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Even without knowing that much you will have a great time watching the German team playing very nice football and most likely winning their two remaining games in the group (pool play).
That being said, since you know nothing about European football let's get some basic info on the table.
UEFA is _the_ European football organization and the two largest tournaments it hosts are the European Championships (euro2012 etc, every 4th year) and the Champions League (a club team tournament, every year).
Every European country has their own national leagues in a tiered system. The most prominent leagues are England's Premier League, Italy's Serie A, Spain's La Liga and Germany's Bundesliga, all being the top league of their country. These league have a lot of money and a lot of foreign players (like for instance, the NHL in comparison). The top players of almost all teams have their best players in one of those leagues. Why is this important? Because people will discuss players' performance in their club teams, and it really helps if you have some grasp on how European football works.
People also love to discuss past performance of the national teams. This might be an aspect you as an American is not that used to since none of the most popular American sports have that interesting international championships I think? It is not unusual that players perform very differently in the national team compared to in their club teams. They of course have other teammates, but they might also have a different role in the national team compared to their club team. Some countries just have a single or maybe two incredible players that will have a lot of pressure performing during the championship, possibly making or breaking the teams' entire tournament run. Some teams are stacked with talent from top clubs but still have a hard time performing that well. And some teams have a distinct lack of star power but really play like a team.
If there are things about the sport in general, like rules you don't know, I would think Wikipedia has pretty good content. There is a rule called offside, which is more a less a rule against having someone constantly "fishing" in front of the opposing teams' goal. You can't be behind the opposing team's defenders when someone passes the ball to you. But there are some exceptions to this rule, but that is the basic notion. Otherwise it's pretty straight-forward, dudes chase the ball and puts in at the back of the net for 1 point. 
Edit: Oh yeah and when people talk about 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 and so on it's the team's player system. For example, 4-3-3 means 4 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 forwards/strikers. This has implications of course.
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Y U PEOPLE NO SAY FOOTBALL?
Ball. Foot. Kick ball around. Football.
Its not hard.
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On June 11 2012 07:16 IamBach wrote:So I am beginning to realize that I don't have any hope to learn enough to sound educated  and maybe it won't be that big of a deal though. Does anyone at least know of any place where I could find what teams are still in and what teams are out? That is what I was trying to figure out when I found that deceptive website.
http://livescore.net/
On the left there you have links you want to follow.
Most basic info:
- "football" not "soccer" (mentioned before but can't stress this one enough)
- check the format, you have 16 teams in there, first comes the group stage (bo1, everyone against everyone else in their group, 2 teams make it out of each group. Place you get in group depends on points (3=win, 1=draw, 0=loss), in case of a tie it's goals scored, in case of another tie goals lost), after that it's... Why the fuck am I even writing all that? Go and educate yourself here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2012
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drink ur beer, have fun, dont be concerned :D woman here watch euro and world championchips as well and most of them have no fucking clue.
despite that, everyone has sth to say and claims to be a total expert^^
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Most people know very little about the game. There is not much one can tell you so you can have a meaningful discussion on the game.
It requires you having played at a reasonable to high amateur level yourself and watching recent games, automatically analysing them.
Most people who debate this game because its WC or Euro cup time have no clue. It is actually really hard to analyze a game because there is so much luck involved. Games are often won by one single goal made because of 1 single play.
To catch up what you can do is learn the basic rules, learn about some key players of key teams and watch some matches. Only thing one can help you with is if you ask a direct question.
[edit]
Oh wow it seems you don't even know what countries Europe has. Well, can't help you. Just drink german beer and do whatever.
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On June 11 2012 08:07 alderamin wrote:
Most people know very little about the game. There is not much one can tell you so you can have a meaningful discussion on the game.
It requires you having played at a reasonable to high amateur level yourself and watching recent games, automatically analysing them.
Most people who debate this game because its WC or Euro cup time have no clue. It is actually really hard to analyze a game because there is so much luck involved. Games are often won by one single goal made because of 1 single play.
To catch up what you can do is learn the basic rules, learn about some key players of key teams and watch some matches. Only thing one can help you with is if you ask a direct question.
