Euro 2008

[big screen satellite]

anyway - lets get a proper serious Euro thread going - yeah we (england) are not there so lets choose someone else....

me, i'll be following Ronaldo's Portugal

i seriously think that they this year have a good chance... but in all honesty, the Germans probably are still the main team to beat

but for 2008, i'll be a Portugeeza

[Winston]

i support my second country, czech that is
portugal is going to be close, germany, at least semi final
but the big surprice is going to be holland i think, pitty they are in a very hard group.
anyway, counting the days, my gf is extremely happy, a whole month of football, yay!

[Rog]

Got to be Holland for me and i'll be keeping an eye on Spain.Portugal??? aren't they favourites for the world diving championships?:P

[//\/\/]

meh...

[Rog]

Yeah you're right Ian,.........f**k it!:D

[big screen satellite]

you know's you'll be interested - most players will be bought to play in the premiership next season anyways....and some of you's lot need better players eh?

[//\/\/]

meh...


...greece won last time, remember?

zzzzzzzzzzzz...

[Dirty0900]

meh...


...greece won last time, remember?

zzzzzzzzzzzz...

Didn't they score 6 goals in the entire tornament.......

They should throw Argentina in as a wildcard.

[potatobroth]

I'm sandwiched between coworkers from Turkey, Portugal, and Spain here at work. I'm rooting for whichever one of those three does the best. ;)

[sanakan]

rooting for?

i'll try to stay as far away from the whole thing as possible - which is kind of hard to do, since i'm in zurich... :/

[jole]

Croatia is the team to look out for, we re gonna kill this at this euro, and beside us i think Spain will do good this time i think they really deserve some luck after years of disappointment.

[matt]

...and beside us i think Spain will do good this time i think they really deserve some luck after years of disappointment.But that argument could apply to any of the British nations (especially England over the years re their various penalty shoot-outs)!

Besides, like the ABs at the Rugby World Cup, it's what Spain do well at at major tournaments ie massively underachieve considering the talent they have in their squad. So I fully expect to either see them come a cropper against Greece or Sweden in the Group Stages or qualify and then lose on penalties to Italy/France/Holland :)

[Winston]

rooting for?

i'll try to stay as far away from the whole thing as possible - which is kind of hard to do, since i'm in zurich... :/

your not tryiing hard enough, since your posting in a euro 2008 thread

be gone!

[Rog]

Croatia is the team to look out for, we re gonna kill this at this euro, and beside us i think Spain will do good this time i think they really deserve some luck after years of disappointment.

LOLZ! you'll be lucky.:p:D

[jole]

We dont need luck m8, we just dont wanna bad luck.

[Camiel]

Like every EC, it's quite possible that the winner will be a surprise. Of course I will be rooting for Holland, but with necessary scepsism and modesty. I'm curious how our defense will act during the group stages.

A Guardian poll (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jun/04/euro2008.netherlands) shows that most of you Brits will back us, btw.

[Winston]

behold ze germanz!

[big screen satellite]

Like every EC, it's quite possible that the winner will be a surprise. Of course I will be rooting for Holland, but with necessary scepsism and modesty. I'm curious how our defense will act during the group stages.

A Guardian poll (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jun/04/euro2008.netherlands) shows that most of you Brits will back us, btw.


erm, i think you instigated that vote yerselves ;)




"There were 48,232 votes cast in the poll, the overwhelming majority of them - 96.2% - for the Netherlands. Spain came second with 1.8% of the vote, followed by Germany (1.4%); Sweden (0.4%) and Romania (0.2%). If the level of support for the Netherlands seems surprisingly high, it is because Dutch ingenuity even extended to hacking into and trying to rig the Guardian's online poll.
In the final days of voting, the Dutch website GeenStijl (literally "no style") instigated a campaign to tilt the balance their country's way, eventually spawning a triumphant piece of hacking that gave Holland an improbable percentage of the votes."


this should help us decide: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/euro-2008-who-will-you-be-shouting-for-837466.html

[Camiel]

Hehehe. Nevertheless, even without the 'Geen Stijl' Hack, we got most of the votes.

[big screen satellite]

Hehehe. Nevertheless, even without the 'Geen Stijl' Hack, we got most of the votes.

well yeah, but i checked another different newspaper site and the dutchies had a massive vote there too... i can understand why ppl here might be supporting the country but there is no way 90% + of the uk will be following the orange team...

still good luck to them, in the group of death

[Rog]

still good luck to them, in the group of death

yeah! rather them than france italy or the other team;)

[BeautifulBurnout]

I have to support the country wherein lies my heart... Allez les bleus! :D

[lloyd]

The Dutch already won before it begins!

