Official EURO2004 Thread

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Well, what can I say?

The same I said after the match against Latvia: At least they fought and ran. It seems that you cannot expect more of this team at the moment. And they had bad luck.
But when I look at the young players, I have hopes for the future. Two years time for preparation, a real trainer (like Hitzfeld) and we'll win the World Cup.

 

Germany has a good team, except offensively. They simply don't have any scoring players. Defensively they're alright, midfield as well, but offensively they suck big time.

You need Roy Makaay.

 

Apeman, Sweden haven't lost with more than two goals since 1989(IIRC) so what do you think will make Holland change that fact?

Also, do you really believe that Zlatan, Larsson, Allbäck, Ljungberg, and all the other will go home without a goal?

I don't think so, and I think Sweden will win with 2-1.

 

The reason why Holland MIGHT be able to change that fact is that Sweden's play went downhill the further they got in the tournament. They played super against Bulgaria, they were lucky against Italy, and they should have lost against Denmark. After the first match i regarded them much higher than i do right now. Holland, as usual, grows in tournaments. We were on the edge of elimination, but we're still in. Their morale got an enormous boost, and Van Nistelrooy is red hot.

That's why.

 

So, you really believe that Holland will beat Sweden with 3-0?

My guess will be that Holland will have a 1-0 lead until the last 10 minutes and then Sweden will play with Allbäck and Zlatan in front and Henrik Larsson as the "defensive" forward while Christian Wilhelmson and Fredrik Ljungberg will run deeply along the sides, creating a lot of scoring opportunities, giving Sweden a 1-1 goal.

Holland will then have replaced their best offensive players with defensive ones like against the Czechs and Sweden will win in right before the penalties.

 

It seems to me that Holland plays on his best when playing strong opponents, in my opinion the game against the czechs should at least have been a draw and without the ref and a bad substitute we should have won.

What for example has Larsson shown the last two games. Maybe 3-0 was a bit optimistic if you look at our defense but I still think they will win. With Van Nistelrooy hot and a substitute in Makaay we will harass you goalie for ninety minutes.

One more game, one more game and I'm off to Portugal for the semies

 

I'm not quite sure where all the optimism comes from for the Dutch? They played poorly against Germany (and Staam deserved to be sent off, if not put in prison), lost a two-goal lead against the (excellent) Czechs and had to cheat for the first two goals against Latvia (that penalty is the most shameful moment of the tournament (apart from Trezeguet's obscene handball-goal against Croatia)).

 

You have a strange view on things. After the coach made a few lineupchanges, Germany never got the ball anymore, it was very obvious which one of the two was the better side.

Apart from a few individual mistakes, a few capital referee blunders, and a substitution that should have never taken place, we were at least equal to the Czechs. Matter of fact, if the score would have been 4 or 5-1 at halftime, it would have been completely justified, seeing at how many excellent scoringopportunities they got.

And against Latvia, well.... it never was really a match. Holland might have been given a penalty, but they were robbed from one against the Czechs, so i'd like to think we had that one coming to us.

Without really playing superior football, we dominated most parts of all three matches. So there's why the Dutch are so optimistic. But then again, we ALWAYS are. There's plenty of time to be sceptical once we're out.

 

You should be optimistical against Sweden. You are right when you say that we have played worse and worse the longer in the tournament we have gone. I dont really see how we are going to be able to beat you, except that I know it is possible. Holland are immense favourites though.

 

Aaaah Joaquin, we wanted the underdog position this time.......blast it

 

It doesn't matter, Holland should be used to opponents crawling in the underdog's skin by now. Attacking is all we can anyway. If we are forced to play defensively, we get in huge trouble, like the Czechs showed us very painfully. I'm not too sure about our chances against the Swedes though, they are an explosive team. The game should be open though, with opportunities on both sides of the field. I expect a good match, no matter what the outcome may be.

 

I knew it: Völler resigned from being germany's team leader. And Ottmar Hitzfeld is probably going to take over. Call me Nostradamus.

@Pac Man: You are probably right. But I saw a german team yesterday that has been scared of their own courage. At least the first half. No wonder, if you play with only one attacker.

They need a good mental trainer.

 

And what's more, if i'm not mistaken, none of your attackers are 100% German, right ? I mean all three of them have foreign backgrounds. That's a little odd to me. Germany had always "special" attackers, like Muller, Rummenigge, Hrubesh, Klinsmann, Voller, and i'm probably forgetting a handful, so what would be the problem with this generation ? Too many defensively orientated players ?

 

Wonderful goal by Owen, probably one of the best in the tournament so far.

 

Postiga scores! 1-1. I wonder if my pick of 3-2 after golden goal is still possible.....

 

Did anybody understood what happened in the 89' minute?

 

I think the goal was disallowed because of the foul by Terry on Ricardo.

EDIT1: Ooh, we're into Silver Goal time now!

EDIT2: Costa scores! Portugal 2-1

EDIT3: Lampard scores! 2-2. Maybe my 3-2 result is still on!

[ June 24, 2004, 23:10: Message edited by: Harbourboy ]

 

2-2

No matter what the outcome may be, Lampard deserves a statue.

Great game so far.

 

Drama! Who will be the anti-hero that gets the blame for missing the crucial penalty this year?

EDIT1: Beckham! Another miss for him! Will it be costly?!

EDIT2: Costa misses! It's all happening!

 

Dammit, that's just bad luck. I really hoped that England would win this one.