[edit]
Oh wow it seems you don't even know what countries Europe has. Well, can't help you. Just drink german beer and do whatever.
I'm certain this is not true, in England you can have a discussion with most other guys about football and im assuming this is the same in Germany.
It's probably best if you don't pretend to know alot about football and just say. I'm sure whoever you are staying with would enjoy teaching you about it.
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On June 11 2012 08:20 samw wrote:Show nested quote +On June 11 2012 08:07 alderamin wrote:
Most people know very little about the game. There is not much one can tell you so you can have a meaningful discussion on the game.
It requires you having played at a reasonable to high amateur level yourself and watching recent games, automatically analysing them.
Most people who debate this game because its WC or Euro cup time have no clue. It is actually really hard to analyze a game because there is so much luck involved. Games are often won by one single goal made because of 1 single play.
To catch up what you can do is learn the basic rules, learn about some key players of key teams and watch some matches. Only thing one can help you with is if you ask a direct question.
[edit]
Oh wow it seems you don't even know what countries Europe has. Well, can't help you. Just drink german beer and do whatever. I'm certain this is not true, in England you can have a discussion with most other guys about football and im assuming this is the same in Germany. It's probably best if you don't pretend to know alot about football and just say. I'm sure whoever you are staying with would enjoy teaching you about it.
He said "meaningful" discussion 
I dont know an English site, but stuff like: http://spielverlagerung.de/
is something most people (in Germany) dont know (I personally dont realize much of it as well, but it's interesting to read after matches).
Edit:
Ok found a similiar site in English:
http://www.zonalmarking.net/category/euro-2012/
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England is well known for it's tactics lacking kick & rush football. Last time I played football in the Uk was quite a few years ago and I know some English clubs now play a much more complete and more contidental European play. But when I was there I saw terrible play across all levels. Young players would be taught very little and at the top amateur and lower pro leagues they had basically no positional play which I remember well shocked us when we were there.
English managers to this day have the reputation of being lowly skilled. They can't give a complete training like many continental coaches do and their tactical feel for the game is limited. They also aren't familiar with fine tuning a team for good positional play.
So I don't know why you say some random guy in the pub knows something about the game.
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On June 11 2012 07:45 Skyline026 wrote:
Y U PEOPLE NO SAY FOOTBALL?
Ball. Foot. Kick ball around. Football.
Its not hard.
Kickball?
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Actually the UEFA EURO 2012 thread can provide you such information and took no time to read . It also contains a section about "Laws of the game" which is very important for starter.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=334130
Have fun watching the most exciting and beautiful sport in the world.
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Welp, it's easy really.
16 national teams have made it into the group stage, were split into 4 groups and following tomorrow there's 2 more match days for each group.
Best 2 teams qualify for KO tournament.
If you stay for a longer time, you won't stand a chance trying to memorise all the teams, matches and histories you'll face. Just figure out germany for your friend and you'll pick up typical biased trashopinions for all the other teams on the fly.
Most importantly, Gomez (our Striker) can't score. Even when he's a top scorer for the league, the champions league, the national cup and just got his first goal in the first match at the Euro2012. Don't be mislead by results, the clumsy bastard is infuriating to watch really xD
Also, where are you staying?
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On June 11 2012 04:10 aqui wrote:Show nested quote +On June 11 2012 04:07 Endrew wrote:On June 11 2012 03:48 IamBach wrote:Ah ok thanks for the advice. I still don't understand somethings. For instance, according to this website, http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/standings/index.html it appears that there are multiple teams from each country? Which one do I root for? I am not trying to sound like an expert, I just know absolutely nothing about football. You're trolling, right? Whats your problem, he said he doesn't know anything about football.
Yes but OP is also a 1k post veteran on TL and should know to type "wiki football" or "wiki euro 2012" in google. This is a little like people who'd sign up and post a thread in general going "hey guys I'm new, where can I find build orders" instead of actually exploring the site a bit. Information for the euro is easily available to anyone who can use the internet. I thought he might be trolling too when I clicked that link actually. I mean if I'm looking at say, the Olympic tournament for rugby (dunno if there is one, I'm picking a sport I don't know), and I run into a page with a bunch of non national teams with cities in their names... sure I don't know rugby and never watched a game in my life, still I'd figure this is not what I'm looking for...
