national acrobat
Ancient Mariner
No one particular event, just a growing apathy over the years. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to support a team in which I detest nearly all the payers.
Official Football Thread
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national acrobat
Ancient Mariner
For a friendly with England's B team. Everywhere fans are being forced out of football by the prices. Still, as long as it's being beamed out to Indonesia and Mexico...
Dr. Eddies Wingman
Brighter than thousand_suns
It's not even Norway's best 11 against England's B team. Those who play in the domestic league will probably not play tonight, at leaast not more than 45 minutes. This is because the domestic league played a full round mid-week (Wednesday and Thursdag), AND will play another full round on Monday! So, our abroad players in summer holiday mode against an England team where many will probably be more concerned with avoiding injuries prior to the Euros. I suspect the Norwegian FA have only commercial reasons to arrange this match at all. The sad thing is, they have actually sold more than 20 000 (the stadium capacity is 25 000) at these insane prices. In a time where attendances in the domestic league are steadily declining.
Also, a friendly between Vålerenga (the top club in Oslo) and Manchester United in August is nearly sold out. I'm not going. The prices are even higher than for this Norway - England friendly. I'd rather spend that Sunday watching my Norwegian club play to avoid relegation, and save the rest of the money for my next trip to Manchester.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
A disgrace: Holland just lost from Bulgaria, at home. 1-2 (winning goal scored in last minute of the match).
This doesn't give much hope for the tournament.
Still, it's interesting to note that the last time we lost from Bulgaria was in April 1988 (also a friendly, also 1-2 and the current coach Penev scored one of the goals). A few months after that we won Euro 1988.
This doesn't give much hope for the tournament.
Still, it's interesting to note that the last time we lost from Bulgaria was in April 1988 (also a friendly, also 1-2 and the current coach Penev scored one of the goals). A few months after that we won Euro 1988.
Dr. Eddies Wingman
Brighter than thousand_suns
I guess some among the English will draw similar comparisons after winning 1-0 in Oslo today. The last time they won on Norwegian soil was early 1966 ...
The match? Just as dire as expected. Norway were dire, England were dire, and the goal shouldn't have been allowed to happen by Norwegian defender Brede Hangeland. He was tricked by Ashley Young in the simplest way thinkable. "I'm gonna shoot" "No, I'm not, I'll go past you instead" and suddenly it was 0-1.
The match? Just as dire as expected. Norway were dire, England were dire, and the goal shouldn't have been allowed to happen by Norwegian defender Brede Hangeland. He was tricked by Ashley Young in the simplest way thinkable. "I'm gonna shoot" "No, I'm not, I'll go past you instead" and suddenly it was 0-1.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Racist violence at a match in Kharkiv, Ukraine...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18192375
Includes BBC video in which you see Asians students were sought out and beaten up (and interviewed afterwards) and this picture isn't much nicer
bah!
Fears racism could be a problem at Euro 2012 tournament
Both host countries Poland and Ukraine have a history of problems with hooligans, often linked to far right political groups including Neo-Nazis.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17825471
Ukrainian football's dark side
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7976826.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18192375
Includes BBC video in which you see Asians students were sought out and beaten up (and interviewed afterwards) and this picture isn't much nicer
bah!
Fears racism could be a problem at Euro 2012 tournament
Both host countries Poland and Ukraine have a history of problems with hooligans, often linked to far right political groups including Neo-Nazis.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17825471
Ukrainian football's dark side
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7976826.stm
Thanks Foro, me and Nat were discussing this on chat yesterday.
I read that some black (retired) players and families of some active ones will boycott the championship because of racism, but I didn't know why. (It was the article with Sol Campbell actually, but only with his statement.)
I read that some black (retired) players and families of some active ones will boycott the championship because of racism, but I didn't know why. (It was the article with Sol Campbell actually, but only with his statement.)
national acrobat
Ancient Mariner
I read that article, and noticed a contender for Worst excuse of the Week:
Poland and Ukraine in football-related racist hooliganism shocker. In other news, a bear shits in a wood and the Pope confirms he is still a catholic. I expect the tournament will go off without major incidents though.
Poland and Ukraine in football-related racist hooliganism shocker. In other news, a bear shits in a wood and the Pope confirms he is still a catholic. I expect the tournament will go off without major incidents though.
That sums it up. Boring and predictable.
Dr. Eddies Wingman
Brighter than thousand_suns
I wonder - how come neo-Nazism is so strong in several of the countries that suffered the most from the Nazi occupation during WWII? Poland, of all countries? Is it simply because the Communist regimes only banned racism, rather than doing something constructive to reduce it? It has worked just as well as the alcohol prohibition in the 20s did.
I think there will be little problems inside the stadiums as these will be dominated by tourists anyway. It's not like regular, local club fans are going to fill the stands. I am more concerned about what may happen outside.
I think there will be little problems inside the stadiums as these will be dominated by tourists anyway. It's not like regular, local club fans are going to fill the stands. I am more concerned about what may happen outside.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
In Communist times there was lots of antisemitism in Poland (and probably in other countries as well). Lots of Jews left the country (many forced), and there were many incidents, even pogroms such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kielce_pogrom (while the Americans celebrated Independence Day, check out what happened in Poland).
This book raised a storm when the author promoted it in Poland:
- - - - - - -
Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland After Auschwitz
http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Anti-Semitism-Poland-After-Auschwitz/dp/0375509240
Poland suffered an exceedingly brutal Nazi occupation during the Second World War. Close to five million Polish citizens lost their lives as a result. More than half the casualties were Polish Jews. Thus, the second largest Jewish community in the world–only American Jewry numbered more than the three and a half million Polish Jews at the time–was wiped out. Over 90 percent of its members were killed in the Holocaust. And yet, despite this unprecedented calamity that affected both Jews and non-Jews, Jewish Holocaust survivors returning to their hometowns in Poland after the war experienced widespread hostility, including murder, at the hands of their neighbors. The bloodiest peacetime pogrom in twentieth-century Europe took place in the Polish town of Kielce one year after the war ended, on July 4, 1946.
Jan Gross’s Fear attempts to answer a perplexing question: How was anti-Semitism possible in Poland after the war? At the center of his investigation is a detailed reconstruction of the Kielce pogrom and the reactions it evoked in various milieus of Polish society. How did the Polish Catholic Church, Communist party workers, and intellectuals respond to the spectacle of Jews being murdered by their fellow citizens in a country that had just been liberated from a five-year Nazi occupation?
Gross argues that the anti-Semitism displayed in Poland in the war’s aftermath cannot be understood simply as a continuation of prewar attitudes. Rather, it developed in the context of the Holocaust and the Communist takeover: Anti-Semitism eventually became a common currency between the Communist regime and a society in which many had joined in the Nazi campaign of plunder and murder–and for whom the Jewish survivors were a standing reproach.
Jews did not bring communism to Poland as some believe; in fact, they were finally driven out of Poland under the Communist regime as a matter of political expediency. In the words of the Nobel Prize—winning poet Czeslaw Milosz, Poland’s Communist rulers fulfilled the dream of Polish nationalists by bringing into existence an ethnically pure state.
For more than half a century, what happened to the Jewish Holocaust survivors in Poland has been cloaked in guilt and shame. Writing with passion, brilliance, and fierce clarity, Jan T. Gross at last brings the truth to light.
- - - - - - -
With the fall of communism in Poland, Jewish cultural, social, and religious life has been undergoing a revival. Still discrimination but if I am informed well it's getting better: Poland is currently easing the way for Jews who left Poland during the Communist organized massive expulsion of 1968 to re-obtain their citizenship:
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2008/02/28/107260/polishjews
This book raised a storm when the author promoted it in Poland:
- - - - - - -
Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland After Auschwitz
http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Anti-Semitism-Poland-After-Auschwitz/dp/0375509240
Poland suffered an exceedingly brutal Nazi occupation during the Second World War. Close to five million Polish citizens lost their lives as a result. More than half the casualties were Polish Jews. Thus, the second largest Jewish community in the world–only American Jewry numbered more than the three and a half million Polish Jews at the time–was wiped out. Over 90 percent of its members were killed in the Holocaust. And yet, despite this unprecedented calamity that affected both Jews and non-Jews, Jewish Holocaust survivors returning to their hometowns in Poland after the war experienced widespread hostility, including murder, at the hands of their neighbors. The bloodiest peacetime pogrom in twentieth-century Europe took place in the Polish town of Kielce one year after the war ended, on July 4, 1946.
Jan Gross’s Fear attempts to answer a perplexing question: How was anti-Semitism possible in Poland after the war? At the center of his investigation is a detailed reconstruction of the Kielce pogrom and the reactions it evoked in various milieus of Polish society. How did the Polish Catholic Church, Communist party workers, and intellectuals respond to the spectacle of Jews being murdered by their fellow citizens in a country that had just been liberated from a five-year Nazi occupation?
