The Official Euro 2004 Thread

This sounds familiar. The German half, that is. I don't know anything about the Dutch.

PS- I've been told you'll be contacting me about some things. No funny stuff this time, wise guy.

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Originally posted by Ludwig:
How did Germany look up to the 81st minute? I wanted to stream the audio but things pulled me away from my desk.

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They were in control until Holland brought on the big lad who used to play for Forest, then started lumping it up to him!

Ugh. What a boring game. Reminded me of watching Liverpool in Europe on the telly in the 70's. Absolutely no finesse.

P

Well, I'm pleased to say that the German side did much better than I'd thought. What they lacked in flair, they made up in concentration and determination.

The Dutch improved in the second half; one of the reasons was that Davids, who I don't particularly like anway and who did not contribute anything but complaining to the game, was substituted.

Ballack did much better than van der Var. I was especially pleased that the young players in the team did so well; Friedrich and Lahm in defense were really good, Kuranyi was brilliant against Stam. The Dutch couldn't have complained if the ref had awarded a penalty against the Dutch after one particularly vicious attack of Stam on Kuranyi.

Still, overall, the result was correct.

The German commentary was suprisingly Oh so different last night, it's very quiet on the street this moaning too in the heart of Europe, I'm looking forward to the Turkish - Scottish game later, innit.

Fritz Von Tobleronemakesyoufat

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Originally posted by Berlin Fritz:
I'm looking forward to the Turkish - Scottish game later, innit.

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What channel's that on?

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Originally posted by Markus Sauer:

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Originally posted by Berlin Fritz:
I'm looking forward to the Turkish - Scottish game later, innit.

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What channel's that on?

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Markus alte bohne, it's on the I wish Discovery channel at 18:00 narnia time.

Tschuß, Fritz Von Marmitemuncher

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Originally posted by alexgerrard:

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Originally posted by Jon "The Tipster" R

Hmm...I too will be supporting the Dutch tonight.

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Jon,

As you have an ability to rival my own at being the anti-midas with your tipping, please can you start supporting the French? I figure that if you do that, and I support the Spanish, England will be guaranteed a tournament victory.

ag

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Alex,

That sounds like a plan!!

Regards,

"The Tipster"

PS: Allez les bleus!!

I thought this appropiate for this thread; INNIT:

Sven Goran Ericsson is on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and has reached
the million pound question. Chris Tarrant says "Right Sven, this is for one
million pounds, and remember, you still have two lifelines left, so please
take your time.'
Here's your question: What type of animal lives in a sett?
a) a badger
b) a ferret
c) a mole or
d) a cuckoo?
Sven ponders for a while and says "No, I'm sorry Chris, I'm not too sure.
I'll have to go 50-50."
Right, Sven, let's take away two wrong answers and see what you're left with
" Badger" and "Cuckoo" are the two remaining answers.
Sven has a long think, then scratches his head and says "No, Chris, I'm
still not sure, I'm going to have to phone a friend."
So who are you going to call, Sven?" says Chris.
Hmmm.. I think I'll call David Beckham." So Tarrant phones David Beckham.
David, this is Chris Tarrant from 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'. I've got
Sven Goran Ericsson here, and with your help he could win one million
pounds.
The next voice you hear will be Sven's".
Hello David" says Sven. "It's the boss here. What type of animal lives in a
sett?
Is it a badger or a cuckoo?"
It's a badger, boss." says Becks without hesitation.
You sure, son?" says Sven.
Definitely, boss. One hundred percent. It's a badger. Definitely."
Right, Chris," says Sven, "I'll go with David. The answer's a badger.
Final answer." Sven," says Chris, "That's the correct answer. You've won One
million pounds!!" Cue wild celebrations.
Next morning at training, Sven calls Beckham across. "Son, that was
brilliant last night. I thought I might be taking a gamble giving you a
call, but you played a blinder! But how the hell did you know that a badger
lives in a sett?"
Oh I didn't, boss," replies Beckham, "But everybody knows a cuckoo lives in
a clock."

Fritz Von Bovrilboy

One would assume that the Russian fans will be seriously on the piss as of now (Brits are pussycats compared to this crowd) and I expect those in the security game will be contemplating the immediate safety of a certain referee ?

Fritz Von Moscowlifeinsuranceco

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Originally posted by Berlin Fritz:
One would assume that the Russian fans will be seriously on the piss as of now (Brits are pussycats compared to this crowd) ........

Fritz Von Moscowlifeinsuranceco

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Surely

Fritz von Idontknowthedifferencebetweenenglandandbritain ?

You Cannie say that John, many non English Brits are there in Portugal to support their Prime Candidate for the Championship, innit ?


Fritz Von Manyofthemwontreturneitherwouldyou ?

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Originally posted by Berlin Fritz:
You Cannie say that John, many non English Brits are there in Portugal to support their Prime Candidate for the Championship, innit ?

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Well there is Alan Hansen I suppose.

