Football/Soccer: UEFA EURO 2012 Finals

Tonight’s the night! The Euro 2012 finals will be played by Italy (surprise!) and Spain (not so surprise!). I think the key word for this year’s Euro’s is in fact “surprise”. Some really great teams didn’t make it into the quarter finals, others were just one hell of a disappointment (can you say Dutchies?), and I still can’t believe that Germany lost from Italy in the semifinals.

There’s one thing that has made me very, very happy: Portugal is exit! Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against Portugal in itself, but that self-obsessed, arrogant Cristiano Ronaldo has annoyed the living hell out of me. I think he’s spent more time rolling on the field in acted anguish than actually running. And then there’s the changing hairstyles every damn time… Ugh! If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, or just want to have a laugh, check out this “ode” to Ronaldo HERE.

I do have to admit that Ronaldo isn’t the only strange guy out there… In fact, there’s one in Italy as well: Mario Balotelli. Seriously, that guy is insane! But hilarious at the same time. Check this out:

I showed this video to my dad last week, and he laughed so hard, kind of waving his arm, that I thought he was going to hit me! And there’s lots more crazy shit he does. Either way, it promises to be very interesting tonight :)

As for Spain… Well, they weren’t my favourites ever, but they can play so beautifully, in that typical Barcelona style. It’s such a delight to watch them. Well, at least, most of the time. Their game against the aforementioned Portugal wasn’t all that good, in fact, it was rather boring, so I’m very curious if they’ll step up against Italy.

Despite that I’d never expected Italy to make it to the finals, I’m totally rooting for them tonight; not only because Balotelli is hilarious and Spain has won the last Euro AND World Championships, but because I have a strange fondness of the Azzuri. Whatever happens, with both of these teams I think we can expect a great match.

Will you be watching, and if yes, who’s your favourite of the two?

Thanks for reading!

Love,

ML-X

Football/Soccer: UEFA EURO 2012

After having to wait for almost two years (or four, depends on how you look at it), it’s hardcore football time again. The European Championships have finally started!

Let the games begin!

I am quite the football fan, and whilst having followed the earlier mentioned Eredivisie, the prospect of the EURO’s got me even more excited. I’ve watched them (and the World Championships) ever since I was a little girl, but 2010’s World Championships were extra special; they’re the reason me and le man are an item.

I still remember what happened; we were out in town with the company, watching The Netherlands play against Brazil on the biggest TV I’d ever seen. It was hot outside, and I couldn’t see anything because of all the people so I was standing on some kind of ledge and he was standing in front of me so I didn’t fall off. The funny thing is that despite thinking he was cute, we’d never talked all that much. Hell, I even hated his butt when he first came to work for us, because I figured he’d steal my job (long story). But he didn’t, and gradually we’d started exchanging words every once in a while.

Anyway, back to the point. As I said, it was scorching hot out there and I had my beer-cooled hand on his neck to cool him off, the game was great and against all odds… We won! Holy shit, we won from Brazil! Everybody was extatic, yelling and hugging random strangers and we… We just kissed. And that’s how everything started.

Obviously, football has been extra special after that, for the both of us. Some might find it boring, but we watch games together whenever we can and want. And when we can’t watch together, we watch seperately and text about it. It’s also our little inside joke; the other day there was a show on TV where the participants had to answer, “What’s the best place to fall in love?”, and he simply said “During a football match”. Of course, that wasn’t the right answer, but I loved it!

We’ve watched the first two games together (Poland vs Greece and Russia vs Czech Republic, although I missed the last bit of the second one), but unfortunately couldn’t watch The Netherlands against Danmark (which the idiots lost!) and Germany vs Portugal together because he had to work. Tonight we’re both off and the third pair of games will be played. There may be war; I’m an Italy fan (my current hair colour is red with black, like AC Milan!), while he’s more into Spanish football, and that’s the first game scheduled for tonight.

I do hope The Netherlands will pick up their pace after yesterday’s game, because it would be a shame if they wouldn’t go to the quarter finals. The atmosphere here back in 2010 when they did so well was simply undescribable. Yep, football beats the shit out of Queensday! And for the last few weeks, there’s been orange everywhere, and supermarket and drugstore chains have dealt out all kinds of football-related goodies with every x-amount spent. Yeah, it’s great to be here when the football craze is on!

So to all of you watching the EURO’s I’d like to say: Enjoy, and may the best country win! And to you who might want to start watching but don’t know how to; check Fiction In Crazy Mode’s post here on how to enjoy these games at their fullest.

Until next time!

Love,

ML-X