Euro 2004 in Portugal

[tominishiki]

I voted for Czech republic because I am a fan of this team. They are also playing a beatifull and attack football they had a great game yesterday with Netherlands.

[Azumashida]

Yes, the Czechs were brilliant yesterday, but the Dutch didn't deserve to lose, and the ref spoiled the game, as too often in football (the rules of which unfortunately seem to be made for the purpose of giving the ref the possibility to spoil games in as many ridiculous ways as possible; this would require a book so I won't elaborate here). The Dutch are really unlucky as usual, I hope the Czech B-team can perform against Germany as well as the Portuguese B-team did at Euro 2000...

Anyway, at last the tournament has shown some really great football, with the Italy v Sweden game and then the Netherlands-Czech Republic game B-) . Looking forward to Portugal v Spain, which is already a "direct elimination" ("last 16") game!

[tominishiki]

Group A:

1 Spain

2 Greece

3 Portougal

4 Russia

Group B:

1 France

2 Croatia

3 England

4 Switzerland

Group C:

1 Sweden

2 Italy

3 Denmark

4 Bulgaria

Group D:

1 Czech republic

2 Germany

3 Holland

4 Latvia

Quarter Final:

Spain beats Croatia

France beats Greece

Germany beats Sweden

Czech Republic beats Italy

Semi Final:

France beats Spain

Czech Republic beats Geramany

Final:

Czech Republic beats France

[Kashunowaka]

Group A:

1 Spain

2 Greece

3 Portougal

4 Russia

[...]

Well, it's a lot easier to make guesses now. B-)

Besides, you have the order of the quarter finals wrong. France and Czech Republic will meet in the semifinals if they win.

Edited June 20, 2004 by Kashunowaka

[Kashunowaka]

Yes, the Czechs were brilliant yesterday, but the Dutch didn't deserve to lose

They scored less goals than the Czech, so obviously they deserved to lose. B-)

I know what you mean though. I thought the Dutch played very well, but their "tactics" during the second half deserved a loss.

and the ref spoiled the game

I think that's too harsh - he wasn't that bad. But I hope he won't ref any more matches.

[Azumashida]

I think that's too harsh - he wasn't that bad. But I hope he won't ref any more matches.

I agree that he wasn't that bad actually, that's why I implied that the rules of football - and the instructions given to referees - may actually be more to blame than the referees themselves. Guys like Collina and Milton Nielsen are appreciated by FIFA and UEFA (i.e. they get the best evaluations) because they are the strictest, most inflexible referees, give penalties and red cards (and if possible both at once) as much as they can. That is what is valued by the football authorities, and that spoils games now and again (not only because one team gets to play 10 against 11 for a good part of the game, but also, for instance, because if the refs happen to see that they made a huge mistake on the big screen or get to know about it at half-time, they are usually tempted to compensate for it, only making things worse in most cases). Because of the ethos of inflexibility set by the football federations and confederations, there are very few refs at international level who are "human" enough to "interpret" the rules in context (as a good judge should do) rather than to "apply" them blindly. Your compatriot Frisk is one of them I think, at least each time I've seen him refereeing, he was really good...

[Asashosakari]

Looking forward to Portugal v Spain, which is already a "direct elimination" ("last 16") game!

The first half has certainly been quite spectacular, despite the lack of goals so far. Hope it continues to be as exciting. (Dribbling...) Kick-off just happened...back to the TV. B-)

Edited June 20, 2004 by Asashosakari

[QttP]

Greece got away easy against Russia and qualified due to scoring more goals than Spain. Congrats to the Greek side and its fans! B-)

The perennial contenders Spain are just where they should be - out.

Edited June 20, 2004 by QttP

[Kashunowaka]

Your compatriot Frisk is one of them I think, at least each time I've seen him refereeing, he was really good...

An interesting thing about Anders Frisk is that although he seems to be universally recognized as a competent international referee, he is considered to be a rather bad referee in the Swedish league (Allsvenskan).

[Yubiquitoyama]

Your compatriot Frisk is one of them I think, at least each time I've seen him refereeing, he was really good...

An interesting thing about Anders Frisk is that although he seems to be universally recognized as a competent international referee, he is considered to be a rather bad referee in the Swedish league (Allsvenskan).

Well, not really that bad I think. Just not as good as in international matches. I think, despite all the criticism about him, he came in the top three when the players were asked (in TV3 recently) although he was not considered the best of the Allsvenskan referees (Fr

Edited June 20, 2004 by Yubiquitoyama

[Mark Buckton]

Greece got away easy against Russia and qualified due to scoring more goals than Spain. Congrats to the Greek side and its fans! (Holiday feeling...)

The perennial contenders Spain are just where they should be - out.

sadly so - but tis not all bad - the Russians are dismissed too (Eating...) and the Swiss 'give me the benefits of the EU clingons' are to follow today I hope. (Enjoying a beer...) :-P

[amgaa99]

Poor Espain. They are going to home.

[amgaa99]

Group A:

1 Portugal

2 Greece

3 Espainl

4 Russia

Group B:

1 France

2 England

3 Crotia

4 Switzerland

Group C:

1 Sweden

2 Denmark

3 Italy

4 Bulgaria

Group D:

1 Czech republic

2 Holland

3 Germany

4 Latvia

Quarter Final:

England beats Portugal

France beats Greece

Sweden beats Holland

Czech Republic beats Denmark

Semi Final:

England beats Sweden

France beats Czech Republic

Final:

France beats England

Edited June 23, 2004 by amgaa99

[Pikenoyama]

Holland were treated very harshly (unfairly IMO) by the referee, but at the same time I was glad to see - yet again - that the defensive strategy did not pay off.

