Euro 2008 official thread !

[pino]

20 days left so it's time to start talking about it, or you guys don't care ? :p :

First Team to announce their squad is Spain :

ARSENAL: Cesc BARCELONA: Puyol, Iniesta y Xavi BETIS: Juanito GETAFE: De la Red LIVERPOOL: Arbeloa, Reina, Torres y Xabi Alonso REAL MADRID: Casillas y Sergio Ramos MALLORCA: Fernando Navarro y Güiza SEVILLA: Palop VALENCIA: Albiol, Marchena, Silva y Villa VILLARREAL: Capdevila, Cazorla y Senna ZARAGOZA: Sergio García.

No Raul, no Guti :eek:

Official web-site for more news :

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/index.html

[A.F.F.]

Who needs Raul when they have Fernando Torres :up:

[pino]

Who needs Raul when they have Fernando Torres :up:

Mate you need more than 1 good striker to win the title, and Raul is one of the best in Spain. I still consider Spain one of the favourite for the win though ;)

[Roamy]

The Cardinals or the Raiders

[Mark]

Didn't even know it was coming up. Not much coverage here as you might expect!

[pino]

Didn't even know it was coming up. Not much coverage here as you might expect!

Why is that ? isn't England the football-home ? :confused: :p :

[millencolin]

I said Sweden... Why? I don't know. But who would of thought Greece would of won it last time, so anything can happen

[dc10]

I'm going for Portugal - presume Ronaldo will be in the squad.

[Lousada]

Probably interesting to mention is that they changed the road to the finals.
The quarterfinals are now:
1. A1-B2
2. B1-A2
3. C1-D2
4. D1-C2
The semi-finals are now:
1-2
3-4

This is quite crucial information for your toto ;) Also I believe C and D is the stronger half of the championship.


Didn't even know it was coming up. Not much coverage here as you might expect!

Aren't you glad? Is there any hype bigger than the "England's gonna win the Euro/World champs"??? Probably only the after-hype: "Why England failed (again)".

[jens]

Yeah, without England it seems the Championship seems to start in a lot more silent and also more impartial note. :up: :p :

Voted for Greece. :p : They looked strong in the qualifying round and although they don't have so-called stars, their team-work is excellent! Or at least this was the key to success four years ago! (actually it's hard to believe that they succeed for two consecutive Euro Champs, but belief has to exist!)

[Rollo]

I think it's going to be interesting to see who UEFA try to blame violence on during the tournament. It will be interesting to find out what happens if people are stabbed... I mean who can they blame it on? It can't be English fans if in theory they're not there.

[pino]

Guys the poll ask you, who will be Champ ? not who you would like to be Champ :p :

[Donney]

Mate you need more than 1 good striker to win the title, and Raul is one of the best in Spain. I still consider Spain one of the favourite for the win though ;)

You are such an optimist mr. pino, Spain won't pass the quarter finals as it is costumary :rolleyes:

[millencolin]

Guys the poll ask you, who will be Champ ? not who you would like to be Champ :p :

Yeah and i said already... SWEDEN :p :

I've got that MAJOR UPSET feeling...

[gadjo_dilo]

I have a great sense of humour so I voted for Romania. Anyway it's the most favoured team of this edition.

[pino]

You are such an optimist mr. pino, Spain won't pass the quarter finals as it is costumary :rolleyes:

And you are such a pessimist amigo ;) Spain never had a better squad...the only minus is their coach :p :

[Storm]

Vamos España !
donney, no seas tan pesimista !!

Aragones is a bore I agree with pino but he atleast stuck to his decision of not taking Raul and Guti....even though they are playing well for Real now.

pino...2 strikers you said? Fernando Torres and David Villa...best strikers in the tournament in my opinion....what they need is good service from mid-field

I hope Greece can do better too...so odykas can come out of his hibernation!

What abt Italian squad? I don't have hopes with Donadoni though.

[jens]

The problem with Spain is that they tend to fail at big tournaments despite usually having a talented team (as is the case with England) - don't know, what's the reason. Psychology? Luck?

[Garry Walker]

Spain will fail again, I have no doubts about it all.


That said, I only have a very minor interest in football, there is something about men falling down easily, diving and crying after every little nudge that puts me off of that game.

[pino]

Aragones is a bore I agree with pino but he atleast stuck to his decision of not taking Raul and Guti....even though they are playing well for Real now.

pino...2 strikers you said? Fernando Torres and David Villa...best strikers in the tournament in my opinion....what they need is good service from mid-field



No taking Raul is a big stupid mistake, yes Torres and Villa are great strikers, but none of them have the experience and carisma Raul has, and that would 've helped the squad a lot. One of the reasons Spain never won anything is lack of experienced players that can keep the squad united and motivated all the time. If you go to marca.com you will see that 70% of spanish fans agree with me ;)




I hope Greece can do better too...so odykas can come out of his hibernation!

What abt Italian squad? I don't have hopes with Donadoni though.

Donadoni will announce Italy squad today at 1500 cet hopefully he will bring Inzaghi along with Del Piero but I doubt it...

[Donney]

Vamos España !
donney, no seas tan pesimista !!

Aragones is a bore I agree with pino but he atleast stuck to his decision of not taking Raul and Guti....even though they are playing well for Real now.

pino...2 strikers you said? Fernando Torres and David Villa...best strikers in the tournament in my opinion....what they need is good service from mid-field


Exactly and it is their habit, they never win anything despite the talent of the players, no one knows the reason but as usual Spain is a big favourite before the event and fail miserably.

Aragonés is just another coach, who started with great intentions and will go down after the tournament. I admire him for being brave enough as for not taking Raúl, after all he has been 10 years with the team and achieved nothing as the rest.

Pesimist? Maybe as most of Spanish people we have learnt after many deceptions. We know Spain will last 3 games and that will be it.

[Storm]

since pino has not done it, let me put the Italian squad announced :

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Livorno), Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)

Defenders: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Christian Panucci (AS Roma), Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Fabio Grosso (Lyon)

Midfielders: Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Massimo Ambrosini (AC Milan), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Simone Perrotta (AS Roma), Alberto Aquilani (AS Roma), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)

Forwards: Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Marco Borriello (Genoa), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria, on loan from Real Madrid)


Pino will be happy to see Del Piero, but no Inzaghi...and still 2 idiots around Cassano and De Rossi (atleast Totti won't be around anymore)

Solid team, good forward line, excellent defenders and midfield and goalkeeper...if they play up to potential they should go far.
But we all (those who have followed Italy in big tournaments) know how they exasperate the fans with some of their group games to just sneak into the knock out stages :)

[pino]

Sorry I've been busy :p :

Donadoni is an idiot, Del Piero is there because 50 mill italians wanted him and deserves to be there due to his Serie A top-score title. If was up to Donadoni he would've been left out like Inzaghi, and that is ridicolus because Inzaghi still is the best striker after Toni. Cassano in the squad is an insult to civilty and to all italians, many in Italy disagree about this choice. Anyway the squad is solid and strong as usually, and has great chances to win the title, all will depends on how many red cards Materazzi, Rossi, Cassano will get :s I would love to play Spain in semi-final though :D

[stevie_gerrard]

Im hoping that Spain will win, got a cheeky punt on them, but the surprise team could be croatia, i quite fancy them to do well if they play the football they can.

There has been some coverage pino over here about euro 2008, you can definately tell the difference in the coverage without england because its not as much as normal, but the main channels are putting all the games on, so i will enjoy watching some of them in the group stages, really looking forward to the group of death :up:

[F1boat]

I think that Portugal are the favorites, in recent championships they were always close and I think that they can finally win it.
But Russia is the hidden favorite. Remember what I said...

[Fangio]

I think that Portugal are the favorites, in recent championships they were always close and I think that they can finally win it.
But Russia is the hidden favorite. Remember what I said...

Agreed about Russia, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Andrei Arshavin may bring FC Zenit skill and luck to the team.

[pino]

Final squads announced :

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=702209.html#final+squads+announced+euro


Not only Trezequet (19 scores in Serie A) but also Flamini and Mexes are left out by crazy Demenech :crazy: :p :

[Josti]

Not only Trezequet (19 scores in Serie A) but also Flamini and Mexes are left out by crazy Demenech :crazy: :p :

Can't say I'm bothered with that ;)

[pino]

Can't say I'm bothered with that ;)

Neither :p :

[pino]

Italy has arrived in Austria :D

[Storm]

Did you put the snap of Del Piero in his underwear on your wall again this time round? :p :

[Josti]

Italy has arrived in Austria :D

:devil:

[pino]

Italy lose Cannavaro :(

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=704508.html#italy+lose+captain+cannavaro

I hope Donadoni will replace him with Chiellini, he had a great season at Juve.

