Euro 2008

[BirdMan21]

What a horrible showing by the Azzurri. I hated the lineup as soon as it came out, but just two great goals and one that I don't even know what to think. It will be interesting to see what the ruling is on that offsides play, but when I officiated the last man was always the last man on the pitch. Tommy Smith thought it was onsides though. Overall though it didn't matter and Italy just looked BAD. Hopefully they will turn it around on Friday against Romainia.

 

[CaptTurbo]

I went 1-1 in my picks today. I'm 4-2 in my ESPN pick 'em league. My 2 wrong picks were I had the Swiss & Czechs playing to a draw and Italy winning.

Told ya the republic would score on them.

 

[hafey]

What is "intentional?" No Dutch player forced him off the field. He left trying to make a play on the ball. That seems intentional enough to me.

Didn't matter anyways as the Italians played like the oldest team in the tournament.

 

[Zeno]

Told ya the republic would score on them.

I never said they wouldn't score I said they wouldn't score 2.

 

[Zeno]

In the Hungarian tv Sándor Puhl, who was the referee of the 94 WC final and the Champions League final in 97 said the first goal was off side, becuase the Italian defender didnt leave the field intentionally. The Dutch counter attacks killed Italy after the first goal.


Well sh*t happens.

I think this debate will go on for awhile. This is from the BBC website...

...what looked a desperately poor decision was, in fact, a brilliant piece of officiating, according to the chairman of Austria's refereeing commission Gerhard Kapl.

Kapl said Van Nistelrooy was played onside by Italy's Christian Panucci, who had been injured seconds earlier and was lying behind the goal when the Dutch striker scored.

He said the goal was "100% correct, without any doubt", quoting article 11.4.1. of the refereeing code that states "an opposing player cannot be offside when one of the last two defenders has left the field of play" - as in the case of Panucci.

Kapl said the rule was specifically designed to prevent a team causing a deliberate offside - but does that tell the whole story?

Panucci was in no way attempting to gain an advantage or deliberately trying to play the Holland attackers onside.

He had actually been knocked behind the goal by a collision with his own goalkeeper Buffon, so where does the law stand on that?

It appears to be a grey area of the rules.

It obviously wasn't deliberate but the rule doesn't say its in effect only when a player deliberatley leaves the field of play only when he leaves the field.

In this case though Italy only has themselves to blame. Buffon knocked him silly and out of bounds.

Stupid Italians, I'd be 5-1 in my pick'em had they won. Still though I liked how the Dutch played, always have admired their style. Both teams will beat the French and Romanians though.

 

[Chaplin]

To me, the Dutch looked like the best team in the tournament so far, although to be fair I didn't see the Czech Republic and most of the Portugal games. The Dutch certainly looked better than Germany.

 

[Zeno]

Tomorrows games...

Spain V Russia, Spain wins, Russia is the youngest team in the tourney with one of the best coaches, they will pack it in and play for a draw but Spain will get a goal or 2. I still think Russia will advance as the Russians will go for broke against 2 teams without a ton of offense in Sweden & Greece

Sweden V Greece, an ugly draw, Greece plays for low scoring games and set pieces and Sweden lacks the punch to breakthrough, very likely 0-0 or 1-1

So far this has been a great tournament. I am so glad I work 10PM - 6AM, I don't miss a match...being away from home all month is great too because I don't have to listen to my wife complain about me watching too much soccer.

 

[Renz]

Man, Villa tore Russia a new one!

Surprisingly easy win for Sweden, as well.

 

[Ciani]

Man, Villa tore Russia a new one!

Surprisingly easy win for Sweden, as well.

Not a big surprise, the Greek team lost its best player in Zagorakis, there is no playmaker in their team now. And their defence is not as good as it once was, they will be happy to win a game.

Spain scored four in their first game, just like they did against Ukraine in 2006. Looked great but they always choke in the quarter finals.

 

[Milgod]

So far for me Germany have looked nearly as good as the Netherlands and Spain. Spain just need to keep their foot down. Germany looked easy in their game to me and look like they have another level if needed. The Dutch and Spainish sides looked, obviously, pretty good and damn entertaining.

I'm annoyed I didn't put the Dutch to go through, but happy I went and backed them at 12-1 to win the whole thing annyway!

 

[Chaplin]

To be fair, Russia looked pretty tame and Greece... well, let's just say that the Greece midfield decided that they didn't even want to play the game. I've never seen a midfield make less of an impact in an international game. You've got the Greek defense passing the ball back and forth at 0-0, and NONE of their midfielders were opening up to receive the ball! I mean, scoring still is important, right?

The Swedes did look pretty good in all aspects of the game. Spain looked good too, but they have the same problem they mentioned on the broadcast--they are stacked with incredibly skilled players, but if they don't play as a unit, they could be in trouble. Tonight was a good sign for them.

Looking forward to Czech Republic/Portugal!

 

[Zeno]

Portugal V Czech, Portugal wins
Swiss V Turkey, draw

I was 1-1 yesterday, Sweden beating Greece surprised me, both teams had so much trouble scoring in qualifying and the Greek defense has been stingy ever since qualifying for the 2004 Euros.

Spain is the best team I've seen so far. They just have so many weapons.

 

[Zeno]

This has been a great tournament so far. Some good goals, tight matches and an upset or 2.

 

[gr000000vy]

Spain is the best team I've seen so far. They just have so many weapons.

really? they were my pick to win it all at the beginning, and sure a 4-1 win looks astonishing on paper but anyone that saw that match would tell you that the score should not have been 4-1...

Russia blew way too many opportunities at the beginning of the match and i would have to say spain got some lucky bounces and one awesome counter that turned into a goal...

Netherlands imo have been the best team in the tournament thus far...

 

[Zeno]

really? they were my pick to win it all at the beginning, and sure a 4-1 win looks astonishing on paper but anyone that saw that match would tell you that the score should not have been 4-1...

Russia blew way too many opportunities at the beginning of the match and i would have to say spain got some lucky bounces and one awesome counter that turned into a goal...

Netherlands imo have been the best team in the tournament thus far...

Spain very easily could have scored 6 or 7. This was with Fernando Torres on the bench for the majority of the second half. They are the deepest team in the tournament too, how good is this team that Cesc Fabregas doesn't even start or Raul doesn't even make the roster?

There is no denying that The Netherlands looked good, but they also scored 2 of their 3 goals on counterattacks and not straight through build up...not to mention both counterattacks came directly off of balls cleared off the goal line. They play smart, disciplined, entertaining soccer but I don't think they have the depth of the Spanish. I like the Dutch though and its a team I wouldn't mind seeing winning the whole thing.

What is really unfortunate is there is no way we could have a Holland/Spain final...they are on the same side of the bracket.

Germany looked good too and Portugal thoroughly outplayed Turkey and should have managed more than the 2 goals they did.

 

[CardEd]

I'm glad the ESPN network has committed to airing all the games. Hopefully some good ratings produce more international soccer on free TV.

Getting to watch a player like Ronaldo is special, a player like him can bring in fringe fans.

 

[Chaplin]

Spain very easily could have scored 6 or 7. This was with Fernando Torres on the bench for the majority of the second half. They are the deepest team in the tournament too, how good is this team that Cesc Fabregas doesn't even start or Raul doesn't even make the roster?

There is no denying that The Netherlands looked good, but they also scored 2 of their 3 goals on counterattacks and not straight through build up...not to mention both counterattacks came directly off of balls cleared off the goal line. They play smart, disciplined, entertaining soccer but I don't think they have the depth of the Spanish. I like the Dutch though and its a team I wouldn't mind seeing winning the whole thing.

What is really unfortunate is there is no way we could have a Holland/Spain final...they are on the same side of the bracket.

Germany looked good too and Portugal thoroughly outplayed Turkey and should have managed more than the 2 goals they did.

I don't think you can ignore the competition. Yes, Italy looked awful, but it's still Italy. It's the classic excuse: The Dutch didn't make the Italians look bad, the Italians made the Italians look bad. That to me is a cop-out to avoid giving credit to the winning side.

I agree wholeheartedly that the Dutch have been the best in the tournament so far. Spain and Portugal have been good too, but I have to go with the Netherlands now. (Of course, I'm also rooting for the Dutch since I lived there for a year)

 

[Zeno]

I don't think you can ignore the competition. Yes, Italy looked awful, but it's still Italy. It's the classic excuse: The Dutch didn't make the Italians look bad, the Italians made the Italians look bad. That to me is a cop-out to avoid giving credit to the winning side.

I agree wholeheartedly that the Dutch have been the best in the tournament so far. Spain and Portugal have been good too, but I have to go with the Netherlands now. (Of course, I'm also rooting for the Dutch since I lived there for a year)

I never failed to give the Dutch credit based on their opponent but to me Spain looks the better side. Of course Spain always seems to come out and start tournaments on fire and then fizzle out, we'll see if they can keep it up. But after everyone has played one game I just find the Spanish to be playing the best soccer and have the most on their bench.

Watching Portugal, my favorite team in the tournament, despite 2 easy wins I haven't been overly impressed. They've played well but not good enough to be champs IMO.

 

[Milgod]

Spain very easily could have scored 6 or 7. This was with Fernando Torres on the bench for the majority of the second half. They are the deepest team in the tournament too, how good is this team that Cesc Fabregas doesn't even start or Raul doesn't even make the roster?

I agree that Spain could have scored more and the 4-1 was fairly fitting to the game. I would say that France as a squad are as deep as Spain but that doesn't translate to performances obviously.

The only thing I would say though is that Fabregas didn't start because he doesn't usually play that well for Spain (hopefully this is starting to change) and Raul is still good enough to make the team but Aragones made the big decision to leave him out and go in a new direction (getting a lot of flak for it from the media).

 

[Ciani]

Spain is the best team I've seen so far. They just have so many weapons.

Spain will lose to a great defensive team as they always do.


Turkey vs Switzerland was a fantastic game, what a huge fight between two desperate teams in extreme conditions. The Swiss team played pretty well in both losses, but blew way too many good chances away. They couldnt score on a 3 on 1 counter attack today which is unacceptable.

 

[Zeno]

Good win for Croatia against Germany. After looking really below average against Austria they took it to the Germans today and played a fun attacking style of soccer.

Germans will still advance though, they will take it out on Austria in their last group game.

 

[Chaplin]

Dammit! Why do I keep coming to this thread during the day? I TIVO the games to watch after work, and then I go on here and ESPN and the results are given away. Stupid! Most of the time I don't even realize it until I'm reading.

 

[English on tour]

Dammit! Why do I keep coming to this thread during the day? I TIVO the games to watch after work, and then I go on here and ESPN and the results are given away. Stupid! Most of the time I don't even realize it until I'm reading.

Poland 1-0 H/T

How the hell Austria are not winning i'll never know....

 

[dogpoo32]

Poland 1-0 H/T

How the hell Austria are not winning i'll never know....

Austria's GK was amazing in the first half. I had to go back to work, so I didn't get to see the rest. It was great to see an inspired Croatia team take down Germany.

 

[CaptTurbo]

I told ya Croatia is gonna take this cup.