Kashunowaka, no doubt about Dutch not being lucky, no doubt about the referee not being the best man on the playground - but he was not whistling on one side. The second Netherlands goal after quite visible off-side of van Nistelrooy is the most obvious reason for me, although this should be more targeted on the line-referee. Both teams could win, both teams could loose but that's the game and matches like this one are what people want to see. Go CZECHS!!!!!!!! (Holiday feeling...)

[Pikenoyama]

I voted for Czech republic because I am a fan of this team. They are also playing a beatifull and attack football they had a great game yesterday with Netherlands.

I don't know, if your vote for the Czech rep. is the third one on the list, which appeared during the weekend but anyway thanks for your comment about the team. Our offense is really rather good but we miss more stability in the defense but hopefully this will get better during the tournament. If not, we would have to atack more than defend so that the ball is far away from our penalty area (Holiday feeling...)

[Elenrian]

You are really optimistic for the Frech's result: they were so weeeaaaaaakkkkk!

Against England, they were very lucky with 2 goals in 2 minutes, but they should have lost. And against Croatia, it was worst: they lead 1-0, then they made "a mistake" (however they are professionals footballers! (Eating...) :-P ), so 1-1, then a seconde enoooorrmmoouuusss mistake 1-2. And at the end, a very lucky goal: Trezeget didn't look at the goal, and nearly missed it! 2-2 One more, they merited to loooooose!

And more, they don't worry! I HATE MY NATIONAL TEAM! (Ranting...) (In a bad mood...) (Depressed...) It is fully (Protesting...) (Holiday feeling...) (Enjoying a beer...)

[Mark Buckton]

England through and the Croats out. :-(

And the 'boy' Rooney done good again. Bloody good news cos what is Owen contributing to the squad?

[amgaa99]

Group A:

1 Spain

2 Greece

3 Portougal

4 Russia

Group B:

1 France

2 Croatia

3 England

4 Switzerland

Mr Tominishiki's prediction is broken out.

Edited June 22, 2004 by amgaa99

[Leonishiki]

Thanks Adachinori-zeki for your support but I'm afraid Tokimori-zeki was right. Spain is always one of the favourites before the tournament begins but we always lose (except in 1964, our one and only international championship). But I think we never played so bad like this Eurocup. And now we even cannot blame the referee like in last World Championship. But this is one of the problems of to manage one of the best leagues in the world. We import a lot of foreign players and the spaniards don't have too much free places to play, so there are not too many good players here. Our national team is lowest than our clubs teams (Real Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona,...)

Well, I picked France because maybe it's the best european team, but I'll take a look on the czeck team and on England too. I liked a lot their matches.

[aderechelsea]

ok ... who voted for Greece ???????

are you insane ? we are playing the French .....

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BTW i still think Holland will get it if only they qualify through the groups...

[amgaa99]

Poor Italy, Unfortunately.

[Jakusotsu]

I am very disappointed with Italy. Not because they didn't make it - I couldn't care less - but with the way they talked trash after the game. Buffon in particular should seriously consider a public apology for the crap he said.

Everybody in their right mind could see that Sweden and Denmark earned their success - Italy's behaviour demonstrated that they did not.

BTW, are there any Italian Sumo fans out there?

[Fujisan]

England through and the Croats out. (Hugging...)

And the 'boy' Rooney done good again. Bloody good news cos what is Owen contributing to the squad?

Not a lot is the simple answer to that-

Dont be so quick to jump on the Rooney-wagon either,give him a year and he will be playing just as bad.

Keep your eye on Paul Scholes from now on though-

After scoring his first goal in 3 years monday he was on fire ,firing in shots from all directions,now he has his confidence back he will be unstoppable.

[Azumashida]

Everybody in their right mind could see that Sweden and Denmark earned their success - Italy's behaviour demonstrated that they did not.

Probably because they didn't see the game? (Hugging...)

I'm not surprised by this reaction, some Italian players always react like that. OTOH, you have to say that they've been pretty unlucky in their last few major competitions (eliminated very late on after having led for much of the game both in 2002 and 2000 - in both cases, they blamed the refereeing -, and before that, out after penalty shootouts in 3 successive World Cups!). Yet they don't seem to understand that neither their usually defensive tactics nor their terrible post-game (and sometimes during-game, cf. Totti) attitudes makes anyone feel sorry for them, which probably contributes to refs not always going their way... For instance, I would have felt sorry for Buffon had he had a more dignified attitude. He kept Italy in the game against Bulgaria through some decisive saves, and I understand his frustration, but his declarations - without having seen the game - have been way over the top...

[Kashunowaka]

England through and the Croats out. (Hugging...)

And the 'boy' Rooney done good again.  Bloody good news cos what is Owen contributing to the squad?

Not a lot is the simple answer to that-

Dont be so quick to jump on the Rooney-wagon either,give him a year and he will be playing just as bad.

I hope Rooney can continue to be this good. I remember another 18 year old Englishman who did a giant breakthrough during the 1998 WC finals. His name was Michael Owen ...

Sweden was pretty bad against Denmark. We have some great attacking players, but the defense just gets worse and worse. But I am impressed with how the team never gives up.