Well, the coolest fans award that is of course
http://www.geenstijl.tv/2008/06/rutger_is_trots_op_onze_jongen.html
play video. 00:43 in it gets good.
txt in dutch of course but that's your problem ;)

pix
http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/133841/c82f1aeb/rutger_en_zijn_tank.html

[Winston]

they say that every EC or WC
the better win from italy,if not, they HAVE to win their next 2 and, that's not easy, pressure from day 2
and we all know how the dutch handle pressure

[Rog]

good start for the dutch!, germans looked ok the rest have not been impressive. czech republic made hard work of switzerland and croatia were lucky to get the three points, i thought austria desrved a point but there you go.

blimey, for some strange reason i've watched every game so far:o

[Camiel]

Muwahahahahahaha

[big screen satellite]

good start for the dutch!, germans looked ok the rest have not been impressive. czech republic made hard work of switzerland and croatia were lucky to get the three points, i thought austria desrved a point but there you go.

blimey, for some strange reason i've watched every game so far:o

Rog here is your life: ' '

it is empty without footy...

sadly this tourny is actually more interesting without england fucking it up for everyone!

[//\/\/]

good to see horse-face is still prodding in 'classic' miles-offside-3-yard-screamers...

[Rog]

Rog here is your life: ' '

it is empty without footy...

sadly this tourny is actually more interesting without england fucking it up for everyone!

LOL! i find i can be more objective without us there.......:D

[Rog]

good to see horse-face is still prodding in 'classic' miles-offside-3-yard-screamers...

true!:)

[Camiel]

When you read all the blogs about Euro 2008, that goal is always the heat of the discussion. Anyway, Panucci was over the endline, but without permission from the referee, so he was still part of the game and with that Van Nistelrooy was (surprisingly) onside. Even if you say that Panucci was injured (by Buffon btw), the referee hadn't stopped the match. Besides after the goal, Panucci suddenly wasn't injured anymore.... so.... and anyway, we still outclassed Italy, so meh.

(I also thought it was offside btw).

[matt]

not wanting to get all statto about it, but the first goal was technically onside and so was right to be allowed. just because panucci was off the field of play, he's still considered active for the offside law.

harsh but fair as they say...

[Camiel]

Link (http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=711341.html#uefa+supports+dutch+goal+decisi on)


UEFA has emphasised that the goal scored by Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy in last night's UEFA EURO 2008™ match against Italy in Berne was valid, and that referee Peter Fröjdfeldt acted correctly in awarding the goal.

Not offside
UEFA General Secretary David Taylor was reacting to claims from some quarters that Van Nistelrooy was standing in an offside position when he scored the first of the Netherlands' goals in their 3-0 win. "I would like to take the opportunity to explain and emphasise that the goal was correctly awarded by the referee team," he said. "I think there's a lack of understanding among the general football public, and I think it's understandable because this was an unusual situation. The player was not offside, because, in addition to the Italian goalkeeper, there was another Italian player in front of the goalscorer. Even though that other Italian player at the time had actually fallen off the pitch, his position was still relevant for the purposes of the offside law."

Still involved
The starting point, said Mr Taylor, is the Laws of the Game – Law 11 – which deals with offside, and whereby a player is in an offside position if he is nearer to his opponents' goalline than both the ball and the second last opponent. "There need to be two defenders involved," the UEFA General Secretary said. "If you think back to the situation, the first is the goalkeeper, and the second is the defender who, because of his momentum, actually had left the field of play. But this defender was still deemed to be part of the game. Therefore he is taken into consideration as one of the last two opponents. As a result, Ruud Van Nistelrooy was not nearer to the opponents' goal than the second last defender and, therefore, could not be in an offside position.

