Football --- Euro '08, Transfers, etc.

Lots of stuff going on this summer. Well, mostly it's Euro 2008, but still there are transfers to talk about, and WC qualifying.


Mourinho to Inter Milan; SGE to Mexico, possibly Hughes to Man City, where will Mancini end up?

Any big moves by players? There's the non-stop talk of C. Ronaldo moving, but I don't think that's going to happen. Barca is unloading players, though neither Eto'o nor Ronaldinho have moved yet.

Any picks for Euro? Seems Italy is the favorite. I'll be cheering on the Netherlands and Spain. No real reason other than liking individual players.

And the US starts its WC qualifying soon (as do others). I missed the friendly vs England but I guess we looked pretty weak. I'm thinking it's time to drop the old-timers (Hejduk et al.) and start giving younger guys the trial by fire--Adu, Altidore, Edu, and others I don't even know of yet. Throw them in the big games and let them develop until 2010 or even 2014.

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Hughes has been confirmed at City. Still think there's chance of Mancini ending up at Chelsea, now that Ancelotti has turned them down.

Euro wise I rate Spain pretty highly, but they never perform as well as expected in major championships, so look to Croatia to win it.

US team looked awful against England, but it wasn't an amazing game by either side.

I'm still in shock over Cannavaro's injury.

i heard eto'o to inter for ibrahimovic, which makes sense for barca, but doesn't make much sense for inter. i'm also not thrilled with the selection of eriksson for mexico. the interim coach (ramirez) won the under-17 world cup a few years ago and should have been given a chance to show what he could do with the senior squad before they signed someone else.

i couldn't care less about euro '08, mostly because i'm not european, but especially because anything other than a world cup match is a friendly in my book.

glad this thread was created.

im cheering for spain in euro cup just because i like most of their players.

i dont think c. ronaldo will go anywhere but im sure barca will unload dinho to someone, i have heard he might go to milan.

btw there is a usa vs spain match on today at 5:30 est on espn2. im assuming its a WC qualifier.

Originally Posted by Omar1223

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btw there is a usa vs spain match on today at 5:30 est on espn2. im assuming its a WC qualifier.

it's a friendly. also, mexico plays argentina tonight. look for it on telemundo.

Originally Posted by Omar1223

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btw there is a usa vs spain match on today at 5:30 est on espn2. im assuming its a WC qualifier.

Friendly. We only play CONCACAF teams in qualifying. I think our first game is against Barbados or some other very small country. And not until Sept. if memory serves.



I will say this about the game vesus Spain and the recent games against Poland and England: kudos to Bob Bradley for getting our guys to play games outside of the US. We sorely need that sort of pressure. I just wish they were on weekends so I could see them.

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rdawson, I have the same problem with trying to watch the England games that are during the week.

i dont really care who wins since israel didnt make it. i was so hoping they could this time. but i just cant wait to watch the games and see some soccer now.

I have no rooting interest in Euro, but any football is good for me. As I'm a huge Barça supporter, I'll be watching Spain closely. They really have no reason NOT to win...but they seem to classically overachieve.

As for transfers, Barcelona did well with their incoming transfers so far (Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique) but I think their best transfers will be the ones they don't make. They should hold on to Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o. They won't get enough money for Dinho and Ibrahimmovic for Eto'o is almost laughable....one huge ego for another less talented ego? No thanks.

I'm TiVoing USA v. Spain......how do I say this...it's going to be ugly. No Jonathan Spector or Landon Donovan for the U.S. and the Spanish are at full strength. Anything less than 2-0 will be a shocker. I'll be watching El Tri tonight vs. Argentina...Mexico always seems to play above their level against the big guys, and I expect everyone will be giving 110% to impress their new coach.

Gotta love summer footie!!

Originally Posted by embowafa

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I'm TiVoing USA v. Spain......how do I say this...it's going to be ugly. No Jonathan Spector or Landon Donovan for the U.S. and the Spanish are at full strength. Anything less than 2-0 will be a shocker. I'll be watching El Tri tonight vs. Argentina...Mexico always seems to play above their level against the big guys, and I expect everyone will be giving 110% to impress their new coach.

Gotta love summer footie!!

Started to write a response to this forgetting that the US game (not sure about Mex/Arg) was already over. 1-0 ain't bad, but I didn't see it so who knows what actually happened.


And Jozy is heading to Villareal apparently. I hope it's true. Landon, hear that? He's going to try to make it in Europe. Remember how you gave up on that because you have no heart or desire and you're a p***y? Yea, that's right.


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It's been months and I still can't take England's failure to qualify.

Nevertheless, I'm all for France this month.

USA-Spain: The Americans looked pretty good IMO--they certainly looked better than they did against England. They still just sometimes make really stupid mistakes, though. And I was happy not to have to look at Donovan's annoying mug all match.

Originally Posted by embowafa

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As I'm a huge Barça supporter, I'll be watching Spain closely. They really have no reason NOT to win...but they seem to classically overachieve.

I'm guessing that's a typo? I'd love to see Spain win it all, and I honestly don't understand all this talk of "they always seem to choke in major tournaments". Yes, that's true, but why should the historical failings of a team have any effect on players today? I don't get this in any sports, but especially in soccer, where the majors are like once every two years.

Since the English are out, I'd be happy to see almost anybody win except Italy.

I would like to see Sweden win the euro cup, but as long as Spain and Italy don't win, I'll be happy.

Unsure who to support this summer? Give this a try then

Turkey beating Romania in the final