[Dragon]

I'm from Poland, so I guess it's my duty to make a thread about this.
Today, Euro 2012 has ended. Spain managed to hold onto the championship, crushing Italy in the final match with a 4:0 score. That's the first time in history the cup didn't change hands.
This also means that soccer-themed madness is over. Products of all kinds will revert to their usual packaging, flags and "side mirror socks" will disappear, foreign tourists will return home. Hotel prices will (hopefully) decrease. Highways, stadiums and other infrastructure will stay, though knowing Polish (and Chinese) builders, I'm not sure how long. Either way, this was one heck of a month, especially in the cities where matches took place (Krakow wasn't on the list, so it didn't had quite as many tourists as, say, Warsaw, but it still got noticeably more crowded).

Has any of you been to Poland or Ukraine for Euro 2012? If so, what do you think of it?

[Klaustrophobia]

i thought the commentators said the match was in Ukraine?

[Mongoose]

The final was, but a lot of the earlier stuff was split between it and Poland.  Not that I was actually watching, but you pick stuff up.

[Dragon]

i thought the commentators said the match was in Ukraine?

Yeah, this was a joint effort, but I'm not from Ukraine.
The real reason is, when the match ended it was around midnight here. I was a bit sleepy when I posted. Though pretty much everything I wrote also applies to Ukraine.

[Flipside]

As one of the rare members of the UK who isn't a big fan of football, I do have to say that Spain deserved to win. Seemed to go quite well apart from the Russian marches, and that was just plain deliberate taunting on their part, and some of the UK fans throwing a tantrum because they lost to Italy on penalties, which is like throwing a tantrum because the Sun came up...

[Dragon]

Agreed. I doubt Polish-Russian relations will improve soon. Neither nation really wants it to happen, for exactly the same reasons.
Spain indeed deserved to win. What I really liked was that they didn't stop playing after the second goal, like most teams do. They put on a great show for 93 minutes and almost got a 5th goal in the added time.

[TopAce]

I must resist the urge to reveal that I am a Netherlands fan.

Damn... I just did!

[karajorma]

As one of the rare members of the UK who isn't a big fan of football, I do have to say that Spain deserved to win. Seemed to go quite well apart from the Russian marches, and that was just plain deliberate taunting on their part, and some of the UK fans throwing a tantrum because they lost to Italy on penalties, which is like throwing a tantrum because the Sun came up...

You do have to wonder when the England team will realise that penalties have become such a psychological issue for the team that maybe we should try a little harder to avoid them.

You would think after losing 5 out of the 6 times we've gone to penalties they might try a little harder during the actual match rather than being willing to wait out the time and go to penalties.

[Spoon]

I must resist the urge to reveal that I am a Netherlands fan.

Damn... I just did!

Too bad that the dutch put on a shamefur dispray this time around.

[Dragon]

You do have to wonder when the England team will realise that penalties have become such a psychological issue for the team that maybe we should try a little harder to avoid them.

You would think after losing 5 out of the 6 times we've gone to penalties they might try a little harder during the actual match rather than being willing to wait out the time and go to penalties.

I always considered penalty shots to be pretty much a lottery, considering how hard is to stop one. IMO, it isn't a dishonor to lose in penalties (nor a big honor to win in them), but losing in them as consistently as England certainly raises an eyebrow. At this point, attributing it to bad luck starts to be a bit of a stretch. Also, unless your coach found a horseshoe with a few four leaved cleavers attached, it might not be a good idea to fight the match to a standstill and hope penalty shots go well.

[Klaustrophobia]

there was once a time when goalkeepers relied on their skill and quickness to stop PKs, instead of picking a direction and guessing.  since then, however, it's been ENTIRELY luck, or in some cases utter failure of the kick taker by missing entirely.  nowadays they can drill one right down the middle and probably score, because the keeper will have left before the kick is even taken.

if they want to add skill back into shootouts, they should do what the MLS used to do, a hockey-type shootout where you start out at midfield and come in 1 v 1 on the keeper. 

[Flipside]

Unfortunately, my version of 'sudden death' playoffs are illegal according to the Courts