[Dave B]

Where's the "don't care" option on that poll? :p

[stevie_gerrard]

only a few days left, anyone else thinking this tournament is actually gonna be a good tournament despite no england? I think we could see a goal fest this time artound so i'm certainly looking forward to it :up:

[Storm]

When was the last time a tournament was actually good because England was in it ?? Frankly they have been crap for a long time and play dull football.
1990 world cup was the last team which did pretty well.

But to answer the question...looking forward to it for sure :)

[Josti]

When was the last time a tournament was actually good because England was in it ?? Frankly they have been crap for a long time and play dull football.
1990 world cup was the last team which did pretty well.

But to answer the question...looking forward to it for sure :)

Well, Euro 1996 deserves a mention too in this case. Other than that, I pretty much agree with you.

Tension is rising up for sure, with only a few days left to wait. Can't wait till the "Group of Death", as it is called. No votes for The Netherlands here as I can see (I voted for Spain myself), but a squad not to be underestimated I think. Qualifying was terrible to watch, but the preparation games from Croatia onwards has seen quite attractive and good playing. Only thing I'm worried about is our defence, which is slightly in contrast with our forwards.

W'll see, some great games in Group stages for us anyway if we don't get further than that.

[Storm]

Netherlands have all the talent in the world but van Basten is showing some weird choices in selection and tactics also. I always liked watching the Oranje play and they have one of the best strikers around so you never know Josti :)

[AndyRAC]

When was the last time a tournament was actually good because England was in it ?? Frankly they have been crap for a long time and play dull football.
1990 world cup was the last team which did pretty well.

But to answer the question...looking forward to it for sure :)

Agree, looking forward to it even though England aren't in it. Coincidence or what- the worst games are always the ones England play in.
Anyway, you'd almost fail to realise it was taking place - the press build up hasn't been that great - unsurprisingly the focus has been on the Premier league players. Can't they just let it go for once. There are great players outside of the 'Greed is good league'.

[pino]

Not a great performance (1-0) by Spain against USA...they better wake up before their match against Russia, it looks like they are in great form :p :

[Storm]

Gattusso says Del Piero should be captain due to his seniority...I agree but will Donadoni play him ? Looking at how he did in the last world cup and the previous season I think he should..

[pino]

Donadoni loves Di Natale and will start with him, Del Piero has only a chance if things goes wrong, or Di Natale gets and injury. So the best choice for captain is Buffon :up: Anywaw here's how Italy (I think) will play Holland on monday :

Buffon

Zambrotta, Materazzi, Barzagli, Grosso

Pirlo

Gattuso, De Rossi, Di Natale, Camoranesi

Toni

[ioan]

First game over: Switzerland - Czech Republic : 0-1

[pino]

First game over: Switzerland - Czech Republic : 0-1

A boring match ,and a non-deserved win for the Czech Republic me thinks :p :

Meanwhile big fave Portugal's having an hard time against Turkey :s

[janneppi]

Czechs weren't the skillfull team they've been over the past years, looks like missing some old players affects them that much.

Portugal- turkey was a better game, especially in the first half. Ronaldos free kick and the goalies save was great. :)

[pino]

Two amazing scores by Pepe and Meireles gave a deserved win to Portugal :up:

[Storm]

The first game was a bit dull , but good opportunistic strike from Sverkos to win it...I only saw the first half of Turkey/Portugal and I only hope Portugal don't miss a genuine centre forward in future games..they have talented attackers but lack a really top class finisher.

[ioan]

I just read the footy commentary on eurosport, while watching F1 qualy online, I can tell you that F1 looked to be more exciting!

[janneppi]

Germany beat Poland quite easily. Altough with Polish players. :)

Hopefully todays Netherland- Italy game will be better and that Italy looses, badly. :p :

[Storm]

Yeah Podolski...understandably he did not celebrate his goals :)

Austria were dull but tried to fight atleast but they only tried long range shots against Croatia....no passing in last 3rd of the pitch :s

I was flipping from the footie to F1, so missed it when Alonso binned it.
Kubica won the race at the same time of the Poland game kick-off so I thought maybe it was Poland's day...they played pretty okay but Germany was very efficient with the chances it got (apart from Gomez)

[pino]

No surprises so far (except for the few posts about the Tournement here in this forum) :( ;) Never mind, let's see what the azzurri can do against Holland tonight. I predict a tough match that could end 0-0 or 1-1. Both coach know themself very well as they've played together in that amazing Arrigo Sacchi squad called Milan :up: So it will be a strategic game played in the midfield and decided by a single mistake...or the great class by Luca Toni :p : Donadoni has not annouce his squad but looks like Panucci will stay on bench and Materazzi and Barzagli will play together in the defensive line...

Look forward to watch the other match of this "Dead Group" France vs Romania :up:

[Storm]

The group is not dead (atleast not yet) its group of death :p :

[pino]

Never mind, tell me your prediction for tonight :p :

[Storm]

France 1-1 Romania

Italy 2-1 Netherlands

or a 1-0 but I am hoping for more goals :)

[odykas]

I would like to vote for England... but they are not in the list http://www.adslgr.com/forum/images/smilies/hmmm.gif

[veeten]

Ody! :D :bounce:

Where you been? :)

[odykas]

In a cave! :eek: :down:

[veeten]

uh oh, pino... :uhoh: Looks like Italy is not on song, down 2-0 to Netherlands in the first half.

Love those Creamsicle-orange uniforms, though. ;) :p :

[veeten]

In a cave! :eek: :down:

hmmmm... need to get out more. ;) :D

[jim mcglinchey]

3:0, that was sweet to see the famed Italian defence torn to bits.

[DonJippo]

Hopefully todays Netherland- Italy game will be better and that Italy looses, badly. :p :

How much money did you win, surely you did bet against Italy, right? :D

[veeten]

Rom 0-0 Fra

Neth 3-0 Ita

and next up, Ita - Fra. This will be an interesting match.

wonder what Zidane is up to lately... ;) :p

[Roy]

Donadoni loves Di Natale and will start with him, Del Piero has only a chance if things goes wrong, or Di Natale gets and injury. So the best choice for captain is Buffon :up: Anywaw here's how Italy (I think) will play Holland on monday :

Buffon
Zambrotta, Materazzi, Barzagli, Grosso
Pirlo
Gattuso, De Rossi, Di Natale, Camoranesi
Toni

impressive names Pino... But not good enough for 'Oranje' :cool:
Other imresive thing ;) http://ek.blokker.nl/

[jens]

Well. The Netherlands, Germany and Portugal have looked strong based on that one game so far. The Czech Republic and France however... not so convincing. Italy - oh dear. But all is not lost yet and if they perform well against FRA and ROM (both more beatable than NED?), then everything should still be possible.

[Corny]

Brilliant stuff by our guys tonight..

I'm sorry Vale, your one-off livery didn't help you Italians a lot! :D

[Josti]

Can't say anything else then I've seen an absolutely flawless game of 'Oranje'. Other than the few Italian changes, they were not in their usual rythem. It was a historical game for us, but there's still a long way to go. The French squad didn't impress me though.

And Roy, nobody tames the lion ;)

[Drew]

Poverini Italiani!

I watched the match with a whole load of Italians and lets say I have never seen a group of Italians so quiet before :p :

And France - Romania, Romania really do play strongly, don't they?

[stevie_gerrard]

Rom 0-0 Fra

Neth 3-0 Ita

and next up, Ita - Fra. This will be an interesting match.

wonder what Zidane is up to lately... ;) :p

Italy-France happens to be the last game to be played in the group, which will be interesting now the following results have happened.

Oh dear oh dear, what happened to those two wonderful teams that contested a very good world cup final just a couple of years ago? France are definately missing the likes of Zidane and Vieria and Henry, and quite frankly didnt create anything that would make them deserved winners of any game in this tournament. They really need to sort themselves out. Things arent as bad for Italy but that was a crushing defeat tonight. Cannavaro was sadly missed in that back four. Italy really have a game on their hands now to get out of the group but i reckon they will do it. Have to say that the game tonight was the best game ive seen in the Euros since the 2000 final. Both teams attacking well, and didnt Van Der Sar pull off some superb saves in the second half? Netherlands looked potential champions tonight but there is still a long way to go. Very happy to see Romania putting up a good fight too.

so far, im impressed with the usual teams, Germany Portugal and Holland all look good, im hoping for a similar performance from my adopted country for the tournament Spain :up: Dont see them having too many problems tomorrow but we will see.

P.S. Pino, is there anything you can do to persuade Donaldoni to start Del Piero? Italy looked a little flat tonight, but as soon as Del Piero came on, they created chances, and he looked fighting fit and sharp too. Surely them good charms of yours can swing Allesandro a shout here :p :

[jso1985]

Italy got trashed and they certainly haven't played like world champions since... erm... they beat Germany in WC...

[Storm]

I thought Italy played well but their lack of finishing is a bit worrying..Del Piero showed some skills and brought some impetus to the game but still no goals.

Holland's first goal was clearly off-side but they did really well on counter attacks to score the other 2 and finish off the game.

Why is Camoranesi in the team? He doesn't bring anything to the attack I think and is pretty useless. Also Grosso when he came on was more effective on the left side than Di Natale and I think Zambrotta and Grosso need to start the next game as does AdP !

As for the France-Romania game? I almost never get bored watching football but yesterday was one of those rare instances. The pace of the game...was slower than if 65 year olds grannies had been playing!
Pathetic finishing too.

[janneppi]

How much money did you win, surely you did bet against Italy, right? :D
Do you take me for an idiot? :p :
I never expected Italy to do so badly. ;)

First half of France Romania was utterly boring, infact so boring it chased me away from the tv for the first half of Hol- Ita game too. :(

[pino]

That was the worst result ever for Italy in an official European Tournement :s Ok the first goal was 100% off-side but we played a crap game thanks to Donadoni. He made too many mistakes :

1) Barzagli (who has no international experience) along with Materazzi who's in a very bad condition.

2) Ambrosini insted of De Rossi.

3) Why both Del Piero and Cassano in, and not Borriello who's a real center-forward ? But especially why he left Inzaghi at home :mad:

Anyway congrats to Holland :up: who played a fantastic match and destroyed us like none did for many many years...

ps: stevie mate wish I could help but I cannot :( Del Piero will start against Romania anyway so there's still an hope ;)

[Storm]

He left Inzaghi at home who is perfect substitute to bring in while chasing a goal...also what about the other young kid Quagliarella (sp?)

Also what about Aquilani in midfield? He has been hyped a bit too but I have never seen him play.. Pirlo played decently last night but the support for Toni was not existant apart from Di Natale at the start..when you play 4-3-3 you need really pacy guys as part of the front 3..Only Grosso added some pace and skill to the wings later on and he is a full back!

[pino]

In Italy none understood why Donadoni took Quagliarella with :crazy: as for Aquilani, is a great talented player so we might see him in against Romania. Our biggest problem right now is to find a replacement for Cannavaro ( I would give a chance to Chiellini) and the fact that apart from Toni, we don't have an experienced striker in the squad...Lot of changes (me thinks) will be made before Romania: Grosso, Chiellini, Del Piero, De Rossi in, Materazzi, Barzagli, Ambrosini, Camoranesi out...

[Roy]

first goal was NOT off-side. There was a defender (i don't know his name) outside the lines. But the rules said something he can not step outside the game. It was indeed not clear how the rule is, but the 1-0 is a clear score.

[pino]

first goal was NOT off-side. There was a defender (i don't know his name) outside the lines. But the rules said something he can not step outside the game. It was indeed not clear how the rule is, but the 1-0 is a clear score.

Panucci ended outside the lines after a contrast with Buffon and he was on the ground and unable to play at that moment. So that goal was an offside goal...sorry :)

[ioan]

Ok the first goal was 100% off-side...

No it wasn't. Panucci was behind Van Nistelrooy although he was not playing but he didn't signal that he was out of the game either.

[ioan]

Panucci ended outside the lines after a contrast with Buffon and he was on the ground and unable to play at that moment. So that goal was an offside goal...sorry :)

Panucci was indeed on the ground but he didn't ask for medical attention, thus he was considered in the game. We had a referee explain this after the match.

[Roy]

Panucci was indeed on the ground but he didn't ask for medical attention, thus he was considered in the game. We had a referee explain this after the match.

That is what I mean to say :up:

[ioan]

As for the France-Romania game? I almost never get bored watching football but yesterday was one of those rare instances. The pace of the game...was slower than if 65 year olds grannies had been playing!
Pathetic finishing too.

Completely agree. It was a very poor game, I almost decided to stop watching it, only the hope that we might have some luck kept me watching it.
It was the only game in the group we would have had a chance to win and thus maybe get the qualification for the quarters, but it was typical tactics, play a defensive and atypical game hoping to have the chance to score one goal.

All they way I was thinking about how Hagi & Co would have destroyed the French, the good ol days!

[janneppi]

Panucci was indeed on the ground but he didn't ask for medical attention, thus he was considered in the game. We had a referee explain this after the match.
Indeed, it wasn't a offside. The issue itself is rather difficult for refs, Do they stop the game if a defenceman signals he's hurt just to prevent a goal?

[AndyRAC]

Completely agree. It was a very poor game, I almost decided to stop watching it, only the hope that we might have some luck kept me watching it.
It was the only game in the group we would have had a chance to win and thus maybe get the qualification for the quarters, but it was typical tactics, play a defensive and atypical game hoping to have the chance to score one goal.

All they way I was thinking about how Hagi & Co would have destroyed the French, the good ol days!

Funnily enough, I thought that while watching it.
Was an extremely poor game though, France had 2 holding midfielders playing the whole match - WHY??

As for the Holland - Italy game - Wow! Fantastic, that's how Football should be played. Both teams trying to win.

[odykas]

Where was the defense? http://www.adslgr.com/forum/images/smilies/hmmm.gif

[janneppi]

In the orange side of the field. :p :

[Garry Walker]

Panucci ended outside the lines after a contrast with Buffon and he was on the ground and unable to play at that moment. So that goal was an offside goal...sorry :)

No it wasn`t offside, as others have explained.

[pino]

No it wasn't. Panucci was behind Van Nistelrooy although he was not playing but he didn't signal that he was out of the game either.

How can he be considered in the game when he was: Out of the lines, down on the ground, and could not have any influence on the game ? :confused:

[ioan]

How can he be considered in the game when he was: Out of the lines, down on the ground, and could not have any influence on the game ? :confused:

That's how the rules put it, he wasn't out of the game because he wasn't asking for or receiving medical attention.

Otherwise they would just keep a player near the bottom of the field and all he needs to do is step out to create an offside situation! ;)

[odykas]

Good Luck Sweden!
Pino

:devil:

[Storm]

All they way I was thinking about how Hagi & Co would have destroyed the French, the good ol days!

Hagi :up: I thought about him while watching the game too since Romania haven't played in big tournies in recent times I still remember them from the early 90s :)


Where was the defense?
It will be around today, no worries - Dellas + Seitaridis + Basinas :p :
welcome back idiot!

[Garry Walker]

That's how the rules put it, he wasn't out of the game because he wasn't asking for or receiving medical attention.

Otherwise they would just keep a player near the bottom of the field and all he needs to do is step out to create an offside situation! ;)

Exactly.

There is no question, it was not off-side. Our commentators and football experts said the similar.

[ioan]

Exactly.

There is no question, it was not off-side. Our commentators and football experts said the similar.

I find it hilarious that we need to talk about footy (not my fave by a looong distance) to actually agree about something. ;)

[ioan]

Hagi :up: I thought about him while watching the game too since Romania haven't played in big tournies in recent times I still remember them from the early 90s :)

Those guys were able to build wonderful offensive actions, get in the adversaries 16 meters without any trouble.

What I saw yesterday was the first game for a long long time and I was puzzled that this team managed to beat the Netherlands in the Euro preliminaries.

[Garry Walker]

I find it hilarious that we need to talk about footy (not my fave by a looong distance) to actually agree about something. ;)

Made even funnier by the fact that we are both Schumacher fans too :D

I am not really into footy either (I just sometimes watch the world championships and european championships), not a big fan of all the diving and grown men making it look like they have broken their legs when they actually break a hair.

[DonJippo]

How can he be considered in the game when he was: Out of the lines, down on the ground, and could not have any influence on the game ? :confused:

Ioan is right, it was not an off-side. Looks like this is clear for all other football experts, referees etc except for the Italian ones :p :

[Storm]

and myself...not that I know much about football according to pino :p :

I missed that Panucci was lying injured somewhere...the rule is a little weird though

[leopard]

Where was the defense? http://www.adslgr.com/forum/images/smilies/hmmm.gif
This smile is right, it was not an off-side.

[leopard]

Where was the defense? http://www.adslgr.com/forum/images/smilies/hmmm.gif
This smile is right, it was not an off-side.

[ioan]

Made even funnier by the fact that we are both Schumacher fans too :D

I am not really into footy either (I just sometimes watch the world championships and european championships), not a big fan of all the diving and grown men making it look like they have broken their legs when they actually break a hair.

:up: ;)

[odykas]

This smile is right, it was not an off-side.

The smilie was right, the defense was on vacation!

[ioan]

That was the worst result ever for Italy in an official European Tournement :s Ok the first goal was 100% off-side but we played a crap game thanks to Donadoni. He made too many mistakes :

1) Barzagli (who has no international experience) along with Materazzi who's in a very bad condition.

2) Ambrosini insted of De Rossi.

3) Why both Del Piero and Cassano in, and not Borriello who's a real center-forward ? But especially why he left Inzaghi at home :mad:

Anyway congrats to Holland :up: who played a fantastic match and destroyed us like none did for many many years...

ps: stevie mate wish I could help but I cannot :( Del Piero will start against Romania anyway so there's still an hope ;)

pino, given the way Romania and France played I think you can be sure that Italy will be one of the 2 teams going into the quarter finals, the other one will be Holland.

[janneppi]

I had a great laugh watching Greece- Sweden, Greek players were apparently barred from actually taking the ball with them over the center line. :p :

20 passes between the defence triplet, then one of them kicks the ball over the to the the swedish end and over the side line.

[Corny]

pino, given the way Romania and France played I think you can be sure that Italy will be one of the 2 teams going into the quarter finals, the other one will be Holland.

The history of our team learns that we play excellent against hard teams, and mess it up against the easier ones.

Don't think that we are through yet! If we lose from France it's going to be very hard I'm sure

[veeten]

Greeks having it tough, no luck whatsoever. :\

A formidible defense and two rapid succession goals tend to do that.

All smiles on the Swede side, with the win. :) :) :)

[Storm]

Spain was excellent...Villa and Torres are really the top 2 strikers in Europe at the moment..of course Russia fought well throughout and had chances too

Spanish defense and mid-field needs to be strong against tougher teams in knock-out though...Capdevila was sleeping when Russia scored.

[jens]

Spain has often started a tournament in a dominant fashion. In the 2006 WC they won the first game 4:0 if I remember correctly. Hope their game won't fall apart in the playoffs.

Oh and Greece doesn't seem to be the same team any more, what they were 4 years ago. Even if the first half reminded something of their previous glory, then the second half certainly not.

[pino]

Viva España, that was an amazing performance :up: As posted before Spain are my fave for the title, they've got a mix of experience, class, and talent ! They will not fail this time ;)

[janneppi]

Spains forwards seem to be in good form, I'm not so sure about their defence though. Russians could at time cause them trouble.

[odykas]

Even big teams have bad days :p

[pino]

Even big teams have bad days :p

Thanks for your support ody :up: :p :

[veeten]

Czech Republic vs. Portugal

and later

Turkey & Swiss

(... on Rye?) ;)

hmmmm, why am I suddenly hungry? :lips: :D

[Storm]

Even big teams have bad days :p
yes, maybe it was because I was not watching that game :s
Was catching up on some sleep unfortunately...all games end at 0230 here and I have been up 3 days in a row and then going to work next morning and I still need to stay up for more games :p :

[ioan]

The history of our team learns that we play excellent against hard teams, and mess it up against the easier ones.

Don't think that we are through yet! If we lose from France it's going to be very hard I'm sure

You can't lose with France, they played badly with our team.
However I'm banking on your team winning with France and not caring anymore when playing with our team in the last game.

That's why I believe that our team will again play for an equal with the Italians and try to beat Holland in the last game (they did it last year so they might just have a chance).

Not spectacular for sure, but the only chance to go through the toughest group.

[odykas]

Thanks for your support ody :up: :p :

My pleasure :p :

[jens]

Switzerland vs Turkey
:rotflmao:
This is as funny as hell! What a game! Total rain, huge skids, slides, wrong calculations. :D Who is the Rainmaster? :cool:

[ioan]

Turkey had a great second half, and also a very good goalkeeper.

[pino]

Two great matches yesterday :up: unfortunately I watched the first one from work so I've missed many actions of the game. Portugal as expected won and impressed me a lot...who will stop them ? :eek:

[AndyRAC]

Two great matches yesterday :up: unfortunately I watched the first one from work so I've missed many actions of the game. Portugal as expected won and impressed me a lot...who will stop them ? :eek:

I think people are getting carried away with Portugal - I thought the Czechs were a bit unlucky - just a pity their top players are either injured or retired.

[Corny]

Not spectacular for sure, but the only chance to go through the toughest group.

That would be real funny; if Italy and France would be out of the tournament already after the first round!

[pino]

That would be real funny; if Italy and France would be out of the tournament already after the first round!

Italy will go to next round...count on that :p :

[JCarlosPP]

That would be real funny; if Italy and France would be out of the tournament already after the first round!


Like it happen in Euro 2000, Portugal and Romania went through the tournament and Germany and England the strongest in the group went home...

[ioan]

So Croatia surprises everyone and qualify in the quarters!

[jens]

Bad day for Germany. :( But no reason to panic yet, Austria has to be beatable. If Austria won't be beaten, then Deutschland must be seriously underperfoming. Match against Poland probably didn't reveal Germany's "true level". Interesting that those teams, who have a highly rated defense (GER, ITA, GRE), have been struggling so far.

[Drew]

Austria v Poland was an awful match. Austria definitely did not deserve to score (even though the penalty was called rightly)

[Storm]

I would say awful but Austria played pretty well and attacked for the majority of the 1st half ....what was awful was their finishing..Boruc made good saves but any good striker would have put the ball in the net atleast once with the chances that Ivanschitz (!) and Harnik got.

Germany v Croatia was a great game though...Germany too just could not score till Podolski again showed he is a fantastic striker (even though playing in midfield)..He reminds a bit of Michael Owen with his opportunistic strikes.

Should make this more interesting as now it looks Portugal will meet Germany in the quarters itself :)

[janneppi]

Germany was rather bad yesterday, wasn't it?

I was glad the ref gave the penalty kick in Poland-Austria game, I'm fed up with players grabbing their opponents shirts and drag them down. It's not even remotely an accidental thing. More penalties might be in order until it sinks in. Or straightjackets or mickey mouse gloves on players. :)

[pino]

Croatia vs Germany was a great match with a surprise-winner, didn't even watch a min of Austria-Polan as I knew it would've been a boring match. Last chance for Italy today against Romania, and Donadoni decided to make (at least) 3 changes :

Buffon

Zambrotta Panucci Chiellini Grosso

De Rossi Pirlo Ambrosini Camoranesi

Del Piero Toni

Italy will beat Romania 1-0 with a greal goal by Del Piero :p :

[Donney]

Italy will beat Romania 2-0 at least, not that I have anything against Romania but I'm afraid Italy will try to make a point and the Romanians will suffer the consequences.

[ioan]

Yeah like the French who were already thinking about playing the finale before the game with Romania. ;)

[Storm]

Italy needs to drop Camoranesi..whats the deal with him? He is neither a full fledged attacker, nor can he defend that well. If they want to score more goals Di Natale should play instead of him and Cassano if needed as a sub.

[Donney]

Yeah like the French who were already thinking about playing the finale before the game with Romania. ;)

I'm afraid that's what the Spanish team will do on Saturday and they'll loose.

[Storm]

With all the news about his little "talk" with Aragones , I hope Torres will be even more focussed and deadly tomorrow. The worry is the defense where only Puyol seemed capable of keeping it together for the whole game. Ramos and Capdevila do well to attack but they better not forget they are defenders on corners/freekicks.

[pino]

Italy needs to drop Camoranesi..whats the deal with him? He is neither a full fledged attacker, nor can he defend that well. If they want to score more goals Di Natale should play instead of him and Cassano if needed as a sub.

Di Natale ? no thanks, Camoranesi is 100 better ( when in good shape ) :s :p :

FORZA ITALIA !!! :D

[pino]

Italy will beat Romania 2-0 at least, not that I have anything against Romania but I'm afraid Italy will try to make a point and the Romanians will suffer the consequences.

Gracias Amigo ! :D

[Iain]

I can see Romania playing anti-football against Italy. :s

[ioan]

I can see Romania playing anti-football against Italy. :s

Well as someone said, Italy invented defensive football, we only perfected it.

I agree, Romania will try to slow the game and play for a 0:0 like with the French.

[Roy]

Youhoe! Now I'am Happy I come from Holland! First beat the World Champion, today beat the vice-world champion with 4-1! Romania we eat you! :facelick: :p :

[Josti]

Well, despite a competitive French squad, I think The Netherlands did an excellent job again. The third goal from Robben was amazing :up:

Italy was denied a victory, but overall an equal battle. Can't wait till France vs Italy.

[ioan]

Youhoe! Now I'am Happy I come from Holland! First beat the World Champion, today beat the vice-world champion with 4-1! Romania we eat you! :facelick: :p :

As did the French and the Italians! Or as you did last year?! :p :

[Corny]

My favourite; Van Der Sar!!!!

It was not great football, but at least we had Edwin, so we only got one gole against us!

[veeten]

the 'Creamsicle Kickers' do it again! :p : Yay! :D

[pino]

Italy was denied a win by an idiot referee but I am sure the Oranje will beat Romania so it will be a great fight between us and France...and we will win :D

As for Netherlans, I am very very impressed by their great form, and great way to play football, congrats to them and I hope they will go to the final, because it's a pleasure to watch them playing :up:

[veeten]

a positive pino is a good thing. :)

[pino]

a positive pino is a good thing. :)

I am always positive ;)

[Storm]

Italy was denied a win by an idiot referee but I am sure the Oranje will beat Romania so it will be a great fight between us and France...and we will win :D


Yes should be a great game...what did you say about Camoranesi? Useless.
Toni has been crap too, missing chances all the time even though he scored 1 goal which didn't look offside (they never showed a replay from a proper angle)
Buffon was great though and he kept Italia in the cup.

Quagliarella for del Piero? didn't see him do much :s
Chiellini was pretty good but Zambrotta gave the goal away although the finish from Mutu was fantastic.

[Roy]

As did the French and the Italians! Or as you did last year?! :p :

:talk: ;)

[Rallyst3ve]

Recon Holland r gonna win after yesterdays display some class goals :p :

[MrJan]

My favourite; Van Der Sar!!!!

It was not great football, but at least we had Edwin, so we only got one gole against us!

Are you taking the p**s? Holland were playing some of the most beautiful football in the first half and that was one of the best games I've ever watched as a neutral supporter. Okay there weren't a huge number of shots on goal but it was all end to end and fantastic.

Dutch defence ws very strong in the first half and France couldn't get into the game and Van Nistelrooy was playing some great passes. The Netherlands are playing as well as any team could with one-touch link up play and everyone moving off the ball, at some points it looked like France were a bunch of schoolkids and I can only dream that my team will ever play football like that.

[Corny]

Well, I had a lot of beers when I posted that :p

What I meant was that we were not playing on our best the full game.. France was quit dangerous for a long period. We both had 12 shots on goal...

And yes we were playing brilliant

[MrJan]

I don't think that you r weren't at your best but that France were playing very well during certain periods. Certainly at the start of the 2nd half the French were much more pressing and didn't give the Netherlands the space and time which they had through much of the 1st half.

I just hope that there isn't much more to give else the rest of the world is in big trouble :D

[Storm]

Spain :up:
Deserved to win...they were the best team through-out and they wanted to win which was great to see...Sweden hardly had the ball and substituted both their strikers to hold on to the draw! Ibrahimovic may be injured but Larsson went off in 80 something minute too.
Great match to watch though, Torres and Villa goals were amazing...mid-field was good too except Silva was right place, wrong man else they could have been 2 goals up with the chances he had in the penalty box.
Puyol injury is a worry though as Albiol is useless and made Marchena look good :s

[pino]

Yes a deserved win for Spain but I was surprised by Sweden, they did play a great match and were forcing the spaniards to share a point until Vialli... :p :
Puyol injury could be for Spain as bad as Cannavaro's for Italy :(

[veeten]

Greece - Russia

The main question on everyone's mind was for the Greek Goalkeeper: what on earth were you thinking, man?!! :eek:

Went out of the box, chasing the ball, and all his teammates looking like wooden statues in front of the goal. I think the phrase 'shooting fish in a barrell' aptly fits here.

[Garry Walker]

Italy was denied a win by an idiot referee

This is the time to remind fans of italy the complete nonsense penalty you team earned against Australia in the WC in 2006 after your player dived in the penalty area.

[jens]

Greece has been a huge disappointment in this tournament. They have gone backwards in every element of the game.

Although we may argue about referee's decisions in Italy vs Romania game (took away one Italy's goal), then the performance of ITA wasn't impressive either. Too many wrong passes and the defense once again didn't seem too confident - Romania's goal was a direct result of their mistake. Only Buffon showed some great class.

[jens]

Wow, that was one heck of a game. :D Besides goals several weird things in the end - a red for GK and a yellow for someone, who even doesn't participate in the game. :p :

A shame the game didn't end as a draw - would have liked to see a penalty shoot-out. :p :

[Storm]

So we know 2 QF games now...

Turkey v Croatia
Germany v Portugal - should be good to watch...

Gomez is so out of confidence its weird...Ballack scored a great goal but they did not crush Austria who lacked a good striker all through the Euros.

Tonight....
France v Italy
Holland v Romania

I read Italy are more afraid of Holland taking it easy and Romania going through than thinking about the French...they better win their game first and worry about other things after that..

that said...Forza Italia :cheese:

[A.F.F.]

I read Italy are more afraid of Holland taking it easy and Romania going through than thinking about the French...they better win their game first and worry about other things after that..


Couldn't agree more. Says something about their game at the moment :mark:

However, France has been so pathetic and lame I've been forced to change the channel.

[ioan]

A shame the game didn't end as a draw - would have liked to see a penalty shoot-out. :p :

I thought there is no such before the quarter finals.

[pino]

Tonight....
France v Italy
Holland v Romania

I read Italy are more afraid of Holland taking it easy and Romania going through than thinking about the French...they better win their game first and worry about other things after that..

that said...Forza Italia :cheese:

Never believe what you read, Donadoni has just told Studio Sport (ital channel) that he's 100% focused on Italy's game vs France. Here's the squad for tonight :

Buffon

Zambrotta Panucci Chiellini Grosso

Pirlo De Rossi Gattuso Perrotta

Cassano Toni

Forza Italia :D

[janneppi]

I thought there is no such before the quarter finals.
The last games in first round have penalty kicks if the two teams playing are in equal standings, points, goals, etc.

What happens if the lequal teams are not playing against each other? Do they then meet up for a friendly penalty competition? :)

[Josti]

Well, Van Basten has no intention on taking it easy against Romania. I expect 3 or 4 substitutes, albeit that two are probably kept out because of yellow cards (De Jong and Ooijer). Even so, our team wants to continue in this rythem, instead of losing it.

[ioan]

The last games in first round have penalty kicks if the two teams playing are in equal standings, points, goals, etc.

What happens if the lequal teams are not playing against each other? Do they then meet up for a friendly penalty competition? :)

I read somewhere that it would be decided by the UEFA rating a team has. I was also thinking it would be penalty kicks, and was upset to see it's done on the UEFA desk instead.

[ioan]

Well, Van Basten has no intention on taking it easy against Romania. I expect 3 or 4 substitutes, albeit that two are probably kept out because of yellow cards (De Jong and Ooijer). Even so, our team wants to continue in this rythem, instead of losing it.

After the game with the French Van der Saar was quoted saying that he believed the team will rest many players including himself.

[Josti]

After the game with the French Van der Saar was quoted saying that he believed the team will rest many players including himself.

Well, the squad has been changed on 9 positions, including the goalkeeper. Only regulars are Bouhlarouz and Engelaar, though Robben and Van Persie can be counted too. Bit surprising still.

[Corny]

Didn't Engelaar have a yellow card? If so, it's a bit weird that he will play tonight..

About the game, well, there's no pressure so I expect us to win. 3-1 I'd say :p

[Iain]

What a surprise, Toni cheating again. :down: :rolleyes:

[veeten]

Fra 0-2 Ita

Pino :arrow: :bounce: :roll: :D

[jens]

Forza Italia! :D

Despite all the difficulties Italy is through and nothing is lost yet.

Italy vs Spain in quarterfinals is quite interesting. On paper Spain might seem like the favourite, but... in the past Italy has often performed sub-par in the group stage, but has raised its performance in the playoffs and all in all done pretty well. Spain on the other hand has often been awesome at group stage, but fallen apart at playoffs. I like both teams, but this time I probably wish more Spain's success just because they have been clearly less successful at big tournaments... but I certainly wouldn't rule out Italy and they clearly can't be written off yet - even regarding the title. If they meet The Netherlands in the finals again, then the 0:3 would be a history and we would see a wholly new match with a clearly new scenario...

[ioan]

It was nice but it's over. Throwing away a penalty kick with Italy was the worse thing to do. And playing like soulless zombies in the 2nd half against the Netherlands was the worst thing to do.

Anyway, there's no use to cry over spilt milk!

I'll enjoy the games

[ioan]

but I certainly wouldn't rule out Italy and they clearly can't be written off yet - even regarding the title. If they meet The Netherlands in the finals again, then the 0:3 would be a history and we would see a wholly new match with a clearly new scenario...

Italy and Netherlands can only meet again in the semifinals. ;)

[Roy]

Italy and Netherlands can only meet again in the semifinals. ;)

I think Spain overruled Italy in quarter final. 'Oranje'-Spain in semi-final.

[Storm]

Spain v Italy it is then.
I am going to have a tough time with that game.

On one side is a team I like because I like so many of their players and the way the play and because I have been learning their language.

On other side is a team I have been supporting ever since I saw them first in Italia '90 with Salvatore Schillacci coming off the bench and scoring amazing goals and a young guy called Roberto Baggio playing with amazing skill.

Hopefully one of them goes all the way at Euro 08

[pino]

I am glad we managed to qualify to the 1/4 finals, not ver glad the way we did it because we are still waisting too many goal-chances. Penalty or not we should've won with a bigger gap, can't believe Toni hasn't scored a goal yet :crazy: Now Spain, it will be very difficult to beat them, and they will probably beat us after 88 years in an official game...maybe ;)

[ioan]

On other side is a team I have been supporting ever since I saw them first in Italia '90 with Salvatore Schillacci coming off the bench and scoring amazing goals and a young guy called Roberto Baggio playing with amazing skill.

Just that Schillacci & co were playing like men, while Toni & co rather do the theatrical falling.

The teams that impressed in this tournament are Holland, Spain, Croatia and Turkey. The rest of them were inconsistent.

[veeten]

a very happy pino... :D

but watch out, here comes Spain. :uhoh: ;)

[ioan]

I am glad we managed to qualify to the 1/4 finals, not ver glad the way we did it because we are still waisting too many goal-chances. Penalty or not we should've won with a bigger gap, can't believe Toni hasn't scored a goal yet :crazy: Now Spain, it will be very difficult to beat them, and they will probably beat us after 88 years in an official game...maybe ;)

Your team certainly played better in the last game than ours (it would have been difficult to play worse than what Romania showed yesterday), so yours were rightly promoted into the 1/4 finals.

[Drew]

Italy deserved to win, but it definitely wasn't a red card :p :

[ioan]

Italy deserved to win, but it definitely wasn't a red card :p :

I agree on that, but if it wasn't red card who knows if Italy would have still won?! ;)

[stevie_gerrard]

Quarter Final Line Up

Portugal vs Germany: both have produced some good football and good goals, but Germany have really disappointed me with their performances, i thought they lacked quality against the Croats, and were average at best against austria. they will need to raise their game against a portugal side confident of beating anybody currently. PREDICTION: Portugal win before extra time.

Croatia vs Turkey: the battle of the two dark horses. Croatia deserve all the plaudits for a solid 3 wins out of 3, including an inspired performance against the germans. Turkey looked a little suspect at the back at times through the group stages, but were absolutely immense in the final 15 minutes the other day, one of the great comebacks in Euro's history. however, turkey have been very rough on the field and conceded too many cards which could cost them, despite legend Rustu Recber coming out of semi-retirement. PREDICTION: Closer than people think, but i still fancy Croatia to win it in the end.

Netherlands vs Russia: Total Football is well and truly alive. They have produced some of the best football in the world, and the dutch are well fancied favourites for this one. However, a lot of credit has to go to guss Hiddink, who has got his team through to the knockout stages yet again against the odds. Played well against the swedes, but this is one test too far. PREDICTION: Holland to comfortably win.

Italy vs Spain: A Contest that is rarely seen these days. It's been a while since Spain have done well in a Euro's Tournament, and they need to be on their best form agaisnt a determined and dogged Italian side, who quite frankly are very lucky to be in the knockout stages. This is by far the closest of the Quarters, it could even go to penalties, but i just feel Italy will miss the likes of Pirlo and Gattuso in this game, especially considering Toni has been lacking service from the midfield throughout the tournament. PREDICTION: Spain to win it........ just (sorry pino :p : )

Have to say, this is the most exciting Euro tournament for me since euro 96 (considering i was only born in 1988). the football has been brilliant at times, and i do feel we have some epic clashes to come yet before we find a winner.

Also I went to the bookies before the tournament started. these were my bets:

Spain to Win Euro 2008: £5 at 7/1
Croatia to Win Euro 2008: £2.50 E/W at 16/1
Torres to win Golden Boot: £5 at 9/1

I know the Torres bet doesnt look likely really, but i do fancy a Spain-Croatia Final. I have tipped croatia as the dark horses many times on this forum, and i do believe that on their day they could beat some of the best teams around. Spain will struggle to beat Holland but i think you have to have that bit of luck in football, and Spain could get it against the Dutch, you have to perform in every game, and its no guarantee that Holland will be this good for the entire tournament, We've seen in tournaments like World Cup 98 that the dutch can play well but get beaten in the end, so i still hold hope :)

saying that, its no guarantee that Spain will do well enough either :p :

[Drew]

I agree on that, but if it wasn't red card who knows if Italy would have still won?! ;)

True, Italy would still have won. It's like Holland's first goal against Italy, controversial at the time but they still would have won without it ;)

[pino]

Quarter Final Line Up


Italy vs Spain: A Contest that is rarely seen these days. It's been a while since Spain have done well in a Euro's Tournament, and they need to be on their best form agaisnt a determined and dogged Italian side, who quite frankly are very lucky to be in the knockout stages. This is by far the closest of the Quarters, it could even go to penalties, but i just feel Italy will miss the likes of Pirlo and Gattuso in this game, especially considering Toni has been lacking service from the midfield throughout the tournament. PREDICTION: Spain to win it........ just (sorry pino :p : )



Italy are lucky to be in 1/4 finals ? :s do you mind to explain why and who deserved to be there insted ? :confused: Yes Italy played a crap match (as both Romania and France did) vs Holland, but played better and beated France, and was denied a deserved win against Romania...yes mate, be sorry for what you've just posted :hmph: :p :

[janneppi]

Is this the time to reveal I really would Spain to win Italy? ;)
La Liga games and los Serranos on tv have made me symphatetic to them. :p :

[Storm]

Toni has been lacking service?? Hahaha
He is the guy who has missed the most easy chances he is going to get in Euro finals....and considering his talent those chances were easy definitely...I can see Torres/Villa or Nistelrooy scoring all of them.

[DonJippo]

Is this the time to reveal I really would Spain to win Italy? ;)

Me too :p but I'm not going to be in the same cottage with pino in NORF like you ;)

[janneppi]

Fortunately i have few kilos advantage over pino so even if I may not be able to evade, I can whether the storm, so to speak. :p :
It might be a good game though, Spain has been pretty good this time around and Italy usually plays a bit better when the real games begin.

[ioan]

Italy are lucky to be in 1/4 finals ? :s do you mind to explain why and who deserved to be there insted ? :confused: Yes Italy played a crap match (as both Romania and France did) vs Holland, but played better and beated France, and was denied a deserved win against Romania...yes mate, be sorry for what you've just posted :hmph: :p :

11 against 10 on the field for almost the whole game and they only manage a lucky goal (if it wasn't for Henry's foot touching the ball there would have been no 2nd goal), you call that played well?! :p :

[cali]

11 against 10 on the field for almost the whole game and they only manage a lucky goal (if it wasn't for Henry's foot touching the ball there would have been no 2nd goal), you call that played well?! :p :

Naah, deserved penalty and deserved red card as well. Last man on defensive line to take down attacking player receives automatic red card. No misconduct there. But i'm worried as well that Toni still has not scored. But maybe his time will come.