Rare incident
"This is a widely-known interpretation of the offside law amongst referees that is not generally known by the wider football public," he continued. "Incidents like this are very unusual – although I'm informed that there was an incident like this about a month ago in a Swiss Super League match between FC Sion and FC Basel 1893. [It was] initially suggested that this [goal] was a mistake by the referee in terms of the offside law – the commentator later apologised publicly, as he didn't realise that this was the correct application of the law. "

Law applied
Mr Taylor concluded: "So let's be clear – the referees' team applied the law in the correct manner. If we did not have this interpretation of the player being off the pitch, then what could happen is that the defending team could use the tactic of stepping off the pitch deliberately to play players offside, and that clearly is unacceptable. The most simple and practical interpretation of the law in this instance is the one that is adopted by referees throughout the world – that is that unless you have permission from the referee to be off the pitch, you are deemed to be on it and deemed to be part of the game. That is why the Italian defender, even though his momentum had taken him off the pitch, was still deemed to be part of the game, and therefore the attacking player put the ball into the net, and it was a valid goal. The law in this place was applied absolutely correctly."

[sanblaster]

BBC 5 ON THE TRAIN FTW!

[sanblaster]

Not being able to colour letters anymore sucks, tho.

[potatobroth]

Its absolutely a goal. If you leave the field on your own, you are part of the play. I don't see where this can be controversial in any way.

[Rog]

Its absolutely a goal. .


well the referee gave it so there's no argument there!:D.........and i've bet on Holland to win the whole tourny!

[big screen satellite]

well the referee gave it so there's no argument there!:D.........and i've bet on Holland to win the whole tourny!


nice one,

i had holland to win 2-1 with van nist first goal - so the bloody italians let me down... :(

[matt]

surprised no-one's mentioned yesterday's other match yet - the absolute snooze fest that was france romania. thankfully only caught the last 30mins or so, so didn't have to endure the whole thing.

looking at the so called group of death now though, i reckon if france don't beat the dutch in their next game then they're out as i'd expect the italians to see of the romanian's and then hold france to a draw.

obviously early days yet, but at the moment you'd have to say the germans, portugese & dutch look like likely winners. i know we haven't seen spain yet but their big tournament record speaks for itself...

[Camiel]

Hehe, France - Romania was a typical group of death match. Bored to death that is. No ideas, no imagination and most of all something I've noticed, an utter lack of dribbling skills on both sides. They could only pass their opponent by running faster than the other. France certainly misses Zidane and Ribèry was not good against Romania. Oh well, it's much too early to say that we will beat France though, but yesterday's match certainly made my optimism grow.

[Rog]

surprised no-one's mentioned yesterday's other match yet - the absolute snooze fest that was france romania. ...

mainly because it just wasn't worth mentioning!:D

[Winston]

russia got owned :D

[Dirty0900]

russia got owned :D

I wasn't surprised!

[Rog]

nor me.........but they could easily have had 2 more goals and with spain's history i'll reserve judgement...... real classy hatrick from david villa though

[matt]

i'd like to see spain do well as they're an attractive side to watch, but i seem to recall them scoring 4 in their opening game of the last world cup, going on to win all 3 group matches before limping out against a very beatable french team in the next round...

[Rog]

i'd like to see spain do well as they're an attractive side to watch, but i seem to recall them scoring 4 in their opening game of the last world cup, going on to win all 3 group matches before limping out against a very beatable french team in the next round...

thats right Matt, they beat Ukraine 4-0 in the opening game..........

[Rog]

Rog here is your life: ' '

it is empty without footy...


AAArrgghhh! you're right:o:D

[big screen satellite]

so everyone's played one game -who's looking a good bet now?

(remember argentina in the last world cupbefore making predictions)....

i'm liking the dutch and still think portugal could do well... but that'll depend on tonights game

Germany - never discount the germans...

[Camiel]

I'll make my mind up after the next round of matches. If we can play as well against France as we did against Italy, then it's all thumbs up for us.

[matt]

so everyone's played one game -who's looking a good bet now?at the moment i reckon we're looking at portugal-germany and holland-spain semi finals

however, history shows that it's not always the teams that start brightly that go on to glory and france were pretty dire in the group stages 2 years ago, scraping through to the knockout rounds and then somehow reaching the final

we'll definitely have a better idea by saturday night with some tasty games coming up over the next few days including the czech-portugal match this afternoon, tomorrow's croatia-germany clash and then friday evening's holland-france game (i'm assuming both france & croatia can't be as unadventurous second time out of course)

and if italy do finish runners up i wouldn't bet against them knocking spain out in the quarters...

[//\/\/]

not wanting to get all statto about it, but the first goal was technically onside and so was right to be allowed. just because panucci was off the field of play, he's still considered active for the offside law.

harsh but fair as they say...

...or, as i prefer to put it; totally fucking ridiculous :rolleyes: a line in the sun said it all - now it's not just women who don't understand offside ;)

totally ludicrous bit of legislation from the clowns at fifa...

