I’m actually in the middle of writing a new fantastic NBA-related post, but since now I’m mostly occupied with the Euro and I had some quick random thoughts I wanted to share, I figured – why not have a post about it too. The end of the group matches’ second round looks like a good opportunity to do this. I reckon I may do this a couple more times later in the tournament.

So, without Freddy Adu, here we go:

• How the fuck David Silva has 101 international caps already?! I mean, he’s a great player and all, but seriously? 101 caps?! I reckon some of his caps are like Romario’s goals…

• I’m not buying for a second that Juanfran is only 31 years old. I wouldn’t have given him a day younger than 53.

• Tomas Rosicky – of all the players that are taking part in this year’s European Championship, Rosicky is the only one who actually played back in Euro 2000 (Buffon was supposed to be Italy’s first-choice GK but he got injured before the tournament, and Casillas made the trip as a reserve but didn’t get to play). 16 fucking years ago! I used to really like “Little Mozart”, he was such a fantastic player to watch when he was healthy. It’s such a peaty his career was plagued by injuries. After his beautiful assist in the match against Croatia, I concluded that 2016’s Tomas Rosicky is 2004’s Karel Poborsky. Back then, Poborsky, who came as the veteran playmaker, had 4 assists in the tournament and helped the Czech Republic reach the Semi-Finals. Can this year’s Rosicky do the same?

• Alas, he can’t. Are the news about Rosicky’s injury that ruled him out of the tournament the least surprising “surprising news” evar? I reckon they are.

• I think Ricardo Quaresma is the negative image of Andres Iniesta, on all the possible parameters. Football-wise and personality-wise. For instance, I reckon that among all the players that are taking part in the tournament, Iniesta is the one with whom I would love the most to write a university course seminar paper. And we would split the work between us so each one would do half of it and I would be confident as fuck that he will do his part in the most outstanding way. Quaresma? I wouldn’t trust him with writing the date on the title page….

• I wonder who has a worse tournament so far: Robert Lewandowski, Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Cristiano Ronaldo… It’s amazing how these players, who scored 143 club goals between them (in all competitions) this season, are failing so miserably in the tournament…

• Radja Nainggolan is, hands down, the owner of the worst tattoos in the tournament. I’m sorry Radja, you have some mad long-range shooting skillz and I really like tattoos in general (and the owner of a few myself), but this neck tattoo is just…

• Xherdan Shaquiri and Lionel Messi are both 1.69-1.70m tall. But while Shaquiri always looks small on the pitch, Messi looks quite normal. It’s really weird. Is it because we are so used to seeing Messi and not quite as used to seeing Shaquiri?

• It was so great to see Ricardo Carvalho start for Portugal in their first two matches. Apart from the fact that he’s another reminder to the 2004 tournament (the Euro from which I have the most emotional memories) and that he’s the oldest outfield player in this year’s tournament, I used to like him so much when he played for Chelsea. I reckon that had he had some better PR he would have been mentioned as one of the greatest defenders of the 2003-2013 decade (there should be a 2003-2013 decade!!!). He was a fucking beast, a defensive juggernaut.

• The same goes for seeing Eidur Gudjohnsen play in the last match. Another great Chelsea player, who I remember fondly. I was so hoping his last-minute kick against Portugal would go in… I have this thing for old players.

• The Ireland team: Shay Given, John O’Shea, Robbie Keane.
• And yes, I’m aware of the fact that O’Shea was omitted from that World Cup’s squad. Fuck you, facts.

• I like Marouane Fellaini. I just wanted to lay it on the table, because he gets all this heat. I think he’s a very good player. There, I said it. Please don’t shoot me or cancel your subscription to my blog…

Er, that’s it for now.

Cheers