Sanford's Soccer Net: 2012-06-17

Saturday, June 23, 2012

France vs. Spain

They weren't showing it in the bar down the hill from our house. But, they were showing it in the living room of the owners of the bar's house. Which, of course, was adjacent to the bar. The crowd varied from The Editor by his lonesome to The Editor, four chain-smoking guys, and the woman working the bar. Spain were their usual selves: quick, decisive, neat. France has some weapons (Ribery worked his ass off), but they had no flow whatsoever and with the exception of a few minutes around the 60 minute mark, never looked threatening. I had a few Moretti and enjoyed myself greatly. Tomorrow they'll bring out the big screen and have a full dinner in the area in front of the church. It'll be great until I have to look at John Terry. -Ciao.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Going On Vacation

SSN's main headquarters will be closed until July 2. The Editor is going to enjoy the rest of Euro 2012 from Italy. Expect sporadic reports from our base in Umbria...

Euro 2012: Tuesday's Previews

Ukraine vs. England (2:45pm EDT on ESPN)

Preview I

Preview II

Richard Williams: Ukraine wait on Shevchenko

David Bond: England face most intimidating test yet

Phil McNulty: Upbeat Hodgson sends out positive vibes

Barney Ronay: England unexpectedly expects a win

Jeremy Wilson: Can Ukraine tame Rooney?

Sweden vs. France (2:45pm EDT on ESPN2)

Preview I

Preview II

Preview III

MLS: Five things we learned in week 14

What a start for Montreal, at their new (old) home of Saputo Stadium. After a series of games at the city's Olympic Stadium, where the broken Quebec attendance records helped deflect attention from the awkward sight lines and truly terrible artificial pitch, the Impact finally played an MLS game at their refurbished Saputo Stadium and returned home with gusto.

Euro 2012: So how good are Italy, now the official dark horses?

It shows the high standards being set in at Euro 2012 when the Italians can be regarded as outsiders.

UEFA in danger of dishing up junk-food Euros

Twenty two matches in and with the group-phase jostling almost complete Euro 2012 organizers can justifiably claim that it has more than lived up to its pre-tournament billing. All the groups have been tightly-contested, there have been many enthralling matches and only been one real thrashing and as fans of Spain and Germany would testify, the fingernails have taken a battering. Things might not be quite as exciting in four years time, however, with UEFA going against the "if it's not broken don't fix it" mantra by swelling the tournament to 24 teams. The decision, justified by UEFA president Michel Platini on Monday, may come back to haunt them.

The Mill

Tuesday's Rumours

Kevin Palmer: Irish enjoy the ride

Kevin Palmer on the Ireland fans' positive approach despite their team's failure to register a point.

Euro 2012: Monday's Reports & Analyses

Spain and Italy advance...

Croatia 0 - 1 Spain

Sid Lowe in Gdansk

Tim Rich in Gdansk

Grant Wahl: Three Thoughts

Italy 2 - 0 Ireland

Miguel Delaney in Poznan

Mark Ogden in Poznan

David Hytner in Poznan

Raphael Honigstein: Three Thoughts

European Press Review

Georgina Turner: Day 11 Wrap

Tim Vickery in South America

In the rollercoaster of tournament football it took Russia little more than a week to move from possible winners to definite failures at Euro 2012. Spare a thought, then, for Argentine club Tigre who could move to either extreme in the space of 90 minutes - or even be both at the same time. Next week is the last round of the conventional season in Argentina and Tigre have a good chance of winning the title for the first time in the club's long history. But they are also in danger of being relegated to the second division.

In Uefa's sad world a pair of marketed underpants is worse than racism

Uefa needs to explain how it can fine Nicklas Bendtner £80,000 for showing his underpants when Porto had to pay only £16,700 for their fans' racist abuse earlier this season.

Rio Ferdinand attacks Uefa's fine for Nicklas Bendtner.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Amy Lawrence on Euro 2012: Holland's humiliation a washout – or a watershed?

Bert van Marwijk faces the sack but Holland must know that a managerial change will not be enough with 2014 World Cup qualification looming.

Euro 2012: Nicklas Bendtner banned for underpants celebration

Denmark's Nicklas Bendtner has been banned for one match and fined 100,000 euros (£80,000) by Uefa for his goal celebration against Portugal. He lowered his shorts to reveal the logo of a betting company on his underpants after scoring the second of his two goals in the 3-2 defeat.

Euro 2012: Pressure's on Cesare Prandelli

In 2004, Italy suffered the frustration of tying for the top spot in its group yet finding itself eliminated when co-winners Denmark and Sweden snuck by via the goals scored tiebreaker. Eight years later, the Azzurri could find themselves in the same predicament if they defeat Ireland while Spain and Croatia play out a high-scoring draw. But as much as there might be a temptation to watch the scoreboard, the Italians must take care of business first; anything less than victory will see them eliminated.