Venue: Donbass Arena, Donetsk, Ukraine
Kick-Off: 19:45 BST
Spain and France, two giants of European football, clash in Donetsk on Saturday with La Roja chasing their third consecutive title and Les Bleus hoping to end their reign at the top.
Team News
France will be without suspended centre-back Philippe Mexes after he picked up his second booking in the group stages, Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny is expected to deputise.
Yohan Cabaye has recovered from a thigh injury that kept him out of the 2-0 defeat to Sweden on Tuesday. Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri are expected to resume their usual positions despite missing some of this week’s training sessions. Nasri had a knee injury while Ribery had blisters but both are expected to play tonight.
Spain have a full squad to choose from and are shaping up to name the same squad from their final group game.
Preview
The...
Kick-Off: 19:45 BST
Spain and France, two giants of European football, clash in Donetsk on Saturday with La Roja chasing their third consecutive title and Les Bleus hoping to end their reign at the top.
Team News
France will be without suspended centre-back Philippe Mexes after he picked up his second booking in the group stages, Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny is expected to deputise.
Yohan Cabaye has recovered from a thigh injury that kept him out of the 2-0 defeat to Sweden on Tuesday. Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri are expected to resume their usual positions despite missing some of this week’s training sessions. Nasri had a knee injury while Ribery had blisters but both are expected to play tonight.
Spain have a full squad to choose from and are shaping up to name the same squad from their final group game.
Preview
The...
- 6/23/2012
- by Chris Deacon
- Obsessed with Film
After a breathless Euro 2012 group stage that gave us goals! and racism! and underpants fines! and the resurrection of insufferable British soccer fans! and Mario Balotelli! we have established a quarterfinals lineup that pretty much satisfies the ravenous soccer fan’s insatiable appetite for the beautiful game, England’s presence notwithstanding.
We arrive at the knockout stages with the (perhaps greedy) hope that the matches will open up Even More now that teams must win to advance. We’ve already seen some crazy results in this tournament, so clearly quality on paper can be thrown out the window. A tactical preview, while interesting, is futile.
With that in mind, we’ll attempt to answer the question soccer fans everywhere want to know: Who deserves to win Euro 2012? We’ll look at each team from cultural and fan perspectives in an attempt to discern the answer. Before we begin, though, we...
We arrive at the knockout stages with the (perhaps greedy) hope that the matches will open up Even More now that teams must win to advance. We’ve already seen some crazy results in this tournament, so clearly quality on paper can be thrown out the window. A tactical preview, while interesting, is futile.
With that in mind, we’ll attempt to answer the question soccer fans everywhere want to know: Who deserves to win Euro 2012? We’ll look at each team from cultural and fan perspectives in an attempt to discern the answer. Before we begin, though, we...
- 6/20/2012
- by Anthony Schneck
- Celebsology
Cologne, Germany -- Fans' flags are flying half-mast across Europe after most of the continent's teams failed to impress in the opening week of the World Cup tournament. European media, traditionally the biggest home team boosters, have turned depressed and angry.
"What a Waste!" screamed Monday's headline of the Sun, England's biggest-selling tabloid, joining a chorus of voices on the island damning the English team's disappointing draws in its first two games against the U.S. and Algeria.
Depressed talking heads dominated British small screens all weekend as pundits analyzed in minute detail every aspect of England's under-performance.
Even the usually more measured broadsheets left no stone unturned in finding scapegoats, mulling team changes and suggesting solutions ahead of Wednesday's must-win match vs. Slovenia.
The Daily Telegraph's front page carried a banner teaser: "England in Crisis." Radio and television broadcasts across the weekend sounded like a study in grief with callers,...
"What a Waste!" screamed Monday's headline of the Sun, England's biggest-selling tabloid, joining a chorus of voices on the island damning the English team's disappointing draws in its first two games against the U.S. and Algeria.
Depressed talking heads dominated British small screens all weekend as pundits analyzed in minute detail every aspect of England's under-performance.
