June 27, 2016

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

posted by huddle to general at 07:00 AM - 19 comments

It was clever of Eden Hazard to take nine months off of playing football so he'd be fresh for this tournament.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:30 PM on June 27, 2016

Watch out for snipers, Saint-Denis. Spanish and Italian players have been hitting the turf left and right. Stay safe out there!

posted by bender at 01:54 PM on June 27, 2016

I thought that was an excellent game, if you like things like high level technical play and adroit adoption of clever tactical plans.

Fortunately, England are up next to cleanse the palate and show everyone how football should really be played.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 01:56 PM on June 27, 2016

Is there any hope that Buffon will do a retirement tour in MLS? He is such a fun character to watch play, and I'm going to take his word that he was ignorant of fascist connotations of "88" and the t-shirt.

posted by grum@work at 02:09 PM on June 27, 2016

I think I said that the other day when he ran over to the Irish coaching staff to celebrate their victory, (as both teams were through), that he was a really easy guy to root for, "accidental-fascism aside."

He says it was accidental and I WANT TO BELIEVE.

I'd like to see Buffon over here, but he's already 38 and he's still playing at a high enough level that he doesn't have a reason to leave Serie A. Dino Zoff was still turning out for Juventus and Italy at 41 before riding off into the sunset (with a cigarette), so it wouldn't surprise me to see Buffon do the same.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 02:33 PM on June 27, 2016

Well, I can actually enjoy the tournament now, after that hilarious clusterfuck. I guess England are really commited to pulling out of Europe.

England didn't qualify for the first tournament I saw as a kid - the '78 World Cup - but I've been enjoying this garbage for 36 years now. This should result in changes at the FA, but absolutely won't and we'll go on being an hilarious calamity at major tournaments.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 04:55 PM on June 27, 2016

The "Mouse that Roared" did a bit more than that. Mouse Iceland has just taken a major bite out of the English Lion 2-1 in the Euros. I saw only the last 15 minutes or so, and the commentators were all over the English side for the ineptitude they were demonstrating. One comment was made during the tennis from Wimbledon that should England lose, they should not even bother to come home. For the "little guy" to knock off one of the giants is significant. Now if they can do the same to France, it will probably cause the earth to tilt on its axis.

posted by Howard_T at 05:00 PM on June 27, 2016

First Brexit. Now this game. If I'm a member of the English monarchy, I'd be REAL careful for the next few days. Anything that can go wrong for the English has, so far.

posted by grum@work at 05:09 PM on June 27, 2016

What Ian Darke spewed forth throughout the second half should have gone straight into a wax-lined white paper bag with a fold over clasp at the top. A full on 48 minute call for Hughie.

posted by beaverboard at 05:12 PM on June 27, 2016

Darke's my favorite soccer announcer, but I thought it was overkill today. He could have talked half as much about what a disaster it was and still made the point.

But still, what a disaster. If that had happened the night before the Brexit vote it would've been cited as a factor in the outcome.

posted by rcade at 06:04 PM on June 27, 2016

Does Iceland win Britain's place in the EU now?

posted by bender at 06:24 PM on June 27, 2016

If that had happened the night before the Brexit vote it would've been cited as a factor in the outcome.

Unfolding events spurred me to do the reverse and cite Brexit as a potential factor in the result of this match in last Friday's huddle.

posted by beaverboard at 04:06 AM on June 28, 2016

I don't get England. So much talent and they did not attack the goal in the final 30 minutes, except for Marcus Rashford.

Has Harry Kane ever looked that bad kicking the ball on set pieces? There's no excuse for skying it out of bounds where no one can put a head on it.

posted by rcade at 11:08 AM on June 28, 2016

This precious stone set in the fearsome sea...

Against the envy of less solvent lands...

This vulcan plot, this pool, this moraine, this Iceland.

posted by beaverboard at 12:12 PM on June 28, 2016

Darke's my favorite soccer announcer, but I thought it was overkill today. He could have talked half as much about what a disaster it was and still made the point.

Seconded on both. Given Conte's success with a "terrible" Italian team and Roy's disaster with a lot of talented England players, I think the main takeaway from this tournament will be finding a way to make coaching at the national level interesting again for the best managers. Which would also mean finding a way to swing the club/ country pendulum back toward country.

posted by yerfatma at 01:22 PM on June 28, 2016

Ah. If only Harry Kane was half as good as he thinks he is.

posted by owlhouse at 04:11 PM on June 28, 2016

Is it on Kane? Why the hell was he taking spot kicks? Guessing the same case of Hodgson's Lymphoma that put Sterling and Wilshire back on the field after they clearly proved they had no business being there.

posted by yerfatma at 08:17 PM on June 28, 2016

It's on all of them. Rooney was appalling, too.

Can you imagine any of the England team participating in that fantastic Icelandic slow clap along with the fans?

The crowd sang "You're not fit to wear the shirt" for a reason. There was no effort, no motivation and lots of shirking responsibility.

posted by owlhouse at 10:35 PM on June 28, 2016

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