Euro 2004

[Vel]

Farlander, I may be wrong, but half of the catalonian team is absolutely unheard of.

[Barcik]

Vel, Catalunya can be a decent second rate team. They played 139 games, out of them 71 were won, 44 lost and 23 draws. And it wasn't the local fishermen team they were playing, but teams like Nigeria (5-0 victory) and Yugoslavia (1-1). They even have a 1-1 draw with Bulgaria several years ago.


Out of all the 'big' teams, Engalnd is the only one that is close to playing to their full potential. The problem is, their full potential is not that much when looking at France, Italy or Holland.

[Vel]

Your prediction for tonight's match?

[Primus]

Hi everybody!

To Lazy Z and TheDude (and to all others who support Portugal): thank you very, very much for your beliefs and supports in Portugal - myself, I'm not so sure that Portugal will last to the last - even under Scollari's "driving". Well, maybe it is our traditional way of living, as a we're - in a whole - a little pessimist. Of course we laugh about that, and even have a few popular proverbs and sayings about:
- My neighbour's hen is fatter than mine.
- Portuguese eat well, drink better - and always complaint.
- and so on.

[Barcik]

Your prediction for tonight's match?

I believe Bulgaria can cause the Italians problems, but I doubt they will prevent them from taking the 3 points they need so much.

[Vel]

I think that it will finish either draw or 1 goal win for Italy.

[Harvester]

I wrote a long post last night, but my connection broke and I wasn't able to send it. Damn 
To sum it up, I thought Santini was teh stupidest coach on EURO 2004, but it turned out to be Inaki Saez.
And I finally won some money again - I bet on England last night :-) And I predicted that Russia was going to beat Greece. Easy.
Anyway, jaz's suggestion is cool, so I'm gonna start a new thread with my predictions for the rest of the Championship. If you wanna earn some money, just bet exactly the opposite.

[Harvester]

I have to go to lunch quickly, so I'll be very brief:
Denmark beats Sweden, Bulgaria and Italy are going to draw. Probably 1:1.
See you tonight.

[Andail]

With your prediction, Sweden still advances, so it's ok by me.

Even though I think we will beat the lousy danes.

Oh, and yeah, this could have been started in the previous thread, back at the popular threads board.

[jaz]

Whaaat? You won some money? Does it mean the magic is over???

[Vel]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!!!!!!!!
1-0!!! Gooooooooooooo Bulgaria!

[TheDude]

Well it has ended 2-1 to Italy, but Sweden and Denmark drew 2-2, so italy STILL don't go through. First team not to go through even though they have 5 points! I'm glad Sweden and Denmark go through, woot.

Sweden - 5 points
Denmark - 5 points
Italy - 5 points
Bulgaria - 0 points

[Vel]

Nice match for us, a close one. Bulgaria played well and deserved the point. Still, ITALY IS OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[Barcik]

For the most part I've seen the Scandinavian derby. Not a great match. The two teams are too much alike each other to provide us with a great match. One thing I can say is that Denmark lacks some nut midfield. Except for Tomasson's goal, which really did come out of nowhere, all of their actions were predictable. Sweden at least has Ibrahimovic (is it a coincedence he isn't really a Swede?  ).
Conspiracy theories will arise. Heck, the match did have the dynamics of one which was set pre-ahead. But, do note that the Italians are still third on goal difference.
Nevertheless, the tragic hero of the evening is Antonio Cassano. The only good Italian player (except the defense and Buffon) in this tournament. It was such a heartbreaking sight seeing him sobbing. I pity him. Not Italy, though.

[Lazy Z]

Ugh, somebody please shoot Trapattoni (sp?). This ain't the 1960's old fart, learn to adjust to the times or stop managing teams. I'm glad I didn't watch the match (I chose a rock concert over it), but just learning that Italy couldn't even defeat Bulgaria until the very last minute is just annoying. Even though I always support Italy, in this case I say good riddance. Though I'm almost certain that everyone in Italy is gonna blame the Scandinavians and say that they agreed to drew so they'd leave Italy out. Hell, it's already happening in Greece . The truth is, Trap is the only reason why Italy was disqualified, just fire him already.

Farlander: Good point, I guess I never looked past the big-name players of the Spanish squad.

Primus: Haha, Portugese people sound a lot like Greeks! I still think you'll defeat the English though, your team keeps getting better with every match.

[LucasFan]

"Of course there is a possibility we will come to a 2-2 draw with them but I don't think it will end 2-2."

Lars LagerbackÃ,  :

[Vel]

That match between Sweden and Denmark was nothing but a comedy.

[Nacho]

I saw the match and I think that it was not comedy... 

[Andail]

Anybody claiming that match was fixed is just clinging onto a desperate excuse for Italy not making it through, and is not looking at thing reasonably.

If you look at the match, you see lots of chances for Denmark to reach 3-1. You will see nothing that indicates a setup.

That's just stupid, and has nothing to do with what soccer - or sport - is all about. Furthermore, it's an extremely offensive, and unfounded accusation.

And Vel, no, it wasn't the best of matches, but a comedy?
I think it appeared worse than it was because we have a similar way of playing, which means most actions were counteracted by the other team, resulting in a kind of stale-mate

Italy and Bulgaria can grudge all they want. Sweden and Denmark made it to the quarter finales perfectly fair and square.

[jaz]

I am looking forward to see today's Czech Republic - Germany game. Czechs don't have anything to loose and can play relaxed and entertaining football while Germans will be determined to win and will fight to the last breath (if necessary).

Germans know they can't play defensively as only victory puts them through. It might be another great match. But what worries me is number of substitutes - it's probable that completely different team will play tonight compared to Holland game. It's almost certain that Nedved, Baros, Koller, Rosicky Poborsky and Galasek will rest, maybe even goalkeeper Cech. 

That's 7 people from 11 and that can be rightfuly called reserve team. I am worried that this B team wont be able to compete with Germans and the defeat will send Holland home. I hope I am wrong.