Comments on: Losing is the New Winning at Euro 2008

By: white is right

white is right — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:40:37 +0000

this article makes some baseless remarks as mentioning spain barely beat italy, as if it were supposed to be like stealing candy from a child! hello?

By: A.

A. — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:12:09 +0000

Turkey was no more playing for a nil-nil draw than Croatia. There is no doubt that the possibility exists that players will switch off mentally when they are given a match off and may not regain the right sort of focus once they play again.

By: Timba

Timba — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:41:06 +0000

Boycott South Africa 2010. Force South African president Thabo Mbeki to confront Robert Mugabe! http://zimsolidarity.blogspot.com/

By: Terrycarvallo from FLORIDA

Terrycarvallo from FLORIDA — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:07:19 +0000

an italian loss bring as much joy as a french win,especially in the manner it did, now they know how it felt,the difference is that France in 2006 deserve to win

By: Yevy

Yevy — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:44:34 +0000

I’m going to have to go ahead and shoot down the hypothesis that playing an extra competitive match during the course of a week improves a team’s performance in a subsequent match. Logic dictates that fitness and availability of players have the most impact on a team’s performance. Playing another match could only negatively impact a team’s ability to put their best eleven on the field. The teams bounced out of the quarters didn’t lose because of rust.
Portugal lost because they could not defend set pieces, which is something you have to work out in practice anyways.
The Dutch lost because they played a team that forced them to defend the whole match and ran them into the ground, something their group opponents were incapable of.
Croatia lost because because they couldn’t break the Turks playing for a nil draw, and after scoring they left time on the clock for the luckiest team in the tournament.
Spain could have been in the same boat as Croatia, but Donadoni was ready to go home.
For reference, of the runner-up teams only Russia played better in the quarters than they did during the group stage as a whole, and they had to add the best player in the tournament to do so. Italy and Turkey played like crap, and Germany still does not look like they can consistently create chances from open play.

By: Daryl

Daryl — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:34:19 +0000

Thanks George, been corrected.

By: George

George — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:20:11 +0000

Correction: Russia lost to Spain, not the Netherlands.