in the footsteps of a Supremo

Pirlio and Xavi: midfield masters
Spain are boring and Italy play catennacio?
Either people do not appreciate football, do not underestand football, or  have sour grapes.

We cannot let our Final preview go without being tempted to delve into a historical analogy in describing what awaits Jason (56), our leader and possibly, soon to be Euro Supremo. It is going to be a big call by the man from the Gong to make for Monday morning’s final. Will he go with Italy and see off the challenge from Nestor (53) who has been on a role with the Italians, and by doing so risk exposing his opposite flank to Luke (53), and possibly Jeremy (52) sneaking in? Or will he play his hand with a defensive move and call it a draw.

Iniesta - Spain's magician escapologist

The Great King of Persia once offered a young king from the west, who was a threat, the western half of his great empire together with his daughter’s hand in marriage. The young king’s general, Parmenio, told the young man to consolidate his success and accept the generous offer.

“So would I, if I were Parmenio” said the young king, “but because I am Alexander, I will send Darius a different answer”. Arrian, Campaigns of Alexander 2.25.

You have made a big call Jason and it promises be a great morning of football. So here is what the Top 6 have gone with for the Final.


1. Jason (56):   Spain 2 -0
2. Luke (53):    Spain 1-0
3. Nestor (53):  Italy 2 -0
4. Jeremy (52): Spain 1-0
5. H Potter (49): 1- 1
6. Yianni (48): Italy 3-0

Prandelli has restored pride and power to Italy

On the Incentive Finalist prize front, since both Stylianos and Nestor have gone for an Italian victory they have agreed to add an extra spice for the final. He who correctly predicts the score will be the outright winner. 
Stylianos: Italy 1 Spain 0    Nestor: Italy 2  Spain 0

Good luck to everyone regardless of their predicament, and their quest to beating a Mate or, avoiding the bottom.

Final

BOOM! another choke, some great vision, and a new Euro Supremo beckons

Ten minutes before half-time Balotelli bags his and Italy's second with a screamer. Montolivo is just inside his own half and sprays a diagonal down the centre for Balotelli who is 40 yards out. He chests the ball down, turns, and a delicate touch takes the ball towards the edge of the German penalty area ...BOOM! 2-0 Italy

"I can hardly see any weak links in the German team. When you've won all your competitive games since the semi-final at the 2010 World Cup, you don't have to fear any opponent,"  Franz Beckenbauer on the eve of  Semi-Final No. 2 : Germany v Italy.

You know when an elder tells a child that it does not have to fear something; it generally means that the child has a certain fear of something.

Well done this morning to Duncan, Stylianos, and Nestor for predicting this morning's second semi-final, but really why were there only three Mates going for an Italian victory over ze Germans? The Italian's too had a formidable record (undefeated) in qualifying, took the game to the current European and World Champions during the group stages of this tournament, controlled their Quarter Final game against England, had a superior defensive record (to Germany) prior to today, and had an impeccable record against Germany at 'competitive' matches that now stands at 4-4-0. To add further salt into the wound, as we pointed out in a previous blog, Germany's record at the business end of tournaments is an catalogue of one failure after another, yet somehow they were overwhelming favourites to make, and win the Final. Germany has a history of standing on the threshold of achieving their ambition for greatness in a variety of areas, but they never seem to get there. Perhaps great technique together with pragmatism and flexibility always overcome rigid efficiency. Someone should let the Germans in on the secret that there is simply more to football that robotic tactics. 

It seems that the time has arrived for the football world to place the unwanted tag of underachievers/chokers across the German national team as the Spanish once unceremoniously wore it. We did say at the beginning of the tournament, these are the Euros and the gloves are off.  As mention in the pre-game Quarter Final hype between Germany and Greece, to achieve a great result you must have belief, even against the greatest odds, even when there is little support, even when victory seems impossible. Yet Germany, with all these odds in their favour, always fail, and what seems to be a great irony, teams who achieve this virtue, do so at the expense of the Germans. Perception can be a wicked vice, and hammering teams you are expected to defeat with clear-eyed efficiency does not make you a great side. Congratulations to Italy who once again turned around what their media described as ‘scandalous allegations’ and ‘poor preparation’ to make it into the Final of another major tournament. 