For me the worst team to qualify to quarters is Turkey - unbelievable cheaters during the game. They are always diving, trying to cheat referee, provoking opposing players - unsportsmanlike team, watching theri game is like watching some Bollywood drama. :down:

Holland, Croatia and Spain have been impressive so far. Then again Russia has played well last two games - Hiddink doing wonders again.

[Storm]

Turkey do some play acting but then many teams do it, which is sad part....but its the worst team?
Did you miss the last 15 minutes of the Turkey v Czech game?

[Iain]

Italy are lucky to be in 1/4 finals ? :s do you mind to explain why and who deserved to be there insted ? :confused:

They were lucky to be in the tournament in the first place and to answer your 2nd question - Scotland. ;) :p :

I think Italy had a big fright against Romania and that has been the wake up call they needed. They'll be better in the 1/4 finals, but I can still see Spain causing them problems though. If Toni keeps on playing like that though, they need the goals from elsewhere.

Looking forward to Netherlands and Russia on Saturday. Will be wearing my Dutch away shirt looking for another big performance. :D

[cali]

Turkey do some play acting but then many teams do it, which is sad part....but its the worst team?
Did you miss the last 15 minutes of the Turkey v Czech game?

I've seen quite a lot of Turkeys games, incl. 2,5 yrs ago WC qualifier against Switzerland. All the fuss usually happens in Turkey's games. Sry mate, but this is problably most unsportsmanlike team i've ever seen in Europe. I know that Greece, Cyprus and many more South-European teams are playing that way, but they all seem to have some sportsmanlike conduct in the game. I'm not aware of so many Asian teams.

[pino]

Naah, deserved penalty and deserved red card as well. Last man on defensive line to take down attacking player receives automatic red card. No misconduct there. But i'm worried as well that Toni still has not scored. But maybe his time will come.



Finally someone with a great football-knowledge :up: ;)


They were lucky to be in the tournament in the first place and to answer your 2nd question - Scotland....



That match against Scotland, was Italy's best performance under Donadoni, not many Team could've won that match at that time ;)

Don, janne and ioan...whatever :rolleyes: :p :

[ioan]

I've seen quite a lot of Turkeys games, incl. 2,5 yrs ago WC qualifier against Switzerland. All the fuss usually happens in Turkey's games. Sry mate, but this is problably most unsportsmanlike team i've ever seen in Europe. I know that Greece, Cyprus and many more South-European teams are playing that way, but they all seem to have some sportsmanlike conduct in the game. I'm not aware of so many Asian teams.

You're going down the wrong route there, talking about certain countries and unsportsmanlike conduct.

[ioan]

Naah, deserved penalty and deserved red card as well. Last man on defensive line to take down attacking player receives automatic red card. No misconduct there.

What I said is that Italy played 80 minutes with 11 players against France's 10 players and even this way they only managed a lucky goal by Henry! That is not a god game, even if it was better than the other 2 teams that went home.

[ioan]

Don, janne and ioan...whatever :rolleyes: :p :

Don't act like a primadona pino! :p : ;)

[cali]

What I said is that Italy played 80 minutes with 11 players against France's 10 players and even this way they only managed a lucky goal by Henry! That is not a god game, even if it was better than the other 2 teams that went home.

Agreed! Same thoughts here! :)

[cali]

You're going down the wrong route there, talking about certain countries and unsportsmanlike conduct.

Please enlighten me!
Not certain, but only one country. Ofcourse everybody has some bad and nervous days - but one team seems to find always trouble or misconduct on the pitch.

[pino]

What I said is that Italy played 80 minutes with 11 players against France's 10 players and even this way they only managed a lucky goal by Henry! That is not a god game, even if it was better than the other 2 teams that went home.

ioan, we both know that what counts are the goals scored, however when judging a Team performance we must consider the goal-chances they've created. Against France I lost count :p :

[veeten]

Por 1-3 Ger

Ballack and Co. putting the wood to Portugal. Ronaldo a total non-factor. :\

[veeten]

Final
Por 2-3 Ger

and Portugal is out. :wave:

[pino]

I am shocked...really I am :eek:

[jens]

Wuohooo!!! Deutschland ist am besten!!!!!! :bounce: :hot: Although Portugal seemed more active and tried a lot, then Germany used most of its opportunities. That's Germany - they don't need much than just a few mistakes from their rivals to maximize on these! :D For the first time in this tournament I was slightly anxious in the final minutes. Positive is that Gomez and 'slow' Jansen weren't among the start choices. Hence Germany looked a bit more confident.

For Portugese praise I can say that they can never be underestimated. Even when Germany was leading by 2 goals, there was a constant feeling like they are going to reduce that advantage sooner or later... and it proved so.

From the second 1/4-final I probably would prefer Turkey's success. :p : Based on the group stage I guess Croatia might be a more difficult rival.

[Storm]

I am happy that Germany beat Portugal.

Its not like I dont like Portugal...but I really hate all the hype about C Ronaldo...sure he is a very good player but he is not the world's best as it gets rammed down our throats all the time when I hear British commentry (which is what we get). Now maybe the commentry will be a bit better with no England and no Roonaaaaaldooooooo crap all the time.

I knew teams like Germany and Italy will be different teams in knock-outs as these people "know" how to win important games. This is where its very dangerous for flair teams to just get by on talent...you need superb mental toughness to beat such teams....are you listening Spain ? :)

[cali]

I am happy that Germany beat Portugal.

Its not like I dont like Portugal...but I really hate all the hype about C Ronaldo...sure he is a very good player but he is not the world's best as it gets rammed down our throats all the time when I hear British commentry (which is what we get). Now maybe the commentry will be a bit better with no England and no Roonaaaaaldooooooo crap all the time.

I knew teams like Germany and Italy will be different teams in knock-outs as these people "know" how to win important games. This is where its very dangerous for flair teams to just get by on talent...you need superb mental toughness to beat such teams....are you listening Spain ? :)

Agreed! C. Ronaldo proved that he is not good in the BIG games. Ballack and Schweinsteiger proved that they are and Lehmann was very good yesterday as well. After group phase i thought that maybe GER doesn't have what it takes to go all the way, but i might be reconsidering that thought now.

Italy might do the same to Spain and i'm afraid that Russia could surprise Holland (against my will :D ). I have no worries about Croatia thou, since thay have been tactically most impressive so far. Bilic has done good job with the team.

[Drew]

Let's just say I could watch this video all day: http://youtube.com/watch?v=6Z70rXoOzUk

I'm glad Portugal lost :p :

[veeten]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! :bigcry:

Man up, Ronaldo McDonaldo. :p :

[jim mcglinchey]

Jeez, 120 minutes of play then two goals in the last minute, I hope the Croats win this shoot out because I dont see the Turks beating Ballack and the cheating Germans

[jim mcglinchey]

Oh dear.....!

[jens]

:rotflmao: Turkey rules!!! :laugh: :D Hahaha, wow, this is incredible, amazing, fantastic, unbelievable, extraordinary... I'm actually running out of words. Nothing is impossible for Turkey!!!

Most of the game was incredibly boring, neither of the teams seemed to have any will to try anything. But the end - wow! Especially from the Turkish side!

The Germans must be careful and can't relax even before the last minute! :p :

[veeten]

man, I leave to do a few things and the two teams choose to get active while I'm gone. :\

not cool. :( but, I'll go with the final score though. :)

[F1boat]

Turkey rules, really. Germany must be extra careful with them.

[pino]

So far 2 big surprises...let's see if Russia will be the 3rd one tonight :eek:

[jim mcglinchey]

Im gutted for the Croats. They were good enough to beat Germany once, and they never stopped attacking for the whole Turkey match, and they legitimately feel robbed by the extra few seconds given to the Turks to launch that last attack.

Its a pity that either Holland or the Rooskies will have to go out tonight. Theyve both been impressive.

[ioan]

What a shocker!
The Reds beat the Orange!

[pino]

So far 2 big surprises...let's see if Russia will be the 3rd one tonight :eek:

It is :eek: What a great performance by the Russian squad, the best so far in this competition :up:

[ioan]

So far 2 big surprises...let's see if Russia will be the 3rd one tonight :eek:

Spot on, what were you drinking pino?!

Let's see if Spain will be the 4th tomorrow! :p :

[veeten]

What a shocker!
The Reds beat the Orange!

