Archives › Euro 2012
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Shipped from Abroad, Euro 2012: Reflecting on the quarterfinals
Jun 26, 2012, 4:00 PM EDT
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Somewhere between group stage and the quarterfinals, we decided to take a stand against Spain, which served as a distraction from Euro 2012′s downturn in quality.
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Bastian Schweinsteiger was pretty bad Saturday against Greece; Germany’s coach says it won’t happen Thursday against Italy:
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Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo, long the rock-steady conductor of the Azzurri attack, really out-did himself Sunday. Some thoughts on Italy’s man of the moment, from myself and others:
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Offshore drilling, Euro 2012: Italy 0 (4-2 on kicks), England 0
Jun 24, 2012, 5:55 PM EDT
A promising match descended into the expected waiting game, with Euro 2012′s last quarterfinal settled from the spot.
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Video of Irish captain Robbie Keane, who paid tribute Saturday to the family of Irish soccer fan James Nolan:
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Wayne Rooney, flash points, and England-Italy: Sunday’s Euro 2012 playlist
Jun 23, 2012, 11:28 PM EDT
The stylistic pairing may be a turnoff, but there’s enough prestige and legacy at play on Sunday to make England-Italy one of the tournament’s most attractive matches.
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In gaining a semifinal berth, Spain becomes the first Euro winner since 1988 champ Netherlands to make it back into the tournament semifinals. What the winners since have done:
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A late penalty kick helped Spain avoid another knockout round 1-0, downing France on their way to Euro 2012′s semifinals.
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It’s not just that one of the world’s best players ever turns 40; it’s that Zidane has such a history of inflicting harm and heartbreak on the Spanish side. And who happens to meet in today’s European Championship quarterfinal?
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Andres Iniesta, Franck Ribery, and Spain-France: Saturday’s Euro 2012 playlist
Jun 22, 2012, 7:34 PM EDT
Spain’s question for a second consecutive European title restarts on Saturday, with a young French team asked to make a big turnaround after Monday’s loss to Sweden.
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Germany shook off their late match yips to pull away from Greece and into the Euro 2012 semifinals, where they wait the winner of England-Italy.
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The German tabloid Bild let their European neighbors have it today, in headline form.
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Better footballers: Greek philosophers or German philosophers? Monty Python has the answer
Jun 22, 2012, 11:49 AM EDT
Watch the classic Monty Python sketch, the philosophers’ soccer match. Oh, it was Greece and Germany. Just like today!
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Cristiano Ronaldo rising; Player of the Tournament stuff?
Jun 22, 2012, 11:06 AM EDT
Cristiano Ronaldo may yet make this his tournament. And he may even add a new layer of context to the fluid Messi-vs.-Ronaldo debate:
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Mario Gomez, rekindled memories, and Germany-Greece: Friday’s Euro 2012 playlist
Jun 21, 2012, 9:30 PM EDT
Greece is trying to write another Cinderella story against a German team too young to know the lessons of 2004.
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Expanding the Euros to 24 teams is a terrible, horrible, no-good idea
Jun 21, 2012, 5:30 PM EDT
Not that we can do a darn thing to prevent it from happening.
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Cristiano Ronaldo’s late goal has pushed Portugal into Euro 2012′s quarterfinals and the Czech Republic out of the tournament.
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According to reader raters of The Guardian, Germany’s young center back is the tournament’s top man so far:
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The 24 games of Euro 2012 group stage have averaged a little more than one million viewers, almost twice the number from Euro 2008.
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Will the longtime Italian international be the latest to turn European Championship performance into a springboard for a better club contract?
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Cristiano Ronaldo, wing commanders, and Czech Republic-Portugal: Thursday’s Euro 2012 playlist
Jun 21, 2012, 12:28 AM EDT
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Sunday awakening has put the Czech Republic on alert, but finding their own attack may prove a bigger problem for Group A’s winners.
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Ukraininan striker Andriy Shevchenko and Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel have both walked away from their national teams. Mostly, anyway.
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Good news for the English, but very bad news for the Italians: decorated center back Giorgio Chiellini will miss the Azzurri’s quarterfinal Sunday against England:
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File this under “blatantly obvious” or “long overdue” or pretty much whatever. Or just roll your eyes at what FIFA president Sepp Blatter said via Twitter:
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The newest call for goal line technology comes from today’s Ukraine-England match; yes, we’ve played this song before:
