Football (Soccer)

[Oriphus]

Italy were very poor. Well done to Sweden and Denmark who deserved to go through.

[MPS]

what an upset with italy...

so it's 2-2 in scandinavian derby, bring on the speculations

[Oriphus]

yeah - and the last 5 mins were spent with Sweden just passing the ball about in their own 1/3 of the pitch with Denmark quite happy to allow them. They celebrated together afterwards as well. It wasnt a fixed match like a lot of people thought it would be, but the last 5 minutes saw them through so they called a truce lol

[MPS]

yup it was lots of fun to see them passing the ball, ansd just chatting no idea why merk kept this going on till 92' minute.

it'd be more fun if isakson and sorensen just sit down between their posts, wouldnt it?

[chickeneater]

I threw that in just for fun... I actually am liking European Soccer. It was pretty fun, but I don't follow along... Maybe I should

[Oriphus]

Yeah, it is quite interesting. I recommend watching La Liga and Premiership. If you want lots of action and end to end play, have a look at the Argentina Campeonato Nacional league, and in particular, River Plate and Boca Juniors.

Portugal won and England are out. I think Portugal deserved it, they were the far better team throughout the whole match. I think Beckham was unlucky to miss the penalty, and it was a poor penalty spot, but thats no excuse. I also think that Englands goal at the end of normal time was right to be disallowed. Any contact with a keeper at all always results in the freekick being given. Why should it be any different now? Clearly, from the referee's perspective, Terry's arm is leaning on Ricardo. No matter how much contact he makes, it is still a possible hinderance on the keeper and may have prevented him from gettin air-born. it happens all the time in the Premiership and other European leagues, and is one of the rules that applies to both sides so i see no arguments.

Well done to Portugal, commiseration to England. No doubt there will be some trouble tonight, there was some already in the crowd in the stadium when Portugal went 2-1 up.

[Mig$y]

Originally posted by Oriphus
I also think that Englands goal at the end of normal time was right to be disallowed.

You must be having a laugh....Hinderance of the keeper my a*s...Mmmm, I think I'm just bitter

Poor refereeing throughout the match. I do feel for Darius Vassell a little, he's gonna go down the road Pearce, Batty, Southgate etc went down. We just need to remember Beckham fluffed one aswell.

I thought we definitley cracked a little when Rooney went off injured. Nice to see Owen pop one in tho'

[admin]

If Terry hadn't got into the way, and if it was just Ricardo versus Campbell, it would have counted as a goal even if Sol used his body to block Ricardo. Unfortunately, it looked like that Terry was blocking the 'keeper so Sol can score, when in actual fact he was just in the way. I've definitely seen it given, so I guess it was a 50/50 decision.

I don't think anyone is blaming Vassell, just Beckham. I think Beckham has been poor, but it's a bit harsh to blame everything on him, considering the fact that apart from Rooney and the defense, everyone else has been pretty poor.

Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole were brilliant during the match though - Cole was given the man of the match award by the BBC, both Sol and Ash were rated 9/10. At least they're back now at Arsenal to prepare for next season - our first match is at Everton, Manchester United is away to Chelsea. And it looks like Steven Gerrard will go to Chelsea for £36m - that's what Chelsea needs, another midfielder

[Oriphus]

lol on Gerard to Chelsea - He was nothing special during the championship either, but i know he is good.

Ashley Cole was outstanding in that match, playing alongside mediocre Englishmen who i feel let themselves down quite a bit.

Another big team falls under the pressure of smaller opponents. Bye Bye to France who lose 1-0 to Greece. Fantastic for the Greece players. It may be as i predicted, Holland Play Czech in the Final. What a match that would be.

[admin]

France = Le Crap

They have a good squad with some world class players, but they also have a bad manager and a very rigid formation (and no right sided midfielders, and hence, not one single attack down the right). Henry is forced to fight for scraps of possesion, usually with his back turned towards the goal. Zidane was largely missing as well, mainly because he is forced to play on the right, when he prefers the centre. Vieira is the only one that has played well for all the games, and so it's no coincidence that the only match the French lost came when he was injured. I have no idea what Makelele and Dacourt's job was on the pitch, and it looks like they didn't know either. The defense is poor as well, allowing Greece to score from a free header (you can actually see the defenders running towards the wings when the ball was being crossed into the center).