"Oranje" did not look good at all. Really looked drawn out in the extended time play, and Russia pounced. Darn. :(

[jens]

Haha, fantastic!! Absolutely incredible! :D This is exactly, why I like this Euro tournament - there are no clear favourites, everyone can succeed! :cool: I have to admit that I have really started to like Russian squad in this tournament. They have always had potential, but now they have also good tactics, coordination. They had more will and soul to win the game. Untraditionally they have stayed calm and kept their game scheme. Main problems are probably the defense and also making more use of their goal opportunities - against organized teams like Germany and Italy this may be costly. Sorry Dutch fans, but... The Netherlands simply didn't deserve to be in the semifinals. Besides a few free kicks they showed nothing.

Wonder if it will really be so that all the group winners will drop out. I think it's quite likely. If even Holland failed to deal with the expectations, then Spain may well crack under the pressure too. And the fact that some Italian players are out with cards, isn't even that important (Turkey missed some players too, but this didn't hinder them).

[pino]

Spot on, what were you drinking pino?!

Let's see if Spain will be the 4th tomorrow! :p :

I was drinking my usually Nero d'Avola 2006 from Sicily ;) and about tomorrow, let me remind you that Spain is fave...not Italy :p :

[FrankenSchwinn]

hum, i've never, EVER been a football fan, E.V.E.R.!!!!!!!!!!

BUT

i have to say that the football that the Russians play is fun to watch. i'll never be a football fan but i'm a "euro2008 Russia" fan.

i don't know why, but in that team there really is no "I" and the passing game is incredible.

i hope they can do more than the semifinals.

[AndySpeed]

Incredible performance from the Russian team. I never thought that if they won that they'd do it with a 3-1 result. I don't really know if I thought that they'd win! Even when playing Sweden I still thought that the Swedes could beat them, then I thought that they'd definitely be out when they were up against the Netherlands.

But no!

Wow.

[Drew]

Just how many shots on goal did Russia have? Just how many amazing shots on goal did Russia have?!

[jim mcglinchey]

Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko...what a team!

[Josti]

And there goes the 'Orange fever'...

Such a bummer, since the group stages went so great. But there are no excuses for this game. Russia were clearly the better one and Hiddink suited his tactics very well on the Dutch game. A side of that, we hardly created anything and our defence was clearly :down: , especially in extra time.

Well, it has been a great two weeks anyway. No it's time to support Hiddink's Russia :up: . Damn, he did it again.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Russia v Turkey final?

[ioan]

Russia v Turkey final?

Now that would be incredible football!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Hard to believe that England beat Russia 3-0 in the qualifiers

[ioan]

Romania beat them too, not so long ago.
But hat doesn't change that Russia were playing great football tonight.

[jso1985]

Russia clearly showed today how to play "total" football :up:

My last hope Spain plays tomorrow, not hoping great thing though, so far Germany and Russia look like they're on their way to the final

[AndySpeed]

Russia v Turkey final?

What a "European" Championship final that would be!

[Dr. Krogshöj]

What a "European" Championship final that would be!

More European than a final with British teams! :)

[Corny]

I can hardly believe we're out :( After 3 superb games..

But at least Russia has got a dutch coach :D

[AndySpeed]

More European than a final with British teams! :)

Maybe it should be called the Eurasian football tournament then. ;)

[ioan]

Maybe it should be called the Eurasian football tournament then. ;)

Russia might have a bigger European territory than England! ;)

[F1boat]

Turkey - Russia final, Russia doinates in 88 mins, but misses as lot and Turkey wins in the final two minutes 2-1 ;)

[jens]

So Spain is the only group winner to make it into semifinals, but generally their game despite a few opportunities didn't look too impressive. A slight surprise that Italy lost in the penalty shootout. Russia will definetely be more competitive against Spain than they were in the group stage, so it'll be an exciting game.

But I'm hoping for a Germany-Spain final. :)

[Storm]

Maybe not great games in good football terms but surely very dramatic QFs !

Turkey ! :)
Bilic was cribbing about how they scored in 2nd min of added time, maybe he should look at footage at how much time he and his players spent celebrating their goal.....Turkey really don't give up though, one chance he got and the striker put it away nicely.
Of course then it looked that Croatians were deflated and were not up to it in the penalties while the Turkish surely had a new lease of life, even Rustu saved one when he had made a mess which led to the Croatian goal.

Italy v Spain..again not a great game but Spain dominated and I think only reason Italy were still around for penalty kicks was Buffon and main reason they are out is Toni. He has been dreadful this whole tourney and Donadoni isn't looking very smart either. After Aragones had been stupid enough to make all his substitutions in normal time, what does Donadoni do?
Instead of putting del Piero on, he puts di Natale and Camoranesi comes on place of Cassano??? who was actually the only guy creating something..atleast Camoranesi was cool in penalties but di Natale hit an awful kick...Casillas was superb too (can't believe I am saying how good a Madrid player is :p : )

Russia were superb too.....Holland showed what happens when you try to play thinking too much abt the stage/importance of the match rather than playing your best game = attacking!

[janneppi]

I went to bed last night after the first over time and didn't see the results, first inclination is that the italy fan in my office wasn't wearing his Cannavaro-shirt, I'm waiting with some interest if the Spain supporter shows up with his Villa-shirt. :D

Not the best game yesterday, neither was Turkey- Croatia, until the 119 minutes. :)

[gadjo_dilo]

What a "European" Championship final that would be!

And what a western lamentation of " eurovision type " we'd hear- : :laugh:

" Zbornaia " Russia deserve to win. It's the only team who seems to enjoy the game.

None of the teams from the C group in the final. Maybe that's why it was called the " group of death ". :laugh:

[Storm]

I went to bed last night after the first over time and didn't see the results


What? It's not even that late for you :p :
For me it was 0300 when the match was over ;)

[Donney]

I can't believe Spain won Italy....

Which showa how much I know about football when I predicted Italy would Euro 08 and Spain wouldn't make it to the semis.

People here are celebrating as if they had won something, I guess it was time to win Italy after 88 years of losing in official matches.

[ioan]

I went to bed last night after the first over time and didn't see the results,

Shame on you! :D

[Storm]

Donney...its the best chance to win a tourney for España in a long time,
so of course people are going to be happy...
They have beaten Russia already and even though this time will be tougher but if they get through it, they can win the cup.
They seem to have the confidence and determination this time to go along with their usual talent. so I am hoping they do win it :)

Aragonés is still doing dumb things but the players are doing well...Iniesta needs to take a rest now :s and Silva is useless as a winger...He had decent shots but I am still not warming up to him as he missed some easy ones in last games and whenever he has the ball he takes it inside than wide (of course Iniesta and he swapped sides so that's part of problem too)

[veeten]

Hey, where's pino? :look:

I'm sure he has something to say, between consolation drinks at least. ;) :p :

[leopard]

jet lagged ;)

I am suffering sleep disorder from watching Euro. :)

[AndyRAC]

Italy can have no complaints - they tried to do a 'Greece 2004' but failed. At least Spain were trying to win, and therefore deserved to win.
As for Russia, how good is Arshavin, but people are forgetting the injured Pavel Pogrebnyak.

[pino]

Hey, where's pino? :look:

I'm sure he has something to say, between consolation drinks at least. :p :

And I can only say Bravo Espanã :up: you were the best squad, played better and deserved to win. I totally blame Donadoni for our defeat and for the poor performances by Italy during the whole tournement :down: I hope soon Lippi will take over again and bring us on top again :D

[jim mcglinchey]

As for Russia, how good is Arshavin, but people are forgetting the injured Pavel Pogrebnyak.

Very, very good, but he'll never play in the Premier League with that name.

[janneppi]

It certainly didn't take too long for the Italians. :D

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2008/italy/7471598.stm

Italy have parted company with coach Roberto Donadoni following their exit from Euro 2008, BBC Sport understands.

The Italian Soccer Federation has yet to officially confirm that Donadoni has left the post.
Or is BBC just betting on certainties? :)

[Storm]

Donadoni is bound to go....incredibly Domenech is still around?



Very, very good, but he'll never play in the Premier League with that name.

Arsenal and Arsene Wenger seem to be doing ok. :p :

[gadjo_dilo]

What will Turkey do tonight? Due to injuries and suspensions they may use a limited number of players and it's possible that a goalkeeper will play as forward. If they'll be in the final they probably can't have 11 available players.