Official EURO2004 Thread

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I've been watching some television where they showed the city of Porto around now. It sure it orange now, my brother and dad are running around there, the will go to the match this evening lucky bastards. Sure is fun to watch though and You've got to admit, the dutch fans know how to create an ambiance before the match.

 

Update: Manchester Guardian's Boo is betting at 4-1 that RvN scores the first goal.

Too bad he flubbed yesterday's pick: Denmark win or tie, but with at least 3 goals. But you'll do better this time, right Boo?

 

Well, Makaay and Sneijder aren't playing, and if that's not enough, they start Zenden, a guy who doesn't belong in our national team to begin with in my opinion. All he can do is run really fast, preferably without the ball.

If i wouldn't know better, i might get the impression Advocaat is doing his utmost NOT to win.

 

It is true, you should not underestimate the Germans, everyone I know thinks they wont make it through there group but I couldn’t say, there team is not as strong as what it used to be but still.

 

Yeah, never rule out the Gerries. It's suicide.

Could have crappest form ever but they still do it when it comes to the crunch.

Btw, lol at Latvia! Still time for Czechs to claw it back though

 

And they did. A well deserved win. If Latvia would have gotten away with 1 or even more points, it would have been totally undeserved.

Edit: Terrible, ugly performance from Holland. Plenty of good players, absolutely no team. I sincerely hope the coach makes a few changes for the match against the Czechs, otherwise we're toast.

[ June 15, 2004, 22:41: Message edited by: Pac man ]

 

IMHO, it wouldn't. They fought at the top of their ability and the Czech had bad luck, but I actually thinks that Latvia deserved one point at least.

Now, back to the evaluations I am doing, wether you like it or not.

9. Italy - Denmark 0 - 0. Italy came off bad from the beginning while Denmark attacked spiritued and often. Italy held low pace during the whole game and Denmark slacked of in the middle of the second half, ending this kinda dissapointing game as a draw without any goals. Will Italy manage to beat a Sweden on form and go to the quarter finals? Are Denmark going to stop a Bulgaria with a taste of revenge against Scandinavia?

10- Sweden - Bulgaria 5 - 0. Sweden started of slow and let Bulgaria control the first 30 minutes of the game, then, Fredrik Ljungberg from Sweden scored and frustration began to grow in Bulgaria. In the second half Bulgaria attacked and attacked but the excellent Swedish defence managed to hold them off, making their frustration grow further. On top of that, Henrik Larsson managed to score the most beautiful goal in the tournament so far and it was 2-0 to Sweden. Bulgarians didn't have the time to react as Larsson managed to score his second goal under a minute and the game was practically over. Remembering the 0-4 lost the Bulgarians suffered in the Bronze match against a Sweden and Henrik Larsson in USA they started to become more aggressive to keep the goals in. This resulted in a penalty to Sweden and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored 4-0. The game was over, and Ibrahimovic was replaced by Marcus Allbäck and ten minutes after his arrival, in the 91st minute, Allbäck scores 5-0 and the Bulgarian fiasco was a fact. How will Buulgaria manage to be able to go to the second round without any working defence? Will Sweden's creative tactics work well against an Italy with possibly the strongest defence in the world?

11. Czech Republic - Latvia 2 - 1. Latvia played good, very good. Better than they did against Turkey and Sweden that made it possible for them to qualify. They scored 0-1 in the 46th minute and the whole world was chocked. They also managed to keep the Czechs away with pretty good skill and a bit of luck but in the end the Czechs managed to equalize and take the lead, giving them a head start against Germany and Netherlands in the hunt for a place in the second round. Will Czech be able to get themself together and win against Netherlands? Will Latvia manage to take points against the defensive strong Germany?

12. Germany - Netherlands 1 - 1. The game was as most thought it would be, slow and defensive. No team came up to their full potential but Germany actually had an edge and showed that they are better than most presumed. Germany now have a rather easy game against Latvia, will they be able to win or are Latvia going to keep clean and take a draw? Will Netherlands be able to get together and win against the strong Czechs?

 

Very good goal from van Nistelrooy. One difficult chance in the match and he took it. Well done.

 

Germany 1-1 Holland

Fair result in the end. Amazing the difference a few subs on the Dutch side mate. Especially van Hooijdonk (sp).

