Re: Euro 2004
 

Well, courtesy of the BBC, we can relive the excitement from multple angles and at multiple speeds.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualreplay/euro2004/

Re: Euro 2004
 

At least we played well for the 90 minutes - unfortunately, we couldn't keep the concentration for the last few minutes (and, I think it's fair to say, Gerrards mistake didn't help).

On the plus side, I thought King played brilliantly and, on that peformance, should keep Terry out of the team for Thursday, and Rooney was great until he started getting a little bullish.

There were definitely positives and they should be heartened by the way they played, even if the result went against us.

Re: Euro 2004
 

just a few points of note..

For all you knocking the Welsh i was watching the game with my Welsh mate, as I do nearly every England game and he went just as mental as the rest of us when we took the lead. In fact the only sport he don't follow England is rugby which is understandable.

Secondly the pub i was watching the game in had employeed several attractive barmaids and given them tight fitting England tops to wear. They then compounded this error by allowing other attractive women into the pub as well. Now when i'm trying to watch my football particularly a major tourney i don't want to be distracted.

As for the match itself we weren't very good. In the first half we were too narrow. Scholes had drifted in from the left which was expected but Becks did the same from the right. We never had any width and everyone got in each others way. At HT i thought Sven would MANAGE the side and get us to corrrect this but he didn't :Yikes: :Yikes: Also when France started to come into the game we just gave the ball away and hoofed it up the field. The ball was missing all our midfielders and strikers couldn't get it and so it kept comming back. I thought Sven would MANAGE the side hear and shout onto the pitch to change tactics but he didn't. :Yikes: :Yikes: He then replaced the strikers with Heskey and Vassell who still couldn't get the ball because we were just kicking it away anywhere instead of playing it out of the box. He should have taken off Owen and put on Nicky Butt of someone to hold up the midfield and play the ball out of the box.. I'm loosing what little faith i ever had in Sven. When does he ever actually manage the side or change tactics during a match!!! He doesn't even seem to be watching half the time and he never shouts orders to the team..

if Rooney had passed to Vassell before he was fouled he could have scored and then pen miss wouldn't have mattered. The Becks pen wasn't far enough over, watch it next to the Zidane one and see where he put his. Not sure why James went for the ball to give away the pen it was going to run out anyway. Didn't stand a chance with the free kick but was abit of a Phil Neville tackle on the edge of the box from Heskey.. If we weren't being so negative Gerrard wouldn't have played back to the keeper anyway.

Alot to work on for next game least both of those teams looked rubbish :)

Need to keep out shape better and leave our wingers on the wing then the full backs can overlap which never really happened yesterday

Re: Euro 2004
 

Where's this pub then?.....as I don't mind being distracted. :naughty: :D

My major gripe, too. And we always do it. It just doesn't make sense at all.

I partly agree. I thought he might have took Rooney off as he was looking likely to be booked or worse. But bringing Heskey on....no way. Vassell would have been quick enough to cause some grief up front on his own, so we should have shored up the midfield (Butt).

I think James has to be one of our worst first-choice keepers. There's better than him. He's useless in a crisis.

Owen might have well not been on the pitch. He's over-rated. If he ain't scoring, then he's doing nothing. He can't dribble or pass.

Gary Neville was mostly useless. He rarely got down the wing, and when defending, he just backed off letting France get a cross in every time.

Okay....rant over! :rant:

Re: Euro 2004
 

That principle being...???

Re: Euro 2004
 

OMG how we lost in injury time i will never understand!!!

I was in a bar full of french just went to the bar to get a celebration pint, by the time i got it france had won :(

debs you are an :angel: will buy you a drink or 2 when/if i meet you at some point

roll on thursday!!!

Re: Euro 2004
 

Damien, please - use a little punctuation!!! :spin:

Re: Euro 2004
 

But OB - he did use little punctuation :p:

Re: Euro 2004
 

I was cheering England on last night as I always do in the big championships where NI or ROI aren't there.

Though I did think the comentators spoke too soon, remember one stage Clive going on about how the french players wouldn't hear the end of it next season, and what about old Bobby and Lesley King!

Good to see Henry doing his usual big game stuff.