Vision Award

Pre-tournament Prediction of the Finalists

Spain V Italy

Congratulations

Stylianos & Nestor

father and son have gone for Italy in the Final

On the ladder, the quest for Supremo will go down to the final game. Jason (56), Luke (53) and Jeremy (52) missed out on gaining any advantages for the top prize, opening the door for Nestor (53) to pull equal second with Luke, three points behind Jason. A preview of the Final plus the full ladder will be out shortly. 

Euro 2012: Joachim's Löw's Germany condemned to follow famous footsteps

top 6 predictions

Another Final for Spain after their Penalty Shootout
victory over Portugal

A big game tomorrow morning for so many different reasons, especially after yesterday's post and more importantly, for what can happen on the F4M ladder. All but one Mate has gone for a German success story in tomorrow's second Semi Final. Italy and Germany have played seven times in a major tournament. The Italians have never lost. Good Luck.

1. Jason (56) : P1 S2 & Germany 1 Italy 0

Jordi Alba's jinking run feeds Iniesta, but his close range
effort is wonderfully  turned to saftey
by the Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio.  

2. Luke (53):  P1 S2 & Germany 2 Italy 0
3. Jeremy (52): P0 S1 & Germany 1 Italy 0
4. Nestor (51): P1 S1 & Germany 0 Italy 1
5. H Potter (49): P0 S1 & Germany 1 Italy 0
6. Yianni (48):    P2 S2 & Germany 2 Italy 1

great achievers or perennial chokers?

Euro 1992 Final: Going down to the Danes (who did not even qualitfy)

QF World Cup 1998: Beaten by outsiders Croatia

Euro 2000: Sent home by England

2002 World Cup Final: Beaten by Brazil

QF Euro 2004: Tossed out by the Czechs

Semi Final 2006 World Cup: Beaten by Italy

Euro 2008 Final: Beaten by Spain

World Cup Semi Final: Beaten again by Spain

We often marvel at the consistent achievement of the Germans progressing at the big tournaments. But how good is their mental toughness when it comes to the games that really matter? "Yeah but you can never write off the Germans”. Well based on the results above, when it comes to the big games, it just about seems that we can. It was mentioned in the previous post that there are two traditional football powers (Brazil and Italy) that German efficiency becomes exposed. After doing some digging on the FIFA head to head statistics, past results prove to back that claim – see below. So how good are Germany at the business end of the big tournament? Euro 96 and Italia 90 was the last time they won a tournament and even then they scraped through on penalties at the expense of the English. Fantastic at qualifying, great during the Group stages, brilliant at disposing lesser teams, but thier record 
against quality oppostion is inferior, and against Spain it is only slightly better (W 8 D 6 L 7).


Of course I could be left with some serious egg on my face after all this and there are two 
games remainning to be proven wrong. Love it!

Italy                      30 14  9  7  45- 34  

Germany             30  7  9 14  34- 45  

Brazil                   21 12  5  4  39- 24  

Germany             21  4  5 12  24- 39  


I could have included a few more photos of German failures that stretch back into the 80's but 
I think you get the point. 
Still waiting on some tips before announcing the Top 3. Stay tuned.

a three way chase for Euro Supremo

With fifteen points remaining, it seems that we are going down to a three Mates race between Jason, Luke and Jeremy for the crowning of a new Euro Supremo, though it will be an extraordinary feat if either Potter or Nestor pull something out of the semi finals and send the competition spinning for the Final match. Having said that, there are a number of players, such as Yianni,  that could also sneak into third spot.