[IsiliRunite]

Offside is hard to get at first, if you are used to American sports :p

[sanblaster]

We are missing the point here: Ian reads The Sun.

[Camiel]

LMAO

[//\/\/]

We are missing the point here: Ian reads The Sun.

any more from you and i'll bit yer legs off!

[jole]

Wow we really killed z Germans, they were totally out gunned.
Next is Poland.

[potatobroth]

And the Polish game ends with a black-spot on the tournament. Sigh... was such a great game to be decided by what I consider what should have been a non-call.

The free kick before that should never have been retaken as the Austrian defender was shoving and caught doing so. No words needed to be said to both players. The kick went to the keeper and should have stayed there. The retake only cemented the need for the Austrian players to push and dive some more. Too bad for Poland. They played very well and deserved that win.

[Jan]

Wow we really killed z Germans, they were totally out gunned.
We'll beat you in the semis! :p

[jole]

Doubt that.

[Jan]

Yeah, Croatia will probably lose the quarters... ;)

[jole]

Yeah, Croatia will probably lose the quarters... ;)
Its funny how we can never get respect that we deserve even though we r one of the best teams, but thats also a good thing since everybody keeps underestimating us.

[IsiliRunite]

ESPN 2 announcer: "It is a Dutch oven... and the French are toast"

[Rog]

ESPN 2 announcer: "It is a Dutch oven... and the French are toast"


classic!:D:D

[matt]

blimey. after a pretty poor first half, the second 45 of the czech turkey game was something else wasn't it :eek:

[Rog]

a typical case of " oooh, we're 2-0 up with 20 mins left, we've won already". A classic blunder from 'the best goalie in the world':D

croatia for an easy passage to the semi's then.....providing they don't make the same mistake......;)

[big screen satellite]

a typical case of " oooh, we're 2-0 up with 20 mins left, we've won already". A classic blunder from 'the best goalie in the world':D

croatia for an easy passage to the semi's then.....providing they don't make the same mistake......;)


i lol'd at that game, it was a great comeback and a stunning 3rd goal... Czech's stuffed by Turkey anyone...?

wouldn't back against romania qualifiing with the dutch putting out a weakend side too

[matt]

wouldn't back against romania qualifiing with the dutch putting out a weakend side tooi was arguing that point with my mates on the weekend - everyone's on about how italy-france is a winner takes all match but seem to be forgetting that if romania beat a dutch team that has already qualified then italy and france are both out regardless of the result. and being cynical, if you were holland and knew you were already guaranteed top spot in your group, wouldn't you rather lose and so see france & italy both exit the tournament, especially as you could come up against them again in the semi-final...

and if italy & france were to draw then if romania lose by only 2 goals they'd still qualify...

[matt]

and if italy & france were to draw then if romania lose by only 2 goals they'd still qualify...actually, that's not right is it. forgot uefa are doing that stupid results between the teams thing rather than goal difference if teams are tied on the same points, so:

if italy & france have a score draw, then italy are through if romania lose

if italy & france have a goal-less draw, italy need romania to lose by at least 3 to progress

and it italy-france is 0-0, and holland-romania 3-0 to the dutch, anyone knows what happens then as by my reckoning the italians and romanians would have identical results. would they have to quickly meet up for a penalty shoot out or would it be the flip of a coin..?

[Jan]

and it italy-france is 0-0, and holland-romania 3-0 to the dutch, anyone knows what happens then as by my reckoning the italians and romanians would have identical results. would they have to quickly meet up for a penalty shoot out or would it be the flip of a coin..?

If Romania lose 3-0 and Italy draw 0-0, the two teams would have identical results in this tournament, so their positions would be determined on the basis of coefficients as above. Italy would progress, having an average of 2.36 points per game in qualification for 2006 World Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup) and Euro 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_2008) against Romania's 2.25.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_EURO_2008#cite_note-13

[matt]

and it italy-france is 0-0, and holland-romania 3-0 to the dutch, anyone knows what happens then as by my reckoning the italians and romanians would have identical results. would they have to quickly meet up for a penalty shoot out or would it be the flip of a coin..?hmm, just found this (http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/19079.pdf) over on the uefa 2008 site and on page 16 it details what happens if teams are tied on points after the group stages. having read it, my understanding is that penalties would only occur if the two tied teams happen to be playing each other in their final match so it's not going to happen to sort out Group C. by my reckoning, if the results tomorrow are 0-0 and 3-0 then italy would go through as i'm assuming they have a better record than romania in the qualifying stages for the 2006 World Cup and these European Championships...