Re: Euro 2004
 

the only good point from last nights game is that I don't think France will win if they play like that :)

even worse just realised what that could mean. Another easy win for the German's :mad: :mad: :mad: :td:

Re: Euro 2004
 

As a little light relief, I thought this was quite funny... :)

Re: Euro 2004
 

Denmark 0 - Italy 0

Don't forget Sweeden vs Bulgaria tonight ITV1 7:30pm

Re: Euro 2004
 

Wow, that headed goal by Larrson has to be one of the best headed goals I have seen, fantastic. Up to now the worst sides that I have seen are the Swiss and Croatia. If England don't get out of their group they want kicking.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Good match, the Sweden v Bulgaria. Pretty even until the 2 Larsson goals

Re: Euro 2004
 

You're not wrong there. It'll be interesting to see how the Swedes do against Italy. Denmark-Italy was an entertaining game, I think the Swedes may give Italy a run for their money as well.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Just seen the highlights of both games. Larrson looked sharp for Sweden. But Italy looked poor against Denmark....and that foul by Totti should have seen him serving a ban. Very nasty, and it definitely looked a deliberate act from the replay.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Yes, I don't think Totti even tried to go for the ball (I'm not a big fan of him or Italy anyway). Prematch comments suggested Italy would take Denmark apart, but in fairness, I think Denmark played really well and took the game to the Italians. Interesting group. I'd like to see the Denmark and Sweden go through. I never thought I'd say this about Sweden, but they have some impressive strikers, and actually play an attractive game.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Agreed. :tu: I think Sweden will be a threat this time around.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Tomorrow's big match: Germany v Holland (7.45, BBC1)

Go Holland!!!!!

Re: Euro 2004
 

you are saying Czech Republic v Latvia isn't a big match ?

Re: Euro 2004
 

That's exactly what I'm saying. It could be a big score though :D

Re: Euro 2004
 

Cracking game last night - really enjoyed Larsson's goals. Bulgaria were pretty unlucky though.

Re: Euro 2004
 

yeah right up to the second goal Bulgaria were still in it. They even shaved the post 30 seconds before Larsson scored. Even if he does play in Scotland still really rate him as a player. Deservers to go to a Barca, Milan etc and show everyone what he can do.

Couldn't believe this was a reply of the third place play-off of the 94 World Cup. Just shows how poor that tourney was and we didn't even qualify for it :(

Re: Euro 2004
 

Stop press: Nicky Butt out of Euro 2004 . UEFA refuse the FA's request to bring in Scott Parker. (Source) Key103 radio news...

http://www.sportinglife.com/football...land_Lead.html

Re: Euro 2004
 

That could prove a problem if Lampard gets injured as Butt is still a very good holding midfielder (which, TBH, we probably could have done with on Sunday).

Who does that leave us with? If we take our first choice four as Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes (if he's fit), am I right in saying that only leaves Joe Cole and Owen Hargreaves? If that's the case, then I can't see why UEFA won't let us call somebody else up - Butt's injury was sustained while training at the tournament, so I can't see the problem.

On the other hand, maybe they won't let us call Scott Parker up 'cos he's been cr@p since he moved to Chelsea - how's about trying for Gareth Barry? At least he's a proven left sided player.

Re: Euro 2004
 

could always play King or Terry as a holding midfielder.. King has done this for Spurs.. Just shows how weak the rest of our squad is outside of the starting 11..

Re: Euro 2004
 

Half time score: Czech Republic 0 Latvia 1... What are the odds on that?

Re: Euro 2004
 

The Latvian keeper is having a blinder, Man Utd put six past him when he played for Arsenal.

Re: Euro 2004
 

he never played for Arsenal he played Crystal Palace.. i think they were talking about some of the defenders Stenanovs or someone like that

Re: Euro 2004
 

Yep I got them mixed up, more English league players here than I can keep track of.

Re: Euro 2004
 

2-1 now to Czech Repuclic, can Latvia reply?

Re: Euro 2004
 

2 mistakes from Kolinko gifted the win to Czech

Re: Euro 2004
 

Not anymore. Still, they put up a brave fight. Kudos to the Latvians...

Re: Euro 2004
 

Germany, Holland 1-1. Germany much the better side IMHO, brilliant finish from Van the Man.

Re: Euro 2004
 

This was one the worst performances I've ever seen by the Dutch team. Only when they put on Van Hooydonk did they start to look threatening. Advocaat has a lot of work to do before they meet the Czech Republic...

Re: Euro 2004
 

It's alleged that one of the French football players has failed a drugs and alcohol test after the match. If this is confirmed as positive, under World Football Federation rules, paragraph 6 sub section 2e, France will forfeit the first group match 3-0.

