June 12, 2012

Russia, Poland Draw After Their Hooligans Clash: Several violent clashes between Russian and Polish fans preceded their match at Euro 2012 Tuesday. Russia's Alan Dzagoev scored his third goal of the tournament and Poland captain Jakub Blaszczykowski got the equalizer in a 1-1 draw. "The Russian-Polish tension here is overwhelming," writes Grant Wahl, who described an enormous banner unfurled by Russian fans of a medieval swordsman. "Revealingly, the banner was in English, suggesting that the Russians were attempting to make a nationalist statement to the wider world."

posted by rcade to soccer at 07:01 PM - 18 comments

Watching the English coverage, (ITV), of the Russia-Poland game and the halftime panel is Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher and Gareth Southgate.

Maybe I don't miss England after all.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 03:41 PM on June 12, 2012

Russia, being good neighbors. How do you even get that thing into the stadium, with a forklift?

posted by yerfatma at 03:47 PM on June 12, 2012

Someone pretending to be pregnant. About 19 months pregnant.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 04:16 PM on June 12, 2012

Is that like Irish twins?

posted by yerfatma at 04:23 PM on June 12, 2012

Like Russian Dolls.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 04:30 PM on June 12, 2012

How could the Polish authorities have allowed that massive militaristic provocation to be brought into their stadium? They'll be lucky to avoid large-scale violence against Russian fans.

posted by rcade at 07:07 PM on June 12, 2012

Nothing says 'we come in peace' like an man, grinning like a lunatic, carrying a sword and shield.

posted by kokaku at 07:13 PM on June 12, 2012

How could the Polish authorities have allowed that massive militaristic provocation to be brought into their stadium?

The play-by-play guy on ESPN (Derek Rae?) asked two more pressing questions:

1. Who decided "Russia Day" was the best day for this game?
2. Why did the Poles give the Russians a permit to march? Talk about the triumph of hope over experience.

posted by yerfatma at 07:41 PM on June 12, 2012

Jakub Błaszczykowski scored a beautiful goal. And overcame a rough backstory to do it.

posted by yerfatma at 08:03 PM on June 12, 2012

I want a GIF of Shevchenko's second goal against Sweden. How does the defender marking the post leave a soccer-ball sized hole and never move to close it?

posted by rcade at 08:08 PM on June 12, 2012

"Revealingly, the banner was in English, suggesting that the Russians were attempting to make a nationalist statement to the wider world."

Or maybe just to the Poles, who these days probably don't understand much Russian. I have noticed, however, that the stadium announcements are in English, despite the fact that there are only 1.5 countries with English as the national language in the finals.

Nothing says 'we come in peace' like an man, grinning like a lunatic, carrying a sword and shield.

Did you notice the English fan in the chain mail and St George outfit during the France match?

posted by owlhouse at 09:13 PM on June 12, 2012

Did you notice the English fan in the chain mail and St George outfit during the France match?

According to Football Weekly, there were multiple fans and they travelled in those outfits (they're plastic).

I have noticed, however, that the stadium announcements are in English

My wife and I have been discussing this. McDonald's passion-meter.com ads are in English 9 times out of 10. Is it just another sign that English has become the lingua franca* or is it laziness?

* I know.

posted by yerfatma at 10:00 PM on June 12, 2012

I don't understand these big banners. Aren't thousands of people underneath the banner with no view of the game? How long do the banners remain unfurled? Given how huge the banner is, where does it go when they're done displaying it?

posted by DudeDykstra at 10:32 PM on June 12, 2012

And a good time was had by all.

posted by jjzucal at 10:59 PM on June 12, 2012

Is it just another sign that English has become the lingua franca* or is it laziness?

I once ran a project in Laos, training government staff in English before they joined ASEAN, which works in English. Number of countries in ASEAN with English as an official language = 0.25*.

*Singapore (English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil)

posted by owlhouse at 11:24 PM on June 12, 2012

I don't know why, but after reading the FPP title, all I can think of is a big banner that says "Our hooligans can beat up your hooligans".

posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:11 AM on June 13, 2012

Nothing says 'we come in peace' like an man, grinning like a lunatic, carrying a sword and shield.

And not just any man carrying a sword and shield, but Dmitry Pozharsky.

posted by goddam at 10:11 AM on June 13, 2012

That giant banner would've been much cooler had they used this guy instead.

posted by NoMich at 10:59 AM on June 13, 2012

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