30 comments

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  Ryan

  1 year ago

  Sounds like ESPN has a great announcing team lined up, if only they weren't calling it off TV monitors in Bristol.
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  betsy's bolton bum baster

  1 year ago

  ugh, julie foudy? y not heather mitts? foudy looks like a mummified monkey.
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  The Gaffer

  1 year ago

  This is a MASSIVE coup for ESPN. It shows they're serious about soccer and are trying to be taken seriously. Kudos to ESPN.
  
  I can't wait to see Andy Gray!
  
  Cheers,
  The Gaffer
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  Dave M

  1 year ago

  In 0ur house, the biggest item on Andy Gray's CV is his role as match commentator on EA Sports' FIFA playstation games. It will be awesome hearing him announce real live games. I wonder if he'll use all the same stock phrases. If only they could have gotten Martin Tyler or Clive Tyldsley as well.
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Andy, we are still the world champions. Just a reminder for you. Since you never mentioned it today. The analist that you are, never once mentioned that two world champions were missing from midfield today. I guess it was convenient for you to bash the world champions in front of millions of people . You and your Scottish team are nothing but sore loosers. Go back to the fucking country you came from. We dont need your shit in this country. You stupid fuck.
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  Jennifer

  1 year ago

  Andy Gray is absolutely the worse sports announcer I have ever had the displeasure of listening to. He was so one-sided during the Italy vs. Spain match that I wondered if he might be wearing a Spain Jersey underneath his shirt and tie. I had to look him up on the computer to better understand his hatefulness towards the Italians. His comment about Spain taking a page out of the Italian book for feigning fouls was ridiculous. Then upon a Spain player receiving a yellow card in the box, mind you, he simply replies, "It's just one of those things." Well, very simply Andy, you're a dick!
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Andy still remembers the defeat his scottish team endured against the world champions when they eliminated them from the european championship by beating them on their home field. (2-1). Tough shit Andy, you get paid to be a professional. You sure didn't sound like one. I hope you and Espn get to read all these negative comments about you. Because Espn just lost my subscription to them because of your stupid ass.
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  Stuart

  1 year ago

  Loved the Gray commentary for Ita v esp.
  
  dead on. He told it like it is. Fandel had a dreadful match and had me wondering if the Italian penchant for max fixing extended beyond Seria A. I'm glad teams like Greece and Italy have been dumped. Four years ago the result was a dreadful pox on quality entertaining football who's resonance seems finally to be abating. 11 large men behind the ball and hope to nick a goal on a bought foul is terrible to watch.
  
  Thank you Andy Gray. Thank you for whining when players go down like they've been shot when there is barely contact. Thank you for calling bullshit when a player looses his footing on a quick turn and is called for diving. Thank you for pointing out that Ballack fouled on his goal v Portugal and showing us how the same offense was called two different ways in the box depending on the team. Thanks for pointing out the lunacy of a different set of rules for inside and outside of the area. Thanks for not talking about Onion bags and poking at your co's nationality.
  
  Thank you Thank you Thank you
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Stuart, I don't really care about greece, But you right on when you say Italy has been dumped. I don't quite understand the match fixing you are talking about. I would say otherwise if you watched any euro games. Few examples: (goal taken away from toni against Romania, Goal given to Holland on clear offside). Also, if you watched the game against Spain, hopefully not the way andy watched, you noticed that although we were short handed, we created the most dangerous play. Besides the mistake by Buffon that hit the post, Spain never once hit a shot on goal. We instead had three or four legittimate shots. Stuart, watch the games carefully, and notice that all players from all teams fake falls, not only Italians players, you can call Italian the original and everybody else copy cats. We are the champions my friend.....we'll keep on fighting to the end, we are the champion, we are champion, of the world.....
  Sucker...
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Stuart,
  One more thing. What team do you root for?
  England or Scottland? ha,ha,ha,ha.
  Sorry... couldn't help it. I just noticed you didnt mention it. So I tought it would be one of those loosers teams.
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• 

  t

  1 year ago

  Joe, you are an idiot. The official stats are that spain had six shots on goal while Italy had three. Andy Gray was spot on about how Italy played and the awful display by the ref. The truth hurts, but the truth is that Italy is out of the tournament. Get over it.
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Another England fan. Whose the idiot now. I consider shots on goal when the keeper actually moves to make a save. You were tought to consider a save when the keeper touches the ball that was passed by the other teams player. Am I talking to a six grader here? Why dont you and your buddy Andy FYS.
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  Stuart