Source : Linky

Re: Euro 2004
 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

For a moment I considered making a remark about Wales & Russia...

Re: Euro 2004
 

Footballers shall not wear pink ribbons attached to their nasal hair whilst taking penalties??

Re: Euro 2004
 

:rofl:

Re: Euro 2004
 

Get your own back on the French. Have a look at http://www.panlogic.net/frog/

Re: Euro 2004
 

we'll we've seen all the teams play and so far none of them look good enough to win it yet. Even though the Swedes have the best result Bulgaria game them a run for their money for 60 mins..

Was impressed with Latvia yesterday but up a god performance just hope they can keep it up against the other teams in their group..

Re: Euro 2004
 

I have to admit I don't watch a lot of football, but did anyone else think the amount of shirt pulling/arm holding etc, in this match, was excessive? Van Nistelroy's goal was exceptional - especially as the defender had him in a bear hug, when he scored it.

Re: Euro 2004
 

it goes on all the time now.. what really annoys me :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: is the diving and cheating that goes on.. How can any top ref \ the FA \ UEFA \ FIFA think that the standard human reaction to getting kicked in the face like that German \ Brasil bloke Kuranyi was is to cover your face go ARRRGGG and then roll over 6 times in each direction !! :Yikes: :Yikes: :Yikes:

if that was the case what would boxers do when they got kicked...

It seems only the refs and the governing bodies think rolling on the floor 15 times after a slight touch is believable and then 2 minutes later they can sprint for 40 yards..

It's been going on since the first game of the tourney and really should be stopped.. They are meant to be sportsmen.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Yes, I saw some footage on BBC where they showed how one of the German defenders was holding Van Nistelrooy during corners. Completely unacceptable.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Bolton are to fine their Greek midfielder' Stelios, a weeks wages under club rules for getting cramp whilst playing against Portugal in Euro 2004.:disturbd:

Re: Euro 2004
 

TBH, after such a poor start to the game, Frings could only get better :erm:

Re: Euro 2004
 

The corners were very messy, weren't they, I got the impression during one of them, that the players were so intent on pushing & shoving each other, they hardly realised the ball had arrived :erm:

Re: Euro 2004
 

Uefa have started disciplinary proceedings against Totti for spitting at Poulsen during Italy-Denmark. He could face a three match ban.

http://www.euro2004.com/News/Kind=1/newsId=194049.html

Re: Euro 2004
 

ok but what about all the diving and cheating that has been going on or is that allowed ?

Re: Euro 2004
 

It's called the beautiful game for a reason I suppose :)

Spain-Greece 1-1. Tonight's loser goes home, unless it's Portugal, who are home already.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Well it seems after many have called for harsher punishment it has now happened.

The sore losers after their defeat have been punished.



Link here

:erm:

Re: Euro 2004
 

damn right too.. Found out where the rioting happened was nowhere near where any of the games were!! Don't think anyone involved in it were proper fans.. UEFA don't seem concerned about it at the moment..

Trouble i find is that the media and not just the UK media always focus on our fans.. The German's have this sort of trouble as well but that never gets reported about on the same scale..

Re: Euro 2004
 

No, they're probably waiting to see if we get past the first round........then they'll ban us!:D

Re: Euro 2004
 

it's all going to go wrong the diamond is back

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...nd/3787999.stm

Re: Euro 2004
 

So anybody any idea? Why can't Scholesy score for England.

Re: Euro 2004
 

yeah well I would have got shot of Scholes anyways... grrrrr.....Ashley Cole won't have anyone to overlap with cos Gerrard always drifts inwards.....

Re: Euro 2004
 

If I was Sven, i'd play this formation

James

Neville Campbell Terry Bridge

Beckham Gerrard Lampard A.Cole

Scholes

Rooney

What would you play?

Re: Euro 2004
 

the diamon never works Scholes just ends up running into Rooney all the time. I'd play Gerrard as the holding midfielder instead of Lampard as well. What a waste of his attacking ability..

Think the Scholes thing is blown out of all proportion. We were spoilt by him getting so many goals in his first few internationals.. He isn't really there to score goals just nice when he does.. He is a playmaker and passer and one of the best in England at the moment.. He got 13 goals which is more than Heskey will ever get..