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Originally posted by Berlin Fritz:
You Cannie say that John, many non English Brits are there in Portugal to support their Prime Candidate for the Championship, innit ?


Fritz Von Manyofthemwontreturneitherwouldyou ?

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But the non-English 'Brits' are hardly beating the crap out of the resorts, are they ?

(fact based on the towns noted of the arrested so far)

A mediocre performance, but a great result for England.

The first goal was completely against the run of play, the second was lucky, and the sending off was harsh. That finished off any chance Switzerland might have had. What is it with England and Russian officials?

Among the positives: Campbell (as ever), Neville (an excellent game), Rooney (of course), Vassell (I'd start with him against Croatia) and Gerrard (OK, I finally see it).

Davie

Edited to remove nonsense!

[This message was edited by Bhoyo on Thu 17 June 2004 at 19:10.]

What do people think of the Totti ban, no not that sort of totty, banning the italian for 3 games for spitting?

I think it's justified and what FIFA should have done to Rivaldo a couple of years ago.

He should have been banned from the rest of the tournament.

How much of an example would it set if he returned for a Semi-Final match and scored the winner to take the team into the Final, which they won ?

Banning for spitting I don't know but the way he kicked the danish player just before the match was over is far more serious imo. He should be sent home, that has nothing to do with soccer.

Congrat's to England, but I believe they played better against France, but they will be fine now with help from Sweden...

Hopefully Portugal gets through the first round, good for the atmosphere down there. The czechs have a very nice team, possibly my favourite to the title. Nice for Greece too. Make sure you watch Zlatan doubling his marketvalue tomorrow

Oh shit.

Croatia have decided to join the tournament at last so we are in for a big fright on Monday.

Our midfield couldn't keep the ball even playing against ten men - Lampard/Gerrard doesn't look right somehow. Rooney is a red card waiting to happen and we have the worst keeper in the tournament.

How about:

Owen Rooney
Dyer (Gerrard or Lampard) Hargreaves (Gerrard or Beckham)
Cole Terry Campbell Neville

With Hargreaves doing the Makalele/Hamman holding role that Gerrard and Lampard are patently shit at?

Apart from that, well done chaps!

Well said that man, just about summed it up I reckon !

Fritz Von Offsetyerbets:

P.S. Chairman Mao was totally against spitting everywhere, and look where it got him ?

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Originally posted by Nick Lees:
Edited to insert nonsense.

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So can one of youse Ing-uh-lish explain why Ledley King, after not putting a foot wrong against France, is dropped for Terry (who still looks like the Welshman in Coupling)?

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Owen looks so out of sorts, and Vassel looked so much better when he came on, you have to start him, don't you?

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Vassel seems more of the super sub type to me. let's face it the depleted Swiss were well and truly shagged out by the time he got on. Owen did well for the first goal so I would stick with him.

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Hargreaves didn't look well suited to the 'holding' role, although it was a good punt up-field that let to the second goal.

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Vision . In the absence of Nicky Butt the alternative is Phill Chuckle. It seemed part of the problem was neither Lampard or Gerrard was playing the holding role i.e stopping Yakin. You can imagine the far less talented David Batty kicking Yakin all over the place, putting a stop to all his 'fancy football' nonsense.

Perhaps I am being too pessimistic, the heat clearly put us at a disadvantage against the numerically superior Mediteranean opposition. Eh? Oh.

PS. How many suicidal backpases are France going to benefit from this tournament?

"PS. How many suicidal backpases are France going to benefit from this tournament?"

Well that's 4 goals so far than owe more to the opposition's mistakes or bad luck than France's obvious abilities

• Two dreadful back passes
  
• One deflected free kick
  
• and Emile Heskey (enough said).
  

With that sort of fortune I cannot see anyone else standing a chance once they start playing to their normal standards.

Vassell only plays really well (at international level) as a sub when his pace and energy allow him to be so effective late in the game.

Owen has no form at all at the moment and looks well out of sorts. But he is a proven, world class striker and, despite the continued ermergence of Rooney, it remains my view that England can only win this thing if Owen plays well. He has to start.

The midfield was sub-par against the Swiss but this is classic England struggling to beat mediocre opposition. I also think the heat was a major factor as England at such a slow pace takes away a lot of their natural game.

Also this quartet, largely due to Sven's reluctance to abandon Nicky Butt, have hardly played together. There is much more to come and work to do on the training ground (this is where Sven has to add value if he really is any good) but the drop off from this four to Dywer and Hargreaves is so huge that I doubt much will be gained from switching things around.

Overall England's problem is that they only bat down to 11 and after the first choice we are quickly into very average (at best) players like Heskey and Dywer. That could well be our downfall and I can see us struggling if we have to come from behind and win a game late on. We really lack any sort of game changer from the bench and are really just replacing one player with a worse version when the better one gets tired.

Matthew

"With that sort of fortune"

If Vuk were here I am sure he would point out that France have consistently been the luckiest team in international football going all the way back to their World Cup win in 98.

Matthew