Lets all welcome Germany as the first qualifier for the Euro 2008 Final after surviving the refuse-to-die Turkey, 3-2. I didn’t get to watch a whole lot of the stream but what I did see easily qualifies as great soccer/football/futbol. When Turkey opened the game by scoring first, it was easy to see they were not even entertaining the thought of backing down from the Germans, roster shortcomings be damned.
Germany quickly equalized after Turkey pulled ahead off of a cheeky deflection/shot courtesy of a brilliant cross from Lukas Podolski. The first half finished with both teams tied and stayed that way until the 79th minute when Miroslav Klose tucked away the ball with a well-placed header. When Germany took the 2-1 lead, many had to think that was the deflating blow that will end Turkey’s run.
Not so fast, my friends.
The you-are-going-to-have-remove-us-from-the-field Turkish tied the game again with deft finish from Semih Senturk. But the fireworks didn’t end there. With everyone looking forward to 30 more minutes of extra soccer, the Germans struck again on an incredible give-and-go that left one Turkish defender writhing on the ground. From there, Philip Lahm did the rest and buried the ball in the left upper 90, giving the Germans the much-needed golden goal and a trip the Euro 2008 Finals.
Their opponent will either be Spain or Russia, who play in tomorrow’s afternoon game. The Euro 2008 Final will be Sunday at 2:45/1:45 Central.
By now, you’ve probably seen the pictures of Laisa Andrioli, a 20-year old soccer player for Brazil’s National Women’s team, going around the net. If not, you are in for a treat, especially when you consider her apparent allergies to articles of clothing. That’s right, Laisa made headlines and heads turn as she appeared in a men’s magazine wearing, well, not much at all… except maybe her Sunday suit.
Really, I can’t think of anything else to add except for the fact that I could only find a couple of images to share with you because of her fondness of nudity. Although, the thought occurred to me that we could maybe get away with some pixelization if necessary. Alas, wiser heads prevailed so I’ll just leave you with these two images but I would suggest you checking out the rest of her pictorial.
It’s well worth the visit, as long as you won’t get into trouble. Congratulations on your IEC award, Laisa. Let’s hope there are more contributions from you or your teammates.
I’ve acquired a number of injuries playing the beautiful game (although, I don’t play it that beautifully). I’ve blown my knee out and it looks like I might have torn my rotator cuff as well. I’ve even scored an on-goal; not be a physical injury to be sure but the psychological effects are pretty painful.
However, I’ve never run into a goal post. Not even in jest.
When this first popped up, I thought the goalie might be the who one faceplants but man, I was wrong. Oh well, at least someone finished the goal off for him. Maybe that’ll ease some of his facial pain. Doubtful, but maybe.
If the beautiful game is supposed to be so freaking boring (something I wholeheartedly disagree with), why does it allow the best damn sports commercials around? 2008 is only 5 months old and we’ve already had this one and now we have two more to add to the ever-growing pile of awesomeness.
This first one was evidently directed by Guy Ritchie and it shows the game from the 1st-person perspective.
I’m particularly fond of the vomiting scene. It reminds me of when I play. Or at least, after I sub out.
This next one is features just about everybody from the Nike Soccer stable and it encourages players to improve their game, no matter what their deficiency is. If you can only shoot right-footed, work on your left and so on. Good stuff.
Hat-tips are certainly in order as well. Thanks to the The Beautiful Game and 101 Great Goals for finding and posting these gems — which I’d like to see more of, as opposed to the Nike Sparq stuff — because, you know, I’ve got strong all day.
Thanks to this brilliant find by the The Beautiful Game, some of you non-soccer purists can see just how great the game really is when individual skill is on display like we have in the video below:
The first one is a brilliant strike, courtesy of a nifty volley. The end result made the goalie look a little lost, although he does deserve some credit for at least trying to make the save.
In the second goal, you are treated to some incredibly ball-handling that results in the attacker absolutely dekeing the opposing defense so severely, all he has to do it touch it in. All of the action took place in the San Luis/Pumas match and some believe these two offerings may be two of the best goals scored all year.
While Cristiano Ronaldo’s backheel ranks right up there:
