Day: June 22, 2012

Euro 2012: The Quarter-Finals – Germany 4-2 Greece

Posted by | Jun 22, 2012 | |

This evening, as we have been reliably, repeatedly and at great length informed over the last few days, is more than a football match. This evening, apparently, is all about geo-politics and economics. While this not true, of course, the presence of Angela Merkel at the PGE Arena in Gdansk – an appearance which is either saying something quite profound about discretion being the better part of valour or will one day be used in dictionaries alongside the definition of the word “chutzpah”- has added a frisson of tension to a match which otherwise would probably be considered little more than a stroll in the park for Germany. The truth of the matter is that this match is, on paper at least, the biggest mismatch of the quarter-finals. Germany wandered through the group stage with three wins which never saw them truly catch fire but didn’t really see them breaking out of second gear. It rather feels as if they may remain a few degrees short of the boil this evening, too – at least for the first thirty minutes. Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller and Mario Gomez have been replaced by Andre Schurrle, Marco Reus and Miroslav Klose, in a reshuffling of attacking options which some have interpreted as resting players ahead of an inevitable win and a – perhaps – trickier semi-final. Greece, meanwhile, have surprised and upset...

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I Come To Bury Rangers, Not To Praise Them

Posted by | Jun 22, 2012 | |

The scriptwriters for soap operas must be under enormous pressure to produce dramatic yet feasible storylines every few days. But if the pressure gets too much for them, which some might argue it already has, they can always consult whichever twisted mind writes Rangers’ stuff these days. Twice in the past few days – nope, make that three times – I have had to extensively re-write this article, what with Walter Smith (“he came, he saw, he…went away again”) and other oddball developments. And new questions keep coming. What is Rangers’ obsession with the name ‘Murray’? Why is ex-director Dave King really in Glasgow this week? And Bury? Really?? One constant remains. Rangers are damaged goods; some might even say disgraced. The full and final extent of this damage/disgrace is yet to be revealed – we may indeed be at that stage now, despite increasingly intense assumptions Rangers’ financial past will reveal further ‘misdeeds’ on at least two fronts. Yet despite the enormity of the coverage (sixteen pages in Saturday’s Daily Record newspaper, my Scottish friends informed me), the enormity of Rangers’ ‘misdeeds’, actual and potential, is still to dawn on many people. “RIP, RFC” screamed the Record on a typically attention-seeking front page last Wednesday, which will undoubtedly be a t-shirt slogan and a poster on the wall of many a childishly-gleeful Celtic fan by now. “We ask...

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Match Of The Past: Norwich City

Posted by | Jun 22, 2012 | |

As regular readers of this site will be aware, we are delving back into the past over the course of this summer so bring you collections of videos from English footballs history. This week we’re featuring Norwich City, and we kick-off with a compilation from the clubs FA Cup run of 1959, when they reached the semi-finals of the competition as a Third Division South side. Next up is another FA Cup match, this time from 1967, and a trip to Old Trafford to play Manchester United. We then skip forward to the 1979/80 season and a First Division match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Relegation followed the season after, and relegation was also on the cards for the club at the end of the 1984/85 season, but they did get some consolation from a disappointing season with an appearance in the League Cup final which ended in the clubs second – and to date last – major trophy win. We finish up with an unlikely live televised match from the First Division during the 1988/89 season away to Millwall and a match from the first weekend of the Premier League in August 1992, when the Canaries travelled to Highbury to play Arsenal. You can follow Twohundredpercent on Twitter by clicking...

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