June 12, 2008

An incredible collection of photos: from yesterday's Turkey vs. Switzerland rain-soaked Euro 2008 match, courtesy of Alan Taylor's phenomenal photoblog at the Boston Globe.

posted by chicobangs to soccer at 01:26 PM - 26 comments

WOW!! Those pics are absolutely gorgeous. Thank you, chico....(dramatic pause)...thank you.

posted by BornIcon at 02:07 PM on June 12, 2008

Those would be great photos even if it hadn't been pissing down. Good find, Chico. Thanks for sharing it.

posted by JJ at 02:23 PM on June 12, 2008

The first half of that match was hilarious. For those who didn't see the Swiss goal, the ball stopped dead in its tracks as it crossed the goal mouth. There will never be an easier crossing pass to kick into the goal in UEFA history.

posted by rcade at 04:18 PM on June 12, 2008

Amazing that the game went ahead, but with the tight Euro schedule and huge TV dollars, not surprising.

posted by billsaysthis at 05:20 PM on June 12, 2008

Wow, those are stunning. One of the reasons I love footie. They'll play in pretty much anything.

posted by Drood at 05:54 PM on June 12, 2008

Incredible collection of pics, indeed! The facial expressions are wonderful, something you miss a lot in American "football". Truely a "picture is worth a thousand words" collection.

posted by steelergirl at 08:08 PM on June 12, 2008

Great stuff. Do you think they could have found a synonym for "vie" in the cutlines?

posted by wfrazerjr at 10:05 PM on June 12, 2008

I found myself wishing the pictures linked to BIGGER versions as they'd make incredible wallpapers. (Curse you, 1440x900 widescreen LCD...)

posted by Drood at 10:33 PM on June 12, 2008

Beautifully done work, there. Wish I'd seen the match, must've been quite a scene.

posted by boredom_08 at 02:16 AM on June 13, 2008

Drood, what are you doing with such a tiny monitor?

posted by yerfatma at 06:22 AM on June 13, 2008

We played in similar conditions las Sunday, only no-one was there to record it, so it probably never happened. And did anyone else notice those rather lethal looking studs on Magnin's boots?

posted by owlhouse at 08:57 AM on June 13, 2008

yerfatma, I'm guessing that's the screen on his cel phone. Time to upgrade that business, homey.

posted by chicobangs at 09:00 AM on June 13, 2008

I'm less scared by Magnin's studs, (which are fairly standard for such a wet game) and more scared by this...

posted by Mr Bismarck at 09:16 AM on June 13, 2008

I still can't believe they kept playing in that downpour. I fully expected a shot to be taken, beat the keeper, and then come to a complete stop right on the goalline. That almost happened on the first goal...

posted by grum@work at 11:20 AM on June 13, 2008

Great pics indeed! I love watching the world/eurocup games. However, I also have a hard time getting into MLS because of them. The quality is just something else. with the tight Euro schedule and huge TV dollars, not surprising. While watching today, I was wondering about the money...all those lack of commercials during the game. Seems to me like the TV stations loose out on a lot of money because of that.

posted by jmd82 at 11:59 AM on June 13, 2008

What the hell are you apes talking about? I figured from the comments I'd typoed it! Weirdoes. This thread has made me break my "Euro 2008? What's that? No, never heard of it..." But them I'm an England fan and may very well be bitter and twisted.

posted by Drood at 04:24 PM on June 13, 2008

I'm an England fan and I'm enjoying the tournament immensely because they're not there. For once I'm not obligated to half-heartedly cheer on a collection of inept grafters who play ugly football and hope they win. I can celebrate the performances and freedom of the Dutch so far, (losing control of a game? Don't bring on a defender, bring on two more attackers!), without any worry that we might run into them later in the tournament. I can enjoy watching the French and the Italians sweat, because they know the result of their game is irrelevant if Romania beat what's sure to be a Netherlands team with more reserves on the field on matchday three, because I have no worries about England's own struggles. Anyone who remembers how the Italians went out at Euro 04 and how they reacted to it will be struggling to stiffle a giggle or two. I'm having fun with '08 so far.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 08:33 AM on June 14, 2008

It just gets better every day. If England not qualifying guarantees this level of football, then I'll cope with them never qualifying again. And kudos to the Boston Globe for putting those photos up in that format. They'll never look quite so good on newsprint, or shrunk down to normal 'web size'.

posted by etagloh at 08:32 PM on June 15, 2008

The Big Picture is a fairly new blog, but I love the concept, and Taylor has the kind of eye to make this work spectacularly well. I'd love to see a few more curators with access to the raw newswire photo feed putting the best of the best ones online. It would only help promote the art of photojournalism, and if we've learned anything about online promotion, it's that the paradox of "the more you give away, the more you sell" really holds true.

posted by chicobangs at 06:29 AM on June 16, 2008

I thought the Euros had lost their spark after the first half of Turkey Czech last night. I turned the TV off and drove my girlfriend back to London. I've always been a superb forecaster of these things. The major benefit for the non-England fan watching English coverage of the tournament while England AREN'T in it is that sometimes (though still not as often as I'd like) the pundits manage to talk whole sentences without asking one another, "But what does this mean for England, Terry?" I too am loving the format of the blog, even if Drood can only see little versions on his tiny screen (should we have a whip round to get him a bigger one?).

posted by JJ at 07:45 AM on June 16, 2008

(Note: I posted the above before I read this NYT story about the AP finally forming a policy about how to deal with their material being clipped for use in blogs, which I mention here because (a) it's vaguely relevant to the creation of this photoblog, and (b) it features a nice little quote from our own #5.)

posted by chicobangs at 08:55 AM on June 16, 2008

But Rogers Cadenhead, the owner of the Drudge Retort and several other Web sites... They didn't even mention the Pope!

posted by JJ at 09:09 AM on June 16, 2008

I thought the Euros had lost their spark after the first half of Turkey Czech last night. I turned the TV off and drove my girlfriend back to London. I've always been a superb forecaster of these things. Ha!

posted by juv3nal at 02:40 PM on June 16, 2008

I might have mentioned the Pope, but I think I got away with it...

posted by owlhouse at 04:38 PM on June 16, 2008

That Turkey v Czech game might have been game of the tourney. Altho, I'm probably saying that coz I missed that Netherlands thumping of France. (I did get to watch Netherlands thumping Italy - oh, sweet sweet soccer schadenfreude.)

posted by worldcup2002 at 10:55 AM on June 17, 2008

No, it was better than Netherlands v. France. That had almost no drama, except for me wondering if Thierry Henry was going to hear the ESPN color man's comments and come into the booth a la Milton Bradley. Jesus that color guy is sour.

posted by yerfatma at 11:12 AM on June 17, 2008

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