I agree with this. I also got the impression that Spain played within themselves which sort of backfired. I never understand why they bring on 2 wingers yet don't deploy a forward like Lloriente.

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This empty sanitised shell of a stadium, a cathedral to the vanity and narcissism of one man. It’s very difficult to fall in love with football amongst the rows of empty seats. The notion that a stadium has worth beyond its potential commerical value or it’s proximity to transport links – as a spiritual repository of the hopes,fears and agonies of generations of supporters, or as a physical manifestation of the football club in the community, is a dying one in football (Sam Volkman)

Fuck knows the thinking behind it but it backfired something rotten. You'd have to be mad to keep one of the worlds best dead ball players until the end of a shoot out whilst letting two centre halves go up first, including a visibly nervous Bruno alves.

unbelievable decision. bruno was a bag of nerves.

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This empty sanitised shell of a stadium, a cathedral to the vanity and narcissism of one man. It’s very difficult to fall in love with football amongst the rows of empty seats. The notion that a stadium has worth beyond its potential commerical value or it’s proximity to transport links – as a spiritual repository of the hopes,fears and agonies of generations of supporters, or as a physical manifestation of the football club in the community, is a dying one in football (Sam Volkman)

firstly...if they really do deem Ronaldo their best penalty taker then it's just a shocking decision trying to guess that the penalty shootout will go that far is just odd.

I feel for Bruno Alves, he is probably an extremely competent and confident penalty taker under normal circumstances (it was just the little bit of confusion that pasted a nervous look across his face) - he didn't strike the ball in a way that illustrated nerves and personally feel he was a little unfortunate, an inch lower and it really is an awesome penalty.

It's a difficult one. If you go in to the 5th penalty needing a goal, then the pressure at that point is greater than at any other stage. There's no chance of the opposition fluffing their lines and letting you off the hook, so in that respect you want someone strong to take your 5th penalty.

There's no perfect order. I'm usually of the mind that you use your strongest early and hopefully it eases the pressure on those taking later on, but it can work out the other way round - there's no gaurantee anyone will score now that Matt Le Tissier has retired.

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The 4th pen tends to be the most decisive, there's no logic to go after that if you're one of the better takers. That said, there's no guarantee Ronaldo would have scored anyway as he has missed in big shootouts before - Champions League semi v Bayern this season, and v Chelsea in Champions League final for Man Utd.

In hindsight, it's a shame we used up all three of our substitutions so early on Sunday as it would've been good to have been able to throw on Leighton Baines to take a penalty & perhaps do a rendition of Get The Balance Right had it come down to sudden death karaoke later on.

I’m not sure there is a correct way for penalty takers i.e. best first last. The BBC overplayed it last night in my opinion, all the talk of 'as captain he should have stepped up' no mention of Terry for England for example.

Ronaldo has also missed some big Pens in the champions, two that spring to mind, but i have a feeling there was another for Real, maybe v Barca in La Liga or the Spanish Cup.

2011 - 2012 semi final v Bayern
2007 - 2008 final v Chelsea

Just saying maybe they don’t think he is the best, or maybe he didn't fancy it, guess we'll never know. Its just easy to blame his ego.

Maybe because terry isn't the captain?

Super Mariooooooooooo, fuck off you German c****

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Words are weapons sharper than knives, makes you wonder how the other half die.

Totally amazed at the H/T score

Expected the Germans to win this

How the hell did we hold Italians to 0-0?

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at the start germany we slightly odds on, italy were 7/2 now germanys 33/1 and italy 1/14

i need 4 more corners to get my bet up

Germany are all over the shop

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Words are weapons sharper than knives, makes you wonder how the other half die.

Fuck sake I watched yesterdays and todays Hollyoaks and missed the first hour of the game...

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@George_S96

aahhhhhhhh hollyoaks is that set in a town where theres no ugly people.

Certainly not set in Darlington then

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@George_S96

Maybe Italy are better than we thought!

I was expecting a Germany win tonight. If they'd scored early on when Italy looked a bit shaky it might have been different. However, once Italy calmed down a bit they looked the better side. Similar to the QF actually. Italy looked a bit weak at the back to begin with, but then slowly assume control. The group game between Italy and Spain was a good match. Hopefully the final will be too.

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Boycott greedy clubs!!

I didn't see the match - was Pirlo "playing in his slippers" again? There's no way he's 33 with a face like that.

Pirlo was a class above with his vision. First 25 minutes I thought Germany were going to win but German defending was a bit of a shambles. Worst game I've seen Hummels play for a long time. De Rossi and Pirlo in midfield is a great combo. Cassano's movement is top class. It will be a fascinating final. Much depends on the team Del Bosco selects.

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This empty sanitised shell of a stadium, a cathedral to the vanity and narcissism of one man. It’s very difficult to fall in love with football amongst the rows of empty seats. The notion that a stadium has worth beyond its potential commerical value or it’s proximity to transport links – as a spiritual repository of the hopes,fears and agonies of generations of supporters, or as a physical manifestation of the football club in the community, is a dying one in football (Sam Volkman)

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truely amazed that zee germans went out ...

dunno who i fancy now?

Possibly the italians as Spain have looked wank all tourament

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Meanwhile, from the "Platini's gone batshit insane" department:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... el-platini

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Mikky - http://twitter.com/mikkyx
Next Darlo Quiz - 30th May, Dolphin Centre, 8pm
Jackpot Question: £175

Christ....is he trying to destroy the Euros?! What with this and the plan to increase it to 24 teams, I doubt it's going to be anywhere near as good as it is now. I really hope this doesn't happen. If they are really struggling for a host nation, why not approach one of the big nations who could host a major tournament without any major work, and give it to Turkey in 2024?

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Boycott greedy clubs!!

i reckon italy can pull off a shock tonight... 2-1!

spain 11/10 italy 3/1

italy 2-1 is 14/1 with ballotelli to score anytime and 2-1 is 25/1

Haha, can't believe I actually won my Torres top scorer bet, albeit joint top with 5 others meaning I'll get 1/6 odds.

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"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Stephen Hawking

Spain took the piss there, light years ahead, how do you stop them?

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Words are weapons sharper than knives, makes you wonder how the other half die.

With 11 men, for starters.

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i was thinking about this tonight, i backed Gomez and wasn't sure if the bookies would pay out so i'm guessing i'll get 1/6 of the odds as well.

but on the match.. i knew spain would get a few more goals when Motta went off, sort of ruined it at it was a close match until then

Clone Akinfenwa 10 times

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@George_S96