Sidenote: I will keep an eye out for the young German lad from now on. Schweiztieger or w/e. Good looking lovely player from what I saw.

 

True, but i don't like the way they were trying to reach him. Constantly the long ball, which was easily intercepted by the German defenders. Holland completely skipped midfield, playing like this you'll have trouble against any team. They definitely need to play more compact against the Czechs, otherwise this is going to be a very short tournament for us.

 

Well basically it blew and it must have been a dreadful thing to watch from a neutral view. It was dreadful for me I can't imagine for the most of you.

Result was a fair one, even Ballack admitted that and I think when comparing goals Holland had the most beautiful one. Not that it matters but I have to say something positive about the game besides: we're still in.

In all, poorly defense by the Dutch, very poor midfield which led to absolute no chances up front. The subs were a positive thing in the match for both teams. Zenden should be kicked out of portugal, very fast, he was so bad. So was van de meyde but he made the very important decision to actually fight for the ball which in turn led to the goal.

I think the Czechs also deserved a tie againt Latvia but unfortunatly for us dutchies that didn't happen. Now we have to get some points against the czechs or we are out of here.

 

Holland was a great disapointment and Germany, as usual, were alot better than expected. Holland played the exact opposite to what they should and are good at playing. Long balls over the midfield is idiotic against any team and especially against Germany. However 1-1 was reasonably fair as Germany didnt manage to create very much.

Verpakauvkis in Latvia is a quality player which would have a place in many a team. Impressive performance of the Latvians, tiny teams are allowed to play crappy-9mandefence-football.

 

Damn van Nistelroy!
The Dutch team looked like it wanted to resurrect 'Kick'n'Rush'. Not the tactic you expect from a team said to be full of technically versed players.

Well, I'm just glad it hasn't gotten any worse. In the last minutes it seemed that we were getting another goal.

@Morsmordre: The name you were groping for is Sebastian Schweinsteiger.

 

Ah...silly me, i thought it was schweinbumser.

All kidding aside, that's one of Germany's greatest talents at the moment, he has some excellent skills.

 

Also what was Marc Overmars doing on the bench? He comes on in the 2nd half, starts asking questions of the German defense and fires a rocket of a shot on goal, which was just saved by Kahn.

 

I haven't got a clue what the coach was thinking, but he put Zenden on Overmars' position, while he has been a defensive player for the last few years. A tactical stupidity of the first order. But i think Zenden's finished now, it's obvious that the guy doesn't belong on this stage.

 

First of all I have to agree with what has been said about Zenden. You may as well add Davids to the list of disappointments. Advocat really seems to have a heart for my kin.

On the other hand it wasn't all that bad. The Dutch had some decent chances in the second half and the striking ability of van Nistelrooy is just awesome. With better tactics from the beginning and maybe even Makaay playing the Netherlands will surely reach the next stage of the tournament.

As will the Germans. Who of all the Czechs and Latvians may be able to score against Germany if we're able to repeat that impressive display of discipline and tactics from last evening? Remember, it took a world-class striker to mark the goal out of nothing. Who else in Europe would have been able to achieve this? No, Germany will move on to the quarters, that's for sure.

BTW, I just heard some Italian explanations for the dreadful opening match vs. Denmark. It seems that Totti is claiming the pressing heat and his new shoes have been responsible for his weak appearance. Only with replacing his shoes did he find into the game... well, let's hope for them he knows what shoes to wear when they meet us in the quarter final.

 

Perhaps he should go with pink shoes, it will look so much better on him in combination with those little dreadlocks hanging down his hair. I also think he should attach some high heels to his shoes, get a manicure, azure nailpolish, and a fashionable handbag.

 

I know what you mean, Pac Man. I mean, he shaves his legs!! That is one of the most unmaful things to do. Next thing on his list is kissing someone after he scores, and he'll be an official female for me.

 

Oh man, what a bad game, more Germans fell in this game than the entire second world war.

But then again, that is what Rudy trains them for:
Schwalbe!

Surprised? That German who got a nasty kick in the eye from Stam, while he was suffering, he managed to roll himself behind the goal, hah!
Own fault though, no-one is foolish enough to get his head near a ball while Stam is around

[ June 16, 2004, 16:25: Message edited by: Morgoth ]