Germans on the Money as Greeks (like the Czechs) Bounce Out!
23/06/12 01:57
Footcall 2012 Day 14...
OK folks we're back up and running! Hoorah I hear you cry :-) The last 24 hours have seen us draw on the experience of six Footcalls that have preceded this and here we are dodging and weaving like a prize fighter ready to go another round. The league is back in it's rightful place there on the home page, ready to reveal herself as soon as you figure out how to push her buttons! OK we can all exhale now, normal service has been resumed (big thanks to Spence for pulling out the stops).
The one man Portugal team set the stage alight last night and now we make way for the gladiators of Euro 2012 and warm Footcall favourites, Germany, to enter the arena once more. They were going toe-to-toe with the Spartans of Europe, Greece. An unlikely David v Goliath match up as this, on paper, looked woefully one sided. Unless prizes were going to be awarded for best "sniper shot from Row Z play acting" (boy those Greek players are masters at that) there was only ever going to be one winner in this match. The Germans started like the solid unit we've come to expect and they sliced their way through the Greek defence like a knife through feta. As commentator Drury so aptly put it, "it's not a matter of if; but when." Wave after wave they slung their shots in and it looked as early as the 6th minute it looked as if Greece might have been playing for penalties, if only they could hold on for another 114 minutes? Well they did hang on for 39 minutes but despite the Greeks adopting a rather unique 8-1-1 formation they couldn't prevent little Philip Lahm from blasting the ball from 30 yards out straight into the corner beyond the outstretched keeper. Joachim Loew went nuts in his technical area and Angela Merkel got out her chair, adjusted her twin-set and cheered with delight. This was it now, surely the floodgates were well and truly open!
The second half got underway with us all expecting more German domination but then something shocking happened, Greece scored! Yes they really did! This must have thrown the Footcall viewers into blind panic as they could see their German faith collapsing quicker than the Grecian economy! Georgios Samaras clearly hadn't read the script; amazingly Greece were level. Where was Merkel's rattle now? What is it with these political figures muscling in on football matches? Well the equalizer clearly got up the nose of the Germans and before long normal service was resumed as Sami Khedira hit an absolute pile-driver into the roof of the Greek onion bag, it was a good job the keeper didn't get his hand on that one, he would have ended up in A&E. This time Deutschland were not going to relinquish their grip. Miroslav Klose went close several times before heading home a sweet corner to make it 3-1. They were cooking now, and it looked like sauerkraut! Then up popped Marco Reus to nail a volley that his namesake, Marco Van-Basten would have been proud of, now it was four one and four to one on that there was more to come. Well there was, but astonishingly it was at the other end. A speculative shot struck Boateng on the arm in what could have been argued as ball to hand but never-the-less a penalty was awarded and Salpingidis tucked it neatly into the right hand corner. And so it finished 4-2, just who would have predicted that? Good job for the Footcallers it was only the team that was required and not the score.
And so to the Footcall league...
Well it will be no surprise that a huge percentage of you lot had Germany to win in fact they are the overwhelming favourites to win this tournament amongst the Footcall fraternity. I'm not gonna list off all those that had predicted, crikey I'm even that list, as the league has barely changed shape in the past 24 hours. You'll see that the league now has nice blue colour coding to mark the six money winners from the Group Stages, in the C/F (Carried Forward) column. The leader (currently a three way tie) is marked in red and finally those marked in yellow are those in line for financial gain come the end of the tournament. Let's pick a few random players who might have much spotlight up until now as this might be their only time to shine... Neil (I'm the one cooking now) White, Pavol (I knew the Germans wouldn't let me down) Malenky, Lyn (I'm top of my effing Division) Rennie, Rick (it was all going so well) Wilkinson, Joff (if I can just edge past Andy) Funnell, Jonathan (in the nick of time) Reeves, Kim (eat my dust Graham) Gilbert, Oliver (better than mum) Whitfield, Ryan (bye bye Dean) Smith, Nick (where is McNamara now) Singleton, George (I'm taking this very seriously) Relf, David (I can't believe I backed the Czechs) Bourne, Lee (I've taken some gambles in my life) Baker, Clive (Syd you are a b***end) Catterall.
Also I should mention, Iain (I'm surprisingly good at this) Baker, Chris (I'm not out of this yet) Read, Maxine (I'm up here Yasmin) Coupland, Yasmin (hang on Maxine I'm coming) Coupland, Carl (Richard you may as well retire now) Andrews, David (if you boys above me think I'm giving up, think again) Kilbey, Gary (I fancy my chances here) Thorp, Kevin (I only need to stay above Mick) Appleton, Mick (damn it, I took a risk and I have proper blown it) Mallion, Peter (I could do with a life saver now) Nilsen, Trish (The Spaniards must win tomorrow) Bertram, Sean (I spy with my little eye, a vuvuzela) Broad, Stephen (on the buses) Hills and Richard (Manoj don't get too comfortable) Goodwin.
OK that's enough of that. Tomorrow we see my tip for the trophy, France, pick the Spaniards pocket and send them home penniless! I might be in 116th at the moment but I'm still confident I can make it up to 115th :-)
All the best!
Dj