General Football Thread

[Dan]

Everyone should put ESPN on, heroic stuff from Bosnia this.

[Dan]

Penalty to France, fucking outside the box, up to the old tricks again France.

[TCO]

So apparently we're going to be seeded in the draw on Thursday with possible opponents being Bosnia, Estonia, Turkey or Montenegro. Obviously Estonia is one to get in that situation but all of them are winnable.

[Liam]

Oh no, that horrible seeding malarkey again

[TCO]

I did always think that it was a fair system.

[Adam]

Hopefully Ireland draw Turkey then, that way I can hope for Ireland, Estonia, Bosnia and Montenegro's qualification.

Never gonna happen in a billion years, but got to cling on to something!

[IAceI]

Remember though, we'll have to make allowances for the replay of the Ireland v Armenia game. Afterall, Ireland will be offering up a chance for Armenia to play it again after they were unfairly robbed of their goalkeeper after 30 minutes? I mean, Ireland are the moral crusaders for all that is fair and good in the game aren't they?

Gutted for Armenia, but what a great story from them. Finishing third in the group is such a good achievement for them and hopefully this is the start of a golden era for their football team.

Hopefully Ireland get Turkey, so I can root for the Irish and not have to sacrifice an Estonia, Bosnia or Montenegro defeat. Then again, Estonia and the like will probably stand a better chance against Ireland than the others, but they got this far so why not go further. Estonia knocking out a Portugal or something to make it?

It'll be like when Latvia qualified for 2004 thanks to this handsome fellas goals:

And we all know what happened at Euro 2004? An unfancied team of limited players who relied on set-pieces won the whole thing. So basically, if Estonia qualify.. England have it in the bag.

Edited October 12, 2011 by IAceI

[Sam]

I suspect England will crash out in the group stage and everybody will be shocked and devasated because for 2 or 3 months leading up to the tournament everybody will say how we can match and beat anybody on their day, despite struggling to overcome teams like Wales, Switzerland and Montenegro in our group.

Edited October 12, 2011 by Sam

[EddieG]

Venezuela beat Argentina last night.

[TCO]

I really fancy our chances looking at our 4 possible opponents tommorrow. I'd rank them as preferential opponents as follows but I think we're better than all of them.

1. 
   
   
2. Estonia
   
3. Montenegro
   
4. Bosnia
   
5. Turkey
   

There's just something about going to Istanbul that's worrisome.

[stokeriño]

I presume "something worrisome" is a euphamism for "getting stabbed".

[TCO]

I presume "something worrisome" is a euphamism for "getting stabbed".

Not necessarily. I mean I may go to the home tie if the tickets are reasonably priced but not a hope I'm going to the away tie regardless of where it is.

I just don't like being the away team in hostile enviorments like that, especially with so much at stake

[TCO]

Estonia with the 2nd leg at home, PERFECT DRAW!

[IAceI]

I really hope that bites you in the arse. Come on Estonia!!

And we miss the potential Croatia v. Bosnia or Montenegro matches? Gutted.

[TCO]

It won't, believe me, I'm super confident this time around. Going to try and get tickets too as soon as they're available, the Aviva will be rocking on that night. It'll be cool to see the stadium too, haven't been to a match since we moved away from Croke Park.

[IAceI]

Oh well as long as you're confident that's that sorted.

I like the idea that all of Ireland cheered when they found out they had Estonia, shouting "the best draw we could hope for!" Meanwhile the exact same was happening all throughout Estonia.

I have a Latvian friend and therefore probably have more in common with Estonia than Ireland. That's my strenuous link for supporting Estonia. (And my pre-mentioned theory of the Latvia/Greece - Estonia/England connection.)

Edited October 13, 2011 by IAceI

[TCO]

Oh well as long as you're confident that's that sorted.

I like the idea that all of Ireland cheered when they found out they had Estonia, shouting "the best draw we could hope for!" Meanwhile the exact same was happening all throughout Estonia.

I'd argue that we're better than Czech Republic, but yeah it's a favourable draw for Estonia too but this is the team that struggled against Northern Ireland last week, can't help but feel confident. Especially when you consider it was France two years ago.

[IAceI]

When are the matches played? Can't be arsed to look. Will Ireland have to go to Estonia in the snow?

[TCO]

11/12th and 15th of November.

No idea what the weather will be like on the 11th but I'd imagine it won't be great. Realistically anything but a defeat over there will be an acceptable result.

[9 to 5]

And it isn't as if the Ireland team have to walk there carrying their own body weight in luggage 31 miles to the stadium throught the snow, uphill both ways is it? Might be a bit cold but that's it.