[matt]

source: Italy would progress, having an average of 2.36 points per game in qualification for 2006 World Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup) and Euro 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_2008) against Romania's 2.25. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_EURO_2008#cite_note-13that's a lot closer than i thought it would be. and having just looked at the qualifying tables, if they'd have just used Euro 2008 qualifying they'd have tied again as they both got 29 points from 12 games...

[m.g.]

actually, that's not right is it. forgot uefa are doing that stupid results between the teams thing rather than goal difference if teams are tied on the same points, so:

if italy & france have a score draw, then italy are through if romania lose

if italy & france have a goal-less draw, italy need romania to lose by at least 3 to progress

and it italy-france is 0-0, and holland-romania 3-0 to the dutch, anyone knows what happens then as by my reckoning the italians and romanians would have identical results. would they have to quickly meet up for a penalty shoot out or would it be the flip of a coin..?Apparently, everything is explained here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2008/italy/7457863.stm) & being myself French but from Italian origin (my parents were both born in Italy...) I'll have a dinner with friends somewhere & I won't even watch the match... just to avoid any schizophrenic emotions :D

Anyway... after what I've seen before, imo France and Italy don't deserve to qualify...

[matt]

Anyway... after what I've seen before, imo France and Italy don't deserve to qualify...yeah, i get the feeling that lots of people are thinking the Italy France game is a winner takes all match and forgetting that Romania actually topped their qualifying group. beating the Dutch into second place in the progress.

Add the fact that Van Basten has made 9 changes for tonight's game and I wouldn't be at all surprised it Romania make the Italy France match an irrelevance...

[m.g.]

Well... erm... the only word appearing in my mind is : pathetic.

I'm very happy that, instead of staying in front of a tv, I had an excellent dinner with friends nearby les Champs Élysées... which remained very quiet tonight... indeed :rolleyes:

[Camiel]

It never looked as if Romania had the intention, capability or will to reach the quarterfinals.

[sanblaster]

If The Netherlands play with 2 defending midfielders and no wings anymore why can't Spain defeat Italy on quarter finals? Bring it on!!

[stimpee]

Of course, Spain have never beaten Italy in a competition match, unless you count a 1-0 win in the 1920 Olympics.

[Jan]

Whoa! Even I didn't expect that! :eek:
3-2 against the Portuguese... What a great match!

[matt]

Portugal didn't really get going tonight and their defending at set pieces cost them dear. Well played Germany though and that first goal was fabulous. Can see Germany reaching the final now and then who knows what will happen.

Never, ever, write off the Germans...

[Winston]

football last 120 minutes, in the end,the germans win

i don't think they will make the same mistake against croatia, germany - italy for the fiinal

[sanblaster]

Of course, Spain have never beaten Italy in a competition match, unless you count a 1-0 win in the 1920 Olympics.


*ejem*Sidney2000*ejem*



:P

[big screen satellite]

italy will not reach the final

not sure who will - Germany are marching on though, so i reckon they will face the Dutch in the Final... unless Turkey are this years Greece - which would be funny

[matt]

italy will not reach the finalwhat makes you say that?

apart from the romania game they've played pretty well so far - they were impressive against france and should really have been 3 goals up before the penalty was awarded.

and the 3 nil scoreline was a bit harsh in the dutch game as they hit the woodwork a few times and were hit by 2 (admittedly brilliant) counter attack goals after they'd almost scored themselves. so on another day that game could have had a totally different outcome.

i'd love to see spain progress personally as a spain-holland semi final would be a mouth watering prospect of attacking football. however, as sweden showed, spain don't operate as effectively against teams that close them down in midfield and, a la portugal, their defence can sometimes be a little bit suspect, especially at set pieces

should be an interesting few days...