Beckham went ages before his second goal and never got this treatment

Re: Euro 2004
 

Woohoo !!!! 1 - 0 :D

Re: Euro 2004
 

Scrappy performance up to now, why won't David James come to meet crosses?

Terry not playing as well as King either.

Re: Euro 2004
 

I see Calamity James is in form lol ;)

Re: Euro 2004
 

Bit of a harsh sending off that - but we'll accept the gift.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Was wondering why he was sent off :confused: maybe the ref thinks we need some help lol ;)

Re: Euro 2004
 

2-0 :) :) :)

Re: Euro 2004
 

Good header by the goalie! ;) :D

Re: Euro 2004
 

3-0 :):):):):)

Re: Euro 2004
 

Starting to wonder why we continue to play Owen!

Re: Euro 2004
 

England 3 - Switzerland 0

Re: Euro 2004
 

HA HA HAAAAA!!!! :rofl:

....oh.......um........they won? :disturbd:

Re: Euro 2004
 

Resists the urge to gloat about England actually scoring more than they let in ;)
Still got work to do if we want to progress in the Championship though.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Welcome win, but worries me somewhat with the performance..

Far to many free kicks are being given away around our penno box.. teams with class free kick takers will punish up.

Owen's lacking, he's usually a fantastic player but somethings up with him.

On the plus side, Rooney's playing fantastic.. Vassal was instrumental when he came on. Though, I think he should still only be used as a sub... if Owen doesn't play well in the next match, Vassal should come on in about the 60th minute.

Well played to the lads though! :D

Re: Euro 2004
 

too right , a win is a win is a win , they deffo need to raise thier game though , who is going to cheer for france tonight then :erm: :D :D :D

Re: Euro 2004
 

[img]Download Failed (1)[/img]

Good game, bit of a poor start but well done England.

[img]Download Failed (1)[/img]

Re: Euro 2004
 

3-0. I am quite happy with that result, although the game did get boring in the second half. Now, where are Wales again?? :D :D

Still at least we know what will be in the papers.

Re: Euro 2004
 

At home, where we play the games in which we deserve to win ;)

Re: Euro 2004
 

:confused: scored 3 goals and you question whether England deserve the win!....do you actually know what football is!...


I'd stick to Rugby mate, cause you've got absolutly no idea about football!!!!

Re: Euro 2004
 

Please lets not turn this into another situation like we witnessed the other night. Thanks.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Not only do I know exactly what football is, I also know good football when I see it - and it didn't happen today. Yes England won by a good margin but it was also a flattering scoreline, they did not play like a team who were going to win by 3 goals. The first was against the tide of play and for most of the first half England seemed to have a problem keeping possession of the ball.

Yeah their game perked up a bit after Rooney's second goal but England still looked jumpy. A good scoreline which certainly did not reflect the performance but of course as someone has already said, a win is a win....

And if anyone wants to argue with me over this or get nasty, PM me for my hotmail address and we can do it in msn :)

Re: Euro 2004
 

Well, England should try to be more like France. England outplayed France and lost, today, allowing for the 40% temperature they did not play as well but won.
France did not have one clear shot on goal from open play against England and still scraped a very lucky win. Today the get a very dubious free kick and it results in a jammy goal. The Croatian forwards are very good with the ball at their feet, but seem to lack self belief. Although I would like to see them beat the frogs, a win for France is the best result for England, so "Allez Bleu" ;)

Re: Euro 2004
 

Quite agree with you mate, the result was great - but it flattered us, we did not play as a team, at least not until we were 2-0 up, and against 10 men - then we started passing and playing as we had against france..

That said - If we play as well as we did against grance against any other team , we can win..

Personally, I think we could do really well in the tournament, as long as we can play as a team for the important games.

Look at the Rugby world cup - we were cr4p in the league phase- but got through - then we came alive in those all important matches.. :D

Re: Euro 2004
 

Cro 2 - Fra 1...

Re: Euro 2004
 

OH Dear, bad news England

Re: Euro 2004
 

This could be a good thing if it stays like this, it will mean England have to go for a win rather than playing for a draw, these Croats are good on the ball don't you think.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Yes, they are good.

A complete turnaround of the match. You have to respect the Croatians. I think England have their work cut out for them...

Re: Euro 2004
 

Two all.
Whats the scenairo if this game is a draw? do england just need a draw to go through or do they have to win?

Re: Euro 2004
 

A draw will suffice. England have three points, Croatia would have two.