For our new Mates, it has been a real baptism into the Football4Mates ring of fire with consistency being the virtue that most of you have struggled to rein in. As it stands, Simon has been the pick of the new bunch followed by Alex and Oliver. Down the bottom, it seems that Nico is going to finish at the bottom of the heap, while Rayment and A Williams are fighting to avoid the Reds Butt End Award. This has been a titanic struggle between these two players though unfortunately at the wrong end of the table. Joe S, though gallant at the beginning of the competition has had a disaster run to slip way back in the pack. Mate you are the mythical Sisyphus of this competion.  Some big names with high expectations have again failed to produce – I’m looking at you Duncan, Benjamin, Benny G and Gavan. George K, a constant threat in this competition seems to have had his tree shaken while Andy K’s disappointing run of Outcomes simply could not match his excellent set of Score predictions - equal with Jason. Dung, it seems that you will be gutted as Potter heads towards victory in your personal duel. As mentioned before the tournament kicked off, the Euro is a tough competition to get amongst it unless you start firing from the kickoff. However, we do hope you have enjoyed it regardless of your position on the ladder. 

Andrea Pirlo

Xavi Hernadez

On the table below, I have included the Incentive Award Finalist predictions which are still available for a few of you. Of the nine players still in contention, seven are predicting a Germany Spain final. Pity that.

My tips for the Semi Final are: Portugal 1 Spain 1 and Germany 0 Italy 1

I will again put a post of the top players predictions once they have all come in.

Good luck  

Semi

they don't make them like this anymore

Pirlo: quality finish by a qualiy player, the puppet master of the Azurri

A fantastic game of football this morning and a great showcase on how to control the ball and tempo of the game. I thoroughly enjoy watching this Italian team and in particular, their midfield maestro, Pirlo, pulling the strings with amazing technique and composure. The Italians are looking the goods. I'll let you all know via email once I have updated the tables with your required tips for the semi finals. 

At this stage, I am not quite sure on the semi's outcome (win or draw) but, I am sticking by my pre-tournament Semi Final and Final predictions that Spain will overcome Portugal and Italy will toss out the Germans. Apart from Spain, there are two traditional teams in world football that the Germans don't like facing. One of them is not eligible to be part of this tournament and the other is Italy.

For those of you have not seen this morning's Pirlo penalty, it's class. 

Spain V Portugal

semi final 1

Will this be the moment for Ronaldo to shine or will the impeccable balance of the Spanish team prevail. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, we have a massive game on Monday morning, Engalnd v Italy and here's a note; all our English Mates have either gone for a draw or an English victory - now that's belief. 

Some nice tipping from players lower down the ladder, notably Alister (20th), who has collected twelve points in three matches. There is still plenty to play for, particularly QP players who must avoid finishing at the rear of the group. Supremo Rayment (22 points) and former Euro Supremo, Nico (20 points) are doing well to achieve a first for any past or current winners of this competition - finishing last. At the top, Jermey (52) is two points behind Jason (54), while Luke (51) is hanging onto 3rd from H Potter and Nestor (49).

Our leaders predictions for tonight are as follows:

Jason: 1:1

Jeremy: England 1 Italy 2

Luke: 1:1

H Potter: England 0 Italy 1

Nestor: England 1 Italy 2

three cracking finishes

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel is clearly overjoyed  with the quality  
of some of the German goals, or is she? Clearly Michel Platini (left) is not overly impressed. 
Germany 4 Greece 2

Quick update on the Top 3 after the Germany, Greece match on Saturday morning. Jason (52) leading Luke (49), H Potter and Jeremy (47). I managed to hold out to 3:00 pm before putting the game on and was ecstatic that the Greeks scored two goals. Bummer that the Germans put away four (three cracking goals). Is this Angela celebrating Germany's goals or was this her reaction on hearing that New Democracy won the Greek elections. Love the jacket Angela.

Spain 2 France 0, and England 1 Italy 2

the greatest achievements come when victory seems impossible

Greece to beat Germany? Surely your prediction is one from the heart? Absolutely not. It is neither on heart, nor hope, but the difference between heroic victory and disaster can certainly be terribly thin. I will blend in the words of Winston Churhill in applying my reasoning for a Greek upset tomorrow. "I have myself full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made as they are being made, the Greeks shall prove themselves”.

