Serie A @ the Euros: Day 9
(Fuckle.)
Really a lot of pictures today, all from the matches. Sadly, all the Serie A boys were on the wrong end of that sick Turkey comeback, but it makes for great pictures, so I suppose we should be happy about that.
Despite being out of the tournament, the Swiss started their first team, hoping to kick ass in front of their home fans.
Hey, look who's in the hizzay!
Collina turned up to keep an eye on the refs.
Obviously. Nothing to do with the chance to get a great seat for a football match.
What up, Frosty?
As usual, Behrami was a busy little bee, running from box to box. As it were.
He plays defense and attacks with equal ferocity -- he's just THAT desperate to get out of Rome.
You think this tackle looks bad?
Just wait.
Cos then this happened.
Yeah. It was really bad.
(For those of you with short attention spans.)
It hurt.
Like, really a lot -- you could tell Frosty thought he was done. By some miracle, though, he got up off the stretcher and finished the match.
Ferreira got a deserved card, and ended up being subbed before the half, presumably to get him some relief from the boos that were cascading down every time he touched the ball.
"You can't keep me down, Ferreira! Please. I'm working for my ticket away from Lazio here!"
(Admiring Quaresma.)
These Nani thighs are for you, Marie.
Reassuringly, the muppet was still there, even after the injury -- someday, he's going to bite that tongue off.
I love his casual approach to hugging -- apparently scoring is so old hat for the Swiss that he's really not bothered.
Awwwww. Except for with certain people, apparently.
O hai Inler!
By some accounts, he was MOTM, despite having his head sat on by wayward opponents.
I'm not gonna lie: This man is my find of tournament. How have we missed him all this time?
He's played so well in these three games -- it wouldn't be a surprise at all if Udine started getting offers for him tomorrow morning.
Yeah, whatever, Miguel. You're going to have to do better than that.
You too, Nani. Come on -- is that all you've got?
"Yeah. And stay down!"
From what I can tell, he was totally running the midfield, winning the ball and attacking.
(Mmm ... Quaresma.)
*is not drooling (much)*
Inler hit the post once, and also forced a couple saves out of Ricardo in the Portugal goal. (Or: Thiiiiigh.)
All this in spite of the bleeding. (Megan, I'm with you on this one: Nnnnnnnnngh.)
And then came the loving.
Oh, to be the Swiss keeper.
(Or those guys.)
All the defenders in the back with Cech, as usual.
We'll start with Grygera.
He got loads of photog love today, partially, I guess, cos he had a pretty good first half.
He and Janku were both mad busy in the first half -- he was all kinds of eager, defending aggressively and getting forward a lot.
Everything was going well, until halftime came.
The entire Czech defense had a really, really tough day, but he was at least active.
And by "active," I mean "so eager to hug people."
He was so excited today, you could tell he was surely they were going through.
*sigh* Poor, naive Grygera.
(Be patient: The woe and the OTP are coming.)
I'm not sure if I should feel bad about this or not, but I'm totally getting into Rozehnal.
I think maybe it's the Newcastle thing. But he made his loan permanent today, so he's all Lazio, all the time now.
He was just awful in their last match, and about 100% better today.
He was the only Czech defender who did anything in the second half. I realize that's faint praise, but still.
Aw, so happy! Little did he know what was coming ...
Janku was crazy busy in the first half.
He got forward like a madman, defended well, and was the king of Czech deadballs.
Did I mentioned the ass-kicking in defense?
Just like everyone else, though, it was mostly in the first half that things went well for him.
(No matter the half, Ruby's right -- his hair is looking good.)
See? Getting forward.
Like Grygera, Janku was a mad hugger today.
Janku!tongue.
Man, if only he and his tongue knew what was coming.
Mmm ... captain Ujfi.
He sort of struggled, did Ujfi.
Though, really, everything was going ok until about the last 10 minutes or so.
He was winning headballs, and just sitting deep and cleaning up.
With the odd foray forward.
Usually for a squee, or a bit of hugging.
But bad things started to happen as the game moved toward its end.
Yeah. He was standing there watching in horror on the second goal.
And was also uncomfortably close to the third -- I think he was the one who cleared the ball that led to the goal (though I'd be very happy to be wrong about this, if someone cares to correct me).
At which point the woe began.
(Armband off -- it's over.)
Never stops being captain, despite his own desperate need to cry. &hearts
Oh, god.
Things were really, really bad for Cech. The poor man.
Rozy was the only defender who didn't try to comfort Czech -- he was too busy weeping by himself, I think.
He really was all the defense the Czechs had in the second half, it was just brutal on him that it ended the way it did.
Oh, Janku. *feels slightly bad perving on his misery*
Like Ujfi, he immediately went to try to comfort Cech.
Notice that Cech can't even look at him.
&hearts &hearts &hearts
Grygera, too, was just destroyed by the result.
He worked his heart out -- I have no idea how you recover from a loss like that.
"Yeah. I can't help you, man. Sorry."
Can I show you something amazing, though? Look at this.
Still refusing to look at anyone, right?
Grygera uses the physical skills of imploring that he's learned in Italy, hoping they'll make a difference.
And, suddenly, this happens.
How beautiful is this?
Fic, please. Now. Thank you.