Oh well, at least most of Arsenal's main players are back now. Looking forward to the new season now (and any potential signings during the off season - we've already released 17 players, including 3 first teamers, and loaned out Bentley, so unless the youth step up, we'll have to sign a few players to fill in the gaps).

[MPS]

hi guys, back after a few days 2 home. no net, but i watched lll the games iof course

wow... what a shocker by greece. and a good one. france played like turtles & snails - all sleepy and all

i feel england deserved the win the same way portugal did, it was a terrific game, just one but of luck decided who wins.

grreat to finally see holland win an important match on penalties (1st time since when? ) and in 80th minute of Cze-Den its 3-0 to czechs and a great play by baros.

so it's portugal-holland (yummy ) and czech-greece (bye bye hellas ). lovely to see holland-czech confrontation #3 (after qualis & 1st round of course).

don't blame beckham. if anyone is to blame it's erikson for taking off scholes & gerrard so soon in that game.

big up the netherland posse!

[Oriphus]

Sorry guys, been working hard, not much time for internet. Yeah, its the first time in a major championship that the teams that play the opening match have made it to the final. I think it will be a victory for Portugal though. Congrats on Greece getting to the final. Gotta head to bed now, up at 7.30am every morning and not home till about 7.00pm every evening. Ah well, i was a bum for a year, so i cant complain lol - the life of a student

Oh, looks like we have sort of signed Gerard Pique, wonder what the craic is with that. Still waiting to see who our big name signing will be because we are yet to sign a player that will be a contender for regular first team football....

[admin]

Gerard Pique Bernabeu is his full name - didn't think he would stay long at Barcelona with a name like that. He is supposed to be a very promising defender. We signed midfielder Cesc Fabregas from them last season as well (on a free, because he was too young to be registered as a professional player) when they were hailing him as the new Guardiola - they ended up complaining to FIFA or something, and we loaned and eventually sold van Bronckhorst to them as compensation. Looks like they are angry about Pique leaving as well.

Actually, I am surprised players are leaving Barca - I think they are on the verge of having a great team, centered around Ronaldinhno. They've also made a few smart signings, like Larsson, Guily, and are about to make a few more, including Ballack, Trezeguet. They also want Arsenal midfielders Edu, Gilberto and Vieira (most likely to get back at us for signing Cesc).

And about Euro, Wenger said well before the tournament that Greece were the dark horse - I should have put some money on that, could have made a killing.

[Oriphus]

Well done to Greece who no one tipped to go all the way. Well, no one except the man on sky sports who put £1,000 on them to win at 250:1 and got a nice £250,000 + his £1,000 back. Its a pity you didnt put some money on it, you would have gotten cracker odds.

Lucky bastard

On Gerard Pique, yeah...he aint gettin much of a look in at Barcelona. His dad was an executive for 20 years there and is sad to see him leave. I agree with you about Barcelona on the verge of something. With Ronaldinho and Larsson, its breath-taking to think of the attacking side of Barcelona. Add Saviola and Guilly to that and its even better.

[admin]

Should have bet on Wenger saying we will go unbeaten as well (although he still says he didn't say it that way, but he's learned to accept it ).

So that's Euro 2004 then.

So the new Spurs boss, former French "manager", blames Henry and Pires' fight for France's defeat. That Santini has come out to blame everyone but himself for France's woes, this just shows how classless this man is to reveal this story, although it is highly likely to be made up. I won't be surprised if it was him that leaked the story about Henry and the younger French players plotting to get rid of Zidane, which Vieira came out later to deny. Santini is the perfect Spurs manager.

Wenger has stated that buying Rooney is his dream, just weeks after he said that Rooney is not part of his plan. United, meanwhile, have said that they can't afford him (or to be more precise, they don't think anyone is worth that much) and have said that they've already bought all the players they need, which is a bit strange. Not only that, United plans to release more players. I am betting United will still buy a "big name" player, but perhaps not Rooney.