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Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Let there be snark.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

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Republicans in disarray!

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

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Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

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You are here: Home / Sports / Euro 2020 Football (Soccer) / Daily Football (Soccer) Open Thread: Euro 2020 / Copa America

Daily Football (Soccer) Open Thread: Euro 2020 / Copa America

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Things seem to be hotting up in Week 2, or maybe that’s just my Anglocentric perspective?

COVID restrictions overlap:

C.R.E.A.M.

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On the other hand, Brazil seems to be the only story at Copa America…

This is (forgive me) the first time I’ve really paid attention to football footwork, and I’m not surprised players have so many orthopedic issues. As with ballet slippers, those ‘boots’ are more like Pratchett’s ‘gloves for the feet’. Yes, I assume they’re prioritizing (quite reasonably) sensitivity over protection, but it’s still scary to watch, for those of us with bad feet.

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22Comments

  1. 1.

    JML

    definitely getting to the point where you start getting pressure games in Euro 2020.

    Man, Italy looks good so far. I’m confused by all the goals they’re scoring; I’m so used to Italy only ever playing a 1-0 match…

    Looking forward to England v Scotland today; England has a lot more quality, but this is such an old rivalry that you know Scotland will bring a ton of attitude and drive. Hope Grealish is allowed off the bench, but I think Southgate is going to bury him.

  2. 2.

    burnspbesq

    Tartan Army invades Wembley. Trippier is likely to have a busy night, as Scotland features two of the three best left backs in the Premier League.

    This is the best Scotland side in a while, but unless they raise the level of their game it won’t be competitive.

  3. 3.

    Victor Matheson

    Two comments: First, Scotland isn’t lying when they say their rivalry with England is the oldest in the world. The very first national teams match in soccer took place in 1872 with Scotland vs. England. And alas, in an unfortunate omen for soccer, it ended 0-0.

    Also Anne isn’t lying about the footwear. Pretty much every soccer referee in their 20s and 30s wears standard player shoes (either studs or turf shoes), but if they want to make it as a referee into their 40s and 50s they eventually switch to some style of running show for pretty much every game except those on the sloppiest field conditions.

  4. 4.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @JML: i am still riding with belgium.

    & contra my buffalonian england-rooting friend, even if it’s not belgium in the end, it won’t be football coming home, either.

  8. 8.

    Tony Jay

    Here’s hoping for a Czech win here, then we can draw with Scotland, improving their chances of getting into the next round, and draw with the Czechs. Qualify comfortably in second, avoid the likes of Germany, Portugal or France in the next round, then see what’s what after that.

  10. 10.

    burnspbesq

    Poor Dejan Lovren.  That’s a terrible call. But Croatia is looking very much like a team that is past its sell-by date.

  11. 11.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    I heard of a soccer camp where the kids are woken up early, with dew on the grass, and the day as cool as it will be, and they have to play or practice soccer barefoot – it teaches them to be *very* careful with ball handling, because cold extremities hurt a heck of a lot worse if they take impact.

    On a sports field, knowing there are no rocks, pieces of broken glass, etc., soft “glove” shoes are probably as much protection as needed. If you’ve never used your feet before, they’re amazing – they are one end of an amazing telegraph line (damn Schoolhouse Rock for forcing that term to come to mind) that interconnects with everything – hips, shoulder, back, head/neck.

    If you want to learn a bit about that, try learning to “cat step” – instead of landing on your heel, put the ball of your foot down, and then lower your foot. Try to be able to do that for at least 15-30 minutes, effortlessly, and you’ll probably start to understand what I mean.

    Bonus: cat stepping is a *very* good way to avoid Legos in the carpet. If you start lowering your foot onto a Lego (or anything else), you’ll stop – if you’ve dropped your heel, and are about to put weight on that foot, you likely won’t be able to stop.

  12. 12.

    Tony Jay

    I’d like to see how high any of those officials can jump without moving their arms. Either that’s just an accident and no foul or violent conduct and a red card.

    Ridiculous.

  13. 13.

    billcinsd

    soft “glove” shoes are probably as much protection as needed

     

    until somebody kicks or steps on your feet

  14. 14.

    burnspbesq

    @Tony Jay:

    Even worse, the initial call on the field was no foul. If that’s a clear and obvious error, which is supposed to be the standard for a VAR overrule, then I’m a Great Pyrenees.

  15. 15.

    VeniceRiley

    @burnspbesq:  Right? VAR is redic. This needs fixing, along with their dutch angle offsides line calls. Also, why is one’s hand being over a line an offside if you cannot touch the ball with it?

  17. 17.

    cope

    Good first half. Scotland look pretty composed. England got behind the Scot’s defense pretty consistently but couldn’t capitalize. My heart is with Robertson’s team, my head with Foden’s.

  19. 19.

    Tony Jay

    England 2018 all over again. Kane anonymous. Sterling useless. Finally brings on a gifted attacking midfielder in place of… the most attacking midfielder. Brings on a striker who excels at using pace to run behind defences against a defence with no space behind it. Dull. No invention on the pitch. No tactics.

    Scotland came to defend and work for chances to pinch a goal. They carried out that plan excellently and could well have nicked it.

    We’ll almost certainly go through, but if Southgate keeps sticking to a no-drama strategy we won’t get past the first first rate team.

  20. 20.

    LeftCoastYankee

    I was surprised by how Scotland was able to boss the midfield.  It seemed like the English attacking players kept dropping deeper to get the ball and got too frustrated about what to do with it when they had it.

    So many pointless attempts to dribble through multiple defenders.

    I was excited to see Grealish come on, and then near the end he’s doing the pointless dribbling across the field.  He got fouled, but….

    Scotland did seem a bit more fiery than their first game.  Hopefully they carry that over, and England shakes off this one.

  21. 21.

    burnspbesq

    Tonight was a good explanation of why despite all the hype, Robertson is not the best left back in the Premier League.

    Given that many crossing opportunities, Digne would have put one right on somebody’s head.

  22. 22.

    JML

    weather is a hell of an equalizer, of course, but Scotland was heady and disciplined. No creativity from England, which was disappointing. Grealish sent a jolt of energy in, I thought but didn’t really have enough time to truly impact the game.

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