  1 year ago

  Toni's goal v Rom should have stood. RVN's goal was legit. A defender does not have the ability to go dormant and as such not be counted for an offside like an attacking player does. Read the rules. As for max fixing, as you are clearly an Italy fan (you must be constantly bored) I assume you know the rich tradition they've got on the boot for such things. By dangerous play you must mean having 11 men behind the ball with Toni sniffing for fouls around the center circle. Yes, it's quite dangerous. Dangerous to the sport, that is. Spain had far more meaningful play in the attacking third. Italy is overly reliant on Pirlo, a fantastic player, for creative play whereas Spain can call on a few midfield generals. For god's sake, any team that can pull a creative midfielder like Fabregas off the bench when Xavi is not working out clearly has some depth, unlike Italy. Though I would have liked to see more of Del Piero in the tournament. I'm a neutral for this go but re: ESP v ITA I sure weren't hoping the Azurri scraped another scoreless draw to PKs. Boring, negative, gutless. I loved how the Dutch crushed them with free flowing football.
  
  " Stuart, watch the games carefully, and notice that all players from all teams fake falls"
  
  too true. Such a shame. And why? Because cheats get away with it. So, why not. Toni, a rather large man, gets a tap on the ankle and he goes down faster than your mom after I've bought her a cocktail and whines more to boot.
  
  " we are champion, of the world…" true dat. But not of Europe (a harder tournament) sucker.
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  Stuart

  1 year ago

  "we’ll keep on fighting to the end"
  
  the end came and went and so did ITA at the hands of ESP, or did you not see the game?
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Am I talking to a USA Fan? be a man, tell me. You are as ignorant on the subject than some of the people I work with. Europe (a harder tournament) ? Didn't we beat France in the final? and qualifying rounds. Supposedly the best team in europe? As far as match fixing scandals, the italian press was honest about it and let it out. The same thing happened in three different countries in europe, (Germany, Spain, England) but kept it quite. Also happened in Usa with Basketball. So, you don't know shit. In soccer history, Italy is only second to Germany in Europe. Spain has never won anything and never will. Holland has always been a choker recently. So, who are these teams better than Italy, genius?
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  Stuart

  1 year ago

  "Am I talking to a USA Fan?"
  
  hhahahaahahaaha!
  
  " Spain has never won anything and never will."
  
  careful. First part is demonstrably false (European champions in the sixties), second part is looking dicey. Teams better than Italy? Well, according to the results I'm looking at, four of them in the semis at the moment. Unless of course your talking in terms of match fixing.
  
  "So, you don’t know shit." You've yet to demonstrate that directly.
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Stuart ,
  Jou just did demondtrate that you know nothing about this game. ( almost like the guys I work with) Now, that is insulting. 1960's ... we are in fucking 2008 dude. When I'm saying (won anything) I'm comparing to the big studs like Italy and Germany. Did you watch Spain against Russia today? (3-0) , or a Germany team that has played cup cakes throughout the tourney? Seriously, Or I'm done talking to you. Do you seriously think besides Spain, any of those teams would stack up with us? I'll have to admit Spain is a pretty good team. With Pirlo and Gattuso in there, I would have taken my chances. Now you wonder why a jack ass like Andy wouldn't understand why Donadoni based his game plan the way he did. I would have been a litlle bit more daring, true, but look at what happen to Russia.
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  By the way, I'm oviously an Italian Fan. Born and raised there. But I noticed that you didn't say who you root for.
  Pussy.
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  Sanjay

  1 year ago

  I'm not italian and neither do I support italy. And I'm also a big fan of Andy Gray. But even I'll admit, that I lost some respect for the man. As a commentator/announcer it is his duty to be neutral and not take sides.
  With regard to the Italians, yes they didn't come out playing very exciting football. But lets be honest here, if Spain miss one of the penalty kicks and Buffon saves one of them,we would be sitting here talking about how great the Italians are. And at the end of the day, they are world champs.
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  John Paul

  1 year ago

  I'm not sure who Stuart is but when he's finished with his nonsensical histrionics regarding Italy he can deal with the following revelations.
  