[big screen satellite]

what makes you say that?

apart from the romania game they've played pretty well so far - they were impressive against france and should really have been 3 goals up before the penalty was awarded.

and the 3 nil scoreline was a bit harsh in the dutch game as they hit the woodwork a few times and were hit by 2 (admittedly brilliant) counter attack goals after they'd almost scored themselves. so on another day that game could have had a totally different outcome.



well i think they have flattered and faltered, i think they should have lost the Romania game - they were lucky, and the Dutch were awesome and Italy's defence was the reason they lost the two dutch goals, Spain are free scoring and free flowing so i reckon they will get totally outclassed...

just my opinion, but i really don't think that they have played well at all... and they beat a very weak, poor french side that had only 10 men...

they probably will get through as teams that scrape the groups often do, like the bloody Germans... but i'd like to see a team that has played well and won three games get to the final, like Holland or Spain - so i'm hoping that this year the trend of a shity lucky team doesn't do so well, and a team that plays well actually wins the tournament....

[Winston]

Doei, Holland doei!!
:cool::cool::cool: :):):) :cool::cool::cool:

[m.g.]

Russians were really impressive yesterday... I have no idea if Spain or Italy will win (even if I'd bet on Italy...), but I'd say it'll be a Germany - Russia final & Russia wins...

[matt]

¡Viva España! :)

[matt]

justice actually prevailed for once and the team that was actually trying to win the game during the 90 minutes progress to what looks like a mouth watering semi-final against russia...

[cured]

I'm not sure if Italy had much choice to play other than they played (no Cannavaro, Gattuso, Pirlo)...they still produced a few good chances and (for most of the match) kept Spain from the interior of the box. Granted, a penalty could have been called on them in the first half but they really frustrated Spain into taking shots from 30+ yards away.

The match against Russia should be really, really good. Russia's defense has been pretty solid and they have a couple of playmakers who should provide Spanish fans with plenty of heart attack-inducing moments. It'll be interesting to see if Spain can crack the Russian defense and really open up the game.

[sanblaster]

w00T!!!!!!!!!


*opens la gazzeta dello sport*

[Rog]

Its funny how we can never get respect that we deserve even though we r one of the best teams,.


oops..........

[jole]

oops..........

Yeah thats a good word to describe it, what a shocker.
How lucky can does Turks get?

[//\/\/]

...welcome to our world!

[Rog]

How lucky can does Turks get?

very lucky..................i think their luck will run out against germany who have been lucky for the last 20 years.........*cough*

[jole]

very lucky..................i think their luck will run out against germany who have been lucky for the last 20 years.........*cough*
Yes but then then they were at least strong, now days germany is an average team playing average football.

[Rog]

..that's why they're in the semi-final - and you're not:p. Croatia also are nothing more than an average team...........

[matt]

Croatia also are nothing more than an average team...........who did the double over england in qualifying on their way to comfortably topping the group and who under slaven bilic have won 17 of their last 24 matches and only lost 2. hmmm...

(ps lets see how well england do against them in the world cup qualification matches...)

[IsiliRunite]

Team USA will dominate international competition, i predict, for 20 years...

in basketball.

Look for Ballack to get the hat trick today, only to miss the potential game winning PK against Russia. Does Ballack even take PKs? Who cares, because he's doomed.

[sanblaster]

Look for Ballack to get the hat trick today, only to miss the potential game winning PK against Russia. Does Ballack even take PKs? Who cares, because he's doomed.




Wtf where's the report to mod button??

[jole]

..that's why they're in the semi-final - and you're not:p. Croatia also are nothing more than an average team...........
Yes, if in this case average means unlucky as hell

[Rog]

who did the double over england in qualifying on their way to comfortably topping the group and who under slaven bilic have won 17 of their last 24 matches and only lost 2. hmmm...

(ps lets see how well england do against them in the world cup qualification matches...)

ok, i am not talking about us- we were woeful under mclaren, doing the double over england was not so difficult.

When it comes to the big tournaments it finds out the men from the boys and when the shit hit the fan croatia were not up to the task - end of! What you do in your previous 24 matches counts for nothing (except qualifying for the finals - which you wouldn't know much about:p)

[jole]

ok, i am not talking about us- we were woeful under mclaren, doing the double over england was not so difficult.

When it comes to the big tournaments it finds out the men from the boys and when the shit hit the fan croatia were not up to the task - end of! What you do in your previous 24 matches counts for nothing (except qualifying for the finals - which you wouldn't know much about:p)
Wow, as much as i enjoy reading an english man blabin about football i gotta notice that u re absolutely wrong, except for 1 thing, it really wasnt difficult to beat england, twice.

[Rog]

Wow, as much as i enjoy reading an english man blabin about football i gotta notice that u re absolutely wrong, except for 1 thing, it really wasnt difficult to beat england, twice.

so why aren't you still in the competition if i'm so wrong?
Croatia FC are a well organised and physically fit team but they lack the flair and creativity needed to be euro champions.............
take last nights game for example -
Germany last night were so poor but 2/3 of their goals were well made and taken by players with flair. (i still can't believe that they are in the final, they have only played one decent game all competition.:(). Croatia however struggled against the same tactics as they just lacked the flair to break down a defensively minded team like turkey. I rest my case.

[big screen satellite]

gotta agree with Rog, except, we (England), had we'd got there probably would not have got out of the group stages.

England have individually good players, but England FC have no Flair, Passion or chance of winning any tournament ever again (even if we get the 2018 world cup)

England will always be ranked around 8-12th in the world - which by any reckonning is 6/7th best in the Euro Champs (i.e. the quarter finals) and 8/9th best (at best) in the World Cups (again the quarter finals), some teams do better, and some do worse, (like England in failing to make the best 16 in Europe, despite currently ranking the 9th best team in the World)

If we ever reach the semi finals we are over achieving our ability

Germany, despite everything are in the top 4 teams in Europe in fact are ranked third and so rightly reaching the final are there or there abouts... based upon the top ten, Spain should join them

here's the fifa top ten - and in two years time at the world cup based upon this, England reaching the Quarter finals are over achieving - and Argentina are gonna win the Final with Brazil runners up -

and usually the rankings are pretty reliable... its the same teams doing well most of the time

when was the last time England got beyond a 1/4 final?

1 Argentina 2 Brazil 3 Italy 4 Spain (http://www.soccerphile.com/soccerphile/spain-football/index.html) 5 Germany 6 Czech Republic 7 France 8 Greece 9 England 10 Netherlands

anyway - Turkey were robbed, but Germany had the skills and determination to win through despite playing shit- lets hope Spain (or Russia) dick them

[Camiel]

Why is England in place 9 (before us)? And don't let me start about us in these EC. Group stage was alright with unbelievable results, one step further was one step too far. Patriotism is one thing, but you have to admit that Croatia just like Holland aren't that good. Otherwise, we would have been in these finals.

[Rog]

czech republic and greece should NOT be in that list................

[jole]

so why aren't you still in the competition if i'm so wrong?
Croatia FC are a well organised and physically fit team but they lack the flair and creativity needed to be euro champions.............
take last nights game for example -
Germany last night were so poor but 2/3 of their goals were well made and taken by players with flair. (i still can't believe that they are in the final, they have only played one decent game all competition.:(). Croatia however struggled against the same tactics as they just lacked the flair to break down a defensively minded team like turkey. I rest my case.
Fck this is the 3rd time i m writing this since for some reason its not comin out.
I dont get how u can say that Croatia or teams like us that have come to quarter finals without loosing a game, we didnt even lost in quarters, lack flair and creativity to win the tittle?
Using that logic only the Euro winner has both and that is simply not true.
We all know that after group stages u only got 1 chance or u re out so the main factor becomes luck, thats why often worse team passes through like the case was yesterday or like the case was when Turkey beat Croatia.

[big screen satellite]

Fck this is the 3rd time i m writing this since for some reason its not comin out.
I dont get how u can say that Croatia or teams like us that have come to quarter finals without loosing a game, we didnt even lost in quarters, lack flair and creativity to win the tittle?
Using that logic only the Euro winner has both and that is simply not true.
We all know that after group stages u only got 1 chance or u re out so the main factor becomes luck, thats why often worse team passes through like the case was yesterday or like the case was when Turkey beat Croatia.


well the worst team on the day did go through yesterday, but only because on the day, Germany - technically a better team, and ranked better didn't play to their ranking level... turkey were lucky and had they got to teh final they would have done so against the odds and ranking - they will rank higher when the world rankings get done next time....

sometimes the worse playing team wins through - and usually the worse team is with the lower ranking, but in yesterday's case Turkey lost - it doesn't seem fair, but thats football... and Germany have the winning mentality and WILL to win - Turkey showed that in two previous games, but their luck and determination ran out - thats why teams like Germany win and teams like England end up losing all the time....

[potatobroth]

We all know that after group stages u only got 1 chance or u re out so the main factor becomes luck, thats why often worse team passes through like the case was yesterday or like the case was when Turkey beat Croatia.

