Euro 2008

[woodyloveslinkin]

*and for the people who didn't know this was on in the first place*

Ok. Go the Swiss. For their chocolates. But I still root for Germany in any case, qualified or not.

[Friðbjörn]

good luck with the swiss winning lol

[GraDoN]

swiss will own all rofl

im hoping for another surprise package, like greece in 04 was it i think. Makes it so much better :>

[Sygy]

ffs, i came in here thinking it was going to be about Eurovision

[Friðbjörn]

lol greece winning was surprising but a disgrace for all fans of fast entertaining football

the portuguese side would've made much better winners, they would've deserved it more

it still baffles me how such a horrible team like greece managed to win by scoring occasionally and then defending with 11 men...

 

lol

eurovision is both a disgrace and a laughing stock

[Jeezy]

*cough*Germany*cough*

[ugur90]

all that about portugal is true but i still dont think they've got what it takes to win.

[HaziLPTonz]

germany will be up there somewhere, though i can hardly see them getting past the quarter finals unless theyve got an easy draw, they're one of my dark horse teams, they could pull off a few upsets since theyve kept the main core of their wc06 team(and they played really well)

 

quaresma was at a bad place in barca, never really helped him develop(he joined them really young,people hafto remember alot of players take time to develop and dont necesarily become great players that young), and just because a player doesnt make it at a club like barca doesnt make them any less of a player, hes shown to be alot more than capable of wining a match, hes still got abit to develop but hes still a great foil for Ronaldo. deco,yeah hasnt exactly had a great season injury wise, but he was still good enough to trouble United during the champs league, and it shows alot of character to just walk straight back into the Barca line up in a semi final and play well. only surprise is portugal left out star midfielder Maniche, who was easily one of their best at wc06

 

 

btw, lucas neil gave lil nani a slap, and tbh, that headbut was shit, it was piss weak and he had to do it twice, neil went down easier than grosso did at WC06 2nd round, this is MY socceroos captain im talking about here, the so called "hardman" in my australian defence, the guy who slated the asian players for their farcical diving going down like he'd been shot when his face was touched by nani

[Friðbjörn]

yeah Neil isn't innocent, but I was pointing out this Portuguese habit. players like Simao and Hugo Viana dive as well, I've seen this on the latest tournaments Portugal has been on.

and while like I said they would've deserved the victory more, playing entertaining football, they still lack decency.

 

I agree though, they should've included Maniche, he's a good player.

[HaziLPTonz]

its a blight on the game, its there, whetehr its the portugese or whoever, its there, i spose we just hafto deal with it and hope the ref comes down hard on them for the moment

 

looking at the draw, im thinking the following teams will make at least the 2nd round(knockout round)

 

Grp A: Portugal(my favourites to win the tounament), and Czech Rep. (Cech is god between the sticks, and they carry more of a threat than the other 2 teams) Portugal to top unless Czech can pull of a victory against Portugal

 

Grp B: Croatia and Germany look to have the fire power and determination to account of the other 2 fairly easily, Germany to top group

 

Grp C: my group of death, Netherlands,France and Italy, this is prolly too tough to call, looking at perhaps Netherlands and France due to their much more vaunted attacks (France lead by : Trezeguet,Benzema,Arfa,Nasri...etc Netherlands by : Huntelaar,Van Persie,Van Der Vaart,Schneider, Babel) as well as these 2 teams have that sprinkling of youth to play the fast paced game to unlock the Italian game plan as well as an aging defence Zambrotta(31), Cannavaro(35), Materazzi(35), Oddo(32), Grosso(31),Panucci(34) etc as well as talismatic defender Nesta not having played a single game for Italy since marrying in 2007

 

Grp D: Sweden and Spain on account of their lethal forward firepower to prevail here...though look for emerging Russia (lead by mastermind caoch Guss "Aussie" Hiddink) as well as Euro04 defending champions Greece to perhaps pull of a shock, this group may prove too tough to call if one or both faves suffer shock early losses

 

 

by golly...group C and D may just prove to be fun to watch *evil grin* i can smell a few shocks for Euro08 already

[ugur90]

i think the average age of the italian team is double that of the dutch team

[Friðbjörn]

Italy is getting old yes, but they're still strategical masters. Greece won the last cup by playing Italy's game...with the motto "score one and defend!"