Even the usually more measured broadsheets left no stone unturned in finding scapegoats, mulling team changes and suggesting solutions ahead of Wednesday's must-win match vs. Slovenia.
The Daily Telegraph's front page carried a banner teaser: "England in Crisis." Radio and television broadcasts across the weekend sounded like a study in grief with callers,...
- 6/21/2010
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The front page of l'Equipe, France national sports paper, reveals the harsh words Nicolas Anelka, left, had for beleaguered coach Raymond Domenech. If national soccer teams are often said to reflect their countries' characteristics on the field—the Germans are efficient, the Spanish are quixotic, the Italians have a flair for the dramatic—the French squad today reinforced national stereotypes off of it, namely that they are recalcitrant, indignant whiners. This morning, the entire team decided to boycott their training session to protest the expulsion of striker Nicolas Anelka from the tournament yesterday. Like French labor unions, Les Bleus couldn't last two weeks without going on strike. But unlike the habitual disputes over rail-worker wages or retirement plans, this farce took place on the world stage. (Full disclosure: I am a binational supporter of both the French and American teams. But I think I'll be hanging up my French jersey until 2014.) Yesterday,...
- 6/20/2010
- Vanity Fair
Nicolas Anelka has been officially kicked off France's World Cup team and sent home in disgrace Saturday (June 19) for insulting his coach, Raymond Domenech, with the colorful words "Go screw yourself, dirty son of a whore."
At least that's the way it was translated.
"Faced by the refusal of the player to publicly apologize, he (Mr. Escalettes) took the decision in total agreement with the coach and the official members of the delegation present in Knysna to exclude Nicolas Anelka from the squad," the France Football Federation (Fff) said in a statement. "He will leave the French team camp this evening."
The Fff said Anelka's comments are "totally unacceptable for the Fff, French football and the values it defends."
Yeah, because soccer is such a polite and genteel sport. Just ask soccer fans around the world.
Follow Zap2itdishrag on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest TV,...
At least that's the way it was translated.
"Faced by the refusal of the player to publicly apologize, he (Mr. Escalettes) took the decision in total agreement with the coach and the official members of the delegation present in Knysna to exclude Nicolas Anelka from the squad," the France Football Federation (Fff) said in a statement. "He will leave the French team camp this evening."
The Fff said Anelka's comments are "totally unacceptable for the Fff, French football and the values it defends."
Yeah, because soccer is such a polite and genteel sport. Just ask soccer fans around the world.
Follow Zap2itdishrag on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest TV,...
- 6/19/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Artwork courtesy of Espn and the Am I Collective. The hangover, mes amis, persists. It’s been four years since Zinedine Zidane slammed his forehead into the chest of Marco Materazzi, sending the Italian defender howling to the turf and earning for himself the most famous red card in the history of soccer. Zidane left the pitch, head bowed, and came within a stride of the trophy that the Italians would soon lift as World Cup champions after the Azzurri beat Les Bleus on penalty kicks. That was the end of Zidane’s soccer career—Zizou retired after the 2006 World Cup—and France has had trouble finding its way ever since. Today this is a team with multiple problems: wildly inconsistent play, a haphazard and unpopular coach, a distracting Franck Ribéry sex scandal, and the burden of knowing that if not for Thierry Henry’s handball against Ireland, France might...
- 6/1/2010
- Vanity Fair
• The World Cup’s long road to Africa. [BBC] • “Mad” Raymond Domenech surprises France with World Cup call-ups. [Four Four Two] • Ronaldinho among the big names not going to South Africa. [Espn] • Charlie Davies misses the cut for Team USA. [New York Times] • A roundup of World Cup call-ups. [Soccer By Ives] • A look ahead at the off-season for the English Premier League. [Goal] • Pelé, Maradona, and Zidane come together to sell some luggage. [Nutmeg Radio] • Clint Dempsey on the Europa final, soccer in America, and security in South Africa. [Daily Mail]...
- 5/12/2010
- Vanity Fair
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