EURO 2008 Discussion Topic

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 07:15

so do you think that they can qualify from their tough group? no one expected much from them in the 2006 WC, but then look what happened! but looking at their squad, it looks very old.

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 01:21

Well it starts in about 12 hours now, with Switzerland Vs Czech Republic. Czechs were very good during qualification but the Swiss will have plenty of home support. It will be a cagey affair, and I think Under 2.5 goals would be the best bet here in a game where Baros is the best striker...

I also found this handy EURO predictor site: http://bracket.worldcupblog.org/

I've got a Germany/Italy final, with Germany winning it.

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 06:05

Recent results:

Switzerland 0 - 1 Czech Republic
Portugal 2 - 0 Turkey
Austria 0 - 1 Croatia
Germany 2 -0 Poland

So all the favorites winning and keeping clean sheets so far. Tonight it's Romania Vs France and Holland Vs Italy.

Post by **Gunsmith** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 09:40

England makes history by backing the Germans to win!

Sheba · Post by **Sheba** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 00:09

France - Romania = Lame.

Domenech needs to get a clue and play more offensive to farm points for pool matches, camping does not pay off, as proven later by:

Netherlands - Italy. Windmills people raped. Some italians I know irl are complaining about the coach's questionnable management. Same complaints I heard from french supporters. So if Italy's defeat has shown anything, France'd better be very careful with Netherlands and wake the fuck up.

Spain - Russia left a very good impression of Spain, BUT their defense still shows signs of weakness. And we know what happened in 2006 once they got out their pool matches.

Greece - Sweden. Greece needs to learn to play in another way than putting eleven guys in the goal post. It may have worked four years ago when nobody expected to be jewed that way, but now everyone know how Greek plays (it reminds me of France's 2002 performance). And Swede's daring game has paid off.

PenPen · Post by **PenPen** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 14:21

Quickie points after seeing most of the matches in round 1...

The Cechs - I doubt that they'll go far. Their offense mainly consists of kicking long balls towards Jan Koller. Take him out and their offense is more fluid. Think they'll qualify for the next stage though.
The Portugese - One of the best performances in round 1 IMHO. Tonight's game should cement their status as the best team of group A. I don't think C.Ronaldo is as effective though, from the Turkey match.
The Swiss - On that match against the Cechs, the HK commentators said that Alex Frei is on par with the top strikers in the world like Torres, Toni, etc (to which I loled heartily). Then he gets injured and is lost for the whole cup. Barring a miracle I doubt that they'll qualify.
The Turks - I don't remember anything from the first match now for the Turks. Third place in this group maybe.

The Austries - They played well. I'm not sure whether they'll get a goal or a point, but that match against the Croats I think they did well enough to get some respect. Will they qualify? I don't think so but hopefully they can spoil a few more.
The Croats - Looks listless against the Austries and if not for that early penalty and the Austries' inability to get a goal, they'd prolly lose that game (a draw is more likely). If they continue this form, I doubt that they'll go beyond the final 8.
Ze Germans - Ze Germans are probably the top two-three in performances. A rather dominating match against Poland, the attacking is fluid. I had doubts about Lehmann but from that match I think he's ok.
The Polish - I don't know half of their players well enough but it seems that their defense just lets the ball through and wait for the keeper to deal with the ball instead. It's that porous.

The Frenchies - Played like crap against Romania, couldn't manage a decent attack and overall a disappointment against Romania. The current forward tandem of Anelka (he looks like Kobe Bryant) and Benzema aren't getting any sparks. Hopefully when Henry is back they can do better, but Henry doesn't score in these kinda big tournaments. Possibly out now.
The Italians - My favorite team who performed like crap as well. Before subbing in Del Piero and "The World's Greatest Left-Back" Grosso, the offense is like the Cechs except that only Toni is up front with Di Natale running around somewhere else. Pirlo is not on form, Gattuso is now a card machine. Marco Matarazzi is slow and possibly injured. I rather like how they played in the second half with Del Piero and Grosso on the field. Many problems to be solved, or else they're out.
The Dutch - Beating the Italians 3-0 is a formidable feat and I don't expect them to drop, but hey, it's the Dutch. They gave the Italians a lot of pressure in their backcourt and I think they'll continue to do that. I don't think they have any defense issues, but then the Italians didn't really give much threat to them until late in the match. Possibly going first place in this group.
The Romanians - I'll admit I have no idea what happened at that match since they had a very, very boring game against the Frenchies. If things go just as planned (lol) they'll qualify.

The Greek - Didn't see this match, but losing to the Swedes 2-0 probably means that what they did in 2004 doesn't work anymore now. For now let's put them at 3rd place for this group.
The Russians - Man, that defense is more porous than the Polish. Getting here is an accomplishment in itself I guess. I don't think they'll qualify.
The Spanish - Their counterattacks look reaaaaaaaallly good against the Russians. But what about the two other teams? The Greek will prolly tune up their defenses up a notch while the Swedes are at least better defenders than the Russians. Also Spain has some issues in the back, it's as if the defenders don't care much about each other. They'll go first, but what happens afterwards (especially against the second place on group C, and then maybe the first place of group C) is anyone's guess.
The Swedes - They always get past the group stage and I doubt that this year is any different. Their striking force is probably one of the best now.

So I guess it'll be like this in the next round.
Portugal vs Croatia
Czech vs Germany
Holland vs Sweden
Spain vs Italy

That just sounds too predictabo. LMAO

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 06:27

LOL @ germany. so much for the favorites. possible qf with portugal would be epic.

anyone know if austria beat germany, will they go through? will GD or h2h take precedence? cos if its GD, austria would have to win by 2 goals, which is probably beyond the austrians.

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 21:20

HOLY MOLEY. Holland have now raped both of the 2006 WC finalists, and they both now sit at the bottom of the group. Holland will top the group for sure now, and maybe rest some players and give Romania a chance? Would be pretty epic if neither France or Italy qualified, which would happen should Romania beat Holland.

Sheba · Post by **Sheba** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 21:38

Dutch are fucking awesome, I have loved them back in 1998 (I was rooting for them when they were against Brazil) and in 2002. Now, they shows that they have not just the good tactic and means to make it bear fruit, but also the passion, the spark that make me go, "oh shit, awesome".

Sheba · Post by **Sheba** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 05:54

The last thirty minutes of Czech Republic vs turkey were fucking intense!

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 08:16

Biggest bottlejob since Milan/Pool CL final '05 or Australia/Japan WC '06. 3 goals in 15 minutes to send the Turks through. Brilliant stuff. This is what cup football is all about.

Hope Austria can beat the old enemy Germany tonight, but Germany only need a draw to go through...

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 05:42

ouch france. and bad luck romania. they were favorites to win that match too. just shows how good holland are. they field a 2nd string side and still manage to beat a side that had everything to play for.

Sheba · Post by **Sheba** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 07:09

French team's fate was pretty much sealed when Ribery was down. And the red card was icing the cake.

I fucking hope that it will be the last time that Domenech lead the team, this "gg 0-0 we have not taken a goal" bullshit mentality has gone on for too long, but my expectation of him being gone are low. You can afford to play conservative after the pool matches, or against latin american teams, but you cannot do that when you need to farm points to get out of pool matches!

PS: Just after the last defeat, when journalists has interviewed him, he has the fucking nerves to do his declaration of marriage with some female journalist. Instead of giving explanations as for why shit got fucked up bad for the french football team.

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 13:36

haha yeah, heard about that proposal. also heard that she didn't say yes (yet)! LOL

he'll be out of a job soon so she probably made the right choice.

ok so now we have some huge quarter-final clashes coming up: Portugal Vs Germany and Italy Vs Spain. I have a feeling Italy might upset the Spaniards here...

Sheba · Post by **Sheba** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 14:13

Spain'd better fix their swiss cheese defense.

PS: As for the french journalist, she has not said yes, but commented that her best hope would be a new manager for the french football team. Other journalists are expecting Didier Deschamps or Laurent Blanc, but this is just speculation.