UEFA Euro 2008 Football/Soccer

Yeah I prefer something like the Bundesliga.

 

Yeah, rechedelphar has a point there. All over Europe it's the same teams winning again and again. Spain is Real Madrid/Barcelona, France is Lyon (7 years in a row), Italy - Inter Milan (3 years in a row I think?). Stuttgart were German champions last year, Bayern Munich were this year (usually have been champions) but there are other teams like Werder Bremen, Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen that have all stepped up in the recent past to win it.

 

Yeah I like that sort of thing.

 

Is it normal for this many famous players to not be named for their national team for a tournament like this?

 

The Bundesliga is just as repetitive as the other big European leagues -- since 2000, Bayern has won 5 out of 8 titles, with Dortmund, Bremen and Stuttgart each sneaking in once. The 90s were a bit more diverse, with Bayern only winning 4 times, Kaiserslautern and Dortmund twice, Bremen and Stuttgart twice.

That is a little more diverse than the Big 3 (Spain, Italy and England), where its an even more limited number of clubs that ever even have a chance, mainly because TV money is divided more evenly in the Bundesliga.

And only 18 days (and 9 hours) left until kickoff!

 

The disparity in the leagues will never be as bad as the Dutch league (where PSV, Feyenoord and Ajax ruled the league since the 60s) nor the Portuguese one, which in its 70 year history only managed to produce a whopping five winners and two of them only once.

 

Teh flipside to my earlier post on the Bundesliga is that representation in the Champions League is a bit more varied, at least 7 clubs I can think of have been in in recent years (Bayern, Bremen, Schalke, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Leverkusen, Hamburg). In England, it's really just the Big 4, with maybe Everton, Newcastle, etc getting lucky every once in a while. Spain is a little more varied too. In Italy it's always among Juve, the two Milan clubs and the two Rome clubs, though that was changed a bit with the penalties from the match-fixing scandal (Fiorentina managed to sneak in this year).

A big reason for that, I think, is that the Bundesliga only gets three spots, as opposed to the four the top 3 leagues get, whihch provides greater insurance for clubs like Liverpool that they'll get the big CL payday.

 

This is all very interesting!

 

Don't forget the Scottich league. The Old Firm (Celtic and Rangers) dominate.

 

I just found the coolest site for HD sports on TV!

www.hdsportsguide.com

 

Anyone here an icon-maker?

 

FYI, Leverkusen has never won -- they're sort of the Buffalo Bills of the Bundesliga, eternal runners-up. Their peak was 2002, where they were runner's up in the league, German Cup and Champions League. They then sent at least 5 players to the German World Cup team (including Ballack) who came in second there.

For those who'll be at work during the match times, there's a firefox extension called Footie Fox that gives real time score updates.

 

FYI, Leverkusen has never won -- they're sort of the Buffalo Bills of the Bundesliga, eternal runners-up. Their peak was 2002, where they were runner's up in the league, German Cup and Champions League.

Ah, sorry, I just recalled Leverkusen's season in 2002 when they beat Man U on away goals to get the final and thought they were league winners.

 

Yes I am already talking with DVeditor about icons for the Euro Cup.

 

Excellent.

As for Leverkusen. that was a great team, plyayed wonderful attacking football. A real shame they came up short and then were picked apart by top players transferring. They were actually almost relegated the following year.

 

I just picked up my first packs (3) of Panini stickers. Not, I got Henry, Ribery and Puyol all in one pack.

 

So they're sort of like baseball cards?

 

Yes, except no stats on the back, obviously.

 

I am starting to see commercials on TV for the UEFA Euro 2008!

 

I'll be supporting Croatia (again)

Got to give some love to the team that made sure England didn't get in. Though I've supported Croatia since 1998 anyway

My pick for winner would probably be Spain or Croatia, unless Greece play boring again.

 

Glen. You are a traitor to England. Under the old law you would be shot!

 

Meh, I'm more Scottish than English, thus I can't be a traitor

And I'm nowhere near York, and I don't think people have bows and arrows anymore

 

I'm going to be starting a Fantasy Euro 2008 league in the next couple of days. Hope to see as many of you as possible participating

 

At which site? Uefa's, or the FSPORTS one?

 

UEFA.