Greek National Coach, Fernando Santos

To achieve a great result, you must have belief, even against the greatest odds, even when there is little support, even when victory seems impossible. Remember, while the Germans have speed, technique and hopefully NOT a referee on their side, it still will be eleven vs eleven. The Germans do not play in the style of Brazil, nor do they have a phenomena like a Ronaldo or Messi. Hence, if the above is applied, then the impossible, becomes possible. Furthermore, my prediction is not based on the heart but, what is the right thing to do under these circumstances. Sport has no room for politics, but what Greeks face today is more important than politics and certainly more important than my standing in a tipping competition.

I myself will not be watching the game, nor will I know the score till after midday Saturday. The irony is that I will be in an exam on Ancient Greece, however I am more than comfortable with my prediction and whatever the outcome may be. I hope that it will be a great game regardless and may the phantom of Homer prevent anyone from telling me the score before I enter or leave the exam room.

Below is some footage from Greece's manager Fernando Santos, responding to a question that a British journalist asked him how the political confrontation with Germany is driving his players. Santos does not answer the question in relation to his players, nor engages in any chest thumping rhetoric, but gives a stern response that we need to reflect on. Mr Santos is Portuguese, which makes his answer and the feeling within the dressing room more significant. Unfortunately, the question is in English while the response comes back in Portuguese and Greek. If someone finds footage with an English translation, pass it on.

Portugal 3  Czech Republic 1, Germany 1  Greece 2

comments from a Mate

My comments in regards to England this morning were slightly misinterpreted by one (or possibly more) of our English residents who felt hard done by from my banter towards English overconfidence. He tried to put his thoughts in the comments section but was hit with a barrage Google redtape. Nevertheless, he was in favour of me putting his email message on the blog.

Hi Nestor. Great chat on the blog although this morning’s banter was a tad harsh. Tried to post on your blog but it crashed so had to re-do it, stick it up there I’m sure it’ll stir the pot.

“England may not have shown too much flair but we have qualified top and avoided the World Champions and given ourselves an extra days rest. Every team needs to ride their luck and I've seen worse decisions in this tournament. What about the Danish player who handled it inside the box about 3 times and the penalty wasn’t given to the Dutch. Blatant pen!! Ukraine would have been given the goal if we had goal line technology in place. However, the ball was only an inch over the line and you can only see that on a slow motion replay. The touchie was well placed on the post and replayed at normal speed I can see how he deemed it inconclusive and didn't give it. Lampard’s WC2010 goal was easily a foot over and also bounced on the ground making it even more obvious to the naked eye first hand. You cannot compare the 2 goals my friend. Bring on the Azurri!!”

 To be fair the 'touchie' has one job to do and he screwed it up. Remember also that there were no goal line referees in 2010. This is all irrelevant. My aim was to highlight, in somewhat of a complimentary manner, that despite not being a team of high quality, the English squad are first class in belief but their media, in particular the BBC, are absolutely disgraceful in the manner in which they moan on just about everything, including their team when reality hits them. Personally, I would like to see Hodgson to do well in this tournament just so he can scramble that egg on Liverpool faces.

If you wish to make any comments but don't want to go through all the hassle of Google signin, pop through any comment you have via email and I'll put it up.

little skill but great on confidence

A positive to have come out of the England v Ukraine game is that we will no longer hear English commentators blabbering on about 2010 and goal line technology. 

While the Dutch lack the confidence to match their talents, we’ve simply got to applaud how, or where, the English find theirs. Having qualified top of their group D, with at times some amateurish performances, their reputable Guardian newspaper is already speaking of a possible semi-final clash with Germany. Funnily enough, we do not seem to hear the Germans speaking who they are likely to face in the semis but I am sure they too are hoping to face England and not ITALY, whom England is playing next. Also, did someone tell the French that a loss to Sweden would put them in second and face Spain in the Quarters?