Gross argues that the anti-Semitism displayed in Poland in the war’s aftermath cannot be understood simply as a continuation of prewar attitudes. Rather, it developed in the context of the Holocaust and the Communist takeover: Anti-Semitism eventually became a common currency between the Communist regime and a society in which many had joined in the Nazi campaign of plunder and murder–and for whom the Jewish survivors were a standing reproach.
Jews did not bring communism to Poland as some believe; in fact, they were finally driven out of Poland under the Communist regime as a matter of political expediency. In the words of the Nobel Prize—winning poet Czeslaw Milosz, Poland’s Communist rulers fulfilled the dream of Polish nationalists by bringing into existence an ethnically pure state.
For more than half a century, what happened to the Jewish Holocaust survivors in Poland has been cloaked in guilt and shame. Writing with passion, brilliance, and fierce clarity, Jan T. Gross at last brings the truth to light.
- - - - - - -
With the fall of communism in Poland, Jewish cultural, social, and religious life has been undergoing a revival. Still discrimination but if I am informed well it's getting better: Poland is currently easing the way for Jews who left Poland during the Communist organized massive expulsion of 1968 to re-obtain their citizenship:
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2008/02/28/107260/polishjews
Albie
Keeping an open eye on the Weeping Angels.
I'm sort of apathetic about it as well - I'm not getting as excited about it as I normally do. I'll still end up cheering them on.
Dr. Eddies Wingman
Brighter than thousand_suns
So, the tournament is underway. Plenty of drama in the first match, and a Spanish referee being just as card-happy as Spanish referees usually are. Hard to see how he found two yellow cards to the same guy. They were both really, really strict.
Poland were so much better in the first half it's strange they weren't up by three, but one has to applaud the fighting spirit the Greeks showed in the second half. 1-1 isn't very good for either team's chances of going through, though.
Poland were so much better in the first half it's strange they weren't up by three, but one has to applaud the fighting spirit the Greeks showed in the second half. 1-1 isn't very good for either team's chances of going through, though.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
That Spanish ref is a complete nut. He handed out 16 red cards in 19 La Liga matches this season. Poland had a very bad second half. They started like they didn't know what to do... and gave away the initiative. I also liked the fighting spirit of the Greeks. Still, I think Poland have the chance to become 2nd in this group. Lots of potential.
Check out the Polish coach "heading" along with their goal:
http://nos.nl/ek2012/video/381823-poolse-coach-kopt-met-10-mee.html
And here Dick Advocaat during his match:
http://nos.nl/ek2012/video/381815-advocaat-uit-zn-dak-op-de-bank.html
Still angry at 2.55 while 4-1 ahead!
Looking forward to a certain match tonight which also happens to be on my brother's birthday.
I expect a very full room out there.
Check out the Polish coach "heading" along with their goal:
http://nos.nl/ek2012/video/381823-poolse-coach-kopt-met-10-mee.html
And here Dick Advocaat during his match:
http://nos.nl/ek2012/video/381815-advocaat-uit-zn-dak-op-de-bank.html
Still angry at 2.55 while 4-1 ahead!
Looking forward to a certain match tonight which also happens to be on my brother's birthday.
I expect a very full room out there.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Not saying this will happen in the match but this goal from Sneijder at the training is really cool:
http://nos.nl/ek2012/video/381785-geweldige-goal-sneijder-in-charkov.html
At 0.48!
http://nos.nl/ek2012/video/381785-geweldige-goal-sneijder-in-charkov.html
At 0.48!
national acrobat
Ancient Mariner
A good first round of matches; Russia look very good going forward (except for that striker who smashed all of his chances 5 yards wide).
The Greece red card was just atrocious. Neither offence was a foul let alone worth a yellow card. Fair play to the Greeks for coming back into the match.
Not so sure about Poland coming second though, after starting the game on fire they were very poor in the second half. I think the biggest chance they have is due to the mediocrity of the other two sides battling for the same place.
The Greece red card was just atrocious. Neither offence was a foul let alone worth a yellow card. Fair play to the Greeks for coming back into the match.
Not so sure about Poland coming second though, after starting the game on fire they were very poor in the second half. I think the biggest chance they have is due to the mediocrity of the other two sides battling for the same place.