anthem for the Olympics. It’s – such – a bouncy tune.
Gin & Tonic
@Humboldtblue: Don’t want to derail this thread with politics, but I think you are very much mistaken on that aspect.
Amir Khalid
@Humboldtblue:
Here’s my favourite version of it.
Runt
@Tony J: I wonder what the lyrics would be like…
Fun fact: That tune was a modest hit in the 1950s. Producer: George Martin, future 5th Beatle.
Humboldtblue
@Gin & Tonic: The Ukraine?
I am basing my comments solely on the sports pages, G&T, not any knowledge of the Ukrainian fighting.
Humboldtblue
@Amir Khalid: That’s a great one.
Humboldtblue
@Tony J: TIL, the song is called “Barwick Green” and here’s a link
Amir Khalid
There’s six minutes of stoppage time, because of the rain delay.
SRW1
The way this tournament has been going, this extra time decider was bound to happen.
Runt
That goal could be incredibly important. It’s possible that three teams in this group will end up with 3 points, in which case goal difference will decide who goes to the 2 nd round.
Gin & Tonic
@Humboldtblue: Right, the purported tension between Shakhtar and Dynamo, or at least some of their players. Like I said, this probably isn’t the thread for that.
Tony J
Ruddy Hell, they’ve only gone and done it. England and Wales probably through, Northern Ireland in with a great chance of picking up at least a 3rd place and qualification. Now it’s up to the Republic to complete the set. If all four go through that will mean a quarter of the next round places will be held by the British Isles. Ha!
Humboldtblue
@Gin & Tonic: No sweat, I readily defer to your knowledge.
Humboldtblue
@Tony J: Not Sure the ROI would like being lumped in as a “British Isle” but that would be a hell of an accomplishment.
Humboldtblue
The French have deported the head of the Russian hooligan contingent, a far-right dipshit who traveled with the official Russian delegation.
Tony J
@Runt:
“We’re not the Welsh”
“We’re not the Scots”
“We’re neither of the Irish”
“We’re not much cop at penalties”
“So never get to Finals”
Something like that?
Tony J
@Humboldtblue:
There ain’t no arguing with geography. 8-) The British Isles are different from The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
MCA1
@Tony J: Well, keep in mind that’s as compared to a sixth of the spots in group play. :^)
[More a comment on my ambivalence about the expansion to 24 teams, which is basically half of Europe, and the fact that only a third of them are eliminated after group play. The only usually legit squads to miss out under this broadened format were the Dutch, Greece and arguably Denmark. Though I do think it’s a nice accomplishment for the Isles that 4 of 5 qualified. And I do appreciate someone like Northern Ireland or Iceland finding some success in a big international tournament. Thus the ambivalence.]
Michael Noordijk
@SRW1: Hillsboro. Standing terraces are never coming back.
Tony J
@MCA1:
I was reading up on the shock Danish victory at the 1992 Euros and was surprised to see there were only 8 teams in the tournament split into two groups. Seems bizarre in retrospect, eh?
I hear what you’re saying about the expanded roster of teams, but giving a chance to less frequent qualifiers seems to be paying off.
Amir Khalid
@Runt:
I think (I’m not entirely sure) It happened in a World Cup once: In one group, all four teams finished with one win, one draw and one loss each, one goal scored, one conceded — dead level. I don’t remember how FIFA sorted that one out.
Royston Vasey
Yay Norn Iron!
burnspbesq
@Tony J:
Can i get a “bwahahahaha” for the Tartan Army?
Tony J
@burnspbesq:
Bit late, but hell yes. it must really, really burn them that – everyone – else got a ticket to the party while they mislaid their invite.