The Official Euro 2004 Thread

According to a girl I work with her ex who is Greek says they invented every sport. So I guess they should be good at soccer then?
Shakes things up so some new blood in a major competion great. Now if the Greeks have an unknown F1 team lying around.

Howard

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Originally posted by Two-Sheds:
Am I alone in thinking Greece can do one over France then?

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Well done, Mr. Sheds.

Davie

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They all need to take place kick lessons from Jonny Wilkinson. When he was practicing at Middlesborough FC last year, he told the players he was going to try and bounce the ball off the cross bar from the halfway line. He only managed it five times in a row.

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The difference is that Wilkinson is truly a world class player in his chosen sport whereas Beckham is only truly world class in marketability.

France going out is good news and makes me feel happier today, but it does remind me how pants we were in losing to them. I guess it shows that the last world cup wasn't a blimp for them.

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Originally posted by Bhoyo:

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Originally posted by Two-Sheds:
Am I alone in thinking Greece can do one over France then?

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Well done, Mr. Sheds.

Davie

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Seconded, and I posted this was the only cert of the quarter finals, shows what I know - as usual. If I were a Spurs fan I would be worried. Mind you, as a Liverpool fan I have worries of my own

Same here. My answer was going to be "Greece have had their moment in the sun".

I'd also be concerned now if I were a Spurs fan. The French superstars may be past their best but they're still pretty good, with an awful lot of talent coming through. I'd have thought it was quite an achievement to demotivate them to such a level.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Two-Sheds:


The difference is that Wilkinson is truly a world class player in his chosen sport whereas Beckham is only truly world class in marketability.



Thank You! This has been obvious to the rest of the world for a very long time. Hopefully his God-like status is now a thing of the past. Much like him..

red

"They all need to take place kick lessons from Jonny Wilkinson. When he was practicing at Middlesborough FC last year, he told the players he was going to try and bounce the ball off the cross bar from the halfway line. He only managed it five times in a row"

As much as I admire Wilkinson, that claim sounds like complete bollocks to me.

Matthew

Am I alone in thinking Greece can do one over France then?

No, I had a fiver on Greece at 9.6 to 1 on Betfair!
John

In claiming he was right to disallow Campbell's goal the Swiss ref said "England should remember that we are at Euro 2004 and not playing in the English Premier League" and "It was a clear foul, the keeper was in his own area and must be protected and if it happened again, I would make the same decision."

Having read the official rules on the UEFA website, nowhere does it mention goalkeepers get special protection. To me this is a referee clearly misinterpreting the rules himself. Back in the old days pushing the keeper into the net when he was on the line was considered a fair way to score, provided it was shoulder to shoulder. Now I agree the rules were changed in that respect many years ago, but are we now to believe that football is a non-contact sport with respect to the keeper?

John Terry clearly did not make any move towards the keeper, wasn't looking at him or attempting to deliberately push him. He simply jumped and put his arms out in the way that everyone does when they jump. Had it been another defender and not the keeper, would the goal have stood? I am 100% certain that would have been the case.

John

When watching the aforementioned non goal my beloved german commentator immediately said that it was for infringement, before the thing went further. My mate and I though both pretty sad by the decision didn't think twice about it's correctness at the time, and now in retrospect I still don't, innit.

Fritz Von Youseeoryoudon'tsee

Mattew

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Technically that means Greece are better than England.

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Now there is a list of teams who are better than England ...

Arye

The reports all say the Holland-Sweden game was dull. Am I the only one who thought it was enthralling throughout, and fantastic in extra time?

Both teams looked better than Portugal - or any of the teams who've gone home.

Davie

The game was so great that for the first time I was asleep during the game.

The penalty kicks were ok.

Arye

Gronkear (or however it is you spell that Dane's name) was a complete shit in getting the Czech player booked. I hope that UEFA take a good look at his actions and take appropriate action.

Mike

It's "Gronkjaer" and yes he was a complete shit last night.

Regards,

JonR

BTW, for the record I note that my prediction that the Czech Republic will win the competition is still intact, though I must admit I did start to 'wobble' after that dismal first half last night....

Whilst waiting for the semi-finals to roll around, here is some football trivia with a Euro theme to keep you all occupied.

Can you name five British players -- two Englishmen, two welshmen and a Scotch -- who have played for three different clubs that have won the European Cup/Champions League. (Note that the players need not have been playing for the clubs at the time the club won the European Cup).

Matthew

I'm getting real withdrawl symptoms from a lack of Euro footy action. I'll miss it when it's over.
Matthew, that is a bit of a bastard question. Is Keegan one?
Simon

"Is Keegan one?"

Scunthorpe (or was it Hartlepool?), Liverpool, Hamburg (losing finalists to Forest), Southampton and Newcastle if memory serves. So no -- unless Scunthorpe won it one year when I wasn't looking.

John Charles was one of my guesses and is wrong. Cardiff, Juve, Roma and Leeds are his clubs I believe.

To prevent random guessing I think you need to come up with clubs.

A few clues:

One of the Englishmen for two midlands clubs and a northern European Cup heavyweight.

The other's career went from railwayman to the glittering heights of Seria A.

The Welshman was mostly a one club player but had a brief disastrous spell abroad with one huge club that went so badly he was loaned to another former Euro cup winner.

Matthew

[This message was edited by Matthew Robinson on Mon 28 June 2004 at 23:02.]

That's a bugger of a question. Did Roy Race ever play for anyone other than Melchester?

Trevor Francis?
Ian Rush?

"McInally - Bayern, Celtic, Villa"

Bravo.

"David Platt? - Villa, Forest, Most Of Serie A"

Bravo x 2. Villa, Juve and Forest. He was also a ManYoo player (before Crewe) for 1 year but never actually played for them.

Matthew

You are on a roll Alex.

At this point I should confess that I am stuck on the second Welshman.

Well done on Mark Hughes as well to Nick.

I'm surprised you haven't got the other Englishman Nick. He's from your neck of the woods.

Matthew

We are still missing an Englishman. Who played for Nick's club, another midlands Euro winner and a northern Euro powerhouse.

Matthew