Congrats to Jeremy and H Potter who both scored five points with the England game to bump Luke and Nestor out of the Top 3. Surprisingly nobody chose Sweden to beat the French (sorry Alex and Benjamin but that was soft). There are seven games remaining, and with the element of Extra Time looming, these games are critical in thinking clearly on how they are going to pan out. 

REMEMBER, if a game goes into extra time, then scores will be allocated based on the result after 120 minutes – penalties are not included.

On the Incentive Awards front, congratulations to Jeremy, H Potter, Duncan, Alister, Gavan (Joe will not be happy with you) and Nestor in their vision of predicting the Republic of Ireland as the worst team, though the Dutch were the biggest flops. By selecting the Netherlands to make the final, a few of you have bombed out of the Finalist Incentive Award and Jeremy is guaranteed in joining you after the next stage of matches. He has predicted Spain v France.

I’ll post my scores over the coming days but I will tell you now that I’m going for Portugal and Greece.

Good luck 

QF

another perfect ten and the lead changes hands

Iker Casillas makes an excellent save to deny Ivan Rakitic to keep the scores level (1-0). Despite their possession, the Spanish had some hair raising moments and penalty decision that the Corats were denied, as were the Danes against Germany during the previous day. 

We simply could not let this day pass without mentioning the fantastic response by Jason in this morning's Group C matches, scoring a perfect ten to shoot back to the top with forty three points to lead Luke and Nestor, both on forty. There are only nine points separating first and tenth so keep at it. Now that the group games have just about concluded, the competition is about to take an extra twist as games could possibly be determined in extra time. More on that soon.

My prediction for tomorrow morning's final Group D games. Ukraine 1 England 2 and Sweden 0 France 1.

the ladder is shaken up

 Ronaldo puts Portugal ahead and the Dutch to finish bottom of the group, so much for the
Netherlands reaching the finals as many of you predicted.

A shake up of the ladder during this morning's matches requires a new update of the table. Andy K, who should be close to the bottom of the ladder with his Game predictions has amassed a staggering eighteen Bonus points (predicting scores). Together with Simon, he was at it again this morning with both Mates collecting ten out of ten. Well done chaps. A Van der Vaart post denied Luke the 2-2 draw he was craving for, and see his lead pegged back. On the other hand, Jason and Joe will wake up this morning and discover a “what the hell moment”. Both players suddenly find themselves out of the Top 3, with Joe falling back to eighth. As for those of you who selected the Dutch to make the final, how must you feel? Bottom of the group, zero points- hilarious. Finally, our reigning World Cup Supremo, Rayment, seems to have been hit by the F4M curse, languishing in 17^th. Come on mate, you've got to pick up the pace.


Predictions for Group C matches: Croatia 0 Spain 2, and Italy 3 Ireland 1

Round3

keeping the faith

Karagounis nips in behind and rifled a shot under Malafeev. 1-0 to Greece and as it stood they' would go through with Russia but a goal by the Czechs see's Russia, Poland and their disgraceful hooligans thrown out.

You know I can understand why the majority of our Mates would choose Russia over Greece in this morning’s fixture, but as for the rest of you that are of Greek origin….hmm. Two players kept the faith – Stylianos and Nestor - and can have a clear conscious going into the next game, while Stylianos went one better by backing the Czech Republic, and to take out today’s competition with four points. Luke (thirty four) is still ahead in the battle with Jason (thirty one), while there is a procession of players waiting to pounce as Round 3 kicks (Joe, Yianni, Nestor & Jeremy). Plenty of time for the rest of you to be amongst it all and don’t forget the Reds Butt End Award. This is going to be awarded to the Queens Park Player that finishes at the bottom of the heap. There are a stack of Mates that are jostling for this award, too many to list, but Alister (twelve points) is at the bottom of this group. Good luck for the upcoming fixtures.


My tips for tomorrow: Portugal 2 Netherlands 1 and Denmark 0 Germany 2.

a fine finish to Round 2

12 yards out, Andy Caroll sends a dart of a header beyond the outstretched arms of Sweden's goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson and into the top corner. 1-0 to England and an eventual 3-2 win over the Swedes.