 

 

but yeah I agree, Guus Hiddink can do magic, seriously. I think Russia might go far this time around with him at the helm

[HaziLPTonz]

im definately going to be watching group C and D with close intent, its just way too close to call, especially after Spain seemed to leav a few key strikers out-Raul and Krkic, was well as i think Vincente got taken out of the squad, the there may be a few ego issues especially with a packed central midfield of Xabi,Xavi,Fabregas,Iniesta,Senna and some other dudes,russia look good, Arshavin should be good

[Friðbjörn]

Bojan pulled himself out, Aragonés was going to pick him

[littleblackstone]

wow.. cant miss group C (and A of course hehe)

[HaziLPTonz]

the newspaper article statd they left him out due to Bojan telling them he was simply too tired to continue after his first full season, alot of players are tired but are continuing to to be picked and expected to play, the selectors had said they felt bojan was abit too young at this stage, but were going to pick him due to his impressive form, and when Bojan told them he was too tired, it made their decision easier as they had been left undecided

 

dont ask, just read the article and inferred that while bojan was a possible inclusion, the staff still had a few doubts

 

i think spain have made a mistake not to at least include him in the party like they did with Iniesta,Cesc etc for WC06, those 2 didnt play and were there merely to gel with the team and gain first team expiereince, cesc i think only made 1-2 sub appearances. consider if they lose either villa or torres, they are in ALOT of trouble up forward and bojan(even in a sub appearance) would at least have kept teams guessing, their second mistake is leaving fox in the box Raul out, hes a real class act and will be missed i feel, regardless of his age, hes shown to be mor than capable with Real. guiza,while in great form, is no Raul and is still relatively untested

 

there have been talks of a spanish 4-1-4-1 formation, allowing Torres to roam free up forward with an attacking quartet running behind him. while as good as it may sound to be able to squeeze xavi,cesc,iniesta and co in the one team, to hve Villa an Guiza possibly sitting on the bench seems a tad proposterous, as good as torrres is, he still needs another strong forward presence to allow him freedom-take example of Manchester United game when Stevie g went missing and Torres was ripe for Vidic+Ferdinand for the picking, this IS euro08 here, not some middle table premier league team

[Jeezy]

so...it started

 

Switzerland - Czech Republic - 0:1

Portugal - Turkey - 2:0

 

Austria - Croatia - 0:1

Germany - Poland - 2:0

 

yeah

[GraDoN]

yeah im watching, Germany looks like the team to watch so far....

[Jeezy]

yeah im watching, Germany looks like the team to watch so far....

 

I told you before

[GraDoN]

but like always they wont win ^.^

[Jeezy]

but like always they wont win ^.^

I'd say....Germany or Portugal will win.

[Linkin_lp_park]

Nah The Netherlands will win

 

I'm sorry, I thought it was the moment for a joke

[Jeezy]

Nah The Netherlands will win

 

I'm sorry, I thought it was the moment for a joke

 

well...let's see how they'll play tomorrow

I'll definitely watch that game

[Linkin_lp_park]

well...let's see how they'll play tomorrow

I'll definitely watch that game

 

I'm not XD

I'll just watch the score Or listen to the screaming people outside

[HaziLPTonz]

considering i just watched the netherlands TOWEL the italians BIG time, theyd hafto shorten in terms of odds, like i;ve said, Italy are TOO slow, and got caught TWICE on the counter with sheer pace outdoing them, hollan may well NOT win the tournament, but with Arjen Robben still to come back into the team and Dutch League top scorer Huntelaar and Celtic hitman Venegoor waiting in the wings, i could well EAT MY WORDS about this dutch side

 

France playing Anelka instead of Henry or GOmis...that is SUCH a big NO NO from Domenech, hes made a MASSIVE blunder playing a HACK like Anelka while Henry and Gomis sit on the bench,Trezeguet and Ben Arfa cooling their heals at home, this french side looked a lil jaded, they struggle to break down a well organised Romanian side and they may continue to struggle given Hollan just towelled Italy and Italies defence and attack would easily outshine Romanias, france need to be alot more positive, throw in Henry, send Anelka home and allow Nasri alot more game time and we will see a much better, if not at least MORE fluent french side,France are one of the favourites, but if they continue to shackle their stars and not find the proper combinations, they will flouder heavily

 

portugal...hmmm...ronaldo doesnt look into it tbh, the whole real madrid thing is clearly weighing him down(his teammates have gone on record saying ronaldos been abit recluse lately), and its a major worry that quaresma has fallen behind simao and nani in terms of flank power, given portugals thereby lack of up front strikefore, theyre gonna need something drastic to defeat a heavy weight, cause lets be honest, turkey arent exactly a heavy weight of world football, while their win was faily easy, its nothing more than covering the cracks atm,call me harsh, but portugal are prolly the favourites in this tournament and players like quaresma and ronaldo need to get their heads out of their arses or they face an embarasing early exit