  - Italy ranks second behind Brazil in terms winning the World Cup and that's not bad company in anybody's book.
  
  - No other European country has won more
  World Cup championships than Italy period.
  
  -The Italian National Team was never involved or charged with any match fixing scandals , so get your facts correct and do us all a favor.
  
  - Review the statistics of any major tournament the Italians have been involved in internationally and they are consistently designated as the team that commits the least fouls.
  
  - to compare the Euro Championships with the World Cup is ludicrous and asinine. There isn't one winner of the Euro tournament that wouldn't trade it for the World Cup Title !
  
  -Stuart you must really be an Italian Hater to write such vitriol and actually believe it.
  
  -I'm not pleased with Italy's approach to the game against Spain and yes they've been eliminated and the coach fired but the bottom line is that Italy is still the reigning World Cup Champion until 2010 whether Stuart likes it or not.
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  Stuart

  1 year ago

  " Now, that is insulting. 1960’s … we are in fucking 2008 dude"
  
  Listen, you've got to be consistent. First you claim history is on your side as ITA have got a bit of hardware on the shelf. Fare game. They do have a rich history. But then you say nothing counts if it's in the past re: ESP. So, please, pick your ground and argue from it. Otherwise, I just write you off as another partisan hack who knows nothing about the game and just calls it as it lays for your team. Also, as per recent history, ESP are one goal away from smashing the other half of your claim re: never winning anything.
  
  Who am I rooting for? Same team I was before a ball was kicked this tourney: ESP. Which has nothing to do with the discussion BTW. Check your premise and your logic at that one.
  
  "Did you watch..." I've watched every kick of the ball this go son. So I saw ITA in the group stage V NED with Pirlo and Gatussa on the pitch get their asses handed to them. I'm not faulting Donadoni on his game plan but if you check that premise you have to say ITA is not so awesome because they had no options with Pirlo on the bench. As you so clearly demonstrate, no depth, no choice. No depth to me means not a great team. A Team with no depth, and as such, no options, needs a bit of luck to go through. No way RUS would have beat NED without Arshavin. No depth, not a great team. So, do you need me to recap the record of ITA in this tournament, you know, goals for and goals against in order to refute the concept of their greatness? As you so astutely point out, what have you done for me lately? They come away with a -1 GD. To quote you again "we are in fucking 2008 dude". Thanks for the tip.
  
  Sanjay, fair play but "if Spain miss one of the penalty kicks and Buffon saves one of them,we would be sitting here talking about how great the Italians are" Not me sir. Just as I did not sit around talking about how great a squad Greece had four years ago. Still, Buffon is my favorite 'keeper in the world.
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  Stuart

  1 year ago

  Jacyz Pavel,
  
  paragraph by paragraph
  
  1: ad hominem, disregarded
  
  2 & 3, correct but also statistically redundant.
  
  4 true, but, well, culture and all that.
  
  5 hard to foul when rolling around sniffing for them, or just plain not getting called for shit pulling in the box.
  
  6, correct via what a player might want but can you really feel you are good squad when you beat Trinidad and tobago and then Saudi Arabia in order to advance beyond the group? Less Argentina and Brazil, the Euros are the creme de la creme.
  
