UEFA EURO 2016

Which country will you root for?

  • Total voters
    27
Disappointed that Portugal advanced, but Renato Sanches has gained a new fan. What a massive talent. Almost identical to Edgar Davids; composed on ball, good passer and dribbler, aggressive defender, very difficult to throw off balance, comfortable in wide positions and has the same hair. Only thing missing is the glasses.
 
I fell asleep before the end of the game but I didn't wanna celebrate Poland's goal here too much because Portugal is the luckiest team in the tournament so far. Sad to say they'll probably reach the final :(
 
But they're still winning their matches, aren't they not? They must be a good football team if that is the case.

The objective of a football team is not to entertain the audience, but to win the game. If you can do both, great, but always pick the latter over the former.
 
RTC said:
The objective of a football team is not to entertain the audience, but to win the game.
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In international footy, sure. There, it's the international federation & the host country's job to make sure that seats are filled. In league play, I question this more highly, as players and teams have direct financial incentives to put butts in seats and get people to turn on the tv. There is an argument that simply winning will do, but I think it has to be more than just winning.
 
RTC said:
But they're still winning their matches, aren't they not? They must be a good football team if that is the case.

The objective of a football team is not to entertain the audience, but to win the game. If you can do both, great, but always pick the latter over the former.
Click to expand...

Yeah and that's a reason why we shouldn't dislike the Portuguese team how?

They're boring, they don't belong in the Semis -They're NOT winning their games btw, reached Semis without a single 90 minute win- and they have fucking Pepe.
 
RTC said:
This anti-Portugal brigade is making me cringe.
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Personally I just love to see the perennial playoff teams/favorites fail. It's also funnier to watch Ronaldo cry after a loss than to see him win :p

Interesting match-up tonight though. I like both of these teams. Wales or Belgium?
 
Belgium should win and I hope they do. They're the only worthy possible Finalist out of their side of the draw.
 
Wales all the way, the last £20 in my William Hill account says so.

@RTC if it is my team that is shit but getting through then I dont care. Although I'd like to see better football, I'm just happy to be getting through. Portugal, however, are not my team. I have always had a dislike of the Portuguese national team, they dive quite a bit and have always had players I didnt like for whatever reason, the Pintos, Deco, Rui Costa. Now they have Ronny and Pepe. Ronnie missed their best chances last night yet when someone else made a decision he deemed wrong or fucked something up, his disappointment and anger were visible, as always. Hes such a bitch.

With teams that aren't 'your own,' most people go on quality of play or just straight up first impressions. Portugal suck the fat one on both counts
 
LooseCannon said:
In international footy, sure. There, it's the international federation & the host country's job to make sure that seats are filled. In league play, I question this more highly, as players and teams have direct financial incentives to put butts in seats and get people to turn on the tv. There is an argument that simply winning will do, but I think it has to be more than just winning.
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Most people will watch football regardless of whether or not the match in question is "boring", solely based to the unpredictable nature of sport and the massive merchandising machine that is behind it. It is a matter of principle, not necessarily quality.

@Flash: Fair enough if you want to get angry at individual players (I don't like Pepe either as a person, but I admit he's talented), but denouncing an entire team because they are "boring" in a medium where winning is the most important thing for players on the pitch? It's babyish. There is a difference between a sports personality and an actor.

@Niall: The personality of players is not indicative of the quality of the players.

Also, Wales!!!
 
This European Championship feels certainly as one in which extra time was used for "not losing", rather than "winning", more than on any other tournament.
If it becomes the trend, I rather see extra time disappear from big football tournaments. Straight to penalties, and then we might get more exciting regular playing as well.
 
@RTC What you don't get is that "liking" a sports team is entirely up to what the viewer likes. None of us like to see a boring team prevail. That's it. None of us suggested that what Portugal is doing is wrong. What we suggest is that's it's not fun to watch. Having fun is the reason we watch a match between two nations that we're neutral on, you know.

To put "cheering for a team's success/failure" in context of success -e.g. "Portugal is winning, thus it's not fair to cheer against them"- is suggesting that glory hunting is the only fair way of cheering for a team, don't know if you realize it or not.
 
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RTC said:
But they're still winning their matches, aren't they not? They must be a good football team if that is the case.

The objective of a football team is not to entertain the audience, but to win the game. If you can do both, great, but always pick the latter over the former.
Click to expand...

Depends on the team.
If Stoke City went into CL quarterfinals like that, it's ok. From Portugal we expect to see some actual constructive football played. Why everybody cringed at Dunga's Brazil was about him turning them into a European-style tactical team. Doesn't suit them, doesn't suit their mentality, their style and it never will. Portugese belong to same 'joga bonito' school.
 
Watching a match because it is "fun" is not as large of a contributing factor as you may think. Like I said to LC, the advertising, the investment, the stakes and the tension that anything could happen at any time are all big contributing factors too.

If you don't like how Portugal play, fine, but the amount of vitriol being thrown to their team solely because they're playing to win is pretty pathetic. By all means support the team playing against Portugal if you want to, but don't denounce a team for beating them.
 
RTC said:
Watching a match because it is "fun" is not as large of a contributing factor as you may think. Like I said to LC, the advertising, the investment, the stakes and the tension that anything could happen at any time are all big contributing factors too.
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Absolutely. Perhaps especially the build up to the match....

But actually having fun, watching an equal game that bounces back and forth is very important too...Ask any casual fan they'll say well "nothing happens for 90 min!!, football is boring"
 
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