This is where you lose me. Luck? Come on. Soccer/Football is about playing your style and taking advantage of your opponents style. Turkey matched up well with Croatia, but its not luck. Turkey played exceptionally well against Germany but none of those goals were lucky. Croatia is NOT a dynamic team. From what I've seen they have a straight forward approach to the game and a more dynamic team will review them and break it down. Both teams deserved to win last night, and luck had nothing to do with it. Luck would have been a ricochet ball that struck the ref and ended up in the net, not 5 pretty well scored goals.

[Winston]

eviva espana!

germany - spain, tough one...

[jole]

This is where you lose me. Luck? Come on. Soccer/Football is about playing your style and taking advantage of your opponents style. Turkey matched up well with Croatia, but its not luck. Turkey played exceptionally well against Germany but none of those goals were lucky. Croatia is NOT a dynamic team. From what I've seen they have a straight forward approach to the game and a more dynamic team will review them and break it down. Both teams deserved to win last night, and luck had nothing to do with it. Luck would have been a ricochet ball that struck the ref and ended up in the net, not 5 pretty well scored goals.
If thats luck then i never saw anyone get lucky in a football match.
Luck doesent need to manifest itself only through scored goals (there r many examples on this Euro alone), Turkey played much better then Germany but they didnt pass, so in my opinion they were unlucky.
As for Croatia not being dynamic, thats total crap, u base that analysis on what?

[Rog]

.
As for Croatia not being dynamic, thats total crap, u base that analysis on what?

the fact that you went out at the quarter finals stage maybe??:p

face up to it Jole, you're just not as good as you thought you were as we told you before the thing started...............

[BeautifulBurnout]

"Football is a game played by 22 men and won by the Germans", or so the old joke goes.

Well I am really hoping Spain break the myth this time. It would be nice to see them winning something big for a change.

[Winston]

it's not a joke, that's a quote of gary lineker

[jole]

the fact that you went out at the quarter finals stage maybe??:p

face up to it Jole, you're just not as good as you thought you were as we told you before the thing started...............
U are absolutely wright u all told me earlier that Turkey will beat Croatia in quarters on penalties after a real drama in overtimes i dont know what i was thinking.
Ok this is going nowhere, lets meet half way Rog and beat each other like real football fans do.

[Rog]

:Djole, you did well but you weren,t good enough this time - maybe next time. in the mean time, i,ll look forward to you probably beating us in the world cup qualifiers in a couple of months.

[cured]

Spain just exorcised their demon.

[matt]

first time in a while where the best team in the tournament has actually won it, which made a pleasant change

i hope san's in drunken delerium somewhere at the moment :)

[cured]

Not to worry, I'm surry we'll see a drunken "W000T!!!11!" in big, bold, spanish-colored letters fairly soon.

[BeautifulBurnout]

Hehehehe. Nice result. :D

[Rog]

first time in a while where the best team in the tournament has actually won it, which made a pleasant change

i hope san's in drunken delerium somewhere at the moment :)

well said that man!:D:D

[//\/\/]

great game; great result - and lehmann wingeing about it - football is the winner, isn't it, wasn't it? marrrrvellous...

[sanblaster]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/sanblaster/urocopa.gif

[Rog]

- and lehmann wingeing about it -

....yes but he's a 'james blunt' isn't he:D

[stimpee]

first time in a while where the best team in the tournament has actually won it, which made a pleasant change

i hope san's in drunken delerium somewhere at the moment :)seconded. best team in the whole competition. beautiful game indeed. hangover should be wearing off about now ;)

[potatobroth]

that was a dominating display by Spain. Grats to the supporters. The score almost perfectly reflected the way the game went too. Perhaps 2-0 would have been a bit more accurate, but that 0 is certainly what Germany deserved. Again, grats!

Now its time for Qualification, the Olympics, and EPL kickoff.

[big screen satellite]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y110/sanblaster/urocopa.gif


an interestig interpretation of the events i suppose - well done san... :D

[IsiliRunite]

I'm happy for spain. too bad all the women don't look like Penelope Cruz... :P

there was lots of talk on among commentators on ESPN about how association football is becoming more popular and this euro 2008 tournament had relatively high ratings and won-over a lot of american fans. perhaps the ratings spike is mainly because NFL, NBA, and NHL aren't in season and baseball is absolutely terrible to watch on TV.

Q: what nations does Sky sports have broadcasts in?

[potatobroth]

that has to be true, Isili, because 10+ people in my office or among my friends who have never watched a full game of soccer in their lives watched a good chunk of this tournament and loved it. hopefully thats a sign of things to come.