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@pb.fcnz well I know this may be hard to believe, but I actually tried to just Google around and figure it out but it was really a challenge for me. I think that I was reading information about the national leagues and getting confused, but I really did come to TL as a last resort. I definitely would not have opted to come off sounding so ignorant...
@snow2.O I'll be in Berlin and thanks for that tidbit of information.
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you're going to germany, and u want to have nice conversations with people? Root for germany and cheer when they score.
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Even if you don't speak any German, just disagree with the commentator a lot. It's what we all do.
Lahm is loved by everyone, Gomez can't score, Klose is old but badass, our goalkeepers are the best in the world, Boateng and Hummels play surprisingly well, Podolski is not the smartest but has leg power, Kroos, Müller and Götze are prodigies of some sort.
However, I'd generally avoid trying to sound like you know anything about football. Germans are usually VERY happy to explain how it all works and why Germany will win it this time etc. so just go about like a clueless American and get some biased education
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On June 11 2012 08:20 samw wrote:Show nested quote +On June 11 2012 08:07 alderamin wrote:
Most people know very little about the game. There is not much one can tell you so you can have a meaningful discussion on the game.
It requires you having played at a reasonable to high amateur level yourself and watching recent games, automatically analysing them.
Most people who debate this game because its WC or Euro cup time have no clue. It is actually really hard to analyze a game because there is so much luck involved. Games are often won by one single goal made because of 1 single play.
To catch up what you can do is learn the basic rules, learn about some key players of key teams and watch some matches. Only thing one can help you with is if you ask a direct question.
[edit]
Oh wow it seems you don't even know what countries Europe has. Well, can't help you. Just drink german beer and do whatever. I'm certain this is not true, in England you can have a discussion with most other guys about football and im assuming this is the same in Germany.
What most people actually know is just a ton of data, not the game itself. Relatively few people understand the tactical side of the game and player's roles, can tell which player made a mistake and why, why one team has possession and the other doesn't, etc. I do agree with alderamin you need to have played football at some level to have actually been taught these things (or decided to learn it yourself for some weird reason ;p).
It's fairly obscure information that commentators NEVER really go into during a game, even the analytical/expert commentators barely touch the subject. I never quite understood why that is.
This has been my experience in Italy, Scotland and the Internet.
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During competitions like Euro 2012 most people watching don't really have a clue.. they're just in it for the experience and enjoy rooting for their team. You'll be rooting for Germany I presume and they're amongst the favorites, so just do the same, have fun and enjoy the experience.
Euro 2012 only lasts a few weeks or so and the competition has just started, so every team(that have already qualified for Euro 2012) are still in. There's not really much to it.. you'll pick up quickly who the best players are, the fixtures, results and what the current standings are in the tournament just by watching.
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Just go there unknowing and absorb the beautiful spectacle that european football is.
Your life will never be the same
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
On June 11 2012 10:34 darthfoley wrote:Show nested quote +On June 11 2012 07:45 Skyline026 wrote:
Y U PEOPLE NO SAY FOOTBALL?
Ball. Foot. Kick ball around. Football.
Its not hard. Kickball?
Yes, that makes sense too but, tell how does throwing a ball with your hands around a pitch for 4hours classify as "football"
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On June 11 2012 19:48 Pandemona wrote:Show nested quote +On June 11 2012 10:34 darthfoley wrote:On June 11 2012 07:45 Skyline026 wrote:
Y U PEOPLE NO SAY FOOTBALL?
Ball. Foot. Kick ball around. Football.
Its not hard. Kickball? Yes, that makes sense too but, tell how does throwing a ball with your hands around a pitch for 4hours classify as "football"
It's a sport based off of rugby football, which itself was a deviation of typical football. The word football just stuck as the sport changed over 140 years (it's nothing like it was back then), and since Americans couldn't care less about the rest of the world's football it didn't seem that strange or problematic I guess. It's like basketball isn't played with baskets anymore, but no one thinks about changing it's name.
Not all of football is totally lost even in American football, interestingly enough. The game still largely involves kicking the ball through a goal.
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EPT
