Argh! My mysterious source hadn't let me know about rights restrictions for this broadcast... dammit! Oh well, at least it's the usual Damallsvenskan commentators, not those doofuses from the other game. Mad at them. I get to hear the end of the world cricket report, but not England v Spain?? Argh! Again.
Now, because I'm an addict, I'm watching Up All Night with the European Championship. They've got a moose, King Peppe, predicting match results by choosing an apple slice placed in front of national flags. Think it's time for me to have my nap now... www.wilsoncreative.se/blogg/tag/algen-peppe
Interview with Sara Thunebro, put here mostly because the hotel's outdoor coffee-drinking area looks pretty comfy and I'm jealous.
The game-predicting moose Kung Peppe is back again for EM After Dark, so I guess it wasn't just a one-night hallucination. But first we have to suffer through a Skype call with that announcer who was at the other game, who according to trusted sources, the other night, when France went up, 2-0 called it the highest-scoring match so far, apparently not remembering that the Sweden v Denmark game was 1-1... And Kung Peppe, moose oracle, says tie between Norway and Netherlands, and Germany beats Iceland.
Well, he's no octopus. He called Denmark over Italy, but he also called Sweden over Finland (though he also ate the apple for a draw, which made my heart skip...). Previously on Kung Peppe: England over Spain (though again he ate the draw apple too), and Russia over France (though he may have been shaken by being chased away from a calf by a concerned mother moose, which you see earlier in the video clip); Norway over Iceland and (impressively!) a draw between Germany and the Netherlands; Finland over Italy and Sweden over Denmark. So, in other words, he's doing as well as any other pundit or coin-flipper. He tweets, too. @KungPeppe.
Tomorrow's matches: draws in both England v Russia and France v Spain. Thus spake Kung Peppe. And did anyone else notice the three people crashing the field on tonight's Iceland v Germany game, in stoppage time? I confess I did not at the time, but Late Night EM caught a glimpse of it. As well as Hanna Marklund getting hit in the butt with a ball while they were discussing stuff. She's a tough old defender, of course, so she hardly noticed..
A rare article questionning Hope Powell and her players. The poor girl getting a lof of comments on twitter now.
Yes but you have to say that Powell was looking for trouble when she claimed that England women could beat their male counterpart , that was something really stupid and illogical to say.
I meant the girl who wrote the article, loads of England fan are saying this article is bullshit etc... Well they dont get the concept of failure.
Well, i confess I was doubting him as the seconds were ticking down in stoppage time during England v Russia, but he was right in the end. Honestly, England, you make it so durned hard for yourselves sometimes... A proper English muddle this is!
So what do you say about him scoffing the win apple for Sweden and then going for the draw apple? This elk is no octopus.
Various random remarks: The atmosphere in Linköping was really nice apart from the overcrowded overloud fanzone which needed more space and more seats. Hope it's as nice at the stadium tonight as it was last week. Kung Peppe last night said that Norway and France will win, so he's right so far (as I write this in between the second two quarterfinals). But he certainly does have a tendency to choose the left-side apple half, so I suspect that he's being coached. (Do I really need some sort of sarcasm indicator here?). Post-game interviews with Nowegian players Stensland and Gulbrandsen were in English, by Swedish jornalists I think, which is slightly amusing to me just because probably the Norwegians would have understood questions in Swedish just fine. Would their answers have been understood, though? Best to skip the whole thing and just do it in English. One of the Italian players against Germany yesterday -- Di Criscio -- had a haircut that really must have been seen to be believed. She changed it before the game; her UEFA profile is not so alarming. http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/season=2013/teams/player=250005296/index.html All other caustic comments about players are welcome here!
No no, he just did today's matches last night. Not sure whether he'll predict Wednesday's semifinal tonight or tomorrow night... probably tomorrow, I'd think, the magic clearly is stronger the night before the match. Will keep all informed!
Late Night EM interviews Linnea Liljegärd on Skype; not great video quality, but fun to see her and hope to see her on the full national team again someday. Now showing various interviews with various Swedish players who are saying about what you'd expect. Some tv reporter was ambushing Norwegian fans outside their stadium, and they believe that Norway will obviously beat either Denmark or France (wasn't known at the time). One young lady was feeling so bold as to challenge the interviewer to a bet, and now, if Norway wins the whole thing, he owes her a hundred beers. (Something like that, anyway...) And they're going to explain the Iceland team's pre-game goldfish ritual. Stay tuned..
The goldfish was a mascot that, after the loss against Sweden, an Icelandic player joked about flushing down the toilet, complete with instagram or something of the goldfish in its bowl and a toilet looming menacingly in the distance. The player claims to have only been joking, but Swedes were upset and have accused Team Iceland of animal cruelty. The goldfish is now claimed to have been left safely in an aquarium store in... Malmö? Dunno. Sounds a little like 'we took it to a nice farm ut in the country'' to me... No Kung Peppe tonight, but Johanna, the journalist he's competing against, says Norway over Denmark, and Sweden over Germany... a little hesitantly, though.
Wait what?! Are you indicating that there is a coaching job for oracle moose out there? Sweden IS a fantastic country after all.
I happened to miss her coming in for some reason, then the rest of the match only saw her from one side - the one with the hair. I have been assured the other side was shaven, but never saw the evidence with my own eyes.
It's risky for the elks themselves, though: an alcine fan of Kung Peppe got overly excited about the semi final in Gothenburg and tried to cut through the city centre to find the stadium. It's now an ex elk.
Yes, the other side was quite bare. Will try to find a picture from the match one of these days for evidence. Oh dear. Feels like a bad omen to me. I hope the hunter they hired did not have a German name... that would send all my superstitious impulses into overdrive. (And no, I'm not going to try to find out!)
Last night on Kung Peppe... guess who he picks for the Sweden v Germany match. No really, go on and guess. It's what you think. (Hint: Sweden is the left-hand apple.) He also did Norway v Denmark, and goes for the Danish apple, which, oddly, was on the right-hand side. Hmm. Not sure what to make in this break in the pattern!