  7 see 1
  
  8 i've got no issue with that. Last I checked this was a discussion about the Euros.
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Very convenient at this point to be a Esp Fan. I figured that much about you. You are just a lot of talk with very little knowledge about the game really. Have you ever played the actual game. It just doesn't seam like. A great team can be beat any given day. Got that? good. In the game against Holland, the 3-0 did not necessarily mean that Holland dominated italy as the score may suggest. Sometime, a team outshoots an opponent and still loses the game. in that game Italy possessed more than Holland while holland worked on counter-attacks, which they were very good at. To win tournaments, whether is world cup or euro, you need to be good and lucky. Spain is a proof of that. The only regret I have is with donadoni on not trying more against Spain. He seamed to play to conservative. But anyhow, just a reminder, we are the world champions...
  Thanks, John Paul for telling this dude, you have to be born champions. It just doesn't happen suddenly. Good luck with your Spaniards.
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Stuart,
  A Esp fan , uh..
  This is what you said earlier.
  
  "I’m a neutral for this go but re: ESP v ITA I sure weren’t hoping the Azurri scraped another scoreless draw to PKs. Boring, negative, gutless"
  
  It proves what I tought about you. You are like a Flag. Blow whichever way the wind blows.
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  Stuart

  1 year ago

  Not a Spain fan per se but I picked them to win it.
  
  so, just to recap...
  have I ever played? Yes. I've been playing for 35 years.
  
  "you know nothing about this game"
  
  and yet you said also said re: spain
  
  "Spain has never won anything and never will."
  
  whereas I picked them to win. Ouch. I mean, Ouch!
  
  Well, ITA are fine side and best of luck to your boys in S.A..
  
  I'm out, smiling.
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  Stuart

  1 year ago

  The only reason why I am glad that Euro Championship is over (besides having to watch Germany lose) is that I don't have to listen to Andy Gray!!! I am so sick of his one sided comments, and not just for this final game but for all other games. He is very annoying...I feel as if I am listening to Shrek for 90 minutes!
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  Heidi

  1 year ago

  Sorry...that last comment was from me...not Stuart
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  DELF Hater

  1 year ago

  I guess Andy Gray was proven right again. Thats why 100s of people are renewing their subscription to ESPN in hopes of more neutral and insightful analysis. He doesnt care if it is Spain or Italy. He is a Scot and has lived his adult life in England. Those are his teams 1 and 2.
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  completely brad pitt

  1 year ago

  Gray knows what he is talking about. He played the game at a high level, he understands tactics and he can explain what is going on in basic terms. Even though he is a Scot he is the best around. In terms of being neutral thats what the play by play announcer is meant to do, the color commentator as Gray was hired to do, "adds color." This can be conceived as not being neutral since he is meant to put forth an opinion, not merely repeat what is going on. Football is open to interpretation, what looks like a foul to one team is a great tackle to another.
  
  So another question for the avid fans of Spain and Italy on this string-why dont Spain and Italy fans travel to international matches? They are notoriously poor at following their national teams away from home (not as bad as the French but almost.) Ive heard that with Spain its because of the Basques and Catalans etc and the country not being united so the whole country isnt behind the team. With Italy I've heard that some regions dont support the team but have never really understood it-there doesnt seem to be much history that I can think of. Italy didnt even take up their allotment of tickets for the last World Cup. How do I know?-I was sitting in the seats of the Italian footbal federation surrounded by a load of suits. The Italian end was pretty quiet other than booing the US national anthem. Comparing the Spanish and Italian fans I would say that the Spanish are definitely louder. They cheer their team on while Italians prefer to whistle when the other team has the ball rather than get behind their own team.
  
  It will be interesting to see what kind of turnout there is for South Africa. Its really expensive and supposedly unsafe. Will probably be the usuals of Brazil, Argentina, Holland, England and Germany with a good following. Tickets are being sold to South Africans for $1 each so the black market should be active.
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  Joe

  1 year ago

  Stuart said:
  “Spain has never won anything and never will.”
  
  whereas I picked them to win. Ouch. I mean, Ouch!
  I’m out, smiling.
  
  You are out all right: out of your f...ing mind.
  Have some balls and tell me your nationality.
  I hope your are not british. If so.. you got no room to talk. Capello is your coach. Couldn't find an English guy good enough to coach? I have a feeling you are british because of your arrogance.
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