The usual suspects in the tournament are keeping to a consistent pace with steady predictions however, 2004 Euro Supremo, Yianni, has emerged again with some quality tipping overnight. There is plenty of time to make your mark in this competition so do not freak out. Two five point predictions and you will be back in the game and the presuure up the top will be on.

For tomorrow's games I'm going for the home country to progress, Poland 2 Czech Rep 1, while I'm throwing out all logic and going for the Greeks to beat the Russians 2-1.

Round2

the joy of 10

Croati's goal comes through Mario Mandzukic who takes the ball down in the box and lashes a
 shot in off the near post. Italy 1 Croatia 1

Benjamin secured 10 points during Friday morning's matches, Luke (30 points) reclaimed first spot, Joe S (28) despite Ireland's catastrophe, jumped to second and Jason T (27) slipped to third.

A tough evening of matches to predict I have Sweden 2 England 1 and Ukraine 1 France 2. What are the chances of two games finishing 2:1?

self combusting Dutch on the brink

Gomez makes it 2-0 to Germany in the 38th minute with another brilliant finish across
the face of goal from another pin-point pass

Ten Mates had predicted that the Dutch would make it all the way to the final, and seven of you believe that it will be against ze Germans. Well, two games in, and it's not looking good for almost half of you as the fragile mental state of the Netherlands again seems on the brink of self combusting. There were plenty of five pointer predictions for this game but the only real mover has come from Andy K (20 points and sixth overall) who has moved five points behind our leader Jason T (25 points). Nico collected his first points and with H Potter, were the morning's best performers (7 points). The Top 3 of Jason T (25), Luke (23) and Nestor (23) continue to hold onto these positions despite a  flaky start to round two. 

Damn you Ronaldo. One on one with the keeper to make it 3-1 for five points, and you shoot it wide. 


Predictions for tomorrow morning: Italy 2 Croatia 1 and Spain 3 Ireland 0

Ronaldo spurns the chance to give Portugal a two goal lead when he shoots wide during
this one-on-one with the Danish keeper

another disallowed goal floors Greek chances

Six minutes in and Pilar is celebrating Czech Republic's second, having bundled the ball home from close range following a nice pull-back by Theodor Gebre Selassie. Final score Czech Republic 2-1 Greece.

That's two controversial decisions, no let's not pull back from any punches here; Bullshit decisions, that have virtually left Greek hopes on the canvass and have cost me ten points. Down 2-0 the Greeks pulled a goal back just before half time for it to be disallowed for offside. On a positive note for Jason T, a handy five pointer has given him the lead over Luke and Nestor - both earning zero points.  Down the bottom of the table, Euro 2004 Supremo Nico is still trying to find his first points to the campaign. I've sent him a courtesy email reminding him that the objective of the game is to finish the tournament with the hightest amount of points. Come on Nico, surely those Frenchies haven't spiked your bread that badly.

Some cracking games lined up for this evening. I am going for Denmark 1 Portugal 3 and a pulsating Germany 2 Netherlands 2 that will leave the Dutch pinned to the bottom of group B...nice.

a brace from Sheva and 10 points for a former supremo

Shevchenko – who is in his 17th year as an international footballer – scores a flying header
to give victory to the home nation over Sweden 2:1

A great evening of Group D results for Joe S, and former Supremo Nestor, who both scored a maximum of ten points to shoot them into the Top 3 at the close of round one matches. Luke is holding onto his impressive form by collecting five points with the France England match to finish equal first on twenty-one points however, Jeremy and Jason are within touching distance with eighteen points each. Some of our former Supremos are struggling together with the pretournament favourites but there is a long way to go, so keep your spirits up and your head together. Get your tips in by the end of today, and you can make a change, at any time for games that are not being played in the moment. For example, if you thought that Ukraine would be push over’s prior to this morning's result and wish to reconsider the result for their next match, feel free to send me an email.  

I am tearing myslef up about the Greece v Czech game, but my prediction will be an agonising, yet exciting tactics out the window 2:2. Russia v Poland 2:0.

Good luck.

Round1