Re: Euro 2004
 

If its a draw - we go through with a draw against croatia - unless switzerland beat france, and then it'll be us, france and switzerland on 4 points, and it goes on goal difference....

Re: Euro 2004
 

Head to head results first, then goal difference. France are so lucky, Croatia should have scored in the last minute., very good game. France scored a dodgy free kick and once again were gifted a second goal by a hopeless back pass.

Re: Euro 2004
 

What was the score?

Re: Euro 2004
 

erm...

www.euro2004.com
www.bbc.co.uk
etc. :erm:

(2-2)

Re: Euro 2004
 

However much I wanted the frogs to get hammered, a draws the best result we could of got really... Means we only need a draw to get through, although judging by the way the Croats have been starting games, and the way we have.. I think we could get another early lead and maybe hold onto it.

France, imo are lacking in defence, especially today with the inclusion of that unfit oaf they call desailly..They are very impressive in the 2nd quarter upwards of the pitch, but that first quarter leaves alot to be desired. If England had attempted to attack a bit more in the first half, they could of grabbed another open play goal, and if beckham had of finished the penno, we'd of been looking at a very comfortable win.
Most of frances decent players are ageing as well... Thuram, Zidane....

Re: Euro 2004
 

Both still top class though. Actually, it looks like Silvestre is the weak link there - two games, two penalties. Man United players have now given away three out of five penalties at Euro 2004.

France won the World Cup in 1998 without any strikers (a young, raw Henry was the top scorer with 3). They can do the same again, but it'll be harder. Vieira has been outstanding in both games so far, but isn't exactly a midfield goalscorer.

France should beat Switzerland.

If they don't let's think... We're on a GD of +2, Croatia are on a GD of 0 at the moment and will still be unless we lose to them, a 1-0 will result in the same GD of +1 on both sides. For France to have a GD of +1 they'd have to draw, hence the four teams can't end up level on GD.

France lose 1-0 - GD of 0
Swiss win 1-0 - GD of -2
Eng lose 1-0 - GD of 1
Cro win 1-0 - GD of 1

So Eng, Cro go through! Cro first I think. However, if France beat or draw against the Swiss we go out. Don't think we want to be counting on the Swiss to do us a favour.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Yes, but we would have had to put more than two passes together, which for the most part seems beyond us. I'd like to know why our overpaid footballers can't do basic things like pass and dribble. It doesn't matter what the system is we're playing or if we're comfortable with it, we should still be able to do the basics.

Not impressed so far, and I think Croatia could be a test. They'll be a handful if we continue playing as we are. And what have we got Owen on there for. That's 2 matches he's done bugger-all. Okay, he put the cross in for the goal last night, but other than that he didn't look threatening at all. He'd be more use as a corner flag!!

Re: Euro 2004
 

Iti's have chucked it away again! :D

They need rid of Vieri.. In the two games i've watched him, they've been useless. They didn't really miss Totti though.

Re: Euro 2004
 

Yeah, always nice to Italy squander a lead :D. Kudos to the Swedes. Italy should have clinched the game though, they had plenty chances. Weird goal by Ibrahimovich... Quality player to get that one in.

Some 'interesting' post match footage: Zidane was sick on the pitch (twice), seconds before scoring the penalty against England. He literally vomits on the pitch, takes one breath, and takes the penalty...

Re: Euro 2004
 

I missed that after the match tonight :( Unsure whether that ':(' should be a ':)', though.. lol

Anyway, if anyone wants to see this then...

http://www.fbold.dk/embold/pic.php?billedarkiv=498

Just link to it, cos it isnt very nice and you may be having a midnight snack;)

Re: Euro 2004
 

What did you say about the Germans, Damien.:rolleyes:

Latvia 0-0 Germany.:D

Re: Euro 2004
 

$@&%!!!!

Never ever ever trust the germans bloodys gits. I had a £5 pound bet and they go and take 2 measly points? BLOODY GERMANS

Re: Euro 2004
 

To be honest Latvia were robbed by the useless English ref. One certain penalty, one 95% certain and another 50/50 .:mad:
At the moment, Italy, Germany and Portugal are going to have a very difficult task to qualify for the next stage. Whats the betting on a 2-2 draw between Denmark and Sweden.;) Germany beating the Czech's or Portugal beating Spain for the first time in 23 years.?,

Re: Euro 2004
 

Holland v CZE got to have been the best match upto now.